CRINMAIL 1182:

In this issue:

The 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa, the first to be hosted on African soil, presented the opportunity for 32 competing countries to showcase their talents on the world's greatest sporting stage. But what about off the pitch?

With the tournament now drawing to a close, CRIN have conducted their very own tournament. CRIN, as official referees, have created a points system judging the countries not on their ability to score goals, but based on how they uphold - or not - a number of children's rights.

The competing countries will be awarded points for positive actions in adhering to the selected issues CRIN have identified, and given 'offside' and deducted points for failings. In line with the tournament in South Africa, CRIN will be issuing yellow and red cards to countries guilty of foul play.

The rules of the game

Countries will be judged on the following issues: a) level of support towards the CRC complaints mechanism, b) ratification of the OPAC and OPSC, c) reservations or declarations to the CRC, d) judgement against them in a regional mechanism, e) a ban on corporal punishment in all settings, f) existence of a children's ombudsperson, g) submission of alternative reports to the Committee, h) submission of questionnaire for the violence study, I) number of children's rights recommendations rejected in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), J) children's right to vote, and finally, k) right of the child to be heard in child protective proceedings.

The 32 competing countries

France and Italy arrived in South Africa with strong footballing pedigrees, however it wasn't long before their ageing squads were exposed and they departed with their tales between their legs to face their disgruntled public back home. President Sarkozy of France proceeded to set up an enquiry into the team's disastrous showing, appointing himself as Chair. You could be forgiven for thinking Sarkozy had more important matters to attend to, not least assessing France's failure to submit a questionnaire for the Violence Study. France were not the only country failing to submit a questionnaire to the violence study, with Cote D'Ivoire, Greece and North Korea also guilty.

Sarkozy could also be spending his time more wisely reassessing his country's threat to remove its children's ombudswoman from its duties. Indeed, other notable countries who are yet to establish such an institution, include their European neighbours, Italy and the Netherlands. Italy certainly have had plenty of time to consider this due to their inept showing in South Africa, and subsequent early exit.

Never far from the headlines

The much hyped England team got off to a disastrous start with the goalkeeper calamitously letting a ball slip through his legs. With the UK's ambivalent stance towards banning all forms of corporal punishment, unlike many European neighbours, you wonder if the poor goalkeeper will get a slap on his return home. Luckily for him though, he is over 18, so it would be illegal. Only a quarter of the teams competing in the world cup have banned all forms of corporal punishment.

Cote D'Ivoire, managed by a Swede, disappointed in the tournament and indeed were docked points in CRIN's tournament for failing to ratify the OPAC and OPSC. Nigeria's President, who recently announced that the team would be withdrawing from international competition for two years to address the country's footballing decline, may also want to consider spending more of his time focussing on his country's human rights record, in particular considering ratifying the two CRC Optional Protocols.

Ghana, fast becoming famous for their particularly flamboyant goal celebrations, took the World Cup by storm. If only the English had played with more of a smile on their faces! Perhaps Ghana's coach, who happens to be Serbian, could generate some interest in his adopted country to ratify the Optional Protocols to the CRC and furthermore show more support for the complaints mechanism of the CRC. North Korea and Cameroon were the two countries, competing in the World Cup, who were also penalised for their failure to ratify the Optional Protocols.

Holding on for too long

Australia, comprehensively beaten by an impressive German team in the opening game, had a poor world cup. They were also caught out in CRIN's World Cup due to their failure to remove existing reservations to the CRC. Other countries 'caught offside' for their failure to remove reservations included Algeria, who humbled England in the group stages, Argentina, who's famous manager (Maradona) threatened to dance naked through the streets of Buenos Aires if his team triumphed in South Africa, and Japan amongst others.

Spain and the surprise package of the World Cup, Uruguay, were both awarded penalties in CRIN's Cup for declaring, upon ratification, that the CRC did not go far enough in protecting children's involvement in armed conflict. However, after consultation with the linesman, the decisions for both countries were overturned. Uruguay's penalty was overturned on the grounds of evidence of ill treatment of children in detention. Spain's reversal was due to their treatment of unaccompanied migrant children in emergency shelters.

Not listening

North Korea, the rank outsiders in the competition, met Brazil in their opening fixture and defied all predictions to put in a credible performance. Contrasting the two countries records on children's rights proved far less competitive. In one respect, North Korea matched Brazil on the grounds they permit children under the age of 18 to vote, a legal entitlement also matched by Germany, Serbia, Slovenia and the US. In some cases, the right to vote came with limitations.

However, North Korea held the unwanted award for the highest number of children's rights recommendations rejected (7 in total) in their initial Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Some of the other countries to reject recommendations in the UPR include: the UK, Slovakia, Italy and Cote D'Ivoire, who rejected the following recommendation from Belgium: "Grant investigative competencies to the National Committee to combat violence against women and children created in 2000".

After they leave the stadium

South Africa, the host country, fought valiantly in their three group stage matches, however their efforts did not secure their passage through to the next round. Despite thousands of South Africans attending and enjoying the World Cup, when it came to assessing civil society's engagement in the CRC reporting process, a different picture emerged. South Africa had the lowest number of alternative reports submitted of all the countries competing in the World Cup.

Chile, Argentina, France, Netherlands, Germany, Mexico and the UK all fared well in terms of the number of reports submitted. Mexico's strong showing in civil society engagement was tarnished by its ignoring of an Inter American Court's ruling in relation to the recent wave of murders in the country of women, including girls.

Why don't you listen to me?

