Submitted by jonas on
In March 2014 a number of civil society organisations - including CRIN - launched a campaign to call for a UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty with the support of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children and a number of Permanent Missions.
The idea to call for a Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty derives from the need to comprehensively collect quantitative and qualitative data and statistics from across regions on the number and situation of children deprived of liberty; share good practices; and formulate recommendations for effective measures to prevent violations of children's rights.
Although the request for the study has now been included in the draft text of the resolution on the rights of the child of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, the original language provided has been altered to no longer include the appointment of an Independent Expert, which is crucial for the realisation of a comprehensive study. The NGO panel for a Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty are therefore calling on the General Assembly to reinsert the request for an Independent Expert into the text of its annual resolution on children.
You can read more about or join the campaign.
RE. THE GLOBAL STUDY ON CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY: INDEPENDENT EXPERT
The NGO panel for a Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty* reiterates its call to the members of the United Nations General Assembly [to agree to the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child], to request that the United Nations Secretary-General undertake a GLOBAL STUDY ON CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY in order to comprehensively collect data and statistics from across regions on the number and situation of children in detention; share good practices; and formulate recommendations for effective measures to prevent human rights violations against children in detention and reduce the number of children deprived of liberty.
Although the request for the Study has been included in the draft text of the resolution on the rights of the child of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the original language provided has been altered to no longer include the appointment of an Independent Expert, which is crucial for the following reasons:
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An independent expert will raise the profile for the multi-faceted issue of children deprived of their liberty and would have the authority to broker cooperation and contributions by all UN agencies and stakeholders to the Study. Deprivation of liberty cuts across existing mandates and is of concern to a range of UN and other actors, including UNICEF, OHCHR, UNODC, the SRSG VAC, the SRSG CAC, WHO, etc. Only an independent expert will be able to fully engage all of these relevant entities and ensure a comprehensive approach.
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The two previous UN studies on children (children and armed conflict and violence against children) were both conducted by independent experts. To not have an independent expert for the study on children deprived of liberty is to give this issue less priority and expertise than it deserves;
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An independent expert would be a temporary appointment funded through voluntary contributions with no impact on the regular budget. The expected term of the independent expert would be approximately three years and would end when the study is completed.
We thus would like to repeat the need for the Study and in particular the appointment of an Independent Expert, and that such reference within the resolution be reintroduced as follows:
(d) Invites the Secretary General commission an in-depth global study on children deprived of liberty, carried out by an independent expert, funded through voluntary contributions, and conducted in close cooperation with relevant United Nations agencies and offices, including but not limited to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict, the Office of the SRSG for Violence Against Children, as well as the Interagency Panel on Juvenile Justice, and in consultation with relevant stakeholders, including civil society, academia, and children, and to include for consideration by member states best practices and recommendations for action to effectively realize the rights of the child, and further invites the Secretary General to submit the conclusions of the study to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session.
Signatories
1. Defence for Children International (DCI)
2. Abraham’s Children Foundation (ACF), Nigeria
3. African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)
4. Alliance for Children, Mauritius
5. Amnesty International
6. Asociación Argentina de Magistrados Funcionarios y Profesionales de la Justicia de Niñez, Adolescencia y Familia (AJUNAF), Argentina
7. Association Antigone, Italy
8. Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI), USA
9. Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
10. Association internationale des magistrats de la jeunesse et de la famille (AIMJF), Switzerland
11. Le Bureau international des droits des enfants (IBCR)
12. Casa Alianza
13. Child Helpline International (CHI)
14. Child Rights Connect
15. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
16. Children’s Human Rights Centre of Albania (CRCA), Albania
17. Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), United Kingdom
18. Consortium for Street Children
19. Coram Children’s Legal Centre, United Kingdom
20. Dignité en Détention (DiDé), Switzerland
21. End Child Immigration Detention
22. Eurochild
23. Franciscans International
24. Freedom Gate Greece, Greece
25. Geneva Infant Feeding Association - International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN-GIFA)
26. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children
27. The Howard League for Penal Reform, United Kingdom
28. Human Rights Watch (HRW)
29. IDAY-International
30. Inquest, United Kingdom
31. Institut international des Droits de l’Enfant (IDE), Switzerland
32. Institute for Social Justice (ISJ), Pakistan
33. International Catholic Child Bureau (ICCB/BICE)
34. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
35. International Detention Coalition (IDC)
36. International Institute for Child protection (IICP), Gambia
37. International Justice Consulting (IJC), USA
38. International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO)
39. International Social Service (ISS), Australia
40. Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice (IIMA; Human Rights Office)
41. Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC), Hungary
42. Organisation Mondiale Pour L'Éducation Préscolaire (O.M.E.P.)
43. Our Children Foundation, Bulgaria
44. Penal Reform International (PRI)
45. Plan International
46. Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
47. PRAWA, Nigeria
48. Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO)
49. Red Latinoamericana y caribeña por la defensa de los derechos de los niños, niñas y adolescentes (REDLAMYC)
50. Rights International, United Kingdom
51. Right to Education Project (RTE), United Kingdom
52. Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA), Italy
53. Save the Children
54. SOS Children’s Villages International
55. Terre des Hommes International Federation
56. UN NHRI, The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, Hungary
57. L’Unione Nazionale Camere Minorili, Italy
58. Vides Internazionale, Italy
59. War Child Holland (WCH)
60. World Organization Against Torture (OMCT)
61. Youth Association for Development (YAD), Pakistan
Last updated in October 2014
