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Summary: Launch of the UN Study on Violence Against Children at the UN headquarters in new York is taking place on the 11 October 2006.
[NEW YORK, 11 October 2006] – The Secretary-General’s Study on Violence Against Children was launched today at the 61st session of the UN General Assembly in New York by the Independent Expert leading the Study, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro. The report was officially presented to the Third Committee of the General Assembly in a three hour session during which a number of high level speakers offered their support to the Study, including the President of the General Assembly, H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, Ann Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF, Anders Nordstrom, Acting Director General of the World Health Organisation, and Mehr Khan, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. The President of the UN General Assembly said that there was a clear need for international partnership to address the root causes of violence and she encouraged all governments to consider its recommendations with a view to tackling its problems. He highlighted that violence took place in all settings, in schools, in the community, in workplaces, in institutions and in the family. “Tackling violence can be most challenging in the private sphere,” he said, “but violence does not stop at the door of the family home nor at the gates of the school. All violence can and must be prevented by every society.” He asked government representatives to strongly endorse the overarching recommendations that are in his report – recommendations that apply to the five settings. He ended by re-stating that children were tired of being called the future and tired of words without actions. Over twenty children and young people have to come to New York from 19 countries around the world to represent children worldwide and take part in discussions around the launch. The young person who delivered their statement. Cora from Philippines, said that tackling violence needed everyone – children, parents, the community and governments - to work together. She said that it was “time for one of you to remember that you had a childhood, that maybe you are a mother or a father. Take a second and ask yourself: What kind of life do I want for my child? – if you are thinking about a bright future, an open-minded, equal and fair society, it means you can, and hopefully will change something for all of us.” In closing, she said “it is, last but not least, the moment that we ask for what’s been our right from birth: our right to survival, dignity, health, development and participation; our right to be protected from violence against children. We the children and young people need your support to end violence. We can do it – but only with your support.” Government delegates were then given the opportunity to take the floor. Comments and questions were received from the following: Finland, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Brazil, Singapore, Canada, Cuba, Sierra Leone, Egypt, New Zealand, Syria, Japan, Cote d'Ivoire, Saudi Arabia, China, the US and Kenya. Singapore said that they supported the Study but disagreed with the recommendation for a ban on corporal punishment as Singapore "still believes corporal punishment was an effective and acceptable form of discipline." The US Representative focused his response on violence in the family and said he agreed with UNICEF's recommendations that they should help prevent families being destroyed in the first place and that families should be supported with creative initiatives and help to promote healthy marriages. He said that the US did not necessarily agree with every sentence of the report, but urges that the most serious forms of violence be tackled. Moushira Khattab, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, who spoke as part of the Egyptian delegation said that a follow-up mechanism was needed and the appointment of a special representative cannot wait until the completion of the UN reform process. New Zealand also expressed interest in this follow up mechanism and asked for further clarification. The NGO Advisory Panel, which has worked alongside Professor Pinheiro since the beginning of the process prepared a series of recommendations for follow up based on the key recommendations of the study. These include strong endorsement and follow-up and the appointment of a Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. In a statement issued on the day of the launch, the Advisory Panel explains “that the recommendations in the study did not emerge from a vacuum. They are the result of an extensive consultation process that has involved governments, non-governmental organisations, the UN system, and most importantly, children themselves. The unprecedented participation of children—in the nine regional consultations, in national consultations, in advisory panels, and submissions from child-led organisations—is truly unprecedented for a UN process. They have spoken with urgency about the devastation that violence brings to their lives, and the imperative that it stop.” In a letter to Governments, Jaap Doek, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which had initially requested that this study be undertaken in 2001, expressed the support of the Committee for the Special Representative “to act as a high-profile global advocate to promote prevention and elimination of all violence against children, encourage international and regional cooperation and ensure follow-up to the present recommendations”. Following today's session, members of the Third Committee will draft a resolution on children's rights based on the recommendations of the Violence Study. More information:
Professor Pinheiro talked about the process of the study and emphasised that it had been a participatory one, involving governments, UN agencies, scholars, civil society and children and young people themselves.