3 November 2005 - CRINMAIL 727
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- UN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM: Reform of Commission on Human Rights [debate]
- ISLAMIC WORLD: First Ministerial Conference on the Child [event]
- MEXICO: Juvenile Justice System to be Reformed [news]
- CHILD ABUSE: World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse [event]
- EMPLOYMENT: Plan International - Children in Scotland [job postings]
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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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- UN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM: Reform of Commission on Human Rights [debate]
The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) is seeking views from non-government organisations on how a new Human Rights Council replacing the Commission on Human Rights should work.
Heads of State and Government of the members of the United Nations (UN) met in New
York on 14 to 16 September 2005 for the World Summit. One of the most important decisions of the Summit was to create a Human Rights Council. It is well accepted that this new body will replace the Commission on Human Rights. The Outcome Document adopted at the Summit provides that the Council will have a mandate to address violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations. However, most of the details about the mandate, size, and composition of the Council were left to be decided by the General Assembly during its 60th session. The negotiations on these issues have begun in New York and are at present expected to take place at least until mid-December 2005.
The International Service for Human Rights believes there is momentum for the establishment of a body better equipped to protect and promote human rights world-wide, and want to contribute the views of locally based NGOs to the debate. The ISHR therefore needs help in providing a better understanding of what NGOs need and want from a Human Rights Council.
The ISHR invites concerned NGOs to complete a questionnaire (available in Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese) and return it by email or fax preferably by 15 November 2005. On the basis of answers received, the ISHR will do an initial collation and analysis of the information. However, they will continue to receive answers to the questionnaire until 30 November 2005 and a full analysis will be done subsequently and will be available on their website: http://www.ishr.ch.
For more information, contact:
International Service for Human Rights
1 Rue Varembé, PO Box 16, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 733 51 23; Fax: + 41 22 733 08 26
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.ishr.ch
To access the questionnaire, visit:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6485
To read the World Summit 2005 Outcome Document, go to:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6484
For further information on the background and status of the negotiations, go to:
http://www.reformtheun.org
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- ISLAMIC WORLD: First Ministerial Conference on the Child [event]
Date: 7-9 November 2005
Location: Rabat, Morocco
The First Ministerial Conference on the Child will be held in Rabat, on 7-9 November, in co-operation and co-ordination between the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the Secretariat of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
The conference comes to implement a resolution issued by the tenth Islamic Summit Conference, held in Malaysia in 2003, entrusting the Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation with the convening of First Ministerial Conference on the Child, jointly with UNICEF, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Ministers in charge of child affairs in the OIC 57 Member States will attend the conference. They will review the situation of children in the Islamic world, confirm the universality of the Islamic perception to the child issues and draw more attention to the need to allocate adequate budgets to improve the situation of the child in the Islamic world. The conference will also explore the ways to promote the exchange of views and expertise on child-related issues among Member States, and at the level of the international community.
The conference aims to improve the performance of specialised institutions and bodies working in the field of childhood in the Islamic world, and activate the mechanisms of co-operation among them, by sharing expertise, exchanging meetings, unifying goals and identifying priorities.
On the fringe of the conference, participating experts and researchers will hold four round tables on the following topics: AIDS combating and health, quality of education and culture, promotion of institutional frameworks and partnerships, mobilising resources, and protection of the child.
Will also take part in the conference 25 international and regional organisations concerned with child issues in the world, along with experts in the fields of education, social care, health and culture of the child.
The Ministers will submit reports on the efforts exerted by the Member States in the promotion of child issues, as well as on the implementation of UNICEF's programmes geared to children.
The first Islamic Ministerial Conference on the Child will issue "the Declaration of Rabat", in the light of the report entitled "Investing the Children of the Islamic World", which has been prepared in co-operation between ISESCO, UNICEF and the Secretariat of the OIC.
For more information, contact:
Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
Avenue Attine, Hay Ryad BP 2275
C.P 10104, Rabat, Morocco
Tel: + 212 37 77 24 33; Fax: + 212 37 77 74 59
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.isesco.org.ma
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6278&flag=event
To read the report "Investing in the Children of the Islamic World", go to:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6277
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- MEXICO: Juvenile Justice System to be Reformed [news]
[October 2005] - Mexico's juvenile justice system is to undergo major reforms, according to a statement released this month by Angélica de la Peña Gómez, President of the Special Commission for Children.
The proposed reforms consider the institutionalisation of young people as a last resort and a measure which can only be taken for young people over the age of 14. It also considers alternative measures for offenders such as social work.
