25 July 2006 - CRINMAIL 800
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- LEBANON/ISRAEL: Israeli cluster munitions hit civilians in Lebanon [news]
- CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT: Security Council calls for greater effort [news]
- DR CONGO: Elections offer hope for children after years of conflict [publication]
- COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Role of NGOs in next elections [guidelines]
- UK: Master of Arts in Child Welfare and Applied Childhood Studies [event]
- PARTICIPATION: Child and Youth Participation Resource Guide [publication]
** NEWS IN BRIEF **
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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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LEBANON/ISRAEL: Israeli cluster munitions hit civilians in Lebanon [news]
[BEIRUT, 24 July 2006] – Israel has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, said Human Rights Watch. Researchers on the ground in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border.
[Read about the effect of cluster munitions here]
“Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when used around civilians,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “They should never be used in populated areas.”
Lebanese security forces, who to date have not engaged in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, also accused Israel of using cluster munitions in its attacks on Blida and other Lebanese border villages. These sources also indicated they have evidence that Israel used cluster munitions earlier this year during fighting with Hezbollah around the contested Shebaa Farms area. Human Rights Watch is continuing to investigate these additional allegations.
Human Rights Watch believes that the use of cluster munitions in populated areas may violate the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks contained in international humanitarian law. The wide dispersal pattern of their submunitions makes it very difficult to avoid civilian casualties if civilians are in the area. Moreover, because of their high failure rate, cluster munitions leave large numbers of hazardous, explosive duds that injure and kill civilians even after the attack is over. Human Rights Watch believes that cluster munitions should never be used, even away from civilians, unless their dud rate is less than 1 per cent.
Human Rights Watch conducted detailed analyses of the US military’s use of cluster bombs in the 1999 Yugoslavia war, the 2001-2002 Afghanistan war, and the 2003 Iraq war. The research established that the use of cluster munitions in populated areas in Iraq caused more civilian casualties than any other factor in the US-led coalition’s conduct of major military operations in March and April 2003, killing and wounding more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians. Roughly a quarter of the 500 civilian deaths caused by NATO bombing in the 1999 Yugoslavia war were also due to cluster munitions.
Human Rights Watch called upon the Israel Defense Forces to immediately cease the use of indiscriminate weapons like cluster munitions in Lebanon. Human Rights Watch is a founding member, and a steering committee member, of the Cluster Munition Coalition.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9437
Further information
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CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT: Security Council calls for greater effort [news]
[24 July 2006] – After hearing presentations from United Nations officials about the 250,000 boys currently exploited as child soldiers and tens of thousands of girls subject to sexual violence, on Monday the Security Council called for a “reinvigorated effort” to protect children in areas of armed conflict.
Through a statement read out by its July President, Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sablière of France, the 15-member body praised the implementation of its landmark 2005 Security Council Resolution 1612 that called for the monitoring of violations of children’s rights and well-being in seven conflict zones.
The mechanism has already produced results in the field, but more must be done, including the pursuit of efforts to reintegrate child soldiers into their societies, the Council said, and it called on national governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to contribute to that effort.
In the preceding Council discussion, UN officials and delegations had also called for greater efforts to protect children, including measures to prevent impunity on the part of government forces and rebel groups who persist in exploiting and abusing them.
Resolution 1612 takes account of recruitment of child soldiers, killing and maiming children, rape and other sexual violence, abduction and forced displacement, denial of humanitarian access to children, attacks against schools and hospitals, as well as trafficking, forced labour and all forms of slavery. It calls for such crimes to be monitored in the pilot countries of Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nepal, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Sudan.
Ms. Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan for children and armed conflict, thanked numerous actors at the local, national, regional and international level for their assistance in putting such monitoring mechanisms in place and noted that the first country report (DRC), had been submitted in June.
However, Ann Veneman, head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) drew attention to the fact that over the past decade some two million children have died as a result of war, while countless others have had to flee their homes.
In a report released today (Child Alert: DRC, see next item), UNICEF said that every day 1,200 people, half of them children, are killed in the DRC because of violence, disease and malnutrition.
In the open meeting that followed those presentations, 36 speakers, representing Council members and other nations, affirmed that protecting children from abuse during conflict was a responsibility of each State and the entire international community, with many proposing mechanisms to follow up on Resolution 1612.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9420
Further information
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DR CONGO: Elections offer hope for children after years of conflict [publication]
[NEW YORK, USA, 24 July 2006] – Childhood in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been under attack for decades, but elections on 30 July could offer an opportunity to break the cycle of violence that has scarred an entire generation.
A report written for UNICEF by British war correspondent Martin Bell and released on Monday in London, Child Alert: Democratic Republic of Congo, describes the effects of years of conflict on children in DRC – arguably the world's deadliest current humanitarian crisis.
“It is easy to be overwhelmed by what has happened in DR Congo because of the sheer scale of it,” says Mr. Bell, who serves as the UNICEF UK Ambassador for Humanitarian Emergencies. “But we owe it to the children to give them the future they deserve and these elections may be the opportunity of their lifetime.”
