CRINmail 171:
In this issue:
In this month’s UN CRINmail, we bring you the latest news on children’s rights at the United Nations, including the celebration of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons and the appointment of the first UN advocate for the rights of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. In August, the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force holding governments to take measures to protect human health against the harmful effects of mercury. This was also a busy summer for treaty bodies and Special Rapporteurs, expressing concerns at the death penalty in the Maldives and in Iran, and noting the threat to children that gang violence represents in El Salvador.
On the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, celebrated each year on 30 July, the UN called on the international community to act now to protect trafficking victims and to end this crime. Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), highlighted the links between conflict, trafficking and migrant smuggling. In its 2016 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, the UNODC also explains how armed groups engage in trafficking in the territories in which they operate. Such groups typically recruit or abduct women and girls for forced marriages, domestic work and sexual slavery, and men and boys for forced labour, for use in armed conflict or for slavery. According to the latest figures from UNODC, children make up almost one-third of all human trafficking victims worldwide. In addition, women and girls comprise 71 percent of human trafficking victims.
The SR on trafficking in persons, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, and the SR on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, also used the day to warn that current systems designed to protect migrant children are failing. The SRs warned many children were at risk of trafficking, sale and other forms of exploitation, adding that the mechanisms designed to protect them are “largely ineffective and do little to prevent the precarious situation these children find themselves in”. The experts warned that all children fleeing conflict, especially those travelling alone, are vulnerable to abuse, from sexual and labour exploitation, and through being sold or coerced into marriage. “Current efforts to protect children are being hampered, among others by inaccurate identification of trafficked, sold or otherwise exploited children by insufficiently trained frontline workers and challenges in determining children’s ages and parentage,” they said. They also highlighted the limited capacity of camps to host children in specialised and separated facilities. Lastly, the experts criticised States which continue to lock up migrant children, preferring rigid immigration policies above children’s rights, noting that the detention of children in irregular immigration situation can never be in their best interests.
Earlier this summer, two UN Agencies issued a set of recommendations for action to improve the situation of refugee and migrant children arriving and staying in Europe without their parents or caregivers. In “The way forward” the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and UNICEF, together with the International Rescue Committee, highlight the need to identify children, register them through child-friendly procedures, and build a relationship of trust with them as early as possible. The document provides recommendations developed in a broad consultative process led by the three organisations, with input from 100 people, including guardians, psychologists, social workers and lawyers, relevant authorities from several European states, and refugee and migrant children across the continent. “All actions and decisions must have the child’s best interests at heart”, said Diane Goodman, Deputy Director of UNHCR’s Europe Bureau. “This Roadmap plots the way forward for these children to be given the same level of care, trust and protection as national children”, added David McLoughlin, UNICEF’s Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia.
In another study, UNICEF has analysed the push-pull factors for child migration, showing that thousands of unaccompanied children decided to flee by themselves, seeking to get away from violence and trauma, but not necessarily aiming for Europe. “What was striking in the new findings was that there were far more push factors, pushing children away from home – conflicts or violence at home – than there were pull factors [that lure them to Europe], and this went against the current narrative,” said UNICEF spokesperson, Sarah Crowe. UNICEF said the study is important for policymakers to understand why the children are making the voyage and how best to help them once they arrive in Europe.
UN Secretary-General (SG), António Guterres, has appointed Jane Connors as the first United Nations advocate for the rights of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. In his report released in March this year, “Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse: a new approach”, the SG called for a new human rights expert who will be an advocate for victim’s rights and outlined a new strategy for preventing sexual violence. Connors, as the first Victims’ Rights Advocate, will support an integrated, strategic response to victim assistance in coordination with United Nations system actors with responsibility for assisting victims. She will work with government institutions, civil society, and human rights organisations to build networks of support as well as helping to ensure that the full effect of local laws, including remedies for victims, are brought to bear. Read more on Jane Connors’ background here.
