Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports. Scroll to: ______________________________________________________________________________ UN Independent Expert on Cultural Rights – Preliminary Note on the Mission to Austria Country visit: 4 April – 15 April 2011 Good Practices: The independent expert underlines a number of positive initiatives and good practices adopted in Austria for the protection of cultural diversity and the promotion of access to cultural rights by all persons, including marginalized groups. The official recognition of ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity in Austria, predominantly as a result of the State treaty of 1955, provides an important base for promoting cultural diversity and cultural rights. The independent expert welcomes the rights to bilingual schooling and topographical signs and the usage of minority languages in judicial and administrative procedures in particular regions. She also appreciates Government initiatives, such as the especially commendable codification of a Romani language and the introduction in some public media broadcasts of subtitles, sign language and transmissions in official minority languages. Furthermore, she finds encouraging that the national plan of action on integration was adopted in consultation with experts and civil society. A consultative process is also being followed in the preparation of a national plan of action on disabilities. With regard to cultural heritage, significant steps have been taken to increase access to culture, such as the National Agency for Intangible Cultural Heritage tasked with inventorying living cultures; actions to increase access for youth and persons with disabilities; and the ongoing digitalization of cultural heritage. There is a number of excellent initiatives promoting cultural rights, cultural diversity and inclusiveness in Austria, most supported by the Government. (Paragraph 5) Education: Despite efforts to comply with the provisions of the Ethnic Groups Act, "bilingual education" is actually rare. Only a few genuinely bilingual kindergarten and primary level schools exist, particularly in Burgenland and Carinthia, and are highly dependent on the personal efforts of individual teachers and principals to operate effectively . Indeed, minority languages are mostly taught as elective courses, with Hungarian and especially Romani facing considerable challenges. Bilingual primary schools that have been opened in other areas, such as in Graz, are welcomed. (Paragraph 8) With regard to the field of education, the independent expert is concerned that the parallel schooling system, which divides education after primary school into separate streams of vocational training and general education, has an impact on children according to their background, particularly children with a migrant background, and therefore does not encourage intercultural understanding. The independent expert welcomes the creation of new middle schools and recommends the adoption of an integrated system for compulsory public schools. (Paragraph 20) Relevant Domestic Bodies: A number of legislative acts and bodies have been established to cover different human rights issues, such as the Austrian Ombudsperson Board, the Equal Treatment Commission and various Ombudsperson offices for equal treatment, people with disabilities, children and youth, and the Human Rights Advisory Council. However, while the commissions and ombudsperson offices are function well, there is no comprehensive institutional and legislative framework for the protection and promotion of human rights in Austria. The lack of a national human rights institution and national human rights plan of action exacerbates this fragmented approach. Combined with the insufficient domestication of international human rights obligations, particularly in the field of economic, social and cultural rights, and highly restricted possibilities for collective action before courts, this weakens the protection of rights. The independent expert therefore recommends that the Government , as a matter or priority, adopt an integrated national human rights plan of action and a human rights institution in conformity with the Paris Principles, mandated to oversee all rights, including those in the field of culture, paying special attention to the needs of more marginalized groups such as persons with disabilities. (Paragraph 22)
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.
Farida Shaheed
(A/HRC/17/38/Add.2)
Report published: 16 May 2011