17 November 2005 - CRINMAIL 731
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- CHILD RIGHTS: Universal Children's Day - Child Abuse Prevention Day [events]
- UN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM: Reform of Commission on Human Rights [petition]
- TUNISIA: Government Human Rights Abuses in the Run up to WSIS [publication]
- CITIZENSHIP: World Congress on Childhood and Adolescence's Rights [event]
- EUROPE: Information Management to Strengthen NGO Advocacy [seminar]
- CHILD TRAFFICKING: Report of the Special Rapporteur's visit to Greece [news]
- SMALL ARMS: An Effective Framework for Action [call for participation]
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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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- CHILD RIGHTS: Universal Children's Day - Child Abuse Prevention Day [events]
Universal Children's Day: 20 November 2005
World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse: 19 November 2005
On 20 November, the world will celebrate Universal Children's Day, a day of activities devoted to promoting the welfare of all children in the world. The date 20 November marks the day on which the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.
This Day will therefore also mark the 16th anniversary of the Convention. The Convention was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989, and came into force on 2 September 1990. It is the most universally accepted human rights instrument in history, as it has been ratified by every country in the world except two: the United States and Somalia.
The previous day, 19 November, marks the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, which was launched in 2000 by the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF). Its objective is to be a rallying point around the issue of child abuse and the need for urgent effective prevention programs.
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.
For more information on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, visit:
http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/CRC.asp?catName=International+Tre...
For more information about the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, visit:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6488&flag=event
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- UN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM: Reform of Commission on Human Rights [petition]
Decisive negotiations are currently taking place at the General Assembly in New York around the creation of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which will replace the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. The UN is keen to involve non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the reform process.
At the initiative of the President of the 60th session of the General Assembly, Jan Eliasson, and the two co-chairs on the establishment of the HRC, the Commission on Human Rights will hold open-ended informal consultations on 22 November 2005 (10am - 1pm) at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva. On the same day, from 4-6pm, there will also be a meeting with NGOs on "The 2005 World Summit Outcome: follow-up and implementation".
The meeting will consist of a briefing by the President of the General Assembly and the two co-chairs on the on-going process of negotiations in New York regarding the modalities for the establishment of a Human Rights Council and in particular the transitional arrangements. An inter-active discussion will follow, with a possibility to make comments, put forward proposals and ask questions to the President and the co-chairs.
In addition, a letter to Jan Eliasson has been drafted and endorsed by a group of organisations and individuals concerned about the nature of a new Human Rights Council. NGOs and individuals interested in adding their signature to this joint HRC letter should contact Dokkhi Fassihian ([email protected]) or Peggy Hicks ([email protected]).
For more information on the consultations, contact:
Kate Hardie, Secretariat of the Commission
Tel: + 41 (0) 22 917 9256; Fax: + 41 (0) 22 917 9011
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6576
To read the NGOs' letter, go to:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6575
The International Service for Human Rights is seeking views from concerned NGOs on how a new Human Rights Council should work and invites them to complete a questionnaire.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6485
For general information on the Human Rights Council and the reform of the Commission on Human Rights, visit: http://www.crin.org/CHR/news
For background information on the status of the negotiations, go to:
http://www.un.org/reform
To read the UN Secretary-General's report "In Larger Freedom", visit:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6574&flag='news'
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- TUNISIA: Government Human Rights Abuses in the Run up to WSIS [publication]
[LONDON, 16 November 2005] - The Tunisian government's continuing clampdown on human rights defenders and its intolerance of domestic critics threatens to make a mockery of a major UN-sponsored international summit being held in Tunis this week, according to Amnesty International.
As delegates from many countries converge on Tunis to attend the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), the government of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali shows no signs of relaxing its grip and allowing Tunisians to speak openly about their hopes and aspirations for political and social change. On the contrary, the government is continuing to use both legal restrictions and unlawful strong-arm tactics to stifle dissent, intimidate and punish its critics and opponents, including a courageous group of human rights defenders.
