5 June 2009 - CRINMAIL CRC 20
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
To view this CRINMAIL online, visit: http://www.crin.org/email/crinmail_detail.asp?crinmailID=3151
This list provides specific information on the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Updates are sent during CRC sessions and on an ad hoc basis. Please feel free to forward these updates to others who may be interested. To contribute, email us at [email protected].
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.
___________________________________________________________
CRC: Alternative reports for Committee session 51 [publication]
State Reports
BANGLADESH (Third and fourth consolidated report)
FRANCE (3rd and 4th consolidated report)
MAURITANIA
NIGER
ROMANIA (3rd and 4th consolidated report)
SWEDEN (4th Periodic report)
Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
OMAN
None
SLOVENIA
Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
OMAN
None
SLOVENIA
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=20424
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Committee opens its 51st session [news]
Newly elected members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child took their seats for the first time on the opening day of its 51st session, on 25 May.
Ms. Kang, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights opened the session by welcoming the new members. Ms. Kang briefed the Committee about a few recent developments which have taken place since the last session of the Committee, including the upcoming celebration of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the CRC on 20 November 2009, the appointment of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children, HRC's annual full-day meeting of 11 June 2009, as well as the 5th session of the UPR in May and the Durban Review Conference.
The newly elected members of the Committee took a solemn declaration in an open meeting pledging their commitment to “perform their duties and exercise their powers as a members of the Committee honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously” . For more information about the CRC elections see breakdown of the results of the elections and the UN press release.
The Committee proceeded with the re-election of the Chairperson, as well as the adoption of its agenda and the review of the organisation of its work. The election of the Chairperson was made following the proposals of two Committee members supporting the nomination of the current Chairperson, Yanghee Lee. Read CRIN's interview with Ms Lee here
Furthermore, several issues were raised by the Committee members during discussions, including the need for a strong and effective Secretariat in view of plans to establish two chambers of the Committee in October, the need for accurate translations of documents into Spanish, the improvement of the computer system in the Office, the difficulties in accessing databases from other treaty bodies as well as complications emerging from delayed reporting from State Parties.
During the 51st session the Committee will also pursue the elaboration of general comments on article 12 of the Convention on child participation, article three on the best interests of the child as well as on article 19 on violence against children. It will continue its discussion on how existing cooperation with various relevant bodies could be further strengthened to enhance the promotion and protection of the rights of the child. The Committee noted that a system of collaboration has been put in place with UNICEF, some other UN agencies, and the NGO Group for the CRC. A workshop in collaboration with UNICEF is expected to take place on 19 June.
The Secretary of the Committee said it has received 14 reports since its last session: Cuba, Cambodia, Bahrain, Egypt, Iceland, Italy, Panama, Singapore and Syrian Arab Republic have submitted their reports under the CRC. Under the OPAC, the Secretariat has received the State party report from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and under the OPSC, reports were received from Canada, Sweden and Togo. Six initial reports were overdue as of 22 May 2009 for Afghanistan, the Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Tonga and Tuvalu.
All country reports will be available on CRIN and at http://www.childrightsnet.org/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SWEDEN: CRC report - same problem, different session [news]
Sweden continues to shirk United Nations-mandated obligations guaranteeing children the right to education, prompting the international body to call government officials to testify as to why many refugee children in hiding do not attend school in Sweden.
As a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC), Sweden must guarantee children a number of human rights to ensure they can “develop to their full potential”, including the right to primary education.
But the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has criticised Sweden several times for failing to provide education to all children living in Sweden, according to the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.
At issue is the status of children in Sweden who have had their refugee status claims rejected and are due to be deported.
While the government examined the matter in a 2007 report, many child advocacy groups criticised the report for a lack of comprehensiveness.
The groups, which include Save the Children, the Swedish Church, and the Swedish Paediatric Society (Svenska barnläkarföreningen), are also upset with what they see as the government’s failure to prioritise the issue at the same time as children continue to suffer.
“Now the same question is up for the third time in front of the UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child,” said Henry Ascher, chair of the paediatric association’s working group for refugee children, to DN.
“We paediatricians who deal with asylum seekers and children in hiding see what an enormous difference there is between children who go to school and those who live in dark apartments with curtains drawn together with parents who aren’t doing well.”
In a response to the latest inquiry from the UN, the Swedish government said it plans to review and update the 2007 report and on Wednesday, Karin Johansson, a state secretary under social affairs minister Göran Hägglund, will testify before the UN’s children’s committee.
While the previous report included a number of proposed changes to Swedish law, it failed to address the issue education access for “paperless” children, who often times go into hiding with their families to avoid being deported, or who have not applied for residence permits because their parents also reside in Sweden without proper permits.
While Sweden doesn’t prohibit “paperless” children from attending school or preschool, a lack of clear regulations usually result in individual teachers or principals deciding which children are accepted.
Another issue is that schools aren’t considered safe zones, which means children in hiding or their parents could be taken by police while on school grounds.
While police rarely take advantage of the situation, it can happen, according to Save the Children’s Sanna Vestin.
“Just the knowledge that police have the right to do it means that certain parents don’t dare let their children attend school,” she told the newspaper.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=20425
___________________________________________________________
The CRC CRINMAIL is an electronic mailing list of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN). CRIN does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to the CRINMAIL. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator.
To subscribe, unsubscribe or view list archives, visit http://www.crin.org/email.
___________________________________________________________
