Submitted by crinadmin on
Mr. Chairperson, Madam High Commissioner, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues from the United Nations system and representatives non-governmental organizations: I am very honoured to participate in today’s session and I perceive this opportunity as a clear signal of the considerable importance that this Council will give to the special procedures. As the Secretary-General said in the opening, these mechanisms constitute the frontline troops to whom we must look to protect human rights. I am certain that the favourable winds that brought us to this new body will allow us to travel further ahead. Over the last three years, children and adolescents all over the world have directly expressed to me the urgency of taking concrete action to stop violence against them. States should respond by taking immediate action against this scourge. Mr. President: The report I am preparing, which will be fully based on the participatory process of regional consultations, will be action-oriented and propose a set of recommendations aiming at a comprehensive preventive and responsive strategy to deal with violence against children. As the study is grounded in the Convention Rights of the Child and the rights-based approach it will recommend that each State put in place an explicit framework of law and policy in which all forms of violence against children in all settings, including harmful traditional practices, sexual violence and all forms of corporal and humiliating punishment are prohibited. Violence can’t be legal. To effectively prevent violence, action at the national level is of critical importance. National policies and programmes should be gender sensitive and should give special attention to particularly vulnerable children. And if we really want to build child sensitive policies, we must create and support the meaningful participation of children in the development of a protective environment. Capacity-building (which sometimes means creating capacity) for those working with children is also needed and should be complemented by education campaigns and assistance to families in their child rearing responsibilities. The family is the first line of protection for children, and as such families need to be supported and strengthened. Effective polices must be evidence based. Although, the global lack of reliable data persists as a serious problem. Systematic research and data collection, must be strengthened, starting by ensuring important elements such as universal birth registration and mortality data. Child victims of human rights violations around the globe are certainly expecting a lot of us. We must walk out of this meeting with renewed conviction and determination to give life to our fine words and to exercise our responsibility to respond to the plight of millions of children. The Human Rights Council will have a great opportunity to address this urgent need. I hope that the voices of children will always be loudly heard within these walls. And I hope children will benefit from the work of this young international body long before they become adults. [1] ELIOT , T.S. " Burnt Norton", in Four Quartets, 1943
Antes de empezar felicito al embajador Luis Alfonso de Alba, por la presidencia en esta histórica reunión inaugural del Consejo de Derechos Humanos. Su enorme experiencia ciertamente garantiza la calidad necesaria para enfrentar los importantes desafíos que tenemos en este Consejo.
I would also like to acknowledge the key contribution of the High Commissioner to this historic moment. Her wisdom and courage have been of invaluable assistance during the transition to this Council. Not only opening paths of promise but also ensuring that the achievements we had in the past are fully preserved.
As the poet said:
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present [1]
Mr. President:
Thirty years ago, Hector Peterson, 13 years old and a brave group of school children, took to Soweto’s streets in peaceful demonstrations against the apartheid in South Africa. The authorities responded with brutal force. When the mayhem was over, Hector and other 151 children lay dead. Fortunately, this tragedy wasn’t greeted by silence from the international community, but was responded to by progressive pressure for change that resulted in the democratization of South Africa.
The Secretary General’s Study on Violence against Children, which I will present during the next General Assembly, will call on States to act now to fulfil their obligation to ensure the protection of children from all forms of violence.
In every region of the world violence against children persists, mostly invisible, in many cases allowed by law and socially approved. There can be no compromise in challenging violence against children. Children’s uniqueness - their human potential and vulnerability, their dependence on adults – make it clear that there must be more, not less, protection from violence.
Violence against children has an impact at all stages of a child’s development. In many countries, the lives of infants are being saved through the reduction of early childhood mortality only to be lost later due to high levels of homicides targeting adolescents.
In order to ensure that the issues raised by the Study are followed up internationally, the study will also recommend the appointment of a global advocate, relying on UN inter-agency cooperation, to foster implementation and follow up to the recommendations.
Mr. President:
The Secretary-General’s Study on Violence must be a catalyst for real and lasting change for children. No violence is justifiable and all violence is preventable. This is the core message that the study report will carry.
Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to stress the importance of ensuring that the rights of the child are kept high up in the global agenda to be established through this Council.
Thank you.