The decision to hold the WSIS in Tunisia, when it was made several years ago, was a highly controversial one because of the government's poor human rights record. When it was confirmed, however, Amnesty International hoped like others that the Tunisian government would respond positively and do more to uphold its obligations to respect and protect human rights. But this has not happened. Instead, as Amnesty International details in a new report published on 14 November, in recent months the Tunisian government has increasingly turned the screw on its critics, using arrests and imprisonment, censorship and "smear" campaigns by the state-owned media and even physical attacks in the street.
Last Friday, 11 November, with the WSIS only days away, in an attack reminiscent of assaults carried out by Tunisian plain clothes security officers in the past, a French journalist was attacked in the street outside his Tunis hotel on the same day that he published a report critical of the Tunisian government's human rights policies in the French daily Libération. Then, on 14 November, Tunisian lawyer and human rights defender Radhia Nasraoui and two foreign journalists accompanying her were physically threatened and abused by plain clothes security officers, adding to fears for the safety of Tunisian human rights defenders and those who express solidarity with them.
In light of these developments, Amnesty International has called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who will attend the opening of the summit, to exert all possible influence on the Tunisian government to ensure the safety of human rights defenders and international delegates attending the WSIS. Amnesty International is also calling directly on the Tunisian president to mark the opening of the summit by ordering the immediate, unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and by taking other measures to ensure that all persons in Tunisia can freely "create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge" as required by the Declaration of Principles agreed at an earlier session of the WSIS.
To read the press release in full, visit:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6579
To read Amnesty International's report "Tunisia: Human rights abuses in the run up to the WSIS", visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6580
For more information on WSIS, go to:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6225
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- CITIZENSHIP: World Congress on Childhood and Adolescence's Rights [event]
Date: 21 - 25 November 2005
Location: Lima, Peru
The Second World Congress on Childhood and Adolescence's Rights will take place next week in Peru; it will focus on "Children and Adolescents' citizenship: their rights' requirement from the approach of human rights and development".
Children and adolescents' citizenship is a source of many debates in several academic disciplines. Thus it generates opportunities for children to express their own self-perception as holder of rights and responsibilities. This is a path for participation in the society that they belong to and in which they play their role in the psychological, social, cultural, economic and as well juridical contexts.
Therefore, the discourse on citizenship starting from early childhood puts an emphasis not only on political rights but also civil, social, economic and cultural rights, allowing children to claim for the fulfilment of these rights. The objective of this Congress is to create an opportunity to exchange experiences which could offer guidelines for an integral intervention pointing to the real fulfilment of children's rights.
The Congress is organised jointly by the Congreso de la República del Perú, the Comisión Nacional por los Derechos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes, COMETA (Compromiso desde la Infancia y Adolescencia), IFEJANT (Instituto de Formación para Educadores de Jóvenes, Adolescentes y Niños Trabajadores de América Latina y el Caribe) and the Fundación ANAR.
For more information, contact:
Flora Chalco, IFEJANT
Jr. Tomás Guido 257, Lima 14 (Lince), Perú
Tel: + 51 1 2655160; Tel: + 51 1 2661227
Email: [email protected]
Website for adults: http://www.iicongresomundialdeinfancia.org
Website for children: http://www.iicongresomundialnna.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6008
For information and daily news about the Congress, visit CRIN's news page at:
http://www.crin.org/congress05/index.asp
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- EUROPE: Information Management to Strengthen NGO Advocacy [seminar]
Date: 15-16 December 2005
Location: Brussels, Belgium
The European Foundation for Street Children World-wide (EFSCW) is organising a seminar on "European Union - information management to strengthen advocacy of NGOs working for excluded children and youth". The purpose of the event is to convey application-oriented knowledge for effective use of relevant EU-information sources, systems and techniques to strengthen advocacy work and targeted campaigning of social NGOs working for excluded children and youth.
The seminar addresses participants from social NGOs from Europe and beyond, working for child and youth protection, with a particular interest in European information strategies. All speakers will be communications experts, either direct representatives from European Institutions and NGOs, concerned with issues of social exclusion and poverty, or high-profile consultants with a special emphasis on social and humanitarian affairs.
The consultation will provide participants with the necessary knowledge and expertise for professional EU-information management, with a special focus on the fortification of their organisation's profile, position and repute with potential partners and the strengthening of your advocacy work.
