17 January 2006 CRINMAIL 746
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- MEDIA AND HUMANITARIAN CRISES: Most underreported stories of 2005 [news]
- IRAN: Amnesty International calls for end to death penalty for child offenders [news]
- KENYA: Drought puts thousands of children at risk of starvation [news]
- COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: 62nd session and reform [UN event]
- CHILDREN AND VIOLENCE: Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights [course]
- EDUCATION: Child Rights, Classroom and School Management [course]
- EUROPE: Save the Children Brussels Office Newsletter [publication]
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MEDIA AND HUMANITARIAN CRISES: Most underreported stories of 2005 [news]
[NEW YORK, 12 January 2006] - Conflicts in Africa and global shortcomings in confronting the ravages of AIDS dominated a list published by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) of the most underreported humanitarian stories of 2005.
The list highlighted the lack of media attention paid to the human cost of fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), northern Uganda and the Ivory Coast and unrelenting crises in Somalia and southern Sudan.
"Media coverage can have a positive impact on relief efforts - just look at the nutritional crisis in Niger last year," said Nicolas de Torrente, executive director of the international medical aid organisation. "Although relief was far too late for many, the only reason aid efforts increased at all was the media attention at the peak of the crisis," de Torrente said.
According to Andrew Tyndall, publisher of the online media-tracking journal The Tyndall Report, the 10 stories highlighted by MSF accounted for just eight minutes of the more than 240 hours of nightly newscasts on the three US television networks in 2005.
In a year dominated by the war in Iraq and the Asian tsunami, only six minutes were devoted to conflicts in DR Congo and Chechnya. The remaining stories highlighted by MSF were not covered at all. Violence in the DRC, Haiti and Chechnya topped the list, which also included clashes in north-eastern India and civil conflict in Colombia.
"People all over the US tell us how much they want to show solidarity and do more to help others in crisis around the world. But how can they when a crisis is virtually invisible?" de Torrente said.
While acknowledging the regular coverage accorded to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, MSF focused on the media silence when it came to the near-total lack of research and development into new tools adapted for the most-affected patients.
One example cited by de Torrente was the absence of paediatric versions of easy-to-take antiretroviral drugs like those that exist for adults. "Without research and development into such medicines, hundreds of thousands of children will continue to die needlessly every year," he said.
Read the MSF press release.
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IRAN: Amnesty International calls for end to death penalty for child offenders [news]
[LONDON, 16 January 2006] - Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to take immediate steps to end the use of the death penalty for child offenders. Two new cases have been reported in which child offenders - persons under 18 at the time of the crime - have been sentenced to death by Iranian courts, in breach of Iran's obligations under international human rights law.
On 3 January, 18-year-old Nazanin was sentenced to death for murder by a criminal court, after she reportedly admitted stabbing to death one of three men who attempted to rape her and her 16-year-old niece in a park in Karaj in March 2005. She was seventeen at the time. Her sentence is subject to review by the Court of Appeal, and if upheld, to confirmation by the Supreme Court.
Another child offender, 19-year-old Delara Darabi, was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Rasht for a murder committed when she was 17 years old. She denied the killing but the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court at the beginning of January, though her lawyer is reportedly appealing the decision.
As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offence committed when they were under the age of 18. Nevertheless, Amnesty International has recorded 18 executions of child offenders in Iran since 1990. In 2005 alone, at least eight executions of child offenders were recorded.
The Iranian authorities have been reported for about four years to be considering passing legislation to ban the use of the death penalty for offences committed under the age of 18. Despite this, over the past two years, the number of child offenders executed has risen. Recent comments by a judiciary spokesperson suggest that the new law would in any case only prohibit the death penalty for certain crimes when committed by children, as he stated that "qisas" crimes (retribution - the sentence issued in cases where defendants are found guilty of murder) were a private, not a state matter. The majority of executions of child offenders in Iran are cases of "qisas" where the individual has been found guilty of murder.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors states' compliance with the CRC, in January 2005 urged Iran to immediately stay all executions of people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18, and to abolish the use of the death penalty in such cases.
On 9 December, Philip Alston, the United Nations Human Rights Commission's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said "At a time when virtually every other country in the world has firmly and clearly renounced the execution of people for crimes they committed as children, the Iranian approach is particularly unacceptable... It is all the more surprising because the obligation to refrain from such executions is not only clear and incontrovertible, but the Government of Iran has itself stated that it will cease this practice."
Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to prevent the executions of Delara Darabi and Nazanin and other child offenders, and to take urgent steps to abolish the death penalty for all child offenders in accordance with Iran's obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Read the article in full.
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KENYA: Drought puts thousands of children at risk of starvation [news]
[NORTH EASTERN PROVINCE, Kenya, 12 January 2006] - Thousands of children are facing starvation due to deepening drought in northern Kenya. The government is distributing food rations to communities in the worst-affected areas and is appealing to the international community for urgent aid to save the lives of an estimated 2.5 million people.
Malnourished children are especially vulnerable to diseases such as malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea. During a recent UNICEF-supported polio campaign, more than 80 per cent of children in the worst affected areas received vitamin A supplements to boost their immunity to disease. But with critical water shortages affecting over half a million people, poor sanitation and limited health services, conditions for children are worrying.
Farhia Ahmed, 25, her husband and their five children are part of a newly formed settlement of 450 people on the outskirts of Kotulo town in Mandera district. The family has been surviving on dry maize provided by relatives in the town. Farhia's 2-year-old son is visibly malnourished and has been suffering from diarrhoea. There are no toilets in the settlement and the nearest health facility is three kilometres away. "Unless it rains soon, my children will die," she says. But even if it rains immediately, recovery will take several months. Animal stocks have been greatly depleted and the surviving herds are weak.
Meanwhile, the lines at feeding centres for children under 5 are growing. Nooria Ibrahim, a nutritional officer at the Wajir District Hospital, says that since November 2005, six babies admitted to the hospital have died as a direct result of the drought. "Mothers travel for days to get here. When they arrive, the child is usually severely malnourished," she says. "We do what we can. Unfortunately, the hospital has very limited capacity. Sometimes we can not admit the children and we have to send the mother home with a bag of Plumpynut," a peanut butter-based food supplement.
In collaboration with the Kenyan government, and through non-governmental organisation partners such as Action Against Hunger and Merlin International, UNICEF is providing food supplements to hundreds of malnourished children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers in the hardest hit districts of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera. UNICEF is also providing emergency water and sanitation and support to rapid response teams.
It is estimated that more than a million people are currently receiving assistance, but Wajir's district's deputy drought management officer, Osman Yusuf, says much more is needed. "The combination of interventions - assistance from the government, NGOs and donors - are just a drop in the bucket," he says. "They do not even begin to address the magnitude of the crisis."
Read the article in full.
The UNICEF emergency officer for Somalia spoke to IRIN about the humanitarian emergency caused by widespread drought and food shortages in southern Somalia. Read excerpts from the interview here.
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COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: 62nd session and reform [UN event]
Dates: 13 March - 21 April 2006
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
The Commission on Human Rights held a meeting yesterday in which it elected its bureau for its 2006 session, to be held in March-April this year. Manuel Rodriguez Cuadros of Peru was elected as Chairperson by acclamation. The Vice-Chairpersons elected were Roger Julien Menga of the Congo; Zohrab Mnatsakanian of Armenia; and Paul Meyer of Canada. The Rapporteur elected was Sunu Mahadi Soemarno of Indonesia.
Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the discussion on the reform of the United Nations human rights system had evolved in a most significant manner, culminating with the World Summit and its outcome document.
Everyone eagerly awaited the outcome of the negotiations on the establishment of a Human Rights Council, which were currently taking place in New York. She strongly valued the Commission's heritage and believed that it should be honoured and carried forward in the most appropriate manner. She also very much hoped that the crucial and defining role that the Commission had had in the field of human rights for six decades would continue to be embodied in the newly-created Council.
Mrs. Arbour said she wished to highlight the crucial role played by the special mechanisms in past decades, a system which was developed by the Commission over the years and which should be transferred to the Human Rights Council when established. The new Council should rightly build on the achievements of the Commission, particularly in preserving and nurturing a particularly close relationship with civil society through national institutions and non-governmental organisations.
It should also be able to address human rights violations wherever there may occur and, in this connection, the setting up of a universal review system might prove to be a valuable tool in reducing the potential for polarisation and politicisation. Another asset would be for the Council to be able to meet more frequently and in an easier manner than in the current setting.
The incoming Chairperson of the Commission, Ambassador Rodriguez Cuadros, said it was a great honour for Peru and for himself to be elected as the Chairperson of the 62nd session of the Commission. The Commission on Human Rights was today perhaps facing the most decisive moment of its existence since it was created in 1948. The contributions of the Commission were many. He hoped that the process leading to the end of this historical cycle of the Commission and to the creation of the Human Rights Council would enhance the human rights protection system, make it more effective and close to the victims, and distance it from any kind of political manipulation.
