CRINMAIL 790

20 June 2006 - CRINMAIL 790

 

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- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: First Session Convenes in Geneva [news]

- WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2006: UNHCR Message Never to Give up Hope [event]

- WORLD FIT FOR CHILDREN: Europe and Central Asia States Review Progress [event]

- SOMALIA: UN to Send Humanitarian Mission to Mogadishu as Malnutrition Rises [news]

- ENVIRONMENT AND HABITAT: High Rates of Child Malnutrition in Slums [publication]

- CHILD PARTICIPATION: Research with Children Affected by Armed Conflict [publication]

- EMPLOYMENT: EveryChild - Institute of Social Studies - Sutradhar [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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HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: First Session Convenes in Geneva [news]

[LONDON, 19 June 2006] - The Human Rights Council’s first session is currently taking place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The session will end on Friday 30th June. The Council is replacing the Commission on Human Rights as the main UN body in charge of monitoring and protecting fundamental rights and freedoms.

The Human Rights Council (HRC) was created on 15th March 2006 with the almost unanimous adoption of General Assembly Resolution A/Res/60/251. The Commission on Human Rights was formally abolished today, 16 June 2006. 

At the inauguration on Monday 19th June, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for “a clean break from the past” and a “new era” as the enhanced body seeks to give teeth to the protection of rights for all, an issue that often seemed to elude its much-criticised predecessor.

“What must be apparent, above all, is a change in culture,” Mr. Annan told representatives from over 100 countries on Monday, appealing for an end to the confrontation and distrust that pervaded the now-replaced Human Rights Commission. "Never allow this Council to become caught up in political point-scoring or petty manoeuvre,” he entreated those present. “Think always of those whose rights are denied - whether those rights are civil and political, or economic, social and cultural; whether those people are perishing from brutal treatment by arbitrary rulers, or from ignorance, hunger and disease.

The creation of the new Council was a major plank in Mr. Annan’s UN reform package In Larger Freedom, which he issued in March last year and which was later endorsed by the World Summit at UN Headquarters in New York in September. Although its final form does not contain all the elements Mr. Annan sought, it is regarded as a significant improvement on the Commission, with several features to make it stronger and more effective, including:

  • Elections: members of the HRC are elected by an absolute majority and on their human rights commitment. De facto permanent membership is eliminated;
  • Suspension of membership: membership can be suspended by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly for any Council member who commits gross and systematic violations of human rights;
  • Universal periodic review: all UN Member States, starting with the members of the Council itself, will have their Human rights records regularly examined.

The first session will mainly focus on procedural issues while the second session (11-29 September 2006) is likely to be more substantial. The first session will consist of the opening ceremony (Monday 19th), a High-Level Segment (Monday 19th to Thursday 22nd) and meetings addressing the agreed agenda.

The High-Level Segment (HLS) consists of statements from dignitaries, i.e. government representatives of ministerial or higher rank or Vice-Ministers. In addition, heads of specialised agencies, programmes and intergovernmental organisations, including regional organisations, will also be provided an opportunity to address the HLS after States representatives. 

On the initiative of HRC President Designate Ambassador de Alba (Mexico), 3-5 NGO representatives are given the possibility to address Council members during the HLS. The NGO consultation process involving 60 NGOs and Ambassador de Alba ended on Friday 16th June and a list of speakers finalised.

According to the draft agenda (the final agenda should be adopted on 22nd) presented by the President Designate the programme of work for the rest of the first session includes:

  • reports of mechanisms and mandates (Report of the 5 Intergovernmental Working Groups);
  • pressing human rights issues;
  • Universal Periodic Review Mechanism;
  • review of mandates and mechanisms (special procedures, expert advice and complaint procedure);
  • discussion and cooperation on human rights: human rights education and learning, advisory services, technical assistance and capacity-building;
  • programme of work for future sessions of the Council;
  • conclusions and recommendations, including interim measures on mechanisms and mandates

CRIN will be reporting from the Human Rights Council through the HRC CRINMAIL and daily updates on the HRC news page. In addition, CRIN has produced a new webpage on the Human Rights Council. The page offers information on the first HRC session for child rights NGOs. It provides links to daily news updates on the HRC, information on NGO participation and useful contacts. It contains background information on the Commission on Human Rights and the creation of the Human Rights Council, as well as on the historical involvement of child rights NGOs in the work of the Commission.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8785

For more information on the Human Rights Council, contact:
The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, OHCHR – UNOG,
8-14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.
Tel: +41 22 917 9000; Fax: +41 22 917 9016
Website: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil

Further information

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WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2006: UNHCR Message Never to Give up Hope [event]

[GENEVA, June 19 2006] – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) marks World Refugee Day today, Tuesday 20 June, with a simple, powerful message for the millions of refugees and displaced people around the globe – never give up hope.

