CRINMAIL 758

28 February 2006 CRINMAIL 758

 

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- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Reactions to New Draft Resolution [news]

- CHILDREN AND VIOLENCE: Analysis of Alternative Reports 1990-2005 [publication]

- MIDDLE EAST: Youth Perceptions about Guns and Community Security [publication]

- EUROPE: 4th Regional Meeting of Child Rights NGO Coalitions [conference report]

- CHILD LABOUR: Education Based CBOs Projects [request for proposals]

- DEAF CHILDREN SOCIETY: Small Grants Programme [call for applications]

- EMPLOYMENT: Consortium for Street Children - ICCB/BICE [job opportunities]

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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

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HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Reactions to New Draft Resolution [news]

[NEW YORK, 23 February 2006] - The President of the General Assembly, Jan Eliasson, presented his Draft Resolution on the Human Rights Council to member States last Thursday. He addressed the ongoing and recently heightened mistrust that has at times paralysed negotiations, stressing the need for mutual respect and understanding. Recognising that member States could not insulate themselves from the global political realities, he nonetheless urged them to remain focused on the "historic task at hand," noting that it was time for a final decision on the Human Rights Council. He is expected to ask member states to take a decision on this issue this week.

Key changes include:

  • membership has gone down from 53 to 47 and is to be elected by an absolute majority. Candidates will be elected on their human rights commitment. De facto permanent membership is eliminated;
  • a new provision gives the GA the ability, through a two-thirds majority vote, to suspend the membership of a Council member that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights;
  • the Council is to hold three sessions per year for no less than ten weeks with the ability to hold special sessions upon request of a Council member with support of one-third of the Council;
  • the Council would be a subsidiary body of the General Assembly and thus have a higher institutional standing;
  • a universal periodic review of all UN member states subject all States to guaranteed scrutiny.

“Failure to adopt the proposal threatens to set back the human rights cause immeasurably,” Ms. Arbour declared in a statement, adding her voice to those of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and General Assembly President Jan Eliasson in calling for speedy approval of the new Council. “Let us be clear: the proposal now before the General Assembly is the result of compromise. It cannot be an ideal blueprint. And there is no reason to believe that more negotiating time will yield a better result,” she said.

Human Rights NGOs' reaction to the draft text have been more mitigated, although most are calling for a swift adoption of the new Human Rights Council.

According to UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights group that has closely monitored the negotiations, the Draft Resolution "falls short of the broad reforms urged by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan". It fails to address the issue of the membership of notorious human rights offenders. "The Secretary-General's plan had advocated giving one-third of General Assembly members the power to block unqualified countries. The current text, however, doubles the requirement to two-thirds for any country's membership to be suspended." The other disappointment relates to the fact that "NGOs will be subjected to the constant threat of restrictions on their participation under a new qualifying clause (OP 11) that commits to recognise existing NGO privileges, "while ensuring the most effective contribution of these entities."

Human Rights Watch were pushing for a "more ambitious result" but welcome the main changes introduced by the Resolution on membership, session times, and universal periodic review, although they have asked for country specific Resolutions to take place outside regular sessions. Human Rights Watch and other US-based NGOS have started lobbying the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the adoption of the proposal, following a statement from US Ambassador John Bolton that the United States would vote against the proposed text.

Amnesty International declared that "the Council to be established by the Resolution will be weaker than hoped, because of many governments' failures to follow through on their stated commitment to human rights". But, like Human Rights Watch, it calls for governments to adopt the proposal without delay and not "dilute it further".

Information on the nature and length of the last session of the Commission on Human Rights is still unavailable. Please keep checking CRIN's news page on the Commission at http://www.crin.org/chr/news. However, child rights NGOs are preparing for the session as normal. The Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child brings together NGOs willing to promote the rights of the child at the Commission. The Subgroup aims to ensure that the Commission addresses the specific rights and situations of children worldwide by advocating the resolutions and by hosting a special interest group called the Children's Human Rights Caucus that serves as focal point for a range of participants to meet on children's issues. Another key activity of the Subgroup is to prepare a draft Omnibus Resolution on the Rights of the Child.

During the weeks when child rights are on the agenda of the Commission session, CRIN offers daily updates on discussions, negotiations and other relevant meetings taking place in Geneva. A special webpage contains links to all relevant information, UN Reports and news,  or you can sign up to our special Commission CRINMAIL for daily updates. The first issue will be sent next week.

More information

Draft Resolution 
Statement by Louise Arbour
Statement by the Secretary-General
Statemen t by the General Assembly president

NGO statements on the draft Resolution:


News

CRIN's website
Page on the 62nd session of the Commission on Human Rights 
News page on the reform of the Commission 
Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights  

UN websites
Reform the UN  
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 

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CHILDREN AND VIOLENCE: Analysis of Alternative Reports 1990-2005 [publication]

The NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child has recently published a study on how violence is reported in the different "settings" established by the UN Study on Violence Against Children (home, school, institutions, community, workplace) and according to regions. "Violence Against Children - What do NGOs know, What do NGOs say?" is an analysis of information relating to violence available in NGO reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child from 1990 to 2005.

