Submitted by crinadmin on
Children, NGOs, State delegates, UN experts and advocates gathered today (8 October) at an event in Geneva to celebrate 20 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Organised by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the theme of the conference has been designated 'Dignity, Development and Dialogue'. Over the course of the next two days, participants will discuss key issues related to the 'three Ds' in various workshops. Find out more about the event here Chair of the Committee of the Rights of the Child, Yanghee Lee, began the morning’s presentations. She said a crucial element of the Convention was furthering a view of children as “beings rather than becomings.” She also noted the “unprecedented support of State Parties for the Convention.” However, she also cautioned that there were a number of challenges impeding implementation of the Convention. She recognised the impact of the global economic downturn, with “the full effect on children yet to unfold.” Ms Lee also spoke of recent natural disasters, of the effect of climate change, and of ongoing conflicts on the realisation of children’s rights. She said that a lack of political will, the existence of numerous broad reservations to the Convention, and economic limitations were all problems to overcome. Complaints procedure crucial The existence of a complaints procedure to the CRC is, said Ms Lee, fundamental. She said: “we are asked how to make rights have real meaning, and in order for this to happen, effective remedies must be available...The Committee strongly believes [an Optional Protocol to establish such a procedure] will help the international community make a leap forward in terms of making children’s rights a reality.” Ms. Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, then made a presentation. A former judge, she said: “Judges have always looked at the interests of the child rather than the rights of the child, so I have to say that I have learnt something by working on international children’s rights.” Ms Pillay also supported the campaign to establish a complaints procedure. She said: “This mechanism could significantly strengthen the monitoring of the Convention and the furtherance of children’s rights. It is an issue that we will be following closely, and we will be supporting the working group [established to consider the drafting of such a procedure], scheduled to meet from 14 to 18 December.” A flurry of other statements were made during the morning session, from UNICEF, and States parties to the Convention. Swiss rapper Osir performed a track about the Convention, livening up the otherwise more sombre series of statements. Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe, emphasised that “trusting children is crucial for the realisation of children’s rights. We must trust them to be responsible.” He outlined three challenges to the implementation of the Convention. Democracy in schools Firstly, he said: “We must do more to allow children to take part, not just to make them heard but to respect their opinion, particularly at school. “We need democratic schools – schools must not be in contrast to what we say in the CRC,” he said. Second, violence against children. “We are still in a situation where the majority of countries have not banned all corporal punishment of children,” he said. “Why can we beat up a child but not an adult? Because children are better able to withstand violence than adults? Of course not.” Finally, he emphasised that “we cannot leave any child behind. For example, in Europe, we have a major problem with Roma children, who do not have fair access to education. We have not done enough to ensure children with disabilities can go to school.” Peter Newell, of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, and chair of CRIN’s board of trustees, then spoke, highlighting the importance of Concluding Observations. He said: “I’ve heard some people suggest the Concluding Observations are too long and too repetitive – but what is repetitive is the sustained refusal of so many States to accept and act on the inconvenient obligations they took on with ratification. Please don’t reduce the detail: it is essential for all our advocacy.” Mr Newell went on to emphasise that the legal value of the CRC needed to be recognised. He said: “We need to equip ourselves now for a decade of insistence that the CRC is a legal instrument, bestowing legal obligations on states which must be enforceable by children and their representatives... It is going to be up to us, NGOs, and human rights institutions and individual lawyers, children’s organisations and other advocates to be creative in forcing a recognition of the legal force of the Convention.” You can read the rest of Mr Newell’s speech here Children attending the event then conducted a joint presentation on the meaning of the 'three Ds' - Dignity, Dialogue and Development. The delegate from Norway said: "We believe dignity is the foundation of human rights. Do not consider us objects of rights but subjects. As children, we need to be acknowledged and valued as edqual contributors." A delegate from the Dominican Republic added: "Children are of the future but they are of the present too," while a child representative from Colombia noted: "Dialogue means understanding, but understanding between all people. It is the way towards peace, understanding and respect. Without dialogue we cannot have peace. We would like to see adults communicating better with children. We want to see governments listening to what we have to say, and trusting us. We would also like to see parents being more than parents, but being friends too." Blogs by youth reporters Youth reporters were also on hand to monitor the event, while children and young people will act as rapporteurs during workshops, and make presentations. Two of the reporters, Taylor from Canada, and Kamilla, from Norway, are writing blogs on their experiences of the event. Visit Kamilla's blog here: http://www.plan-norge.no/Under18/UROBlogg.aspx Visit Taylor's blog here: www.planyouth.org At the end of the conference, the discussions will be collated and summarised, and the Committee will issue a series of recommendations. A special CRINMAIL next week will provide a report from the whole two day event. Further information