The Child's Right to be Heard: Call for NGO Contributions for the Next Day of General Discussion

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To Speak, Participate and Decide – The Child’s Right to be Heard

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has decided to devote its next day of general discussion to the theme of the child’s right to be heard. The meeting will take place at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, 15 September 2006 from 10:00-18:00.

The meeting is open to representatives of non-governmental organisations, children and their organisations/networks, UN programmes and agencies, governments and other interested individuals, experts and organisations.

Objectives

The aim of the general discussion will be to explore the meaning of article 12 and its linkages to other articles of the Convention, focus on identifying gaps, good practices and priority issues and promote child participation at all levels.

  • The first working group will concentrate on the child’s right to be heard in judicial and administrative proceedings including those related to civil and criminal law, family and alternative care, protection, health, immigration status and schooling.
  • The second working group will focus on children as active participants in society in various settings such as family, school, associations and politics. A copy of the outline of the issues to be discussed is attached.

For more information on the approach and objectives of the Discussion Day, read the outline document.

NGO contributions

NGOs and children are invited to submit written contributions on the themes mentioned above to the Office of the High Commissioner as soon as possible, and before 30 June 2006. The Committee requests that written contributions be limited to a maximum of seven pages. Although documents may be submitted in English, French or Spanish, they will not be translated into the other languages. Written contributions should be sent electronically to CRCgeneraldiscussion@ohchr.org. Oral contributions from NGOs are also welcome during the day itself but should be limited to interventions in the debate rather than formal statements. Guidelines and additional information will be available shortly at http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/discussion.htm.

As the meeting is open to the public, written invitations will not be issued by the United Nations or the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. For security reasons and due to limited space, attendance at the meeting requires advance registration. To register, please complete the registration form before 1 September 2006 that will be soon available at http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/day-register.doc. However, those who wish to receive copies of background papers via email should register prior to 28 July 2006. Please note that there is no funding available for travel expenses either from the United Nations or the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child and no assistance can be given for visas, travel or accommodation arrangements.

More information 

For registration and to submit written contributions, please contact:
Secretariat, Committee on the Rights of the Child
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Email: CRCgeneraldiscussion@ohchr.org

If you have any questions regarding NGO contributions, please contact:
Laura Theytaz-Bergman
NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Email: ngocrc-lup@bluewin.ch

  

Issues: 
Child participation
Tags: 
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