DAY OF GENERAL DISCUSSION 2011: Children of Incarcerated Parents

Summary: This event will be webcast live from Geneva.

Programme available here.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has decided to devote its next Day of General Discussion (DGD) to children of incarcerated parents - related rights set out in article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The meeting will be held at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, 30 September 2011 from 10:00-18:00. Read the full outline.

The purpose of the Days of General Discussion is to foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of the Convention as they relate to specific articles or topics. After the discussion the Committee adopts recommendations, taking into account the issues raised.

Representatives of Governments, United Nations human rights mechanisms, United Nations bodies and specialised agencies, non-governmental organisations, national human rights institutions as well as individual experts and children are welcome to take part.

The rights of children of incarcerated parents are set out in Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The 2011 Day of General Discussion aims to remind States and other actors of their obligations to promote and protect the rights of children of incarcerated parents as outlined in the CRC.

Given the complexity of the concepts and issues involved as well as the concerns raised and experiences gathered to date in the Committee's efforts to address these issues, it is proposed that participants to this meeting be divided in two working groups on the following themes (please see the outline for more details on the two working groups and their respective sub-themes):

Working Group 1: Babies and children living with or visiting a parent in prison

Working Group 2: Children left ‘outside’ when their parent is incarcerated

Contributions

Suggestions for somebody to speak from the perspective of a criminal justice or prison professional, and somebody to speak from the perspective of a child development expert or child psychologist at the Day of General Discussion are still welcome. Suggestions of experts from Asian, Latin American or Caribbean countries are particularly welcome. Please send suggestions to [email protected].

**Submissions**

Information about written and oral submissions is available in the guidelines. Written submissions are now being accepted. Submissions may be written in any of the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s working languages (English, French or Spanish) and should be seven pages long or less. They can contain material that has been previously published. It is helpful if they include recommendations as well as issues or problems, though there should be a maximum of five recommendations per submission.

Particularly helpful are papers that deal in detail and expertly with specific aspects of the issue (such as feeding babies and children living in prison, or making visits child-friendly) with solid recommendations for improved policy or practice.

The deadlines for submissions and for registering for this event have now passed.

Accompanying exhibition

There will be accompanying exhibition of materials designed for children of incarcerated parents and those who care for/work with them, and of materials by the children themselves. These can include images, quotes, written documents and video or audio clips. If you have any ideas for content, or any questions, please email [email protected].

Any enquiries you might have about getting involved in the Day should be sent to: [email protected].

**Submissions**

N.B You can find annexes to the statements below in the links provided.