A report by the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq and the UN Human Rights Office has urged the Iraqi government to ensure that victims of sexual violence by the so-called Islamic State (IS) receive care, protection and justice, and that children born as a result of such violence do not face a life of discrimination and abuse. Highlighting the physical, mental, and emotional injuries inflicted by IS, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said: “If victims are to rebuild their lives, and indeed those of their children, they need justice and they need redress.” The report makes a number of recommendations, including regarding access to justice; provision of support and care for victims; information and counselling services to reunite separated families, and the importance of birth registration. In particular, it highlights the situation of hundreds of children born to women in IS-controlled areas without birth certificates or whose IS-issued documents are not accepted by the Government of Iraq or the Kurdistan Regional Government. “Children who were born in IS-controlled areas have the same legal rights as any other Iraqi citizen and the Government must ensure they are protected from marginalisation and abuse, neither exposed to discrimination through references on their birth certificate that they were born out of wedlock or have a father linked to [IS], nor left unregistered and at risk of statelessness, exploitation and trafficking,” the High Commissioner stressed.
The High Commissioner has also welcomed the repeal of laws in Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan that allowed rapists to avoid criminal prosecution by marrying their victims. He highlighted that these were “hard-won victories, thanks to the tireless campaigns over the years by human rights defenders – in particular women human rights defenders”. He noted however that in Lebanon, article 505 of the Penal Code continues to allow those accused of having sex with a minor to go free if they marry their victims, while article 508 allows for marital rape, and called for the articles to be repealed and for marital rape to be criminalised. “I call on the Governments and people of these countries – and other countries in the region – to build on this positive momentum, and to work towards the swift repeal of other legislation that condones sexual violence against women and girls and perpetuates discrimination against them in clear violation of international human rights law,” concluded the High Commissioner.
The first legally binding environmental treaty in more than a decade entered into force on 16 August, making governments around the world responsible for the protection of their citizens from the harmful effects of mercury. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) noted in a press release that mercury is recognised as particularly harmful to unborn children and infants. “There is no safe level of exposure to mercury nor are there cures for mercury poisoning, which at high levels causes irreversible neurological and health damage. Unborn children and babies are the most vulnerable, along with populations who eat fish contaminated with mercury, those who use mercury at work, and people who live near a source of mercury pollution or in colder climates, where the dangerous heavy metal tends to accumulate” explained UNEP. Governments that are party to the treaty, known as the Minamata Convention, are now legally bound to take a range of measures to protect human health and the environment by addressing mercury throughout its lifecycle. This includes banning new mercury mines, phasing-out existing ones, and regulating the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, manufacturing processes, and the production of everyday items such as cosmetics, light bulbs, batteries and teeth fillings. Signed by 128 countries, the Convention takes its name from the most severe mercury poisoning disaster in history, which happened in Japan in May 1956. So far 74 States have ratified the convention and the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP1) will take place from 24 to 29 September 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. Visit mercuryconvention.org for further details.
“Children’s access to safe water and sanitation, especially in conflicts and emergencies, is a right, not a privilege” said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF’s global chief of water, sanitation and hygiene as World Water Week gets under way. More than 180 million people do not have access to clean drinking water in countries affected by conflict, violence and instability around the world, UNICEF warned. According to a recent analysis from UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), people living in fragile situations are four times more likely to lack safe drinking water than populations in non-fragile situations. “In far too many cases, water and sanitation systems have been attacked, damaged or left in disrepair to the point of collapse. When children have no safe water to drink, and when health systems are left in ruins, malnutrition and potentially fatal diseases like cholera will inevitably follow,” said Wijesekera.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has released a report showing that almost half of the world's population now uses the Internet. Young people are at the forefront of today’s information society accordingto the report: as many as 830 million young people, in 104 countries are online. In the least developed countries, 35 percent of people using the Internet are aged 15-24, compared with 13 percent in developed countries and 23 percent globally. In developed countries, 94 percent of the youth population uses the Internet, while the proportion is 67 percent in developing countries and only 30 percent in the world’s least developed nations. The latest data also revealed that mobile broadband subscriptions, which are more affordable, have grown more than 20 percent annually in the last five years and are expected to reach 4.3 billion globally by the end of 2017.