Algeria, North Africa's sole representative in the World Cup, alongside five other countries, Cote D'Ivoire, Denmark, Germany, Honduras and Spain, were the only countries to fully adhere to the right of the child to be heard in the child protective proceedings. A sizable group of countries listened to the child's opinion but only in certain circumstances. Where as Ghana, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, North Korea, Slovenia, and the United States were deducted tournament points for failing to uphold this right in such proceedings.

Final results

Before the final results are announced for the CRIN World Cup 2010, we would like to emphasise that this was done in the spirit of the World Cup. We are not trying to be exact in our analysis, but have used this opportunity to highlight some areas of our work.

In line with the unpredictable nature of the official World Cup being staged in South Africa, CRIN's very own World Cup has thrown up some surprising results. Less surprising was the news that North Korea finished the tournament at the bottom of the pile, their record on children's rights further tarnished with a straight red card issued for being the only country with a mandate at the Human Rights Council. Ghana, despite their flamboyant goal celebrations on the football field, fared equally poorly as North Korea, but managed to avoid the dreaded red card. The United States weren't too far behind in the points table, with any chance of a comeback dashed by a straight red card for being one of only two countries in the world not to have ratified the CRC.

At the top of the leader board, Spain and Uruguay grew as the tournament progressed, only to be undone by glaring abuses. Honduras gave a surprisingly strong showing, before being eliminated with a straight red card following their suspension from the Organisation of American States. This left a group of front runners, including Denmark, Brazil, Germany, Serbia and Portugal to claim the honours.

We wait to see how the countries fare in four years time at the next CRIN World Cup.

• CRC Complaints Mechanism
• OPSC and OPAC Ratifications   
• CRC Reservations and Declarations
• Regional Mechanisms 
• Corporal Punishment   
• Children's Ombudsperson
• CRC Alternative Reports   
• Violence Study  
• Universal Periodic Review
• Right to Vote 
• Right of the child to be heard

Algeria   Argentina   Australia   Brazil   Cameroon   Chile

Cote D'Ivoire   Denmark   France   Germany   Ghana

Greece   Honduras   Italy   Japan   Mexico   Netherlands

New Zealand   Nigeria   North Korea   Paraguay   Serbia

Slovakia   Slovenia   South Africa   Spain   Switzerland

United Kingdom   Uruguay   United States

Children and Health

 A Campaign for sexual & reproductive health for young people was recently launched by Pathfinder International. Entitled '3 Billion Reasons', the campaign calls upon the international donor community and developing country governments to act now to protect and promote the sexual and reproductive rights and health of the world's 3 billion young people.

Later this month, the world's attention should turn to Vienna, as it will be the host of this year's World AIDS Conference. The event takes place every two years and is the biggest gathering of scientific, community and government leaders, UN agencies, donors and the general public committed to finding solutions to end the pandemic. Over 25,000 participants from more than 100 countries around the world are expected to attend, many of these will hopefully be young people. Visit the youth website.

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 Child protection and the United Nations

 In last week's CRINMAIL on children and drug use we highlighted the recent report by Human Rights Watch regarding the abuse children have suffered in a Cambodian drug detention centre funded by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

In response to the report, UNICEF issued a statement saying they were very concerned about the findings of the report and have taken the allegations of abuse very seriously. The statement details some of the steps they have taken, including bringing the allegations directly to the relevant ministries and conducting their own investigation. Read the full statement, click here

 On a more positive note, the United Nations launched its first compilation of the best practices of its staff to prevent, deter and respond to the use of rape as a war tactic.

From peacekeepers in Darfur escorting women and girls to prevent "firewood rapes" to blue helmets in Kosovo setting up an emergency hotline for at-risk communities and lone women, the United Nations launched its first compilation of the best practices of its staff to prevent, deter and respond to the use of rape as a war tactic."This is practical information to move from words to deeds," the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, told the UN News Centre on the sidelines of the launch of the booklet, Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence-An Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice.

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Justice at last?

UK: A victory for child protection

After three years of secrecy and resistance, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) has agreed to hand over the instructors' manual which governs the use of physical restraint in the country's four privately-run child prisons. This victory for child protection comes days before the YJB and Ministry of Justice were set to argue at an Information Tribunal appeal hearing that handing over the document would pose a serious risk to prison security and public safety. The YJB was appealing against an order by the Information Commissioner in December 2009 that the document be given to the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE). It has now withdrawn its appeal, days before the hearing.

Mexico: Civilian prosecutors should investigate killings of two children

The Mexican National Human Rights Commission's finding that military authorities mishandled an inquiry into the killing of two children by soldiers underscores the need to stop relying on the army to investigate its own abuses, Human Rights Watch said recently.

In a report released on June 16, 2010, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) found that the Mexican military was responsible for the deaths of Brian and Martin Almanza, ages 5 and 9, and the wounding of five others, in an incident near Matamorros, Tamaulipas, on April 3. The commission also found that the military had interfered with evidence at the scene of the crime.

To read the full story by Human Rights Watch, click here

Jobs

NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child - Child Rights Officer

The NGO Group is recruiting a Child Rights Officer to join its small and dedicated secretariat in Geneva. The ideal candidate will be passionate about supporting national NGOs and children to effectively monitor and implement the CRC, have good political sense, be hard working and have excellent drafting skills.

To find out more about the post and how to apply, please refer to the job advert.

The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers - Head of Regional Programmes

The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, an international child rights organisation, seeks a dynamic experienced professional to direct its regional programmes, set priorities and manage staff to implement effective country/regional strategies. You will lead the Coalition's work in Africa and Asia, developing new country and thematic work and contribute to developing policy and organisational strategies.

Application deadline: 25 July 2010

JARGON OF THE WEEK

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