The reform of Article 18 of the Constitution aims to bring the states' different laws for young offenders under a single law which takes as its framework the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by Mexico in 1990. The states have nine months to implement the transition to the new model, which will mean creating new laws and institutions.
Each state will be able to adapt the law according to its specific circumstances. The Commission also seeks budgetary support to implement the measures, "We are trying to convince the government that this is not an expense but an investment", said De la Pena.
According to Mauricio González Oviedo, Public Policy Officer for UNICEF, Mexico, it is "mainly the poor who pass through the juvenile justice system. He says the system is discriminatory; it does not consider the social context of individuals and mixes young people who have committed serious crimes, such as murder, with those who have committed minor offences".
This mixture is "an explosive cocktail", according to De la Peña, which creates more young criminals. For this reason, she says it is necessary to categorise the different types of crime and take proportional measures. Recidivism is "the fiercest critic" of the current system, she says. Out of 3, 506 minors imprisoned in 2003, 812 re-offended, according to government statistics.
This follows the news of Argentina's proposed reforms to the juvenile justice system last month, see: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6486
[Source: Cimacnoticias]
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- CHILD ABUSE: World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse [event]
Date: 19 November 2005
Child abuse, especially sexual abuse, is a universal and alarming problem and increased attention and efficient protection skills and prevention measures are necessary at family, local, national and international level.
Alerting Governments and civil society organisations to play a more active role in the promotion of and respect for the rights of the child and contribute to the prevention of child abuse, the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) launched in 2000 the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, a Day to be commemorated every 19 November in synergy with the anniversary of the International Day for the rights of the child (20 November) which has as its objective to be a rallying point around the issue of child abuse and the need for urgent effective prevention programmes.
To make the Day a global call for action, WWSF launched in 2001 an international NGO coalition that marks the World Day with appropriate events and activities to focus on and increase prevention education. The main purpose of the NGO Coalition is to contribute to the creation of a culture of prevention of child abuse and form a global partnership network to raise awareness, mobilise public opinion and action, and disseminate prevention programmes.
To join the Coalition, members commit to mark the Day with local and national events and activities; mention the Day in their publications and on their websites; distribute posters, educational programmes and information; create partnerships with local organisations working for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child, alert the press and radio stations, inform local authorities of the existence of the Day and planned activities, and lobby governments for official proclamation of the Day as a National Day.
For more information, contact:
Laure Maitrejean, Children's Section Co-ordinator
WWSF Women's World Summit Foundation
PO Box 2001, 1211 Geneva 1, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 738 66 19; Fax: + 41 22 738 82 48
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.woman.ch
Visit: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=6488
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- EMPLOYMENT: Plan International - Children in Scotland [job postings]
* CHILDREN IN SCOTLAND: time Senior Development Officer
Children in Scotland is at the heart of Scotland's largest network dedicated to improving the lives of children and their families. Enquire, Scotland's national advice service for additional support for learning based at Children in Scotland in Edinburgh, requires a part-time Senior Development Officer to contribute to the development and promotion of the service by taking the lead in marketing and publicity, quality assurance and publications, and by overseeing staff training. This post carries line management responsibilities. Secondment would be considered.
Application deadline: 11 November 2005
For more information, contact
Children in Scotland
Princes House, 5 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RG, Scotland
Tel: + 44 131 222 2402; Fax: + 44 131 228 8585
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.childreninscotland.org.uk
* PLAN INTERNTIONAL: Team Leader, Pakistan Response
Plan, one of the world's largest NGOs, is an international humanitarian, child-centred development organisation. In Pakistan, Plan works with and for children and poor communities around health, learning, habitat, livelihood and promotion and protection of children's rights. As a response to the recent earthquake that struck Pakistan, Plan is providing emergency response and at the same time is committed to a longer term development work in Manserah District.
Plan in Pakistan is in need of a Team Leader who will be responsible for the overall guidance and management of Plan's immediate and long-term response to the earthquake. He/she will ensure that the children's rights and welfare come first. Specifically the Team Leader will be responsible for representing Plan, collaborating with the international and local community, developing and maximising local capacity, developing proposals for funding and working towards restoration and long term sustainability of basic services and livelihoods in the affected areas.
Application deadline: 30 November 2005
For more information, contact:
Tiamta Prasai, Plan International - HQ
Chobham House, Christchurch Way
Woking, Surrey GU12 1JG, UK
Tel: + 44 1483 755 155; Fax: + 44 1483 756 505
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.plan-international.org
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