CRINMAIL 786

6 June 2006 - CRINMAIL 786

 

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- TIMOR-LESTE: Thousands of Children Displaced by Civil Violence [news]

- HIV AND AIDS: Meeting Outcomes Present Concerns about Children's Rights [news]

- SUDAN: UN Security Council Must Meet 'Responsibility to Protect' Civilians [news]

- HEALTH: User Fees and the Cost of Illness for Children in Africa [publication]

- CORPORAL PUNISHMENT: CRC Committee Issues General Comment 8 [publication]

- EMPLOYMENT: ECPAT Deputy Director - Administration and Finance [job posting]

** NEWS IN BRIEF **

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TIMOR-LESTE: Thousands of Children Displaced by Civil Violence [news]

[DILI, 29 May 2006] – Ongoing ethnic and political tensions in Timor-Leste have escalated into large-scale civil unrest in Dili, with the districts practically cut off and isolated from the capital city. As people flee the conflict, children's lives are being uprooted.

After 24 years of occupation by Indonesia and independence restored only in 2002, Timor-Leste has slowly gained ground with its efforts to offer a decent quality of living for its people. But there have been serious setbacks to this process in the last few weeks due to the civil unrest triggered by conflict between its political leaders, factional fighting between police and soldiers and has been by ethnic and political issues.

A mass exodus of the population began in early May when rumors of attacks, particularly in the capital city of Dili, spread through the population. Over the last few weeks, the numbers have swelled and now nearly 50 camps across the country hold 60,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). An unknown number of IDPs are living with relatives and friends in the districts.

In Dili alone, there are about 30,000 people gathered in different places like churches and schools. There is an urgent need for UN agencies, bi-lateral and multi-lateral agencies and international NGOs to prioritise support in almost all areas for IPDs and provide food, water, shelter, sanitation and safe spaces and activities for children. UNICEF has been providing support in the area of water and sanitation and, with PLAN International, has been organising child protection groups within these camps.

As the unrest comes to an end and people return to their homes and lives, support is needed to ensure that the pieces that they left behind and the memories that they hold are dealt with properly. For now Timor’s childhood continues to be under threat.

The mass movement of people out of Dili was triggered by rumours of impending violence and attacks in the city due to differences between some factions from the east and the west of this small island nation. This followed closely on the heels of violence that erupted on 28 April 2006, when an initially peaceful demonstration by the sacked soldiers in Timor’s army, turned chaotic.

As a result, the Timorese people, with memories of the 1999 post-referendum conflict still fresh on their minds, decided to flee to the safety of the hills and their hometowns in the districts. These sites, which were mainly schools or churches, are overcrowded and lack proper sanitation and safe water. Many of the Timorese have also returned to their land and families in the districts, thus increasing their vulnerability to diseases, food insecurity and abuse and exploitation.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8442&flag=news

Further information

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HIV AND AIDS: Meeting Outcomes Present Concerns about Children's Rights [news]

[6 June 2006] - The outcomes of the June 2006 High Level Meeting on AIDS present greater concern for priority needs and rights of children and young people in the face of the AIDS pandemic than the first global agreement in 2001. But UN member states took a backwards step from the 2005 G8 and UN agreements to provide universal access to HIV and AIDS related services by refusing to commit to hard targets on funding, prevention, treatment and care. The need to cement global commitment to treatment access is clear since daily there are nearly 1,800 new HIV infections in children due to mother-to-child transmission of the virus and only one in twenty children living with HIV actually receives treatment, commented Save the Children UK.

US negotiators damaged the prospects for a strong outcome from the meeting as they consistently moved to weaken language on HIV prevention, securing low-cost drugs by ensuring waivers on intellectual property and to eliminate global commitments on targets for access to treatment, according to Save the Children UK and other civil society organisations. The UK Minister for International Development issued a statement at the close of the meeting that expressed dismay that the outcome document was “not more frank” about access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, condoms, drug related harm reduction and the reality that “human beings like to have sex and they should not die because they do have sex.”

Save the Children also said that a disappointing outcome can also be pinned on Africa, the region most heavily burdened by HIV and AIDS. African delegates reneged on an agreement reached just three weeks ago at the African Union’s Heads of States Summit with clear targets and timeframes for fighting AIDS in Africa. The African Union Common Position endorsed reaching at least 80 per cent of pregnant women with access to prevention of mother to child transmission and ensuring that 80 per cent of orphans and vulnerable children have access to basic services by 2010. 

“African governments have displayed a stunning degree of apathy, irresponsibility, and complete disrespect for any of the agreements they made in the last few months” said Leonard Okello, Head of HIV/AIDS for Action Aid International. “The negotiation processes was guided by trading political, economic and other interests of the big and powerful countries rather than the glaring facts and statistics of the global AIDS crisis, seventy per cent of which is in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

The US, along with the European Union and others allowed a reference to the estimated $23 billion that is needed per annum by 2010 in order to fund AIDS treatment, care, prevention and health infrastructure but fought to remove any commitment to raising the needed funds. The outcomes of the first UN meeting on AIDS in 2001 recommended targets of new, additional and sustained resources required and was followed by significant rises in Overseas Development Assistance and national allocations dedicated to fighting the epidemic.   

[Sources: Save the Children UK, ActionAid, DfID]

Further information

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SUDAN: UN Security Council Must Meet 'Responsibility to Protect' Civilians [news]

[NEW YORK, 25 May 2006] - The UN Security Council must ensure the urgent deployment in Darfur of a strong UN mission authorised to use force to protect civilians, said Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Crisis Group, in a joint letter to Security Council member States last week.