High Commissioner António Guterres and goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie have both pushed the message in statements made for today's anniversary – first marked globally in 2001 – and it will be at the centre of commemorations planned in scores of countries.

"If there is one common trait among the tens of millions of refugees that we at the UN refugee agency have helped over the past 55 years, it's the fact that despite losing everything, they never give up hope," Guterres said, highlighting the theme of this year's anniversary, which he will mark in Liberia.

He said the UNHCR drew inspiration from the perseverance of the world's estimated 20.8 million people of concern to the agency – including some 8.4 million refugees – and gave added impetus to efforts to find solutions so that they could return home. He highlighted the need to encourage the more than 5 million refugees who have been in exile for five years or longer.

In Geneva, home of UNHCR, the Swiss city's iconic 140-metre-high jet d'eau fountain and public buildings around the country will be bathed in blue – the colour of the United Nations – and World Refugee Day banners will line the Mont Blanc bridge. Australia will do likewise in Canberra, illuminating the old parliament building and other landmarks.

Other countries will host a wide range of activities, including film festivals, photo exhibitions, food bazaars, fashion shows, concerts and sports competitions – including lots of soccer in a nod to the World Cup in Germany. There will also be quizzes, drawing and essay-writing competitions, tree planting, seminars, workshops, speeches, public awareness campaigns, prayer meetings, poetry recitals and an auction of refugee art. Special posters depicting the Hope theme will go up all over the world. Some countries have been organising special events linked to the anniversary for several weeks.

In Europe, Britain is marking a Refugee Week with more than 400 events planned nationwide from June 19-25. A highlight for UNHCR will be the launch of a major new campaign focusing on sports and education involving corporate partners of the agency. Details will be announced on the day, but the initiative is also aimed at helping UNHCR provide refugees with hope.

In an editorial released for World Refugee Day, UNHCR chief Guterres noted that while global refugee figures had dropped 31 per cent since 2001, returnees often still faced a bleak future back home. He urged greater focus on ensuring countries moved forward after conflict.

He said success in the peace-building stage was essential. "The international community needs to devote much more attention to the transition between relief and development, to rebuilding societies which have been ripped apart by violence."

Guterres urged the European Union to "take a lead in efforts to bridge the relief-to-development gap, so that institutions can be rebuilt, former enemies can reconcile, refugees and displaced people can return, and peace can take root. This would indeed be something to celebrate on World Refugee Day."

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8769

Further information

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WORLD FIT FOR CHILDREN: Europe and Central Asia States Review Progress [event]

The Third Intergovernmental Conference on Making Europe and Central Asia Fit For Children is currently taking place in Palencia, Spain. Over 50 countries from across this region are gathering to reaffirm commitments made at the UN Special Session on Children in May 2002 and to move the process into top gear as well as review progress in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Some of the issues under review include:

  • legislation and monitoring mechanisms
  • violence against children
  • the impact of poverty and social exclusion upon children and their families

Violence and exclusion still dominate the lives of millions of children in Europe and Central Asia, despite progress on legal and institutional reforms. ‘Too often, we see that legislation is on the books but that many children remain on the margins of society - not registered at birth, not in school, too poor to see a doctor and, for that, all the more vulnerable to violence and abuse,’ said Rima Salah, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF.

‘The main challenge now is to fast-forward on these reforms and make them a reality for every child,’ added Marta Santos Pais, Director of the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence. ‘This can only be done by having children involved from the beginning and listening to what they have to say.’

The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre launched a Global Report on the Impact of the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the Conference. The global report is composed of several texts: General Comments of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in English and Spanish; General Measures of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in English (executive summary and key findings also available in Spanish); Concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in English available on CD rom.

The Third Intergovernmental Conference on Making Europe and Central Asia Fit For Children is the third in a series of meetings that were initially hosted in Berlin in 2002 and Sarejavo in 2004.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8780

For more information, contact:
Christyne Stuckey-Bahringer
Communication Consultant
UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS
Email: [email protected]

Further information

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SOMALIA: UN to Send Humanitarian Mission to Mogadishu as Malnutrition Rises [news]

[NAIROBI, 20 June 2006] - The United Nations is planning to send a humanitarian mission to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to see how to best address the critical needs of civilians, a senior UN official said. However, the mission would only go to Mogadishu if there were guarantees of security on the ground, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Eric Laroche, said on Monday.

The prevailing calm that has followed the end of more than four months of fighting between the Islamic courts and other faction leaders offers an opportunity to help some 295,000 internally displaced people in the city and an additional 17,000 people displaced by recent clashes, Laroche said. Priority needs were in the areas of health, water and sanitation and protection. "We will focus on scaling up existing activities, tapping on local resources and further building on positive coping mechanisms developed at the community level," he said.

