Children's Rights at the United Nations 133
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Somalia has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), becoming the 195th State to do so.
This latest ratification leaves the United States and South Sudan as the only States in the world yet to ratify the CRC. In November 2013, the South Sudan National Legislative Assembly passed a bill agreeing to ratify the treaty, but official ratification has since been pending as the country deals with ongoing armed conflict. Progress has been significantly slower in the US - even though the State signed the treaty in 1995.
Somalia’s ratification has been unanimously welcomed by UN agencies and NGOs alike as an important step towards improving respect for children’s rights.
During the first weeks of January, Boko Haram militants attacked the area surrounding Baga, a fishing settlement on the shores of Lake Chad in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State. The exact death toll in Baga and 16 surrounding villages is unknown, with estimates ranging from “dozens” to 2,000 or more.
According to Leila Zerrougui, the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, over 900,000 people, many of them women and children, have fled their homes, more than 300 schools have been severely damaged or destroyed and hundreds of children have been killed, injured or abducted from their homes and schools.
A child was also used as a suicide bomber, in an attack that killed at least 19 people at a crowded market in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, drawing condemnation from both UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF.
The UN human rights office stated that the use of a child to detonate a bomb was “not only morally repugnant but constitutes an egregious form of child exploitation under international law.”
The UN Security Council released a statement last week strongly condemning and deploring all abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law by Boko Haram, since 2009 'including those involving violence against civilian populations, notably women and children,' and demanded 'the immediate and unconditional release' of all those abducted by the group, including the 276 schoolgirls kidnapped in the town of Chibok, northern Nigeria last April.
The Council also demanded that Boko Haram immediately and unequivocally cease all hostilities and all abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law and disarm and demobilise.
After several assaults on cross-border villages in northern Cameroon, Chad decided to send soldiers to the country to help in the fight against Boko Haram. According to media reports, some 80 people – many of them said to be children – were abducted last week in Cameroon in one of the biggest Boko Haram kidnappings to take place outside of Nigeria.
The UN Security Council renewed its sanctions on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to prevent the supply, sale or transfer of arms, training, and financing, to armed groups.
Unanimously adopting a new resolution, the Council demanded that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and all other armed groups immediately cease all violence, “lay down their arms,” and demobilise children from their ranks.
Additionally, the Council stressed the need for the Government of the DRC to hold accountable those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country, including through its cooperation with the International Criminal Court.
Read a briefing paper on the armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its impact on children.
The Committee held its 68th session from 12 to 30 January 2015.
The following States were examined under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC):
- CRC: Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Gambia, Iraq, Jamaica, Mauritius, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uruguay.
- OPSC: Cambodia, Iraq, Switzerland, Turkmenistan and Uruguay.
- OPAC: Cambodia, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Uruguay.
CRIN will summarise the main issues raised by the Committee as soon as the Concluding Observations are published. In the meantime, here’s a preview of some of the concerns mentioned during the review:
During the review of Switzerland, the Committee raised for the first time the issue of intersex and Intersex Genital Mutilations (IGM) practices, referring to non-consensual intersex surgeries as "an issue of physical integrity or kind of violence to children or a harmful practice".
Poverty, sexual abuse and violence, self-mutilation and suicide continue. The country has introduced a new federal law on the promotion of childhood and changed its criminal legislation, strengthening protection against sexual abuse. However, the degree to which children’s rights are fulfilled varies significantly between different cantons.
According to the Committee, children continue to be at risk in Iraq. Terrorist groups, who control parts of the territory, are targeting children in terrorist acts and for recruitment, particularly children from refugee camps. Other concerns include harmful practices, discrimination against girls, including arranged marriages, honour crimes, and female genital mutilation.
In Colombia children are the target of sexual and labour exploitation as a result of poverty. In addition, the armed conflict has taken its toll on children; they are recruited by non-state armed groups and killed at the hands of criminal and armed groups. Some 2.5 million children have been displaced.
Although Jamaica has introduced some positive changes, such as the abolition of corporal punishment of children in the home, the country still faces many challenges including child labour (mainly in the areas of agriculture, fishing and the informal sector), integrating children with disabilities into mainstream schools and violence against children.