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The Maldives must not backtrack on the de facto moratorium on the death penalty that has been in place for more than 60 years, the SR on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, has said. “The resumption of executions in the Maldives after more than 60 years would be a great setback for the country and entire region, and would run counter to international trends towards abolition,” the SR said. Twenty prisoners – including at least five juvenile offenders – have been sentenced to death in the Maldives. Three men convicted of murder are believed to be at imminent risk of execution. All three have had their convictions upheld by the Supreme Court, despite concerns over whether they received fair trials. “The Maldives must abide by international law,” Callamard stressed. “It must not only ensure fair trials but also uphold the right of every person sentenced to death to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence, and refrain from imposing capital punishment on anyone aged under 18 when the crime was committed, pregnant women, or on new mothers or those who have developed mental disability.”
The SR on the situation of human rights in Iran, Asma Jahangir, has expressed outrage at the execution of a young man who received the death penalty as a child. Alireza Tajiki was arrested at the age of 15 in 2012 and sentenced to death in 2013, at the age of 16. He was executed on 10 August despite repeated interventions by UN human rights experts, who said that the death penalty should never be used against a child. Tajiki had reportedly been tortured and had not received a fair trial. “I am distressed in the extreme to learn that this execution has gone ahead despite twice being postponed on previous scheduled dates,” said the SR. Tajiki’s death sentence was upheld following judicial procedures which did not meet acceptable international standards of a fair trial or due process. Iran has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which forbid the passing and carrying out of the death penalty on anyone below 18 years of age.
The Philippines must urgently address growing reports of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, threats against indigenous peoples and the summary execution of children, the SRs on extrajudicial executions, on human rights defenders, and on sale and sexual exploitation of children have said. The experts called for all extra-judicial killings to be investigated thoroughly and for the perpetrators be brought to justice. They also highlighted that some of those being attacked were defending the rights of Lumad indigenous people, who are reported to have suffered particularly severe threats on the island of Mindanao, often with the acquiescence or direct support of the security forces, while defending their ancestral land against businesses.
In concluding her visit to El Salvador, the SR on the human rights of internally displaced persons focused on the threat to children of gang violence, reporting that parents are often unable to let their children out to play for fear of the influence of gang members. She noted that young people cannot lead normal lives in some neighbourhoods or visit friends in other areas. Crossing from one neighbourhood to another could result in death for a young person if they move from one gang-controlled territory to another without care or permission. The SR noted that a young woman had said: “It is a crime to be a young person in El Salvador today,” a deeply depressing sentiment that was echoed several times during her visit, including from senior public officials. She also noted that young women and girls are particularly vulnerable to threats, intimidation and violence, including rape, and that high levels of femicide have been recorded. Schools in some areas are no longer considered safe spaces for children. Teachers are threatened, gangs operate within and around some schools, where they recruit children and identify girls as sexual targets for gang members.
In a 10-day mission to Samoa, a UN expert group looking at the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice highlighted their concerns with the use of corporal punishment against children. Despite the Education Act of 2009 requiring zero tolerance for corporal punishment in schools, the experts noted their concern about plans to re-introduce corporal punishment in schools. They have also noted that effective mechanisms are yet to be put in place that allow effective reporting of violence by teachers, including of sexual abuse, with various sources stating that a fear of teachers is a main reason for students’ absence from school. The experts also raised the issue of poor sex education in schools, and the problem of pregnant teenagers being removed from schools by their parents. Lastly, the experts also noted with regret that abortion was still criminalised, and that, despite the progressive reform of the law in 2013, it is still only permitted when the health or the life of the woman is at risk.
People with albinism living in rural Tanzania continue to live in fear of violence, a UN expert has concluded after her first visit to the country. The UN Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism, Ikponwosa Ero, said more work was needed to address witchcraft and educate the public. Ero also highlighted concerns over the use of schools as protection centres for children with albinism, which in some cases have evolved from temporary shelters into long-term accommodation. “Despite the good protective intentions in referring children with albinism to school-based shelters, it appears that they are no longer temporary,” she said. “Students who go on to secondary school or college have no choice other than to return to the shelters during school holidays as they are simply too afraid to go back to their own homes,” Ero noted. She concluded that stronger efforts are needed to educate communities and strengthen the protection measures for children with albinism, including by working with the security committees and by providing basic security items such as mobile phones and structural reinforcement to insecure homes.
