2 July 2007 - Rights CRINMAIL 36
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- MONITORING: Child Rights at the Local Level - Estonia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Sweden [publication]
- IRELAND: Me, You, Everyone - Rights and Responsibilities [publication]
- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Plan to review country's rights record agreed [news]
- RIGHTS BASED PROGRAMMING: Training Manual for Child Rights Programming [publication]
- UNITED KINGDOM: Rights Based Approaches to Development [training]
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Rights CRINMAIL is a component of a project of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN). It is published monthly with the purpose of informing and building the community of practitioners in rights-based programming. Your submissions are welcome. 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
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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MONITORING: Child Rights at the Local Level - Estonia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Sweden [publication]
In the last few years there has been a significant improvement in the development of adequate legislation and policies that has strengthened children’s rights in Europe. Furthermore, both reports by states and Alternative reports from civil society organisations to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have contributed to a better understanding of children’s situation in Europe. Yet, much remains to be done to ensure that changes at national levels filter down to local levels in order to result in actual changes in the daily lives of children.
Save the Children Sweden is of the opinion that the UN reporting process has to be complemented with more extensive and continuous monitoring of children’s rights on national, regional and local levels. As decentralisation increases in Europe, more decisions are taken at local levels that affect the everyday lives of children. This means that monitoring child rights at the local level will become increasingly important.
Countries must therefore consider how they can successfully approach local child rights monitoring in a strategic and sustainable way. This pre-study does not intend to find ‘good models’ of how local child rights monitoring could best be implemented, nor does it use experiences from individual countries to make conclusions at a European level. Instead, it hopes to give examples of different experiences in this area to inspire a debate and discussion about how to ensure a strategic and holistic approach to local child rights monitoring.
Such a discussion will also consider factors such as international, regional and local actors, existing monitoring structures and national contexts. At the same time, the discussion would benefit from a debate at a European level, where regional actors such as the EU and the Council of Europe could contribute.
For more information, contact:
Save the Children Sweden
SE 10788, Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: + 46 8 698 9000
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.rb.se
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13452&flag=report
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IRELAND: Me, You, Everyone - Rights and Responsibilities [publication]
Me, You, Everyone: Rights and Responsibilities is part of a comprehensive human rights education programme developed by the LIFT OFF Initiative, which aims to promote human rights education within primary schools. The programme consists of three resource books for junior, middle and senior classes, which have been written by practising teachers from the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Written for 5th and 6th class, Me, You, Everyone is ideally used as a follow on to LIFT OFF, but can be introduced as a self-contained module.
Consisting of ten units, each of which are structured around a theme, keywords and a learning objective, in it children can explore concepts such as identity, relationships, interdependence, equality, and perspective. They will be introduced to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, explore human rights issues such as gender inequality and child labour, and be encouraged to evaluate and positively contribute to the human rights situation in their school and community as well as in the wider world.
Me, You, Everyone will be distributed to every school through local INTO districts in the coming year. Additional copies may be ordered through the Amnesty International offices.
Further information
Download The Right Start (2nd Class) in PDF format
Download Lift Off (3rd and 4th Class) in PDF format
Download Me, You, Everyone (5th and 6th Class) in PDF format
For more information, contact:
Amnesty International Irish Section
Seán MacBride House
48 Fleet Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
Tel (+353 1) 677 6361; Fax (+3531) 677 6392
Email [email protected]
Website: http://www.amnesty.ie/amnesty/live/irish/default.asp
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13898&flag=report
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HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Plan to review country's rights record agreed [news]
[NEW YORK, 19 June 2007] - The United Nations Human Rights Council wrapped up its fifth session in June by agreeing to a package of new measures that includes how the “universal periodic review” mechanism – which allows the human rights records of every country to be scrutinised – will work.
After marathon discussions ending late on Monday night, the Council agreed that each year 48 nations, comprising a mixture of Council members and observer States, will be reviewed to assess whether they have fulfilled their human rights obligations.
Members serving one or two-year terms will be among the first to be evaluated.
These evaluations will not only involve input from the individual governments under review, but also will include contributions from treaty bodies, special procedures and other relevant organisations, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The Council also made decisions regarding its special procedures system, or the mechanisms, from rapporteurs and experts to working groups, which the Council can use to explore either specific country situations or thematic issues.
