21 October 2009 - CRINMAIL Violence against Children 46
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- GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Global summit turns to children's rights [news]
- PETITION: Realising Rights: Stop Violence Against Street Children [news]
- Latest News and Reports
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This list is the primary means of communication for NGOs interested in the UN Study on Violence Against Children and its follow up. Updates are sent approximately once a month. Please feel free to forward these updates to others who may be interested.
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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GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Global summit turns to children's rights [news]
Violence against children, and ways to stem that violence, figured prominently in a discussion between Member States and United Nations officials from the field of child rights, at the start of a multi-day discussion on the promotion and protection of the rights of children convened by the Third Committee of the General Assembly (what is this?).
In her first appearance before the Committee, Marta Santos Pais, the Secretary-General's newly appointed Special Representative on Violence against Children, said she was counting on mutual support between herself and Member States to identify the most promising initiatives to stamp out violence against children. She made that statement in response to numerous questions posed by Member States on how she planned to conduct her work, and what role Governments were expected to play in the dispatch of her mandate.
Ms. Santos Pais, who assumed her post last month, said violence against children was an area where action was urgently needed. According to UNICEF, more than 85 per cent of children between 2 and 14 years of age experienced physical punishment or psychological aggression. National studies, although limited in number, confirmed similar rates. Available research suggested that between 500 million and 1.5 billion children endured some form of violence each year.
She noted that widely ratified treaties, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the International Labour Organization's Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, provided the normative foundation for the prevention and elimination of such violence. A 2006 United Nations Study on Violence against Children ‑‑ developed under the leadership of Paulo Pinheiro, while he was the United Nations' Independent Expert on Violence against Children ‑‑ would be her "navigation chart". That study had helped to challenge the acceptance of violence against children, she said.
Read her full speech: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=21127
In a lengthy question-and-answer session with Member States, she explained that the Special Representative's mandate had been established for a period of three years. In that time, she would focus on the development of a national strategy in each State and the introduction of a legal ban on all forms of violence against children. She would also promote the establishment of a national data collection system and research agenda.
She talked of promising developments in those areas, saying that 24 countries had already established a comprehensive and explicit legal ban on violence against children, with many others following suit. Several countries had reinforced legislation to protect children from violence in schools, such as India with its ban on corporal punishment. Others were introducing laws on child trafficking and sexual exploitation or female genital mutilation, or were placing limits on early and forced marriage.
However, she also acknowledged that the international community was lagging behind on those goals. The Study on Violence against Children had set a deadline of 2007 for national strategies. Initiating legal reforms, as well as establishing a system of data collection, was to have been in place by the end of 2009.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, who addressed the Committee alongside Ms. Santos Pais, also highlighted the mutually reinforcing relationship between Member States and the Secretary-General's Special Representatives. She said the General Assembly's engagement had been "key" to the work of her Office, and that the world body had served as an "enabler" on ensuring the protection of children.
She said two resolutions of the Security Council had been particularly helpful to the cause. Resolution 1882 (2009) on children and armed conflict stipulated that sexual violence against children and the killing and maiming of children during conflict would no longer be tolerated, and that parties with a pattern of such behaviour would be named and shamed by the Secretary-General in his annual report to the Council. Resolution 1888 (2009) called for a Special Representative on Sexual Violence, and for information to be collected on parties that committed sexual violence.
"These developments stem from resolutions in the General Assembly through which Member States have collectively expressed their commitment to fight sexual violence in wartime, paving the way also for the Security Council to take decisive action," she said.
Also delivering statements were Omar Abdi, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Yanghee Lee, Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, who provided highlights on recent work by their organizations.
The representatives of Sweden (speaking on behalf of the European Union) and Namibia (speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community) delivered country statements.
Earlier in the day, the Committee heard from remaining speakers on a previous agenda item, the advancement of women. Those speakers were the representatives of Tunisia, Rwanda, Cameroon, Mauritania, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Burundi, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Nepal, Morocco, Lesotho, Serbia, Togo and Botswana.
The representatives of the International Labour Organization, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration also spoke on that issue.
Further information
- UN: Top envoy on violence against children finally appointed (1 May 2009)
- UN Study on Violence Against Children
- About the General Assembly and child rights
- Legal framework to end all violence against children
For more information, contact:
ReliefWeb
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=21085
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PETITION: Realising Rights: Stop Violence Against Street Children [news]
"The police treat us badly. They hit us. Not for any particular reason. . just because they feel like it. They have hit me lots of times. They hit with their rifles, or with sticks, on our backs and stomachs. And sometimes they just punch us in the stomach with their hands. They also take our paint thinner and pour it over our heads. They have done that to me five times. It is awful, it hurts really bad. It gets in your eyes and burns; for half an hour you can not see anything."
The above testimony is from a 15 year old street child in Guatemala. Street children across the world are subjected to horrendous levels of violence, which often takes place in the hands of agents of the state - the very people who are supposed to protect them and guarantee their rights to a happy, safe and fulfilled life.
The Realising Rights: Stop Violence Against Street Children campaign aims to reduce the levels of violence against street-involved children around the world and raise vital funds to support the Consortium for Street Children in this work.
What the campaign is calling for:
1. Training and sensitisation of police in street children’s rights, needs and protection issues ;
2. Decriminalisation of so-called status offences ;
3. An end to all round-ups
4. Awareness-raising campaigns on violence against street children.
This year in November the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child celebrates its 20th anniversary. This is an opportunity to draw attention to the rights of street children, and put pressure on the world's governments to ensure that street children are no longer subjected to these unacceptable practices.
How can you help?
For more information, contact:
Consortium for Street Children
Unit 210, Bon Marche Centre,
241-251 Ferndale Rd, London SW9 8BJ, UK
Tel: 00 44 20 7274 0087; Fax: 00 44 20 72740372
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.streetchildren.org.uk
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=21109
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- Latest News and Reports
IRAN : UN rights chief criticises latest execution of juvenile offender, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - New York [14/10/2009]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=21069
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION: ECPAT International Report of the World Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of Children & Adolescents, ECPAT - International Secretariat [October 2009]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=21025
SEXUAL VIOLENCE: Study on Cambodia, Colombia and Northern Uganda
Children/Youth as Peacebuilders, 21/10/2009
Visit: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=21112
INTERNET: Online protection guidelines, International Telecommunications Union [20 October 2009]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=21099
UAE: Verdict from UN expert on exploitation, Najat M’jid Maalla,the UN special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, ended a five-day mission to assess child protection in the UAE, and said mechanisms to protect children should cover the entire country.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=21094
UGANDA: Female circumcision still a vote winner, Inter Press Service [19 October 2009]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=21096
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