The SR on contemporary forms of slavery, Urmilla Bhoola, has called on the Government of Paraguay to prioritise children in the fight against exploitation. The SR heard reports of exploitation that she believes constitute contemporary forms of slavery, with considerable numbers of children working as domestic servants and being forced to beg. She also noted that other groups including indigenous peoples, women and people living in rural areas were also found to be at heightened risk of extreme exploitation. Though the SR praised the Government for overcoming some challenges and budget restraints to make progress on a number of issues, such as ratifying international instruments and introducing strong legal provisions, she urged the Government to continue to build a comprehensive system of child protection, to raise people’s awareness of exploitation, improve social support programmes, and increase the number of labour inspectors.
People in Sierra Leone are suffering daily exposure to toxic waste and the Government must step up its response, the SR on hazardous substances and waste, Baskut Tuncak has warned. “I witnessed communities in and around Freetown’s largest waste dump - including children and pregnant women - breathing the dark haze of air pollution, drinking, bathing, and cleaning in toxic water, and eating meat contaminated by waste” Tuncak stated. However, despite the visible evidence, the magnitude of the impacts of hazardous substances and waste on human rights in Sierra Leone remains largely unknown. The SR said people were unaware of the contamination levels of air, water and food, and the health risks including cancer, respiratory diseases, birth defects and reduced cognition. “Of serious concern is what appears to be a general inability of affected individuals and communities to access justice to defend their rights and seek redress” he stressed. The Government should speed up the adoption of critical new laws and policies on labour, pesticides and industrial chemicals which had been drafted but had not progressed, he added.
The SR on human rights in Cambodia examined the situation of children's rights, and encouraged the Government to adopt and implement an effective child protection system, and to fully resource the new juvenile justice system. She urged the Government to ensure that drop-in and rehabilitation centres are not used as detention centres, but offer the necessary care, services and assistance to drug and substance users with dependency problems on a truly voluntary basis. She also called on the Government to ensure that people in street situations are not arbitrarily detained. The SR also noted with concern that pre-trial detention is still used in almost all cases, given that the prison system is dangerously overcrowded. She stated that many human rights defenders were still being excessively targeted and insisted that Cambodia should be a vibrant pluralist democracy, as provided for in the Constitution.
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The Human Rights Committee held its 120th session in July and reviewed the compliance of seven countries with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
Liechtenstein: while welcoming the information that the State party withdrew its reservation to article 24 (3) of the Covenant (children’s right to nationality) in 2009, the Committee regretted that the State party continued to maintain reservations to important aspects of articles 14 (right to a fair trial), 17 (right to privacy) and 26 (equality before the law) of the Covenant. The Committee also expressed concerns over the challenges that persons with disabilities were still facing in gaining access to justice and education.
Mongolia: the Committee was concerned that corporal punishment continued to be used widely in the home and in schools and recommended the State party ensure effective implementation of prohibition of corporal punishment of children in all settings, including through public education and awareness-raising programmes. The Committee also expressed concerns over the absence of a comprehensive juvenile criminal justice system in the State party, including specialised courts for juveniles; it urged the State party to develop a comprehensive and effective juvenile justice system that takes into account the age, specific needs and vulnerability of children who come into conflict with the law.
Pakistan: the Committee was concerned that juveniles were reportedly sentenced to death and executed; it urged the State party to reinstate the moratorium and consider abolishing the death penalty and acceding to the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant. It added that if the death penalty was to be maintained, the State party should, as a matter of priority, take all measures necessary to ensure that: no person who was below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of an offence was subjected to the death penalty; those charged with a capital offence have access to an effective and independent age determination process, and are treated as children if doubts remain about their age at the time of the crime.
Swaziland: the Committee was concerned at reports of widespread violence against women and children, in particular pervasive sexual violence, including rape and marital rape, and at reports that children, orphans in particular, have been forced into sex work and domestic servitude. The Committee also expressed concern at the high teenage pregnancy rate and recommended the State party to ensure access for men, women, boys and girls to comprehensive reproductive health education and services throughout the country, particularly in rural areas, including access to affordable contraceptives, and increase awareness-raising programmes on the importance of using contraceptives and on sexual and reproductive rights and choices.
The concluding observations for Honduras, Madagascar and Switzerland are not yet available in English.
