04 August 2005 - CRINMAIL 701
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- SEXUAL EXPLOITATION: Joint Report by Special Rapporteurs [call for information]
- UN REFORM: Appeal for Active Civil Society Participation in the Proposed UN Human Rights Council [news]
- JUVENILE JUSTICE: Regional Forum for East and South-east Europe [call for applicants]
- CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: Teaching Module on The General Principles of the CRC [course]
- CASA ALIANZA: Secretary General [job posting]___________________________________________________________
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Your submissions are welcome if you are working in the area of child rights. To contribute, email us at [email protected]. Adobe Acrobat is required for viewing some of the documents, and if required can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html If you do not receive this email in html format, you will not be able to see some hyperlinks in the text. At the end of each item we have therefore provided a full URL linking to a web page where further information is available.
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- SEXUAL EXPLOITATION: Joint Report by Special Rapporteurs [call for information]
The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking of persons, especially women and children are requesting organisations to fill out a questionnaire on demand for services deriving from sexual exploitation.
The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Juan-Miguel Petit, is required to investigate the exploitation of children around the world and to submit reports on the findings to the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights, making recommendations for the protection of the rights of the children concerned. These recommendations are targeted primarily at Governments, other United Nations bodies and non-governmental organisations.
The role of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking of persons, especially women and children, Ms. Sigma Huda, includes taking action on violations committed against trafficked persons and on situations in which there has been a failure to protect their human rights. She undertakes country visits in order to study the situation in situ and formulate recommendations to prevent and or combat trafficking and protect the human rights of its victims in specific countries and/or regions, and submits annual reports on the activities of the mandate.
In an effort to increase cooperation, the two Rapporteurs are now preparing a joint report relating to sexual exploitation. They are therefore requesting information from academic, non-governmental and international organisations, including United Nations agencies, for the preparation of the joint report.
The questionnaires have been made temporarily available on the CRIN website in three languages at the following:
Français: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=5984
English: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=5983
Español: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=5981
For more information, contact:
Jan Arno Hessbruegge, Associate Human Rights Officer
Special Procedures Branch
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Tel: +41 22 917 9192; Fax: +41 22 917 9006
Email: [email protected]
Visit: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/children/rapporteur/
Visit: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/trafficking/
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- UN REFORM: Appeal for Active Civil Society Participation in the Proposed UN Human Rights Council [news]
[VIENNA, 3 August 2005] - With a month to go until a landmark summit devoted to UN reform begins, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) made an appeal to the world's governments to ensure that civil society groups can play an active role in the proposed UN Human Rights Council. This Council is due to replace the discredited UN Commission on Human Rights.
Together with other proposals for reforming the UN, the proposal to create a Human Rights Council will be considered at a special high-level meeting of the General Assembly, which is scheduled to take place in New York on 14-16 September 2005.
In the remaining period before this meeting, member states will continue to discuss various reform proposals in informal sessions. A revised draft outcome document of the September summit, which was released by the president of the General Assembly on 22 July, provides the basis for these discussions.
Under the current system, NGOs that enjoy consultative status with the Economic and Social Council under article 71 of the UN Charter may engage with the UN Commission on Human Rights in a variety of ways, such as attending sessions of the Commission, submitting written statements and making oral interventions.
These procedures have enabled NGOs to influence debate and decision-making in the Commission by, inter alia, providing independent and impartial information on the human rights situation in different regions, challenging assertions made by governments, bringing to light human rights problems otherwise neglected at the international level, drawing attention to emerging human rights issues, highlighting ethical and moral dimensions of prevailing human rights polices, and communicating grassroots views to member states.
The revised draft outcome document of the September summit recommends that the arrangements made for consultations with NGOs under the existing system be extended to the new Human Rights Council. The IHF welcomes this draft provision. The IHF believes, however, that it would be preferable not merely to maintain the current arrangements and the range of participation afforded to NGOs, but to extend their involvement in the new body still further.
