CRINMAIL 1210
In this issue:
To view this CRINMAIL online, click here.
A call for information on Violence Against Children
The International NGO Advisory Council following up the UN SG’s Study on violence against children is calling for any recent (since 2006) research evidence of the scale and extent of violence against children.
DEADLINE: 31 March 2011
Four years after the report of the UN Secretary General’s Study on violence against children, the NGO Advisory Council wants to collect recent evidence of the extent and scale of all forms of violence against children, in the settings identified by the Study: the home and family, schools, care and justice systems, places of work and the community.
Please help us by identifying any relevant studies, published since summer 2006, if possible sending a copy electronically or providing a web link to the report/article and ensuring we have full references (if possible send reports in English, or if in other UN official languages, with an English summary).
Please feel free to pass this request to others, or to suggest others we should send it to.
We are interested in any studies, which provide information on the scale and extent of violence against children, in one or more countries. We are particularly interested in studies which involve interviews with children themselves.
The NGO Advisory Council intends to prepare a report summarising the studies it receives and submit it to the General Assembly in autumn 2011, hoping this will underline the urgency of prohibiting and eliminating all forms of violence against children and support follow-up to the Study’s recommendations.
Please send information to: [email protected]
For more details about the International NGO Advisory Council, click here.
For more information about the UNSG’s Study on violence against children, see: www.unviolencestudy.org
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Latest news and reports
Launch of the 56th session of the CRC
The 56th session of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is currently under way.
To read a summary of the session's opening by the NGO Group for the CRC, click here.
The Committee will release its Concluding Observations at the end of the 56th Session on 4February 2011.
Full details of the session will be included in the upcoming CRC CRINMAIL.
Civil society and human rights defenders
CIVICUS has released a report analysing recent global trends in clamp downs on civil liberties, identifying the effects of harsher security measures and legal and policy restrictions on civil society and human rights defenders. Download the report here.
On the same note, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, warned on her recent visit to India that “space for civil society is being contracted.” Her statement came after ample reports of cases of human rights abuses against human rights defenders and their families, which, she said, have highlighted weaknesses in the country's National Human Rights Commission. Full story.
Similarly, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that repression against human rights defenders in Vietnam escalated in 2010. In the past year, there has been a recorded increase in cases of intimidation, arrest, torture and imprisonment of bloggers, union members, and democracy campaigners, among others. Full story.
This report is included in HRW’s World Report for 2011, which also includes a chapter on the threat of attacks to students, teachers and schools in situations of armed conflict. Download the report here.
Protection from media & marketing dangers
The World Health Organisation has called for a worldwide reduction in television advertising that exposes children to marketing messages that promote unhealthy food and subsequently influence children’s food preferences. Full story.
This development follows a class-action lawsuit in the United States brought against the fast food giant, McDonald’s, by a mother-of-two who claims that the toys given out with Happy Meals as a marketing tool unfairly lure children into eating unhealthy food. Full story.
Excessive force?
Meanwhile, a United States Border Patrol agent is currently on trial for the use of excessive force that resulted in the death of a 15-year-old Mexican boy in El Paso, Texas. An FBI spokesperson reports that the boy ignored the verbal warnings against alleged rock-throwing at border agents. Yet the family of the victim claims that excessive force was used. Full story.
Renewed appeals in Côte d’Ivoire
The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, has released a statement urging Côte d’Ivoire and all State Parties to comply with signed agreements to refrain from recruiting children in armed conflict or committing other violations against them. Read the full statement here.
The statement comes after UNICEF urged Ivorian national and community leaders to make sure that children are not affected by the recent political violence in the country and that their access to public services such as health and education remains intact. Full story.
Implications for children’s rights?
The results of a nationwide referendum for the separation of Sudan have revealed that a staggering 99 per cent of South Sudanese voters are in favour of the split. Prior to the referendum, the country’s president, Omar al-Bashir said that if the secession were carried out, the north of Sudan would change its Constitution to make Sharia the only law. Here at CRIN we ask what implications this will have for children’s rights.
The Sri Lankan plight
The worst floods in Sri Lanka’s recent history have destroyed homes, schools and agricultural land, increasing the threat of malnutrition and other health problems, as well as a child labour crisis as children drop out of school to work. Full story.
Sri Lanka is also facing widespread impunity as the government has refused to investigate allegations of war crimes committed during the country’s civil war period. Read more here.
