UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Children's Rights in the UN Special Procedures' Reports

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.

Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul

A/HRC/29/26/Add.2

Country visit: 27 January - 5 February 2014

Report Published: 5 May 2015

No mention of children’s rights.

Report by the Special Rapporteur on racism

Visit undertaken from4-8 October 2009

Report A/HRC/14/43/Add.3

Issues raised:

Discrimination: The Special Rapporteur was for instance informed of a case where a stateless pregnant woman was refused entry into a public hospital, due to the fact that she did not possess a valid health card. Whereas health cards delivered to “Bidoons” used to be valid for four years and could be renewed without too much difficulty, their validity has now been reduced to one year only and the authorities sometimes allegedly refuse to renew them. Another case which was reported relates to the refusal by a public school to accept a “Bidoon” child, although all his siblings had been previously allowed access to the same school. The school administration allegedly argued that they could not accept “Bidoon” children anymore. (Paragraph 48).

Nationality: In addition to the above, the Special Rapporteur was informed about the impossibility for Emirati women married to foreign nationals to pass their nationality to their children and about the reservations made by the United Arab Emirates to article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and to article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. (Paragraph 53).

Birth registration: The Special Rapporteur would like to refer to article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which prescribes that “The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have [...] the right to acquire a nationality” and that States parties “shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless”. (Paragraph 54).

Education: Education is undoubtedly one of the most efficient tools to create a cohesive and tolerant society, where all children may be taught, and experience for themselves, how diverse ethnic, national or religious groups can coexist in a peaceful manner. As such, the public school system should reflect and promote the social and cultural diversity existing in the country. The Special Rapporteur strongly believes that the future of all societies will be determined in schools. It is therefore of utmost importance that policies concerning access to public school are designed in a way to instil a long-lasting and genuine mentality of understanding and respect towards cultural diversity and equal opportunities for all in any society. (Paragraph 58).

Report by the Special Rapporteur on sale of children

Visit undertaken from 12-18 October 2009

- Read the report

Report by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children

Visit undertaken from 11-17 April 2012

- Read the press release

 

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Requested visits

Accepted

  • Working Group on transnational corp. and business enterprises (after 1st quarter 2013)

Requested

  • Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (requested in 2012)
  • Special Rapporteur on independence of judges and lawyers (requested on 18 March 2013)
  • Special Rapporteur on education (requested in 2005)

     

     

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