"The Security Council must fulfill its 'responsibility to protect' Sudanese civilians from further attacks by insisting Khartoum stop stalling and accept a robust UN force," said Gareth Evans, president of the International Crisis Group. "In the meantime, the African Union's efforts in Darfur must be supported and reinforced so it can better protect civilians."

On 28 April, the Security Council endorsed Resolution 1674, which emphasises the responsibility of States to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Darfur is a key test of the Security Council's commitment to the concept of 'responsibility to protect'. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, raped, and assaulted and almost two million people forced from their homes by a Sudanese government counter-insurgency campaign that has resulted in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"Overcoming Khartoum's objections to a UN force is the first hurdle," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "The next challenge is to ensure the UN troops are authorised to halt attacks on civilians, not just stand by and watch the killings continue."

Khartoum continues to resist a UN force despite the 5 May Darfur peace agreement, which it set as a precondition for deployment of UN troops in Darfur. The Security Council approved a Resolution calling upon the Sudanese government to facilitate the access of UN planners by 23 May, a deadline that has passed. The UN Secretary-General appointed Lakhdar Brahimi as UN special envoy, and on 25 May Brahimi announced that the Sudanese government had agreed to the entry of the UN planning team, but offered few details on the outcome of his talks with Sudanese officials.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Crisis Group said that if Khartoum does not abide by the Security Council Resolution, the Council must consider applying further sanctions on Sudanese officials who are blocking the UN transition.

The joint letter also called for donor governments to immediately provide funding, and logistical and technical support to the African Union mission in Darfur (AMIS). On 15 May the African Union Peace and Security Council approved the transfer of its 7,000-member Darfur mission to a UN force on or before 1st October 2006.

"It may be months before the UN is fully deployed, so immediate support to the African Union is essential," said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International. "Donor governments must show they are ready to protect the people of Darfur by publicly pledging funds and the military resources that the African Union - and the UN - desperately need."

The African Union's mission has struggled with the deteriorating security situation on the ground. Since late 2005, attacks on civilians, aid workers, and AMIS personnel have increased. As of April 2006, the UN estimates that at least 650,000 needy civilians are not receiving humanitarian assistance because aid workers cannot reach them.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8452&flag=news

Further information

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HEALTH: User Fees and the Cost of Illness for Children in Africa [publication]

[LONDON, 30 May 2006] - A British-based charity has called for international donors to give specific long-term support to African nations in providing free healthcare. In Paying with their Lives: The Cost of Illness to Children in Africa, Save the Children UK says that almost 800 children die in Africa daily because they cannot afford to pay for medical treatment.

It says greater access to health services could make a huge difference. It points out that only limited progress has been made in abolishing health charges in Africa.

Save the Children says the tide of international opinion on health fees is turning. That makes this the right time to help more African governments implement universally-free healthcare and medicine. The ability to afford basic medicines, vaccines and care is more acute in Africa than other parts of the developing world, the charity says.

Africa sees a higher proportion of child deaths from preventable disease than any other region. Deaths from measles, respiratory diseases, like pneumonia, and malaria are all preventable - but still major killers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some countries do operate exemption schemes so that high risk or vulnerable groups, like the very poor, do not have to pay. But in reality, says Save the Children, they are rarely effective. Those who support fees, even partial ones, argue that they are needed to recover costs - and that services given free would be overwhelmed. But Save the Children says in many countries about half of the money raised is lost in administration costs.

There are some positive steps. Earlier this year, the British government pledged $27m (£15m) to Zambia for the next five years to help it make rural health care free of charge. Last year, the G8 group of industrialised nations promised to work with African governments to abolish health fees. But so far, says Save the Children, progress has been very limited.

[Source: BBC]

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8441&flag=report

Further information

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CORPORAL PUNISHMENT: CRC Committee Issues General Comment 8 [publication]

The Committee on the Rights of the Child ended its 42nd session last Friday and adopted a new General Comment (number 8) on the question of corporal punishment.

The Committee regularly adopts general comments based on specific articles, provisions and themes of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to assist the States parties in fulfilling their obligations under the Convention and to stimulate international organisations and specialised agencies in achieving the full realisation of the rights recognised in the Convention.

Members may propose at any time that a general comment relating to a specific article, provision or theme be prepared. The Committee sometimes decide to develop a general comment on an article, provision or theme that has been discussed earlier in one of its General Day of Discussion. The Committee generally shares draft general comments with selected number of experts, including those from the other treaty bodies, for comments.

Following its two General Discussion Days on violence against children, held in 2000 and 2001, the Committee on the Rights of the Child resolved to issue a series of General Comments concerning eliminating violence against children, of which General Comment 8 is the first.

The Committee aims to guide States parties in understanding the provisions of the Convention concerning the protection of children against all forms of violence. This General Comment focuses on corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment, which are currently very widely accepted and practiced forms of violence against children.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8495

Further information

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EMPLOYMENT: ECPAT Deputy Director - Administration and Finance [job posting]

Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Duration: Three years (renewable)

ECPAT International is recruiting a new Deputy Director - Administration and Finance. As a member of the management team of ECPAT International, The post holder will play the lead role in managing ECPAT International’s administrative and financial systems under the direction of the Executive Director and in close collaboration with the Deputy Director for Programmes.

Application deadline: 20 June 2006

For more information, contact:
ECPAT International
328 Phaya Thai Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Email:[email protected]
Website: http://www.ecpat.net

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** NEWS IN BRIEF **

JAVA: Child begging poses increased risks in aftermath of earthquake (6 June 2006)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=8535

IRAQ: As sectarian violence continues, so does displacement (5 June 2006)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8519&flag=news

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: US State Department 2006 Report 
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8532&flag=report

CHILD PARTICIPATION: Guide to Youth Delegates at the UN General Assembly 
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8528&flag=report

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