The Committee expressed concern about the high number of children living in poverty in Uruguay. Police brutality against children and the increasing detention of juvenile offenders also drew attention. Furthermore, there is no formal legal prohibition on recruiting children into the armed forces. As to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, some definitions of the Protocol have not been fully integrated into legislation, and the courts have considerable discretionary powers in deciding whether to prosecute trafficking cases. Accountability and monitoring mechanisms for children's services are lacking. Finally, institutionalisation is used as the default option for looking after children deprived of their family environment.
Visit the 68th session page to view all the alternative reports submitted by NGOs.
As previously reported, the 21st session of the UPR took place between 19 and 30 January 2015. The below countries were up for review.
The first links provided are to children’s rights extracts from States’ first review, including the UPR’s recommendations rejected by States. The second are to CRIN’s country pages where you can find more information on the children’s rights situation in each State.
You can also use our library to search for follow up reports to the UPR that NGOs have submitted, detailing whether or not the State is following the UPR’s recommendations from the first review cycle.
Kyrgyzstan: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Guinea: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Spain: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Kenya: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Guinea-Bissau: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Kiribati: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Lao People’s Democratic Republic: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Lesotho: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Armenia: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Sweden: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Turkey: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Guyana: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Grenada: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
Kuwait: first cycle children’s rights extracts / country page
The Human Rights Council’s Annual Day on the Rights of the Child is fast approaching. In March, during its 28th session, the Council will dedicate a day to discuss better investment in the rights of the child.
Ahead of this day, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has published a report to inform the discussion. The report sets out the obligations of States to invest adequately in the rights of children, in accordance with the CRC. It considers the different stages of the budget process – preparation, allocation, spending and monitoring – and provides a framework for a human rights-based approach to budgeting.
Read CRIN's submission to the OHCHR's report.
A number of reports will be presented during the sessions including:
- The annual report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui
- The annual report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children
- The report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Maud De Boer-Buquicchio
A summary of the panel discussion on accelerating global efforts to end violence against children held on 23 September 2014 was also published
Download the provisional programme of work.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - 60th session
CEDAW, the UN body that monitors and enforces the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, is holding its 60th session between 16 February to 16 March 2015. Azerbaijan, Denmark, Ecuador, Eritrea, Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives and Tuvalu are all under review. You can find all official documents on CEDAW’s session page, including the list of issues (i.e. what the review will be about), State reports and alternative reports from civil society.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)- 54th session
CESCR’s 54th session will be held between 23 February and 6 March. CESCR is the UN body that monitors and enforces the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Gambia, Paraguay and Tajikistan are under review. You can find all official documents on CESCR’s session page.
Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) - 8th session
CED, the UN body that monitors and enforces the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, is holding its 8th session from 2 to 13 February 2015. Armenia, Mexico and Serbia are under review.
You can find all official documents on CED’s session page, including the list of issues , State reports and alternative reports from civil society.
- Committee on the Rights of the Child: 1 March 2015 for the review of Benin, Brunei Darussalam, France, Gabon, Haiti, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Ireland, Kenya, Maldives, Oman, Peru, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: 9 January 2015 for the review of Gambia, Paraguay and Tajikistan.
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: 2 February 2015 for the review of Azerbaijan, Denmark, Ecuador, Eritrea, Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives and Tuvalu.
- Committee Against Torture: 9 February 2015 for the review of Colombia, Congo, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
- Committee on Migrant Workers: 20 March 2015 for the review of Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
- Committee on Enforced Disappearances: 9 January 2015 for the review of Armenia, Mexico and Serbia.
- Human Rights Committee: 20 February 2015 for the review of Cambodia, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Monaco, Russian Federation.
- Universal Periodic Review (UPR): 23 March 2015 (tentative dates) for the review of Micronesia, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nauru, Rwanda, Nepal, Saint Lucia, Oman, Austria, Myanmar, Australia, Georgia, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Sao Tome and Principe.
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery: Chile from 19 to 26 February.
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women: South Africa from 25 February to 7 March
- Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes: Kazakhstan from 26 March to 8 April.
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Closing
UNICEF announced last week the release of some 3,000 South Sudanese child soldiers in one of the largest ever demobilisations of children in a zone of conflict. Read more here.
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