Complaints Mechanism: Updated Advocacy Toolkit

Summary: This is an updated Advocacy Toolkit aimed to support those interested in joining the campaign for a communications procedure under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It contains background information about the campaign, lists of campaigning and lobbying activities you could undertake at national level, questions and answers, a glossary and a feedback form.

Latest developments in the campaign

In June 2009, the HRC adopted a first reso­lution (A/HRC/RES/11/1) establishing an “Open-ended Working Group” (OEWG) to explore the possibility of elaborating a new communications procedure for the CRC.

In

December 2009, the OEWG held a three day meeting  during which State representatives, UN agencies, independent experts, NGOs and others discussed different aspects of an OP.

In March 2010, the HRC adopted a Resolution (A/HRC/RES/13/3) changing the mandate of the OEWG from simply 'considering' the need for an OP to actually drafting the procedure. The Resolution also requires the Chair to prepare an initial draft of the OP for the next meeting.

Since then, the Chair of the OEWG has been holding information talks and consultations with governments, representatives of civil society and key experts to collect inputs for his initial draft.The next meeting of the OEWG is scheduled to take place in early December 2010 in Geneva.

During this meeting, States will discuss the proposed draft. If they reach consensus on the draft, it will go to the HRC for adoption, if not, they will hold another five day meeting early 2011.

Download the toolkit to find out what you can do between now and December.

 

How to use this Advocacy Toolkit

This Advocacy Toolkit has been prepared by the NGO Group for the CRC to support those who are interested in joining the campaign for a communications procedure under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It contains background information about the campaign, lists of campaigning and lobbying activities you could undertake at national level, questions and answers, a glossary and a feedback form.

For this campaign to succeed, it is crucial that we all join forces. The NGO Group for the CRC is coordinating the campaign, particularly in Geneva at UN level. As a network, our aims are to strengthen links between national and international advocacy and lobbying actions.

Tell us what you think about this Toolkit

We would very much appreciate any comment you might have on this Advocacy Toolkit and especially we would like to know how you use it, what you find most helpful and if you think that other aspects of the campaign should be addressed. Please email Anita Goh, the NGO Group for the CRC Advocacy Officer at the UN, at [email protected] with your comments.

Further information

 

Thank you
A very special thank you to The International Coalition of NGOs for an Optional Protocol on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for allowing us to use some of their materials in order to develop this toolkit. Find out more about them here: http://www.escr-net.org/

pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Advocacy_toolkit_June2010.pdf

Web: 
http://www.crin.org/law/CRC_complaints/

Countries

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.