The conflict that has consumed DR Congo for nearly a decade has killed more people every six months than were killed by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Estimates place the total deaths at 4 million, although some experts say the figure is far higher.
The Child Alert report paints a grim picture of a vast, lawless country in the heart of Africa where children are lucky if they survive long enough to become adults.
In eastern DRC, as many as 120,000 people are being forced to flee their homes every month, and 1.66 million remain displaced. Constant migration robs children of schooling, health care and the chance for a normal life. The report says as many as 30,000 children may be associated with armed forces or groups as fighters, sex slaves and camp followers.
At the same time, sexual violence against women and girls has reached epidemic proportions in DRC. Last year alone, there were 25,000 rape cases in the east of the country – and those are only the reported numbers.
UNICEF and its partners in DRC provide substantial emergency aid in the country, but long-term development cannot be maintained until there is sustained peace. “We’re at the eve of elections on July 30,” says UNICEF Representative in DRC Anthony Bloomberg. “This is an amazing historical opportunity for change and improvement in the country. We have to give all of our support to the new government, to the Congolese people, to give children a fresh start and let children be the engine of positive development into the future.” “UNICEF issued this report to call attention to this hidden emergency and its impact on children".
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9391
For more information, contact:
UNICEF
H-9, 3 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, US
Tel: +1 212 824 6127; Fax: +1 212 326 7731
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.unicef.org
Further information
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Role of NGOs in next elections [guidelines]
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is composed of 18 independent experts with recognised competence in the field of human rights. Members are elected for a term of four years by States parties in accordance with article 43 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Members serve in their personal capacity and may be re-elected if nominated.
The next meeting of States parties will be held at the United Nations in New York in February 2007 to elect members to replace the nine current members whose terms expire on 28 February 2007. These are:
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Ms. Alison Anderson (Jamaica)
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Mr. Jacob Doek (the Netherlands)
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Mr. Kamel Filali (Algeria)
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Ms. Moushira Khattab (Egypt)
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Mr. Hatem Kotrane (Tunisia)
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Mr. Lothar Krappmann (Germany)
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Mr. Norberto Liwiski (Argentina)
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Ms. Awa Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso)
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Ms. Rosa Maria Ortiz (Paraguay).
A fact sheet on the nomination and election procedures and the role that NGOs can play in these processes has been prepared by the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9387
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: www.crin.org/NGOGroupforCRC
Further information
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UK: Master of Arts in Child Welfare and Applied Childhood Studies [event]
Date: October 2006 - May 2007
Location: Swansea, UK
The Master of Arts in Child Welfare and Applied Childhood Studies (MACWACS) is a one-year full-time or two-year part-time degree delivered by the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Wales Swansea. It is a well established (since 1997) diverse programme which attracts students who are professionals in practice with children and families, or at the beginning of a career in either research or practice with children.
The programme is delivered one day a week throughout an academic year (October-May). Students take six modules from eight on offer, three of which are compulsory. The compulsory modules are Children and Childhood in the Social Sciences, Child Welfare, and Understanding and Doing Research. Optional taught modules include Sexual Exploitation of Children, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Studies, Child Study and Child Development, Children’s Rights, and Therapeutic Work with Children. In addition there are two practice-based modules for current practitioners, Children’s Service Development and Social Change and Advanced Practice with Children.
All modules are assessed through submission of written essays. Upon completion of all the taught modules, students submit a 20,000 word dissertation. All students are allocated personal tutors from amongst the programme staff who are experienced practitioners and researchers in child welfare. There are opportunities for students to gain experience of working with children and families in the local community (either in a volunteer capacity or as an employee), where permitted by UK entry regulations.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9432
Application deadline: 8 September 2006
For more information, contact:
Carol Cook, MACWACS Administrator
University of Wales Swansea
Department of Applied Social Sciences
University of Wales, Swansea, Wales, SA2 8PP, UK
Email: [email protected]
Website
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PARTICIPATION: Child and Youth Participation Resource Guide [publication]
The UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Office has just published a Child and Youth Participation Resource Guide. This annotated bibliography includes key English language documents on children’s participation grouped in four parts and 27 chapters:
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Part One: Introduction to child and youth participation
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Part Two: Children involved in research, analysis, planning, implementation and evaluation
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Part Three: Children’s participation in programme areas
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Part Four: Children involved in political decision making
The resource guide includes a CD which contains full-text versions of many of the documents included in the guide. Copies of the Child and Youth Participation Resource Guide can be obtained from [email protected].
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9398&flag=report
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** NEWS IN BRIEF **
OXFAM: Causing Hunger: An overview of the food crisis in Africa (24 July)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9412&flag=report
Day of General Discussion: update on child participation (25 July)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9438
COAV: Underage youths victims of summary executions in Colombia (24 July)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9396&flag=news
Council of Europe: Portugal - European Committee of Social Rights declares admissible complaint that domestic law does not prohibit all corporal punishment of children (21 July)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9378&flag=report
Human Rights Tools (website)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9400&flag=report
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