Through 15 years of monitoring activities, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has been exposed to the many facets of violence against children in settings such as home and school which the Convention did not anticipate places of violence. The Committee has had to refine its approach to systemic causes of violence against children endemic to certain work situations, care institutions and judiciary systems. The Convention itself had to be appended with Optional Protocols in order to better protect children from some forms of violence. 

NGOs invited to submit alternative information to the Committee have repeatedly denounced the responsibility of the various agents in the chain of violence. They have become a legitimate source of information, complementary to the State in reporting on the implementation of the Convention.

As the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence Against Children was commissioned in 2003, NGOs were bound to be among the most active respondents to calls for information. In particular, for international NGOs, this was an occasion to take stock of accumulated knowledge and data on the issue of violence against children.

For example, the Global Initiative to End All Forms of Corporal Punishment has taken this opportunity to produce reports on the status of corporal punishment in national legislations throughout the world. Organisations specialising in documenting state violence against children such as Human Rights Watch have drawn key findings from their investigation in a critical number of countries. Broad networks such as the International Save the Children Alliance have mainstreamed violence-related research and child participation into their programmes across the globe.

For local or national child rights NGOs, reporting violence against children is often only one aspect of their work. International research and advocacy is not a priority if it does not have an immediate impact on the situation in their country. Yet, a wealth of information on violence against children can be found in the alternative reports to the Committee produced by these organisations.

Since the NGO Group has been the facilitator of this reporting process over 15 years, it was natural for it to bring back to light this treasure of information and analyse it so as to contribute to the global findings and recommendations of the UN Study on Violence Against Children.

For more information, contact:
NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
1 rue Varembé, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 740 47 30
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.crin.org/NGOGroupforCRC

Violence Against Children - What do NGOs know, What do NGOs say?

Annex to the report: A compilation of extracts from NGO Reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child relating to violence against children 

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MIDDLE EAST: Youth Perceptions about Guns and Community Security [publication]

The Middle East North Africa Network on Small Arms (MENAANSA) recently published a report entitled Public Perceptions about Small Arms and Light Weapons and Community Security in the Middle East. There are ‘too many guns in our society,’ say young people across the Middle East region.

In Gaza, from January 2003 to October 2005, at least 1,258 people, including children have been injured or killed as a result of gun misuse in their communities. 51.7 per cent of the young people surveyed identified the proliferation and misuse of small arms to be their major source for insecurity.

In Ramallah, 60 per cent of young people surveyed believe there are too many guns in their communities. Further, 56.7 per cent of the study sample believes that small arms proliferation and misuse considerably decreases human development and living standards in Ramallah.

In Lebanon, more than 22 per cent of the young people surveyed possess more than 3 guns; however given the choice more than 50 per cent of the respondents would choose not to own a gun. This is definitely a challenge to the idea that there is an uncontested gun culture in the region, at least in the areas studied.

Survey results show that in Sudan, 70 per cent of young people earn less than 100 US dollars a month. The unemployment rate of Al Haj Yousif district is 40 per cent. Young people highly recommend extended and improved community and economic development programmes. They insisted that if local public services are improved, such as proper street lighting, improved access to potable water, electricity and education, a resulting decrease in the rate of crimes (supported by the misuse of guns) would most definitely occur.

"While the threat of, or actual ongoing conflict and occupation continue to trigger community insecurity, the intensity of demand for weapons is also heavily conditioned by the quality of local governance and socio-economic environments in the studied communities." said MENAANSA’s Regional Coordinator, Dr. Eizadin Al Asbahy. The participants’ responses in all four of the communities studied suggest that one of the major factors driving demand for guns is mistrust of governments’ ability to ensure security.

The new study lifts up the voices of ordinary young Arabs on how they experience human insecurity, what they see as their community security priorities and how they may choose to improve conditions for community security. Each of the communities studied (Northern Gaza, Ramallah, Southern Lebanon, Bekaa district, and Beirut, Al Haj Yousif district, Khartoum), is either in conflict or, at serious risk of conflict and where small arms and light weapons are a serious contributing factor to this conflict. It is not the objective of the network and publication to challenge concepts of political resistance and historical or tribal customs in the region.

For more information, contact:
Middle East North Africa Network on Small Arms
Regional Secretariat, PO Box 830758, Amman 11822, Jordan
Tel/ Fax: +962 (0) 6 5656837/9
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.mena-small-arms.org

For a copy of the report, Public Perceptions about Small Arms and Light Weapons and Community Security in the Middle East, contact MENAANSA.

Read a chapter of the report, Small Arms and Security Community Perceptions in North Gaza, researched by Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights.

