12 March 2010 - Child Rights at the Human Rights Council 61
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- Latest: Child rights at the Human Rights Council concludes [news]
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Children Have Rights Too!
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LATEST: Child rights at the Human Rights Council concludes [news]
Continued from 11 March
The discussion on the first report to the HRC of the Special Representative on Violence Against Children (SRSG) resumed this morning.
The representative of Egypt asked what further steps the SRSG was planning in order to implement her plan and priorities. Austria asked her how she would deal with impunity and accountibility.
Hungary said an Optional Protocol under the CRC for a communications procedure would contribute to ending violence against children, in particular as the jurisprudence will enable national legislation to be developed further and fill existing gaps.
The representative of Norway welcomed the strong emphasis on advocacy for the development of national legislation to protect children from violence, "prohibition of all forms of corporal punishment and harmful traditional practices is an essential step towards ending all forms of violence", he said.
UNICEF said it was important to address the role of social norms in the persistence of human rights violations and their abandonment, through the promotion of positive, protective norms and behaviours. She said human rights education was important in giving communities the opportunity to discuss rights and relate them to existing social practices.
Read the full speech
Both Slovenia and Portugal further mentioned corporal punishment as being part of "all forms of violence".
Slovenia also asked the SRSG how she thought the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process could contribute to the fight against violence against children.
Canada asked the SRSG whether she would be focusing on any specific forms of violence and within any specific setting. They also wanted to know how she would be consulting with children.
A representative of Save the Children delivered a speech on behalf of 16 child rights NGOs.
"Some traditional attitudes about the nature of children and childhood are harmful and hold back progress", she said. "Within the follow up on the UN Study recommendations, there are actions that can be taken to substantially increase children's participation in violence prevention and protection. None of these are unrealistic", she continued.
Finally, she asked the SRSG how she intends to monitor the implementation of the recommendation number seven of the UN Study for countries to support children's participation in violence prevention and protection and how this can be sustained over time.
Read the full speech
Unfortunately there was not enough time for the SRSG to respond to all questions. She said she would continue the discussions in bilateral meetings.
She highlighted some of the cooperation work she had begun with other Special Procedures, such as the joint statement on Haiti. She also referred to her ongoing work with the Council of Europe, the European Union and the League of Arab States.
She confirmed that it was important for her to also pay attention to areas where children may be neglected.
A step closer to a communications procedure
The session then heard from the Chair of the Working Group for the communications procedure. He sumarised the work of the WG's December meeting.
Read the report
"It is my conviction that the mandate of the WG has been fulfilled", he said. "During the session... I heard no open principle opposition to the elaboration of the new OP. I do recognise that that there are a number of key issues which should be addressed. However, I believe that this could be done within the process of elaborating the OP", he continued.
"Moreover, we have to bear in mind the resources and cost effectiveness. Based on this development and arguments, I would like to encourage the HRC to provide the WG with a stronger mandate to proceed to the elaboration of the OP", he said.
Nigeria then took the floor on behalf of the African Group to reiterate their support for the process.
A representative of MERCOSUR made a similar statement, referring in particular to their work on children's rights in the region.
They are working on various issues, including the development of a complaints mechanism. He said they will continue to support the CRC process and are currently discussing hosting a seminar on this issue in Argentina.
Finland spoke on behalf of the cross-regional core group of States. The representative said having such a procedure was the most effective way to safeguard children's rights when national systems fail.
She referred to the useful input states had made in the discussions, "many expressed openness and added value ... the time has come to move to the next phase of our work and reinforce the mandate of our working group".
She explained a resolution would be tabled shortly with a proposal to change the mandate of the current working group in order that they can begin the drafting process.
Pakistan spoke on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Conference. He said they had taken part in the discussions and that although a number of issues still remained to be addressed, "the OIC expect these to be addressed in due course".
Russia said the ongoing discussions demonstrated the great interest of states on this matter. He said he hoped the decision about the mandate would be agreed by consensus.
A joint statement was then delivered on behalf of a number of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI). In their statement they said they strongly supported the elaboration of a communications procedure for children.
They said such a procedure would encourage States to increase access and reinforce the better functioning of the protection mechanisms for children at national level. They further expressed their support for the WG to begin drafting the procedure and requested that the HRC include NHRI in the drafting process.
Finally, a statement was made on behalf of child rights NGOs. The representative said "the issue of whether we should start drafting such a new Protocol really comes down to one question: are children rights holders or not?"
"With 193 ratifications of the CRC, the international community has affirmed its commitment to each of the provisions of this unique instrument. However, as recalled by numerous States and experts during the December session, “for rights to have meaning, effective remedies must be available to redress violations”, she continued.
She further explained that moving to the drafting stage of this new Optional Protocol now will allow to address substantive issues and avoid spending additional resources in prolonged general discussions, a concern that has been expressed by a number of States.
"As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed: “We need to translate our commitment, engagement and work on children's rights into a tangible reality for each and every one of them”. We hope that the Human Rights Council will now give the Open-ended Working Group the mandate to start creating the necessary third Optional Protocol at the end of the present session – a tangible and real demonstration of its commitment to children", she ended.
Read the full statement.
The resolution will soon be tabled and open for negotiations. More soon.
Further information on the HRC session
More on the complaints mechanism campaign
January 2010: Final report of the UN Working Group Meeting
3 December 09: New Advocacy Toolkit
14 to 18 December 09: First meeting of the Working group
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network - CRIN
East Studio, 2 Pontypool Place, London SE1 8QF, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)207 401 2257
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22156
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