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Summary: Following the launch of the Violence Study that took place last week in New York, a number of regional events have taken place or will be taking place in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, negotiations for a resolution on children's rights of the UN General Assembly are underway.
Pinheiro at the Organisation of American States (OAS) On Friday 13 October, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro went to Washington DC to present the Violence Study report to the Organisation of American States (OAS). The meeting was organised by the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs and was an opportunity for Members of the OAS to ask questions about the report. Professor Pinheiro was speaking as the Independent Expert for the Violence Study, but also as the Rapporteur on Children's Rights for the Inter American Commission for Human Rights. Maud de Boer Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe was also addressing the OAS and talked about the importance of promoting children's rights as well the importance of regional human rights mechanisms. The meeting was also attended by members of civil society, including Save the Children and CEJIL. The date for the launch of the Violence Study book has been confirmed for 20 November and will take place in Geneva. Further information will be available shortly. NGO Advisory Panel If the decision for the SRSG is postponed for a year, as has been suggested by some governments, an ad hoc group of NGOs would continue to coordinate advocacy efforts. The NGO Group subgroup on Children and Violence, which is based in Geneva will continue its activities for the time being and will continue to work in close collaboration with the NGO Advisory Panel. For more information about the Subgroup, contact: Roberta Ceccheti , Convenor of the subgroup on [email protected] For more information about the NGO Advisory Panel, contact: Jo Becker on [email protected] More information about both is available at: www.childrenandviolence.org A Resolution on Children's Rights Negotiations by governments on the rights of the child resolution are on-going. A Resolution was due to be tabled on Friday 13, but has been postponed. The two most controversial issues are references to corporal punishment and the proposal for a Special Representative to the Secretary General on violence against children. Governments are split on both issues, and it is not yet known how the negotiations—which will continue for several weeks—will turn out. While some countries are supportive of a SRSG, others are suggesting that Pinheiro’s mandate be extended for another year, and that a report specifically on the proposal for an SRSG be submitted to next year’s GA, which would essentially postpone the decision for a year. Events and campaigns Save the Children International Day of Action Save the Children, which has played an instrumental role in the process of the Violence Study, including in facilitating children's involvement, is planning an international day of Action on 19 October. Activities are being organised by regional and country offices in over 60 countries. The aims of the Day of Action are to help build political commitment at regional and national levels, to mobilise governments to endorse the Study's recommendations, to generate media coverage, and to promote children's participation by involving thousands of children across the globe. Specific activities will include meetings of children and government representatives, linking up with high profile media events, public presentations of reports and films on violence prepared by children themselves, music and theatre events, street marches and processions and presentations of public petitions in support of the Study. More information to follow. In the meantime, visit: http://www.rb.se/eng Regional and national events will be taking place to mark the launch of the Violence Study. Go to: http://www.crin.org/violence/regions/index.asp We are continuing to update the CRIN website with information about some of these, but would be interested to hear about other events that may be taking place regionally, nationally and locally. We would also like to post information about media coverage and outcomes of events. Please contact us at: Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) Further information about the launch:
Members of the NGO Advisory Panel who were attending the launch of the Study last week met to discuss the status of advocacy efforts around the rights of the child resolution, as well as next steps. It was decided that the Advisory Panel as it currently stands would cease its activities in its current format, however, depending on the outcome of the resolution and the potential decision for appointing a Special Representative to the Secretary-General (SRSG) on violence against children, NGOs would continue to work together to strengthen their efforts.
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