21 November 2008 - CRINMAIL Violence against Children 37
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- Mission Impossible? In search of an SRSG
- III World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents [event]
- News and Publications
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This list is the primary means of communication for NGOs interested in the UN Study on Violence Against Children and for the Subgroup on Children and Violence. Updates are sent approximately once a month. Please feel free to forward these updates to others who may be interested.
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- Mission Impossible? In search of an SRSG
Two years after the UN Study on Violence Against Children revealed widespread violence faced by millions of children worldwide, we are still waiting for the UN to act by appointing a Special Representative on Violence Against Children.
In 2006, the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children found that the short and long-term repercussions of the violence faced by millions of children are devastating—including injuries, disabilities, life-long emotional and psychological effects, sometimes death, as well as significant economic and other costs to society. The Study presented a comprehensive set of recommendations detailing necessary steps to prevent and respond to violence against children.
The study further recommended that "governments act to establish a Special Representative to the Secretary General on Violence against Children (SRSG)." The role of the SRSG would be to " act as a high-profile global advocate to promote prevention and elimination of all violence against children".
As the process stalls, children wait
The UN General Assembly did not act on this recommendation in 2006, but requested the Secretary-General's independent expert, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to submit to the 62nd session of the General Assembly a report on progress made and "to anticipate the necessary strategy for the implementation of the study."
In May 2007, the NGO Advisory Council for follow up to the UN Study on Violence Against Children invited NGOs from around the world to sign a petition calling on UN member states to fully implement the Study's important recommendations, and calling on the UN to establish a Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children. The petition gathered over 1,000 signatures from around the world and was presented at the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly (GA) in October 2007.
The 2007 GA Resolution on the rights of the child reaffirmed the NGO request, affirming the need for "the Secretary-General to appoint for a period of three years a Special Representative on violence against children, at the highest possible level" (58)1. The resolution was adopted on 18 December 2007 by a vote of 183 to 1.
A loud silence
Despite NGO pressure and the full force of a GA resolution, such a crucial appointment remains elusive. Children must wait.
Throughout the process, the NGO Advisory Council and other NGOs made direct representation to the Secretary-General's office on matters relating to the appointment of the SRSG, including on the terms of reference, the location of the office of the SRSG and the level at which such a post was to be established.
In May 2008, CRIN invited all signatories to the 2007 petition to write to the Secretary-General's office calling on him once again to establish the SRSG. Still no word.
As the 63rd session of the UN GA gets underway, sources suggest that a number of candidates have been interviewed by a panel which included representatives of the SG's office, the Special Representative on children and armed conflict and UNICEF, who then proposed a short list of three for interview by the Secretary General. An announcement is said to be imminent.
Meanwhile, the GA is currently debating this year's resolution on the rights of the child. A Draft resolution of the Third Committee includes strong language in relation to the SRSG's apointment - or lack thereof - expressing "deep concern about the delay in the appointment of a new Special Representative on violence against children, as requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 62/141, and requests the Secretary-General to fully comply with the request and to take urgent action to appoint, in accordance with the resolution, at the highest possible level and without delay, a Special Representative".
No more excuses
It is time for the Secretary-General to act. As Prof Pinheiro, once said "We should stop excusing ourselves and respond to the children's call for a world free from violence... there are no excuses for inaction. We should treat this as a matter of urgency. We must prove to our children that we fulfill our commitments if we expect them to do the same. And they should not have to wait until they are adults to confirm our commitment. The reality can and must change now."
Further information:
For more information, contact CRIN on [email protected]
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- III World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents [event]
Date: 25 to 28 November 2008
Location: Rio Centro, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil
More than three thousand people from five continents, 300 of which will be adolescents are expected to participate in next week's congress.
The First World Congress took place in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1996 and the Second one was in 2001, in Yokohama, Japan.
The opening theme of the Congress will be “Guarantee of the Rights of Children and Adolescents and their Protection against Sexual Exploitation – For a Systemic Approach”.
The event will be organised into workshops, discussions and five panels – Forms of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and its new scenarios; Legal Framework and Accountability; Integrated Cross-sector Policies; Initiatives of Social Responsibility; and Strategies for International Cooperation.
The aim of the congress is to present and prepare advice on how countries can and should fight the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
The Congress is organised by the Brazilian Government, ‘End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes’ (ECPAT), by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and by the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (NGO Group).
Preparations
Regional preparatory meetings were held in six regions of the world (Latin America, North America, Europe and CIS, East Asia and Pacific, Africa, South Asia) with the involvement and participation of government, civil society, UN agencies, children and adolescents, NGOs, private sector and academia and others.
In addition several technical expert meetings, focused on specialized areas of the Congress, were also held over the past year. In all instances these forums provided opportunities for a focused and in-depth analysis and discussion of the key areas of the Congress and resulted in the articulation of specific recommendations for future action. In various regional meetings children and adolescents complemented the general recommendations with their specific proposals.
Comment on the Draft Outcome Document
This document represents the first draft of the Outcome Document of the Congress. It is based on inputs gathered through regional and thematic preparatory meetings that have been organised around the world, in advance of the World Congress.
Further inputs to the Draft Outcome Document are requested and welcomed.
As you review the document, you are requested to consider the aim which is to guide future global work with clear and precise language that specifies the proposed actions as much as possible within a timeframe and in relation to the actors that will have responsibility to implement and support their realisation.
Please formulate your comments in the manner indicated above and include reference to the
relevant section of the text. Substantive changes and new inputs will be given priority. We regret that general comments, observations or elaborations on existing text will not be considered in this timeframe. Inputs should be sent to the WCIII General Rapporteur.
Last date for receipt of written input is 24 November. Please email them to [email protected]
Additional input to the Outcome Document will be made through the workshops, dialogues and plenary forums of the Congress. These will be integrated by a Drafting Committee.
Read the draft: http://www.crin.org/docs/IIIWorld_Congress_outcome_doc_draft.pdf
In addition each of the Congress organisers commissioned expert thematic papers which will be presented to the Congress. These provide another source and foundation for analysis, planning on the action to be taken for guaranteeing the right to protection against sexual exploitation for all children. The thematic papers also provide another source of recommendations which have been consulted and integrated in this first draft of the outcome document.
Staying informed
CRIN will be reporting from the World Congress through this email list. If you do not wish to receive these daily updates, go here to unsubscribe: http://www.crin.org/email/subscribe_manage.asp
Further information about the Congress will also be made available on the CRIN violence website at www.crin.org/violence.
Further information
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News and Publications
AFRICA: Speak out against all corporal punishment, Committee urged (4 November 08)
Go to: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=18868
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION: Questionnaire for governments and NGOs on juvenile justice
Go to: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=18844
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT: Global Report 2008 - Ending legalised violence against children (20 October 2008)
Go to: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=18761
EDUCATION: Learn Without Fear (9 October 2008)
Go to: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=18635
IRAN: Hangs Seventh Juvenile Offender This Year (4 November 2008)
Go to: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=18863
DEATH PENALTY: Latin American, Caribbean States Blocking UN Effort to End Juvenile Executions (29 October 2008)
Go to: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=18816
DENMARK: Plan to ban all circumcision (20 November 2008)
Go to: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=19016
Click here for further news, events and publications.
Contact us to submit information:
Child Rights Information Network - CRIN
1, St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK.
T: +44 20 7012 6865; E: [email protected]
W: www.crin.org
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