This could be achieved, for example, by proposing that the new Council: (a) invite NGOs to participate in any panel discussions on key topics that it may organise; (b) consult NGOs on pivotal issues prior to Council sessions; and (c) brief NGOs regularly and exhaustively on all relevant developments.
Mechanisms such as these would undoubtedly be mutually beneficial and result in closer and more fruitful co-operation between the Council and civil society. Hence, the IHF urges the world's governments to back the concept of dynamic NGO involvement in the proposed Human Rights Council and to advocate including explicit language to this end in the final resolution of the September summit.
For more information, visit: http://www.ihf-hr.org/cms/cms.php?sec_id=47
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- JUVENILE JUSTICE: Regional Forum for East and South-east Europe [call for applicants]
Location: Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Date: 14-16 September 2005
The Institute for Penal Reform and UNICEF - Moldova are inviting representatives of NGOs and state authorities active in the field of Juvenile Justice to participate in a forum to contribute to the creation of a network in order to reform the juvenile justice system and exchange experiences within the region.
The programme will be divided into two parts: the first part will be dedicated to an outline of country reports. These will include among other things, an analysis of the situation in the field of juvenile justice, experience of NGOs working in the field, and legal and institutional framework of participants' countries of origin.
The second part will have presentations focusing on international standards in the field of juvenile justice, followed by a series of workshops that will try to determine the possibilities for amending national legislation within the context of international standards.
English and Romanian will be the working languages of the forum. Participants will be invited to do a short presentation on the juvenile justice system in their country. Participants should represent an NGO or state authority from the following target Countries: Republic of Moldova, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Belarus, Croatia, Slovenia, FRY Macedonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Yugoslavia.
Each applicant is invited to submit the application form (available below), a Concept Paper on the National Juvenile Justice System (700-1000 words), a CV and the organisation's experience (only for the representatives of NGO).
The Institute for Penal Reform will cover most expenses, including travel costs and accommodation.
Applicants are also invited to join the yahoo group of the Regional Forum [email protected]
Download the application form here: http://www.irp.md/Library/application_form.zip
Applications should be submitted by 10 August 2005.
For more information, contact:
Alexander Cocirta
Tel/Fax: +37322 212 313, +37369 365924
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.irp.md
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- CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: Teaching Module on The General Principles of the CRC [course]
Date: 5 - 10 September 2005
Location: University of Fribourg in Switzerland
This course is the third module which forms part of the Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights (MCR), a two year post-graduate training programme on children's rights. This 3rd Module will focus on the general principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In addition to the regular MCR students, a maximum of five persons will be accepted to participate at this module as a 'free auditor'. The fees to participate as a free auditor to Module 3 of the MCR amount to 1.500 CHF (app. 1.000 EUR / 1.000 USD). Deadline for applications 20 August 2005.
For more information, contact:
Sarah Bruchez
Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch (IUKB)
MAS in Children's Rights
P.O. Box 4176 - CH - 1950 Sion 4, Switzerland
Tel. +41 27 205 73 06 - Fax +41 27 205 73 01
E-mail: [email protected] - internet:www.iukb.ch/emcr
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=5997
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- CASA ALIANZA: Secretary General [job posting]
Deadline for application: 15 August 2005.
Casa Alianza Switzerland is an association of voluntary supporters for the NGO Casa Alianza that works with street children in Central America. The organisation is looking to recruit a tri-lingual Secretary-General to be based in Geneva.
Tasks will include developing fundraising strategies; such as adapting and promoting projects from the field for potential donors, collecting relevant information from the field; representing Casa Alianza towards international organisations, NGOs and policy-makers and establishing a communication strategy with the media. The SG will also coordinate the activities of the association and secretariat and support the teams of volunteers.
Qualifications include a minimum of two years experience in fundraising in the humanitarian field, a relevant degree or Masters, good knowledge of the network of international organisations and NGOs and experience in lobbying. The successful candidate will have excellent knowledge of French, Spanish and English, a capacity to work alone and with different bodies, and show initiative and be flexible and dynamic.
Please send your CV and letter of motivation to [email protected]
For more information, visit: http://www.casa-alianza.ch
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