4 October 2005 - CRINMAIL 718 - Special Edition on the 40th Session of the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child
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- COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: 40th Session Closed [news]
- COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Concluding Observations [reports]
- COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Country Summaries [news]
- DAY OF GENERAL DISCUSSION: Committee Issues Recommendations on Children without Parental Care [report]
- CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Alternative Reporting and Follow up on the Concluding Observations in Arab Countries [workshop]
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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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- COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: 40th Session Closed [news]
The Committee on the Rights of the Child concluded its fortieth session on Friday 30th September, and issued Concluding Observations on the situation of children in Australia, Algeria, Uganda, China, Finland, Denmark and the Russian Federation, whose reports on efforts to comply with the Convention on the Rights of the Child were considered during the session.
During the course of the session, the Committee also held its annual Day of General Discussion on Friday 16th September. This year's topic was "Children without Parental Care". The Committee has just issued its Recommendations which are based on the discussions that took place on that day.
The Committee's next session will be held in January 2006 at the Palais Wilson in Geneva. Scheduled for consideration are reports from Azerbaijan, Ghana, Hungary, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. In addition, Andorra, Italy, Kazakhstan and Morocco will submit reports under article 12 (1) of the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. Andorra, Bangladesh, Italy and Switzerland will submit reports under article 8 (1) of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.
For information about CRC session 40, visit:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs40.htm
For information about CRC session 41, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs41.htm
To read the Committee's Recommendations on Children without Parental Care, visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6262
(See below for more information)
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- COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Concluding Observations [reports]
The following Concluding Observations to the States parties reports considered at the 40th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child are available (in English) on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. French and Spanish versions are forthcoming.
* CHINA (including HONG KONG and MACAU):
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.15.Add.271new.pdf
Concluding observations on the report submitted by China under article 12(1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.OPSA.CO.2new.pdf
* UGANDA
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.15.Add.270.pdf
* RUSSIA
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.15.Add.274.pdf
* DENMARK
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.15.Add.273.pdf
Concluding observations on the report submitted by Denmark under article 8 (1) of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.OPAC.CO.4.pdf
* AUSTRALIA
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.15.Add.268.pdf
* FINLAND
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.15.Add.272.pdf
Concluding observations on the report submitted by Finland under article 8 (1) of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.OPAC.CO.3.pdf
* ALGERIA
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC.C.15.Add.269.pdf
For more information, contact:
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 917 9000; Fax: + 41 22 917 9022
Website: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc
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- COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Country Summaries [news]
A special news page (http://www.crin.org/CRCnews) devoted to the activities of the Committee on the Rights of the Child has been set up on the CRIN website in partnership with the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The page provides summaries of the Committee sessions by country (these are produced by the NGO Group and are posted on the page as they become available), UN press releases, NGO press releases, information on Days of General Discussion, Decisions, and other activities of the Committee.
The following country summaries are already available:
Australia: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6235
Algeria: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6241
Uganda: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6236
China: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6243
Hong Kong: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6244
Macao: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6245
The remaining summaries (Finland, Denmark, Russia) will be posted on that page as soon as they become available.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/CRCnews
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- DAY OF GENERAL DISCUSSION: Committee Issues Recommendations on Children without Parental Care [report]
The Committee on the Rights of the Child held a Day of General Discussion on Children without Parental Care on Friday 16th September. Participants from the Permanent Missions in Geneva, non-governmental organisations and international organisations were present. Among the experts addressing the issue were Committee Expert Rosa Maria Ortiz, who provided the key-note speech, Emanuel Sherwin of the International Foster Care Organisation, Annachiara Cerri and Bragi Gudbrandsson of the Council of Europe, and Alexandra Yuster of UNICEF.
Jaap Doek, the Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, introducing the discussion, said the Convention underscored the importance of parental care for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child. Children without parental care were very vulnerable human beings because their rights could easily be abused, including by trafficking and exploitation.
After hearing statements from experts, the participants divided into two Working Groups to discuss the role of States in preventing and regulating separation, and meeting the challenges of out-of-home care provision.
One of the principles that emerged from the discussions in the Working Groups was the individualisation of solutions for children without parental care, but there were a few obstacles standing in the way of this ideal path. There was a need for a National Family Plan to aid families, and not just from a palliative point of view, but also from a prevention angle. Strategies and criteria to prevent institutionalisation should be established.
There was general agreement to draw up guidelines, basic principles, standards or guiding principles with regards to the provision of care outside the immediate family to children, which was something that would be extremely helpful, beneficial and favourable for Governments, the various services delivering care, social workers, parents, families and children who were the subject of protection.
Mr. Doek, in brief concluding remarks, said that developing guidelines was a wide challenge, and given the current climate of the United Nations human rights field, the emphasis on implementation rather than investing time on fields that had already been tilled would have ultimately more concrete results. An open and consultative process was aimed for during the development of the guidelines, and this event had been the first major part of this. A very good start had been made, and the Committee hoped that with the support of UNICEF, States parties, international and national NGOs, it would succeed in developing guidelines that were helpful and practical for people on the ground.
The full document with all the recommendations is available at the following: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6262
For more information, contact:
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 917 9000; Fax: + 41 22 917 9022
Website: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc
Submissions and recommendations are available on the CRIN website at: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.40/Discussion.asp
Information about previous Discussion Days is available at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/discussion.htm
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- CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Alternative Reporting and Follow up on the Concluding Observations in Arab Countries [workshop]
A regional workshop on "The CRC, Alternative Reporting and Follow up on the Concluding Observations in Arab Countries" was held in Broumana, Lebanon last week (28 September to 1 October).
The programme explored the following questions: how can NGOs improve their participation in the reporting process? How can they better promote follow up, monitoring and advocacy using the Concluding Observations? How can they improve networking and coalition building to further improve the effectiveness of Alternative Report writing? The aim of the workshop was to share experiences and learning from the region, to explore the obstacles faced by NGOs in the reporting process and to find ways to improve practical action in the use of Concluding Observations in the future.
The workshop was organised jointly by the Arab Resource Collective (ARC), Lebanon, Save the Children Denmark and Save the Children Sweden and was attended by NGO representatives from six MENA countries (Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon and Tunisia). Also participating were representatives of the organisers, Professor Hatem Kotrane (CRC Committee member), the NGO Group for the CRC and CRIN.
Recurring themes in the workshop emphasised four key aspects of the reporting process: 1) the importance of continuous monitoring and data gathering between reporting; 2) the usefulness of child participation in reporting; 3) the strength of networks and coalitions in broadening the scope of Alternative Reports; and 4) the importance of using Concluding Observations as a tool and framework for monitoring and advocating for child rights in the region.
A full report of the outcomes of the workshop will soon be available on the CRIN website.
For more information, contact:
Samar Heider
Arab Resource Collective
PO Box 5916, 13 Beirut, Lebanon
Tel: + 961 (1) 742 075
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.mawared.org
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