The Special Rapporteurs will be reviewed and will continue to report the Council. To improve the performance of the special procedures, the Council determined by consensus to retain 39 of the 41 mandates the body previously had, dropping the mandates to scrutinize Belarus and Cuba.
A new item – “human rights situations that require the Council’s attention” – was also added to the Council agenda.
Outcomes praised
The Council’s outgoing President Luis Alfonso de Alba praised the results of the lengthy negotiations among the body’s 47 members before the decision.
“They lived up to the challenges that they were facing and they went to a final agreement on the institution building which is going to be a decision with historical dimensions, because it is the beginning of a new era for the United Nations and a new culture in dealing with human rights.”
He described the Universal Periodic Review mechanism as “a tool that will be, because of its dimension and because of its universal… character, what can make a difference in the way we deal with human rights with each other.”
Mr. de Alba added that the introduction of a new mandate on “human rights situations that require the Council’s attention” meant that if any Member State wished to focus on a particular issue on which different views existed, then it was possible to examine that topic closely.
Doru Romulus Costea of Romania, who assumed the role of Council President today, said the body would be judged by its willingness and ability to transform ideas into real action for the benefit of victims of human rights abuses all over the world.
“Let us have no illusions,” he said. “We may adopt good decisions, but are they enough to change the situation of the women, children and men, young and old, who have their rights violated, who are victims of abuses, whose voices are not heard, nor heeded by those who were called to protect them in their countries?”
The Council was established last year to replace the much-criticised Commission on Human Rights.
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13748&flag=news
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RIGHTS BASED PROGRAMMING: Training Manual for Child Rights Programming[publication]
This is a starter kit that provides a basic introduction to Child Rights Programming. The manual is based on personal experiences gathered while conducting workshops and training programmes across South and Central Asia and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Using these sessions, the trainer will be able to run a three-day session on Child Rights Programming.
The introductory manual is aimed at furthering capacity of professional development on Child Rights Programming. The documentation and writing team comprised of experienced trainers from varied backgrounds. At the beginning of each training module you can find a rationale and overview, its objectives, a suggested time-frame, and a session plan. In some of the modules, alternative sessions are provided which can be useful in addressing different groups. Each session plan starts with a brief description of the session, including objective(s), duration, training method(s) and materials, along with reference to suggested handouts and overheads. This is followed by a detailed description of the process.
The manual has 10 sections:
- Introduction - an overview of the manual and information on how to use it
- Childhoods and a Child-Centred Approach
- Human Rights
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- Introduction to Child Rights Programming and a Rights-Based Approach
- Non-Discrimination
- Child Participation
- Accountability and Wrap-up
And two support sections:
- A Handout Section
- A Transparencies Section
Child Rights Programming is a priority area for Save the Children at global, regional and country levels. The overall vision is to achieve greater benefits for children by operating a consistent programme based on children's rights.
To order a printed copy of the manual (includes the manual on CD) or just the soft copy, write to:
For Southeast Asia and the Pacific countries:
Nuchanart Vanichbutr ([email protected]) with a cc to Pariphan Uawithya ([email protected]) Regional Communication Officer
For South and Central Asian countries and countries in other regions:
Prajwol Malekoo ([email protected]) with a cc to Neha Bhandari ([email protected]) Regional Communications Officer
Limited numbers of the publication are available free of cost. The materials will be sent postpaid by the receiver.
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13443
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UNITED KINGDOM: Rights Based Approaches to Development [training]
Date: 5 - 7 December 2007
Location: London, UK
The aim of the course is to familiarise participants with principles, approaches and practices, which define a rights-based approach to development. The course provides an opportunity to reflect on the implications of applying rights-based approaches in the context of programmes and organisational development and to assess if and how an organisation might take these ideas forward.
Objectives:
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Learn about different meanings of a rights-based approach to development
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Examine the key legal instruments underpinning the rights-based approach
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Discover the issues and challenges around taking a rights-based approach
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Explore different ways that NGOs have incorporated a rights-based approach into their strategy and programming
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Identify the implications for NGOs moving towards a rights-based approach
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Gain knowledge of how to analyse the appropriate position for your organisation towards the rights-based approach
For more information, contact:
INTRAC
PO Box 563, Oxford OX2 6RZ, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1865 201851; Fax: +44 (0)1865 201852
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.intrac.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13891&flag=event
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