The Third Intergovernmental Conference on Making Europe and Central Asia Fit For Children is currently taking place in Palencia, Spain. Over 50 countries from across this region are gathering to review progress in the implementation of child rights as defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Some of the issues under review include: Violence and exclusion still dominate the lives of millions of children in Europe and Central Asia, despite progress on legal and institutional reforms. ‘Too often, we see that legislation is on the books but that many children remain on the margins of society - not registered at birth, not in school, too poor to see a doctor and, for that, all the more vulnerable to violence and abuse,’ said Rima Salah, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. ‘The main challenge now is to fast-forward on these reforms and make them a reality for every child,’ added Marta Santos Pais, Director of the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence. ‘This can only be done by having children involved from the beginning and listening to what they have to say.’ To this effect, the Spanish Government has agreed to host the Intergovernmental Conference to reaffirm commitments made at the UN Special Session on Children in May 2002 and to move the process into top gear. During the Conference, governments from all over the region will exchange experiences and cement partnerships to deliver change on the ground for children from Ireland to Kyrgyzstan and from Russia to Turkey. The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre launched a Global Report on the Impact of the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the Conference. The global report is composed of several texts: General Comments of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in English and Spanish; General Measures of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in English (executive summary and key findings also available in Spanish); Concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in English available on CD rom. The Third Intergovernmental Conference on Making Europe and Central Asia Fit For Children is the third in a series of meetings that were initially hosted in Berlin in 2002 and Sarejavo in 2004. Further information
Owner: UNICEF Regional Offices for Europe and CEE/CISpdf: http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/protection_4343.html
Making Europe and Central Asia Fit for Children - Third Inter-governmental Conference
legislation and monitoring mechanisms
violence against children
the impact of poverty and social exclusion upon children and their families
Innocenti Research Centre: Global Report on the Impact of the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Link :
http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/protection_4343.html
Countries
Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.