Submitted by crinadmin on
Mr Chairperson, This is a joint statement on behalf of the following NGOs: International Save the Children Alliance, Kindernothilfe, Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT), Plan International, SOS Children's Villages International, Terre des Hommes, World Vision International, the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN), the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, the Global Initiative to End Corporal Punishment, and the NGO Group for the CRC Mr Chairperson, We welcome the opportunity for discussion that the present Open-Ended Working Group is offering on the possibility of establishing a communications procedure under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We see this as the first formal step that must pave the way for the elaboration of the third Optional Protocol to the CRC. Establishing a communications procedure under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is not a new idea. It was first discussed informally during the drafting process of the Convention, but it was finally dropped to facilitate the finalisation and adoption of the draft Convention. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has endorsed the idea on a number of occasions, including at the 10th anniversary of the Convention and more recently in the build-up to the 20th anniversary. Twenty years after its adoption, the Convention enjoys near universal ratification and States Parties have demonstrated a high level of compliance with their reporting obligations. Notwithstanding these achievements, significant shortcomings in the implementation of the rights in the CRC persist in all countries. A strong and effective communications procedure would make a significant contribution to overcoming this problem and strengthening the global implementation of the CRC. There is today a strong and growing international campaign for a third Optional Protocol to the CRC to provide a communications procedure, which is supported by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Committee on the Rights of the Child, international and national NGOs, human rights institutions, ombudspersons for children and other bodies from all regions. As of the 8 December 2009, 601 organisations have signed on to the campaign. Mr Chairperson, Twenty years after the adoption of the CRC, it is critical to provide children and their representatives with an international communications procedure that will reflect and confirm the international community's commitment to recognise children as true right-holders. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a legal instrument, bestowing legal obligations on States which must be enforceable by children and their representatives. A communications procedure for the CRC will provide every child with an international mechanism when national systems fail to address violations of their rights. It will also strengthen the effective implementation of the CRC at national level, notably by developing a child rights jurisprudence consistent with the CRC's high standards. We hope that by the end of its first session the Working Group will decide that it should seek a stronger mandate, namely to start the elaboration of an Optional Protocol as the most suitable forum to discuss substantive issues. Thank you.