During its session the Human Rights Committee also finalised its first reading of draft General Comment on article 6 of the Covenant and invites all interested stakeholders to comment on the Committee’s Draft by 6 October 2017.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) held its 61st session in June and reviewed the compliance of six countries with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights:
Australia: the Committee remained concerned at the State party’s policy of transferring asylum seekers to the regional centres for the processing of their claims, despite the harsh conditions prevailing in those centres, including for children. Reports of acute isolation, overcrowding, limited access to basic services, including health care and education, allegations of sexual abuse by the service providers, acts of intimidation, taunting and provocation, and continuing reports of suicide and self-harm have been made.
Liechtenstein: the Committee took note of the efforts made by the State party towards integrating migrant children into the mainstream education system. However, the Committee remained concerned at the underrepresentation of pupils of migrant background at the higher levels of secondary school. It recommended the State party continue strengthening existing education programmes aimed at integrating children of migrant background.
Netherlands: the Committee was concerned that the State party’s practice of early surgeries and medical interventions on intersex children, not necessary for physical health and which altered their sex characteristics, did not respect their right to free, prior and informed consent; the Committee recommended the State party to review this practice and make sure that intersex children were mature enough to be consulted on preferred treatments on the basis of their informed choices and consent.
Pakistan: the Committee noted that the State party was conducting the Basic Education Community Schools Programme (BECS) and that under this programme the number of so-called “low-fee” private schools had been drastically increasing throughout the country in the form of public-private partnership initiatives. It expressed concerns at the lack of proper assessments of the impact of the BECS and the public-private partnership initiatives on the right to education, the lack of effective regulation by the State party, at federal and provincial levels, of these low-fee private schools, the reportedly poor quality of education and teachers of these schools, the very high non-fee expenses of these schools as well as the reinforcement of the social segregation in education by this privatisation of education.
Sri-Lanka: the Committee expressed concerns at discrimination against LGBTI persons which was widespread, including in law enforcement, employment, health care, housing and education. It urged the State party to amend the Penal Code with a view to decriminalising consensual same-sex conduct and recommended that the State party take urgent steps to combat and prevent violence against LGBTI persons including developing and implementing training programs to educate and sensitise law enforcement, teachers, healthcare workers and public sector employees on LGBTI-related issues.
The Concluding Observations for Uruguay are not yet available in English.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) held its 67th session in July and reviewed the compliance of eight countries with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women:
Barbados: the Committee noted with concern the high rate of school dropout among adolescent girls at the secondary level of education, often due to early pregnancy, the compulsory expulsion from schools of pregnant girls after 5 months of pregnancy, and the wide use and acceptance of corporal punishment in schools. It recommended the State party ensure that pregnant women and girls may remain at school after the fifth month of pregnancy and that young mothers can return to school following childbirth; and to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment at school and ensure that the prohibition of corporal punishment is adequately monitored and enforced.
Costa Rica: the Committee expressed concerns at the criminalisation of abortion in cases of rape, incest or severe foetal impairment, and the inaccessibility of quality post-abortion care and noted the barriers to women’s and adolescent girls’ access to modern forms of contraception. It recommended the State party to amend the Penal Code to legalise abortion in cases of rape, incest, or severe foetal impairment and to decriminalise abortion in all other cases as well as providing women with access to quality post-abortion care. It also recommended the State to conduct awareness-raising campaigns about modern forms of contraception and ensure women’s and adolescent girls’ access to safe and affordable contraception, in particular in rural and remote areas.
Italy: commending the State party for its remarkable and sustained efforts to rescue at sea, receive, host and provide protection and assistance to high numbers of persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution, the Committee was nonetheless concerned about the lack of a comprehensive and harmonised framework, including for the identification of and assistance to individuals with specific needs and vulnerabilities, especially women and girls. It recommended the State party put in place gender-appropriate, culturally and age-sensitive individual screening and assessment procedures.
Montenegro: the Committee was concerned that the legal minimum age of marriage of was 16 years and that a significant number of girls were victims of child marriage, forced marriage, forced cohabitation with adult men or sexual exploitation. It urged the State party to identify, rescue and protect victims of forced cohabitation or child and/or forced marriage as well as those exposed to sexual exploitation following their marriage and to strictly enforce the prohibition of forced cohabitation or child and/or forced marriage in particular in cases of further sexual exploitation of the victim, as well as adequately prosecute and sanction perpetrators of such acts. The Committee also recommended to raise the minimum age for marriage to 18.