Child detention and abuse
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) has been monitoring cases of children in Bahrain who have been physically and sexually abused, abducted and arbitrarily arrested by national security forces during security crackdowns. BCHR also reveals that in the last crackdown, children made up 21 per cent of the total detainees. More on the situation.
Sexuality and freedom of information
The European Parliament is urging Lithuanian Members of Parliament to reject a draft law to criminalise the 'promotion of homosexual relations’. It follows the 2009 Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information, which in effect bans minors from accessing information on homosexuality. Full story.
Challenging social segregation
Roma and non-Roma families haven taken to the street in Cluj-Napoca, Romania to protest against the eviction of 270 Roma from their city-centre homes to the segregated Pata-Rat Romani settlement, some 18 kilometres away. Full story.
In a related case, in 2010 Portugal was brought before the European Committee of Social Rights for housing-related injustices of Roma in the country, including residential segregation of Romany communities and their subsequent social exclusion.
Call for Papers
The Research Forum for the Child at Queen’s University Belfast is inviting abstracts for its annual seminar on ‘Opportunities and Challenges - Implementing the CRC’. The deadline for submissions is 1 March 2011. For more details on submission criteria, click here.
Call for Nominations
The Jacobs Foundation would like to invite nominations of candidates for the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize 2011. The prize honours outstanding scientific contributions of individuals from all disciplines aiming to improve young people’s developmentworldwide, and who, at the same time have the potential to advance the field by actively conducting research. The prize is endowed with SwF 1 million. The deadline for nominations is 15 March 2011. For further information, click here.
Conference: “Quality in Alternative Care”, Prague, 4-6 April 2011
On 4-6 April 2011, an international conference on quality in alternative care, organised by SOS Children's Villages and various partners, will take place in Prague. The conference aims to identify ways to empower children and young people with alternative care experience, to promote the implementation of quality care standards and to identify changes needed to policy and practice to align them with international frameworks. The programme is out now and early bird fee is only until 4th February. More information and regular updates at www.quality-care-conference.com
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Employment
World Vision: Civil Society Project Coordinator
World Vision is seeking a Civil Society Project Coordinator to generate and drive World Vision’s strategic actions to build a child welfare reform coalition in CEE/CIS countries. The post is based in Nicosia, Cyprus, and the assignment period is 34 months, with an immediate start.
For further information regarding the position, and to apply online, click here.
Application deadline: 4 February 2011
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The Carter Center: Project Coordinator for Anti-Trafficking
The Carter Center is looking for a Project Coordinator for a child protection project in anti-trafficking, to be stationed in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. The assignment period is 13 months, starting as soon as possible.
To apply, email a CV with the names of two unrelated referees and a contact telephone number during working hours to Sophie Borel Ghosn, Field Office Director at [email protected] quoting reference PC/Katanga/2011
For further details about the position, visit: http://www.cartercenter.org/about/careers/index.html
Application deadline: 9 February 2011
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European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC): Executive Director
The ERRC is inviting applications for the post of Executive Director who will be responsible for providing the strategic and management leadership necessary to enable the ERRC to fulfill its mission of promoting respect for and protection of the fundamental human rights of Roma across Europe.
Applicants should submit via email a letter of interest (up to 500 words) indicating why they are qualified for the position, a full CV, and the names of two referees who may be contacted before interviews are held to: [email protected]
For further details on the post and application procedure, visit: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=3803
Application deadline: 5 March 2011
Jargon of the week: **Complementarity**
While the use of the term "complementarity" is increasingly common in children's rights reports, it does little to complement our work.
In the context of human rights, "complementarity" is most often used to describe a very complex legal principle which basically means that you shouldn't have two separate legal proceedings happening about the same events at the same time. This use is certainly legitimate, but is very limited in scope and only appropriate for those specific audiences who are quite likely already familiar with the term. More recently, however, "complementarity" has been showing up in reports simply to indicate that two different areas might have common ground or generally be worth thinking about together. In reality, it merely serves to confuse readers and make your ideas sound more complicated than they are.
Most often, you can solve this problem by just deleting the word "complementarity" from your vocabulary. It will only seem natural to your readers to look for the common threads between the different topics you address, and you may be surprised to notice that ditching "complementarity" doesn't at all change the meaning of your sentences. For example, it will give readers the same sense of what you'll be addressing whether you entitle your report "The Complementarity of Children's Rights and Education in National Laws" or simply "Children's Rights and Education in National Laws."
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