In Mogadishu, civil-society leaders asked for urgent assistance. "We had IDPs [internally displaced persons] in the city under the most difficult circumstances, who were displaced again. Their numbers were swelled by those displaced by the recent fighting," said Abdullahi Shirwa, head of an NGO coalition called Civil Society in Action.

Mogadishu also hosts many other people who were forced to leave their homes after losing their livelihoods to the recent drought that ravaged southern Somalia. "They ended up on the streets and are in some cases the worst affected," Shirwa said, adding that food, medicine and shelter material were needed most.

Shaykh Abdulkadir Ali, vice-chairman of the Union of the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu, appealed for external help. The courts would "try to do what they can, but the need of the population is so great that we can not do it alone," he said. "There has been a great deal of difference in terms of security," he said, adding that the courts would "guarantee the safety and security of aid workers."

Mahamud Hassan Ali "Ade", mayor of Mogadishu and governor of Benadir Region (where Mogadishu is located), said aid agencies "must embark on an emergency assistance" to the residents. "People were already living in difficult circumstances, but now many whose homes were destroyed in the fighting are living in makeshift shelters or in the open."

The current rains have made the situation even worse. "If something is not done quickly, there is a possibility of outbreaks of diseases such as malaria and cholera," he said. The worst-affected areas were the districts of Yaqshiid and Sii Sii, both in north Mogadishu, the epicentre of the most recent fighting in May.

On Monday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said the recent violence and drought had pushed many Somalis to their limit, creating the bleakest malnutrition situation in years. WFP Somalia country representative Zlatan Milisic and Christian Balslev-Olesen of UNICEF said the situation was compounded by the difficulty in reaching the 1.7 million people who needed help in the wake of the drought.

"We must act now," said Balslev-Olesen. "The present calm, following weeks of fighting, offers an opportunity that the Somali and international communities must grasp to get assistance to thousands of malnourished children and their families."

Fighting between Islamic courts and faction leaders belonging to an anti-terrorism alliance began in February. More than 320 people, most of them civilians, died in the clashes, and some 2,000 wounded were treated at Mogadishu's two main hospitals. In May, the Islamic courts took over control of the capital, restoring calm and sending the faction leaders fleeing.

[Source: IRIN]

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8754

Further information

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ENVIRONMENT AND HABITAT: High Rates of Child Malnutrition in Slums [publication]

[NAIROBI/ VANCOUVER, 19 June 2006] - Launched on Friday in Vancouver, Canada on the sideline of the Third Session of the World Urban Forum (19-23 June), the agency’s State of the World’s Cities Report 2006/7 has broken new ground by showing that the urban poor suffer from an urban penalty: slum dwellers in developing countries are as badly off if not worse off than their rural relatives.

The report provides concrete data that shows that the world’s one billion slum dwellers are more likely to die earlier, experience more hunger and disease, attain less education and have fewer chances of employment than those urban residents that do not reside in a slum.

“For a long time, we suspected that the optimistic picture of cities did not reflect the reality on the ground,” said Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, UN-HABITAT’s Executive Director. “This report provides concrete evidence that there are two cities within one city – one part of the urban population that has all the benefits of urban living, and the other part, the slums and squatter settlements, where the poor often live under worse conditions than their rural relatives. It is time that donor agencies and national governments recognised the urban penalty and specifically targeted additional resources to improve the living conditions of slum dwellers.”

The Report shows remarkable similarities between slums and rural areas in health, education, employment and mortality. It shows how in countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti and India, child malnutrition in slums is comparable to that of rural areas. In many Sub-Saharan African cities, children living in slums are more likely to die from water-borne and respiratory illnesses than rural children. Women living in slums are also more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than their rural counterparts.

For example, in Ethiopia, child malnutrition in slums and rural areas is 47 per cent and 49 per cent respectively, compared with 27 per cent in non-slum urban areas. In Brazil and Cote d’Ivoire, child malnutrition is three to four times higher in slums than in non slum-areas. In most Sub-Saharan African countries, HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas; in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia HIV prevalence among urban populations is almost twice that of rural populations. In all countries, women and slum dwellers are disproportionately affected, reflecting a general trend in the region.

The report also debunks some commonly-held beliefs about people living in slums. Contrary to popular perception, young adults living in slums are more likely to have a child, be married or head a household than their counterparts living in non-slum areas.

The report comes at a time when the world is entering a historic urban transition; in 2007, for the first time in history, the world’s urban population will exceed the rural population. Most of the world’s urban growth – 95 per cent – in the next two decades will be absorbed by cities of the developing world, which are least equipped to deal with rapid urbanization. The majority of migrants will be moving to small towns and cities of less than one million inhabitants. Already, more than half of the world’s urban population lives in cities of fewer than 500,000 inhabitants, and almost one-fifth lives in cities of between 1 and 5 million inhabitants.