Niger: the Committee was concerned at the situation of displaced women and girls being at risk of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as early and forced marriage, human trafficking, forced prostitution and abduction by terrorist groups for use in suicide bombings and sexual slavery. It recommended the State party establish a specialised mechanism to investigate allegations of human rights violations and acts of violence by security forces and terrorist groups, with particular attention to gender-based violence and other rights violations perpetrated against women and girls, bringing perpetrators to justice and ensuring compensation and rehabilitation for victims.
Nigeria: the Committee was concerned that sexual exploitation, including “transactional sex”, was reportedly taking place in camps for internally displaced persons, particularly in Maiduguri, and that girls and children born out of rape and sexual slavery committed by Boko Haram insurgents were subject to stigma and social isolation. It also expressed concerns about the blanket arrest and detention of women and girls suspected to have been radicalised or associated with Boko Haram insurgents. The Committee recommended the State party ensure that counter-terrorism measures employed by the military and law enforcement authorities, including de-radicalisation programmes, respect women’s rights to dignity and comply with the provisions of the Convention.
Romania: the Committee expressed concerns at high rates of teenage pregnancy, the absence of mandatory age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the school curriculum, and the lack of training of teachers in this field. It recommended the State party introduce such mandatory age-appropriate education in school curricula, including education on modern forms of contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, on the risks of unsafe abortion, and on the criminal nature of sexual violence and gender-based violence.
Thailand: the Committee remained concerned that the Section 277(5) of the Criminal Code allows courts to use their discretion to reduce the sentence of the offender of rape on a child below 15 years of age, and that girls as young as 13 who are sexually abused can still be legally married to the perpetrator. The Committee recommended the State party amend Section 277(5) of the Criminal Code to ensure that the minimum age of marriage is established as 18 years for both girls and boys throughout the State party and take all necessary measures to eliminate child and/or forced marriage in practice.
Call for inputs on the OHCHR’s report on protecting the rights of the child in humanitarian situations: deadline 8 September 2017
Call for inputs for the OHCHR’s report on the relationship between the realisation of the right to work and the implementation of relevant targets in the Sustainable Development Goals: deadline 30 September 2017
Call for inputs for the report of High Commissioner - "Civil society space in multilateral institutions": deadline extended 30 September 2017
Call for comments from the Human Rights Committee on the draft General comment on the right to life (article 6): deadline 6 October 2017
Call for inputs for the report on Sustainable Development Goals and Health: deadline 16 October 2017
Human Rights Committee: 18 September for the review of Australia, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Jordan, Mauritius and Romania.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: 2 October for the review of Burkina Faso, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Guatemala, Israel (simplified reporting procedure), Kenya, Kuwait, Monaco, Nauru, Norway, Oman, Paraguay, and Singapore.
Committee against Torture: 9 October for the review of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Italy, Mauritius, Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Timor-Leste
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THE LAST WORD
Is the UN playing politics again?
The UN Secretary-General should be soon publishing his annual report on children and armed conflict together with the list of parties to conflicts who recruit, kill or maim children, commit sexual violence, abduct children and attack schools and hospitals. A report leaked from the office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, Virginia Gamba, earlier this month recommended that Saudi Arabia be placed back on the list of countries that kill and maim children in war, for the many grave violations of children’s rights committed last year by the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.
Civil society groups have also called on Guterres to publish an accurate and credible list of parties to armed conflict, after reports that he was planning to “freeze” new additions to the blacklist, and others specifically called for Saudi Arabia to be put back on the list, arguing that it was only removed from last year’s report after the exertion of political pressure.
The final decision to put Saudi-Arabia back on the so-called “list of shame” will be made by UN Secretary-General António Guterres himself. Let’s just hope that this year, impartiality will rule the decision. Children’s lives depend on it.
Read more on the process of listing and delisting here and on the monitoring and reporting mechanism here.
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No country in the world fully meets the recommended breastfeeding standards: launch of a new UN initiative aiming to increase global breastfeeding rates, “the best possible start in life”.
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