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EUROPE: 4th Regional Meeting of Child Rights NGO Coalitions [conference report]

On 8-10 March 2005, the Flemish Children’s Rights Coalition and the French speaking Children’s Rights Coalition of Belgium (CODE) organised the fourth regional meeting of NGO Coalitions for the Rights of the Child in Brussels. Participants from 24 countries in Europe, all NGOs working in networks to promote implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, took part in the meeting.

Since the Convention was adopted in 1989, came into force in 1990 and was subsequently ratified by all UN member States of the European Region, there has been a growing movement among NGOs and other civil society organisations in support of the Convention.

Many of them formed networks, particularly in response to the opportunity provided by article 45a in the Convention, which invites input from experts into the Committee on the Rights of the Child reporting process. Over the years there has been a steady growth in the number of children’s rights coalitions across the region. Currently, there are some 30 NGO-coalitions within the European Region.

The aims of the Fourth Regional Meeting of NGO Coalitions for the Rights of the Child in Brussels was to strengthen the association between child rights networks within the EU – taken into account that as from the first of May 2004, the European Union welcomed 10 new member States – and to continue the exploration on how to work more effectively and efficiently, building on the work undertaken in the three previous forums (Berlin, March 1998; Stockholm, May 1999 and Vilnius, October 2002).

The meeting provided an opportunity to share NGO experiences across Europe and strengthen capacity and practice in promoting the rights of the child. 

For more information, contact:
Coordination des ONG pour les Droits de l'Enfant (CODE)
Rue Marché aux Poulets 30, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Tel: +32 2/209 61 68; Fax: +32 2/209 61 60
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.lacode.be
or
Kinderrechtencoalitie Vlaanderen
Eekhout 4, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Tel: +32 9/225 90 25
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.kinderrechtencoalitie.be

The Report of 4th Regional Meeting of NGO Coalitions for the Rights of the Child also contains the Brussels call for action and a follow-up on the Vilnius call for action.

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CHILD LABOUR: Education Based CBOs Projects [request for proposals]

Winrock International's CIRCLE project recently posted two requests for proposal for innovative projects by community-based NGOs to reduce child labour through education. The projects will be funded by the US Department of Labour, International Child Labour Programme and Education Initiative.

There are currently two open requests for proposals (RFPs):

Application deadline for the global request for proposals: 24 March 2006
Application deadline for the Sierra Leone request for proposals: 6 March 2006

For more information, contact:
Winrock International
1621 North Kent St., Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22209
Tel: + 1 703 525 9430 x651
Website: http://www.winrock.org

More information  

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DEAF CHILDREN SOCIETY: Small Grants Programme [call for applications]

The International Deaf Children's Society's Small Grants Programme (SGP) opens on 1 March 2006. SGP offers grants of up to £10,000 for projects that offer measurable and sustainable improvements to the individual lives of deaf children and their families. This could be through:

  • empowering deaf children, young deaf people and their families by bringing them together to discuss common issues and advocate for the improvement of services; or
  • developing or improving services which empower deaf children, young deaf people and/or their families in the areas of early years support, education, emotional and social development, vocational training and youth programmes.

All projects must include activities which are either led by parents or young deaf people or which work towards the full participation of parents or young people.

Application deadline: 30 June 2006

For more information, contact:
Kirsty Wilson
International Deaf Children's Society
15 Dufferin Street, London, EC1Y 8UR, UK
Tel: +44 20 7490 8656
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.idcs.info

More information  

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EMPLOYMENT: Consortium for Street Children - ICCB/BICE [job opportunities]

CONSORTIUM FOR STREET CHILDREN: Manager, International Resource Centre

The Consortium for Street Children (CSC) is looking for a full-time Manager for its International Resource Centre based in London. This role involves knowledge management, research and website related tasks. The successful applicant will be responsible for managing a small, dedicated international research team and helping CSC to move forward with its new strategy. CSC is a well established and internationally recognised NGO working to promote and protect the rights of street children in the developing world. It has a membership of 40 development agencies in the UK.

Application deadline: 17 March 2006

For more information, contact:
Emily Browne
Consortium for Street Children (CSC)
Unit 306, Bon Marche Centre, 241-251 Ferndale Road, London SW9 8BJ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7274 0087; Fax: +44 (0)20 7274 0372
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.streetchildren.org.uk

INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC CHILD BUREAU: Permanent Representative to the UN Agencies

The International Catholic Child Bureau is seeking a Permanent Representative to the UN Agencies, international and non-governmental organisations, and to the European Children’s network in advocating for and defending children’s rights. This post is full-time and based in Geneva. The successful applicant will be the coordinating point within ICCB for all issues related to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The post holder will bring a creative contribution to children rights issues by facilitating thematic working groups, and training sessions for staff, members and partner organisations.

Application deadline: 24 March 2006

For more information, contact:
Stefan Vanistendael, Deputy Secretary General
International Catholic Child Bureau (ICCB-BICE)
11 rue de Cornavin, CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.bice.org

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