For more information, contact:
Melanie Vritschan, Information and Public Relations Officer
European Foundation for Street Children World-wide (EFSCW)
Square Vergote 34, B - 1030 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: + 32 2 347 78 48; Fax: + 32 2 347 79 46
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.enscw.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6573&flag=event
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- CHILD TRAFFICKING: Report of the Special Rapporteur's visit to Greece [news]
[17 November 2005] - The UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, carried out an official visit to Greece from 8-14 November 2005 and met with representatives from the government, the Parliament, local authorities, the police and the judiciary. The Special Rapporteur also met with international organisations, NGOs, community centres, children's institutions and visited a detention centre for unaccompanied minors awaiting deportation.
This visit comes after a mission to Albania, undertaken from 31 October to 7 November. The purpose of visiting two neighbouring countries was to better understand trans-national dynamics of phenomena like child trafficking and migration flows of unaccompanied children.
Here are some of the Special Rapporteur's remarks on his visit to Greece
"Several achievements can be registered: relevant international instruments were ratified, some other are in the process of being ratified; new laws have been adopted on trafficking of human beings and on migration.
Nevertheless, even though the number of registered cases of child trafficking or child sexual exploitation that was reported to me may be relatively small, the institutional capacity to respond needs to be further improved.
There is still need to improve the coverage of social programmes with specialised staff with specific expertise to work with foreign unaccompanied minors, street children, and victims of trafficking. This was recognised by all actors I inter-acted with.
The protection of unaccompanied minors is to be improved. Although the Government is making efforts in this direction, in practice unaccompanied children are too often treated as adult illegal migrants. This is particularly concerning for more vulnerable categories of unaccompanied minors, such as victims of trafficking and asylum seekers, who may end up being deported without having had the possibility to access the protection measures they are entitled to.
The situation of Roma and Roma children is a concern. I visited a Roma settlement in which housing conditions and sanitation are just not acceptable. Access to health and education is limited or lacking and social programmes are not providing assistance to the community. The State should take specific measures to improve the living conditions and the possibilities of development of Roma communities to give to Roma children alternatives other than street work or prostitution as survival strategies for them and their families.
My last consideration relates to the lack of an overarching institutional set up for child protection. Institutional responsibilities are spread among different ministries without a co-ordinating entity. Such a co-ordinating body is very much needed to improve the institutional capacity to respond to the problems I referred to, together with specific measures such as specialised educators and social workers, outreach programmes, community centres, and resourced shelters.
The co-operation of NGOs in the implementation of these measures, which are to be framed in an overarching policy on children's rights and child protection, is an indispensable asset. An advisory board of civil society and public authorities to advice on the design of policies and on priority areas can be instrumental to give an institutional framework to the participation of civil society."
For more information, visit:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/children/rapporteur
To read the press release in full, visit:
http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=6577
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- SMALL ARMS: An Effective Framework for Action [call for participation]
The link between easy access to small arms and the abuse of children in armed conflicts is commonly understood. A stronger focus on the common ground between the two fields could provide benefits for current efforts to reinforce normative standards and make progress in implementation in specific situations.
On the side of Children and Armed Conflict, Security Council Resolutions 1460, 1539, and 1612 provide some useful tools for addressing the small arms issue. On the small arms side, a stronger focus on children and youth could motivate political support and strengthen specific provisions in the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
This agenda brings together the Children and Armed Conflict community and the Small Arms community. The Children and Armed Conflict Working Group (CACWG) of the Canadian Peace building Co-ordinating Committee is trying to advance this objective, and seeks suggestions on how to do this, with limited resources available. Anyone with interest in this area is asked to contact Kathy Vandergrift: [email protected]
On October 17, Ambassador Alan Rock (Canada's Permanent Representative to the United Nations) hosted a forum at the UN, based on a paper published by World Vision International and discussed at a Children and Armed Conflict Working Group event: "Small Arms, Children, and Armed Conflict: An Effective Framework for Action."
To read the report, visit:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6443 (English)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=6476 (French)
To know more about the Children and Armed Conflict Working Group of the Canadian Peace building Co-ordinating Committee, visit:
http://www.peacebuild.ca/working/?load=children
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