As cities grow, so do their slum populations. In many Sub-Saharan African cities, the slum population accounts for over 70 per cent of the urban population. Slums in Southern Asia, Western Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are growing as fast as the urban population in general. Annual slum and urban growth rates are highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, 4.53 per cent and 4.58 per cent, respectively, nearly twice those of Southern Asia, where slum and urban growth rates are 2.2 per cent and 2.89 per cent, respectively. Northern Africa is the only region in the developing world where slum growth rates have declined significantly, largely due to the efforts of individual governments to upgrade slums or prevent their formation. Globally, the slum population is set to grow at the rate of 27 million per year in the period 2000-2020.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8710

For more information, contact:
UN Habitat
PO Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 7623120; Fax: +254 20 7623477
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.unhabitat.org

Further information

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CHILD PARTICIPATION: Research with Children Affected by Armed Conflict [publication]

The Refugee Studies Centre of the Queen Elizabeth House (Oxford University) has recently produced a working paper on "Research with Children Living in Situations of Armed Conflict".

The impact of modern armed conflict on the world’s children has been devastating. According to the United Nations, during the last decade 2 million children have been killed, more than 1 million have been orphaned, and over 6 million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled. Approximately 800 children are killed or seriously injured by landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXOs) every month. The UN High Commissioner for the Refugees (UNHCR) currently offers support to 7.7 million refugee children. In addition, around 25 million people are believed to be internally displaced, of whom 40–50 per cent are likely to be under the age of 18 years.

Research about children’s lives conducted in the volatile setting of armed conflict places particular demands upon researchers. The suggestion that researchers should, whenever possible and appropriate, involve children as meaningful participants in that research may seem unreasonable or inappropriate. However, the production of this paper has been motivated by the conviction that participatory research is especially valuable because of the emergency context.

Firstly, such an approach is likely to yield richer and more detailed data than a conventional, adult-led approach. These data can be invaluable to the design of interventions. Secondly, engagement in well-planned research activities can offer direct benefits for young participants by enhancing their skills and awareness. In settings of conflict where the young may be required to play an expanded role in their own protection and in the care of others, their personal development is especially important. 

The aim here is to equip researchers to most safely and profitably pursue participatory research with children and, to that end, this paper explores the specific conceptual, ethical and methodological issues concerned.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8683

For more information, contact:
Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House
21 St Giles Street, Oxford OX1 3LA, UK
Tel: +44 1865 270432; Fax: +44 1865 270721
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.rsc.ac.uk

Further information

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EMPLOYMENT: EveryChild - Institute of Social Studies - Sutradhar [job postings]

  • EveryChild: Researcher

EveryChild are looking for a Researcher to be based in Guyana. Key responsibilities will involve undertaking participatory qualitative and quantitative research into how violence and abuse leads to child separation with EveryChild staff, key stakeholders and children. The research will need to be completed by the end of August 2006.

For more information, contact:
EveryChild HR Administrator
Tel: +44 (0)20 7749 3090
Website: http://www.everychild.org.uk

  • Institute of Social Studies: Senior Lecturer in Development, Human Rights and Governance

The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) is a major international postgraduate centre specialising in higher education and research in development studies, based in The Hague, The Netherlands. Its postgraduate teaching programmes are conducted in English, at Diploma, MA and PhD levels. ISS seeks to recruit a (Senior) Lecturer in Development, Human Rights and Governance for a fixed period of three years. In future, (an)other position(s) might be created in this field. Tasks and responsibilities include teaching, research, and public service including (external) project work. 

Application deadline: 1 July 2006

For more information, contact:
Ms Bea Tabink, ISS Personnel Office
Box 29776, 2502 LT The Hague, The Netherlands
Email: [email protected] 
Website: http://www.iss.nl

  • Sutradhar Resoucre Centre: Senior Creative Educators

Sutradhar is a non-profit educational resource centre, supported by the Dorabji Tata Trust and working since 1995. Its vision is to equip educators with the best available learning materials and methods to be more effective teachers, with a special focus on enriching the learning experience of the young, underprivileged child. The centre selects and promotes 1500 learning resources from across India - teaching aids and kits, handcrafted toys, teachers' books and Indian materials. It designs kits that make these resources more teacher-friendly. 

Sutradhar is looking for three senior Creative Educators with skills in NGO management and leadership. It also needs creative people capable of educational design, organising interactive educational meets, reading and writing on education, teacher training and research.

Application deadline: 5 July 2006

For more information, contact:
Sutradhar
599, 7 Main, 17 A Cross, Indiranagar Stage 2, Bangalore 560 038, India
Tel: +91 25288545 / 25215191
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.sutradhar.com

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