The outgoing Chairperson of the Commission, Makarim Wibisono of Indonesia, said it had been a great honour to serve as the Chairman of the Commission for the past year, not only due to the vital function of the Commission for the promotion and protection of human rights world-wide, but also because of the historic changes which were affecting this institution.
For more information, visit CRIN's news page on the Commission on Human Rights and the reform of the UN Human Rights system at: http://www.crin.org/CHR/news
Visit the website of the Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights, NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Visit the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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CHILDREN AND VIOLENCE: Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights [course]
Date: 6-11 February 2006
Location: Fribourg, Switzerland
The Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch (IUKB) is organising the Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights (MCR), a two year post-graduate training programme on children's rights. The 5th Module of this year's MCR, takes violence against children as its theme. The international norms and practice relating to the issues of violence against children in the family, trafficking in children, children in armed conflict situations and child sexual exploitation will be examined from a number of different perspectives. In addition to the regular MCR students, a maximum of five persons will be accepted in the module as free auditors.
Application deadline: 31 January 2006
For more information, contact:
Sarah Bruchez, Programme Secretary
Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch (IUKB)
Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights
PO Box 4176 CH - 1950 Sion 4, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 27 205 73 06; Fax: + 41 27 205 73 01
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.iukb.ch
More information here.
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EDUCATION: Child Rights, Classroom and School Management [course]
Date: Phase I: 29 May to 16 June 2006 - Phase II: November 2006
Location: Lund, Sweden, and South Africa
International Training Programmes (ITP) are organised by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida). These programmes aim at enhancing managerial and technical skills in partner countries and cover subjects of strategic importance to economic and social development. Special emphasis is placed on areas in which Sweden has a considerable level of expertise to offer.
Sweden has extensive experience of working with the mainstreaming of democratic governance and human rights in policy, legal instruments and practice and it is actively working to promote the right to education for all. Sida has therefore decided on sponsoring the international training programme "Child Rights, Classroom and School Management" scheduled to take place in 2006 in Sweden and South Africa.
The right to, in and through education will be the guiding principle in this course and the training programme has a child rights based approach. The programme aims to develop the skills and attitudes in favour of rights-based educational work at classroom and school level. The programme gives opportunities to compare and share experiences among the participants from different countries while taking into consideration the Convention of the Rights of the Child, Education for all and other internationally agreed declarations.
The training will be conducted in English. The target group for the training programme are persons working with pedagogical support and pedagogical development, at school level, district level and central level. In addition, the course will also be open for application to professional staff at NGOs working in the field of education and human rights, based in developing countries.
Application deadline: 1 March 2006
For more information, contact:
Richard Stenelo, Programme Co-ordinator
Lund University Education AB
Box 117, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
Tel: + 46 46 222 07 52; Fax: + 46 46 222 07 50
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.education.lu.se/sida/child
More information here.
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EUROPE: Save the Children Brussels Office Newsletter [publication]
The November-December issue of the Save the Children Brussels Office Newsletter was published last month. It provides information on the activities of the Brussels office as well as on the latest EU policy developments on children's rights.
Contents of Newsletter 87:
- Save the Children meets Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy, to talk about children's rights in the European Union.
- Children's Rights in the European Commission's programme of work for 2006: presented on 25th October, the programme mentions three areas where the Commission will address children's rights specifically: family reunification, parental responsibilities and human trafficking.
- News about the Child Rights Communication on the implementation of the Rights of the Child, being drafted by the Commission and its Directorate General for Freedom, Security and Justice.
- Report on the Human Trafficking seminar held in Brussels in November 2005, and which focused mainly on the sexual exploitation of women and young girls.
- Council of Europe adopts Asylum Procedures Directive in December 2005, a directive on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status. The directive was criticised by the UNHCR.
- European Commission launches a public Consultation on the future of the European Migration Network (EMN), a pilot project set up in 2002 to better gather exchange and analyse data on migratory and asylum flows in Europe.
- Save the Children Netherlands profile.
- Calls for proposals for the Daphne II Programme to combat violence against children, young people and women.
- New publications and forthcoming events.
For more information, contact:
Save the Children Europe Group - Brussels Office
Rue Montoyer 39, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: + 32 2 512 78 51; Fax: + 32 2 513 49 03
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.savethechildren.net/brussels
More information here.
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