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Summary: The second global meeting of children’s ombudsmen took place at the UN General Assembly this week prior to the ‘World Fit for Children’ event.
[NEW YORK, 10 December 2007] – The second global meeting of children’s ombudsmen took place at the UN General Assembly this week prior to the ‘World Fit for Children’ event. The first global meeting of ombudsmen took place five years ago during the Special Session on Children. One of the important achievements of the Special Session was the formal recognition of the important role of independent human rights institutions for children in the promotion and protection of children’s rights at national level. In the last five years, new offices have been established and new networks have emerged. The aim of this meeting was for ombudsmen institutions to share their experiences and prepare a statement to be delivered at the General Assembly meeting calling on governments to reaffirm the commitments made five years ago. The meeting was opened by the Minister for Social Affairs of Sweden, Mr Goran Hagglund who said the Swedish government was very pleased about the decision to establish to a Special Representative on violence against children (SRSG). Ms Skaervik, Secretary of State, Office of Prime Minister, Norway said that governments had made commitments at the Special Session in 2002 and in the Violence Study’s recommendations and recent resolution in the Third Committee, and children had provided their views in all these. “It is time for governments to act on what they say. Good intentions are not enough” she said. She emphasised the importance of independent human rights institutions for children stating that governments needed critical input from ombudsmen as well as children and NGOs. Idalia Moniz, Secretary of State from Portugal who was speaking on behalf of the EU delegation said that independent human rights institutions are an essential aspect in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yanghee Lee, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child talked about the role of the CRC and possible ways for ombudsmen to participate in the work of the CRC. She said the CRC has always encouraged the development of such institutions and developed two General Comments on independent human rights institution and on general measures of implementation [what is this]. She also said that ombudsmen should think about contributing to the new mechanism of the Human Rights Council, the Universal Periodic Review, and could take a more prominent role on a global level, particularly as nobody had the responsibility in following up on resolutions, ratifications, guidelines, recommendations, etc. On the recent Violence Study she said: “it demonstrated clearly that violence is a household word, in all settings, reaffirming, recalling, etc. Let’s stop recalling, let’s ask ourselves: a world full of violence is that really a world fit for children”? Elda Moreno presented the work of the Council of Europe on children’s rights and its strong and continued support for the work of independent human rights institutions. She called on ombudsmen to support the upcoming campaign of the Council on banning corporal punishment and bring the message at national level. Xavier Bonal, chair of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) said they welcomed the decision of the UN to establish a SRSG on violence against children and urged States to implement the recommendations of the Study, including corporal punishment, and said that ombudsmen were willing to assist and collaborate in this process. Latin America Speaking on behalf of the newly established Ibero American Network of Ombudspersons for Children, Jorge Valencia, Ombudsman for Children from Peru said the first aim of this new network was to promote the establishment of such institutions for children in countries of the region where there are none. Secondly it aims to promote the idea that democracy and citizenship is not something one acquires by miracle by reaching majority but it starts the moment you are born and it is essential that children participate to consolidate democracy. Africa Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra, Children’s Ombudsman from Mauritius, said Africa only had two such institutions for children: herself and the National Human Rights Commission in South Africa. She said several countries were on their way to developing new institutions, including Zambia, Senegal and Seychelles. Australasia Asia Pacific Cindy Kiro, Ombudsman from New Zealand spoke on behalf of the Australasian Asia Pacific Association of Children’s Commissioners. Their network is composed of one national commissioner (New Zealand), six Child Guardians in Australia, Fiji and Thailand are on their way, and Indonesia recently appointed someone with responsibility for child protection. Finally, she said that New Zealand was the first English-speaking country to ban corporal punishment in all settings. South Asia Shanta Sinha, Chaiperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, India, talked about the huge challenges she was facing as an ombudsperson in such a large country. She said that children should have a share in the changes that are happening in India, but that the greatest divide in India was between those who had access to education and those who did not. North America The Child Advocate from Alberta, Canada and Connecticut, USA said they were impressed by the level of political cooperation in EU countries which was lacking in Canada and in the US, which both have responsibility for children’s services at provincial levels. Furthermore, neither of the two countries had someone focusing on youth rights and their voices. This meeting had inspired them to network within their countries and try to share information to move forward, however we must also find a way to not preach to the converted, but speak to citizens and not just leave children to the professionals. Europe Emily Logan, Ombudsman for Children in Ireland spoke on behalf of ENOC which now has 28 members, as well as associate members. She said the network advocated across Europe and shared practices and strategies throughout Europe to implement the CRC. All members have experiences of working directly with children, “if you want decisions to be made, put a group of children together, not adults”. Caribbean Mary Clarke, Children’s Advocate in Jamaica, said she was the only advocate for children in her region. She was appointed with main function to enforce and promote the rights of children. One part of her role is to enhance parent education including promoting male accountability. Some of the questions and comments that came up in the discussion included the importance of information sharing on issues such as the work of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child through the State reporting process. Ragne Birte Lund from Norway said they should find a way to make better use of the Concluding Observations issued by the CRC and a better way of using existing knowledge in general at national level. Marta Santos Pais, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre said there were many existing ombudsman offices, new ones and emerging ones. Strong offices were also important. She noted that all ombudsmen had mentioned violence against children as an important focus of their work. “Children’s ombudsmen are uniquely positioned to create a bridge between all actors, civil society, academia and children” she ended. Futher information