Global: Campaign for universal ratification of UN Optional Protocols on children's rights

Summary: The two-year campaign will be officially launched on 25 May 2010 in New York.

UN children's rights experts are launching a global campaign for universal ratification of the UN Optional Protocols on children's rights on 25 May 2010.

The two-year campaign will strive to achieve universal ratification of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC) and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) by 2012 to mark the 10th anniversary of their entry into force.

These treaties lay the foundation for safeguarding children’s rights and ensuring children's effective protection from violence, abuse and exploitation.

The campaign will be led by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children (SRSG-VAC) and the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC), in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNICEF, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

Countdown to universal ratification

As of May 2010, the OPSC has been ratified by 137 States and signed by 117 States. 27 States have signed but not ratified and 31 States have not yet signed nor ratified.

See a global progress table here.

OPAC has been ratified by 132 States and signed by 125. 25 have signed but not ratified.

Towards children's full protection from sexual exploitation

The OPSC campaign aims to:

• Raise awareness of States Parties’ obligation to protect all children below the age of 18 from   all forms of sexual exploitation, to criminalise all acts of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and to ensure the rights of child victims and witnesses. A child who has been sexually exploited should be treated as a victim rather than a criminal, irrespective of the legal age of sexual consent.
• Promote the adoption and effective implementation of national legislation in conformity with the provisions of the OPSC, including to:

• Criminalise the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
• Establish extra-territorial jurisdiction and abolish the double criminality requirement with respect to offenses covered by the OPSC.
• Ensure that offences covered by the OPSC are made extraditable.Ensure the liability of legal persons.
• Protect the rights and interests of child victims and witnesses at all stages of the criminal justice process, including their privacy and safety, taking into consideration their views, needs and concerns. 1
• Raise awareness of States Parties obligations to:

• Safeguard children’s rights, best interests and participation in relevant decisions and proceedings and ensure the rights of child victims to appropriate assistance, including their right to recovery, reintegration and compensation.
• Strengthen the capacity of professionals working with and for children to prevent and address the offences covered by the OPSC.
• Raise awareness among the public at large, including children, through information, education and training about preventive measures and harmful effects of the offences referred to in the OPSC.
• Promote international cooperation and mutual assistance for the implementation of the OPSC. Promote respect for States Parties’ reporting obligations to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and relevant follow up to the Committees’ concluding observations and to recommendations of children’s rights mandate holders.

More information on the campaign for universal ratification of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict will be available shortly.
 
 1 UN Guidelines on Justice in Matters involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime, adopted by ECOSOC resolution 2005/20.