CRINMAIL 69:
Week 2 at the HRC's 16th Session:
To read this CRINMAIL online, click here.
The second week of the Human Rights Council's 16th session drew to a close on Friday, with children's rights on the agenda in a number of the Council's formal and informal sessions.
Children working and / or living on the street and violence against children were just two of the children's rights issues that featured in discussions between States, NGOs, UN agencies and independent experts.
This special CRINMAIL presents an update on events that took place last week at the Council.
Day on the Rights of the Child 2011
On 9 March, the Council gave over a day of its session to a discussion on children's rights.
State delegates, NGOs, UN agencies and individual experts gathered at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the situation of children working and / or living on the street.
The aim of the discussion was to raise awareness about the issue; reaffirm existing human rights standards and commitments; highlight good practices and lessons learnt in addressing their situation; identify key challenges; and recommend future action.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, opened the morning session on the root causes and factors leading children to live and / or work on the streets.
The first panellist, Ms. Najat Maalla M'jid, UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, stressed that we must be careful to distinguish between the different situations of street children, for instance, those living permanently on the streets and those working - but not permanently based on - the streets, and tailor solutions to children's unique situations.
Father Patrick Shanahan, President and Founding Member of Street Invest, also spoke during the morning session. He said participation is one of the rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but how can we fulfil this right if we are constantly prescribing what we think is right instead of listening to what children have to say?
From experience
Two youth representatives from Bangladesh and Benin shared their experiences of living and working on the street.
Sévérine, 17, from the African Movement of Working Children and Youth, from a village in south Benin, spoke of the dire conditions that large numbers of children find themselves in.
Mohammad, 16, and Tania, 14, youth representatives from Plan-supported programmes in Bangladesh, who grew up living and working on the street, told States: "We all deserve a childhood and the opportunity to go to school and become responsible citizens."
Protectors or perpetrators?
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Commissioner and Rapporteur on Children's Rights at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, shared insights from his country visits in the Americas.
"The home can sometimes be the most dangerous place for children", he revealed. Often, the reason children are on the streets is that they are beaten at home. These children must receive support from the State, but, in many cases the State is the main perpetrator of violence against them and, instead of protecting them, treats them as criminal members of street gangs.
Speaking of the lack of services available to protect children from violence, he cast doubt on governments' commitment to following up the recommendations of the UN Violence Study, saying: "they continue to ignore violence and don't take responsibility for it".
Only three countries out of 35 countries in the Americas have enacted a full prohibition on violence against children, while just 29 States in the world have taken this step, he continued. States have human rights obligations: they can't pick and choose what to focus on; they must guarantee all rights in the Convention.
States respond
Among States taking the floor, Hungary, on behalf of the European Union, strongly condemned violence experienced by street children. It raised particular concerns about the lack of data on street children, and called on States to develop systems to address this.
Belgium highlighted the particular situation of Roma children living on the street and stressed the importance of helping countries approach the issues from a social perspective rather than a criminal justice approach.
Guatemala explained that it considered the term "street children" derogatory, and proposed the alternative 'children and adolescents living and / or working on the street'.
What now? From charity to rights
In her closing comments, Ms. Najat Maalla M'jid explained that "moving from a charity based to rights based approach gives the child back his or her voice and, if you dare to listen to that voice, you will find the beginnings of solutions - I stress 'the beginnings'."
Paulo Pinheiro urged governments to implement the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children. The experiences of Sweden, Germany and elsewhere show that changes in the law lead to changes in attitudes of police and teachers and parents, and others. You need law to educate, he said.
He said: "I hope you will ask your government to establish structures for child participation. You say you like hearing from the children here – well, you must do it in your own country, not just at the UN. I hope all members will support the resolution on the rights of children in street situations."
He also urged States to abolish inhuman sentencing of children, as many States continue to apply the death penalty, life imprisonment and corporal punishment to children as a sentence. Street children are especially vulnerable to coming into contact with the law and receiving such sentences.
High-level panel to tackle violence against children
Finally, Mr Pinheiro announced the creation of a new high-level panel on corporal punishment, which included Louise Arbour, F.H. Cardoso, Thomas Hammarberg, Stephane Hessel, Yanghee Lee, Aryeh Neir, Bertie Rancgaram, Pierre Sane, George Soros and Desmond Tutu. The panel will appeal to Heads of States to introduce legislation banning corporal punishment in all settings.
Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, spoke first in the afternoon session, stressing the need to develop strong legislation and build strong child protection systems, including for the family, and stressed the need to abolish provisions that condemn and punish certain actions by children on the street, such as begging.
Read the full report on the Day on the Rights of the Child here.
New Reports Launched
- Topic - Children living and / or working on the street
On 9 March, Plan International held an interactive panel session with experts on the issue of children working and / or living on the street. During the session, Plan launched their report: "Still on the street - still short of rights", which provides an analysis of the situation of street involved children.
- Topic - Violence against children
On 11 March, UNICEF organised an interactive panel discussion on the theme of promoting better data and research to inform child sensitive and effective laws, policies and action to combat violence against children. Panelists included senior representatives of ILO, WHO, UNICEF and the international NGO Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children.
During the session, UNICEF launched their new report on "Child disciplinary practises at home", which revealed that three out of four children surveyed experience some form of violent discipline, about half experience some form of physical punishment, and three in four experience psychological aggression.
Panel Discussions
Violence against children / sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
On 8 March, an interactive dialogue took place with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, highlighted several key areas in her closing remarks. She stressed the importance of political committment by Member States and regional organisations to identify and monitor progress on violence against children. "The challenge now", she said, "was to make policies known to the wider population".
Freedom of religion or belief
On 10 March, a panel discussion focused on the joint issues of human rights defenders and freedom of religion or belief.
Heiner Bielefeldt, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, said that school education should provide fair and unbiased definitions of religious beliefs and face to face daily exchange between people from different backgrounds.
General Debate under Item 3
A general debate took place on 11 March on the promotion and protection of all human rights: civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.
The following NGO statements focused on children:
- A statement on the proposed communications procedure for the CRC on behalf of 16 NGOs representing over a hundred national and international NGOs. The statement expressed concern that the rush to agree a draft on the communications procedure has led to inconsistencies and contradictions in the current proposal. NGOs urged the Council to act to ensure that the draft text is corrected to provide an effective communications procedure for children.
- Organisations for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV) made an oral statement on trafficking in children. They said the lack of good coordination by international organisations and countries involved in this problem, is what is causing the wasting of resources and failure to tackle the issue of trafficking effectively.
- World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) also made an oral statement during the general debate. They focused on the human rights violations in the Non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, including the systematic oppression of children in schools. The organisation described how children are watched by police in classrooms and harrassed in the street.
Coming up this week
A number of key events concerning children's rights are taking place at the Council this week, including:
UPR Report Adoptions
The 16 States examined during the 9th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), will have their final outcome reports adopted this week.
Panel Sessions
Panel discussions taking place this week where children's rights are likely to be on the agenda, include:
CRIN will be reporting on the dialogue of the above session.
HRC Review
The Review of the Human Rights Council concluded on 24 February with a final outcome document. Overall, the Review has been disappointing, with little sign of significant reforms emerging from the discussions.
UPR-Info.org, on behalf of 37 NGOs from around the world, will be making an oral statement on 18 March, under Item 6, expressing diappointment in the lack of progress made on the review process. The Statement urges the General Assembly to carefully revise the outcomes of the review and make changes to enhance the UPR.
CRIN will be writing an overview of the HRC Review in due course. You can read this report on our main Human Rights Council page.
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