Violence Study: Recommendations for Action

Summary: Based on the key findings of the Secretary-General's Study on Violence Against Children, the NGO Advisory Panel has prepared a series of recommendations for follow up to the Study. These include strong endorsement and follow-up and the appointment of a Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence against Children

NEWS: May 2007 - Read the International Call for Action for a Special Representative

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I: Strong endorsement and follow-up:

The Rights of the Child resolution to be adopted by the General Assembly at its 61st session should welcome the Pinheiro study and strongly endorse its recommendations. In particular, the resolution should urge all states to take effective steps to implement fully the study’s recommendations, including by:

  • Prohibiting all forms of violence, including all corporal punishment, harmful traditional practices and sexual violence against children in all settings by 2009;
  • Developing a multifaceted, coordinated and integrated national plan of action to respond to violence against children by 2007;
  • Involving children and young people in the follow-up to the Study;
  • Strengthening national efforts to prevent violence against children through child-friendly policies and services, public information campaigns, and the provision of training for all persons working with children;
  • Ensuring that children have access to quality health, social and legal services to provide assistance in cases of violence, as well as accessible and safe complaints mechanisms;
  • Ensuring that perpetrators of violence against children are held accountable and brought to justice; 
  • Developing effective data collection and information systems to track progress and inform policy and programming at all levels.

All governments should also commit to implementing the study’s more detailed recommendations addressing violence against children in specific settings, including the home, schools, care and justice systems, the workplace, and the community.

II. Request the appointment of a Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence against Children:

The widespread and devastating impact of violence against children revealed by the Pinheiro report demands leadership and attention at the highest level. A high level mechanism to ensure high-level visibility to the situation and follow-up to the report’s recommendations is essential.

Ten years ago, the similar Graça Machel study on the impact of armed conflict on children established a clear need for continued attention to that issue through the office of a Special Representative to the Secretary-General. This office has been key to maintaining visibility for the children and armed conflict agenda, conducting high-level advocacy with both governments and non-state actors, coordinating comprehensive reports on progress and obstacles to child protection, and achieving significant progress on the issues through a series of Security Council debates and resolutions.

Today, the Pinheiro study demonstrates the need for a similar office to focus and coordinate the challenge of addressing violence against children in all other settings. Our organizations strongly support the Pinheiro report’s recommendation for the establishment of a Special Representative to the Secretary-General on violence against children. Because violence against children relates to the mandates of multiple UN bodies and agencies, a high-level post is critical to ensure strong leadership on the issue and facilitate effective cooperation within the UN system and across all regions. Without this focus and leadership, we fear that the substantial momentum that has been generated during the study process to address violence against children may well be lost.

Within the UN system, there are substantial areas of violence against children—including aspects of violence in the home, in schools, and in care and justice systems—that are not covered by existing special procedures or mechanisms, and remain unaddressed. A Special Representative would be able to address comprehensively all aspects of violence against children in all settings.

Key elements of the Special Representative’s mandate could include:

+ Acting as a high profile advocate to promote prevention and elimination of all violence against children; 

+ Working with UN agencies to ensure systematic monitoring of the study’s recommendations, with regular reporting to the General Assembly and Human Rights Council; 

+ Assessing progress achieved and difficulties encountered in protecting children from all forms of violence, including through country visits; 

+ Raising awareness and promoting systematic collection and dissemination of information about violence against children and its effective elimination. 

+ Ensure that children’s participation in the prevention and elimination of violence against them is supported and their views heard and respected.

+ Children and youth who have participated in the study process have expressed a particular desire for a Special Representative to provide a focal point within the UN system for continued engagement by children and children’s organizations in the follow-up to the study.

+ A UN inter-agency working group, including OHCHR, UNICEF, WHO, and other agencies involved in the study on violence against children, supports the proposal for a Special Representative to the Secretary General to enhance their respective roles in addressing violence against children.

+ A Special Representative is preferable to the creation of a new Special Rapporteur within the human rights mechanisms in order to effectively relate to all agencies that have violence against children as part of their mandates, including those that do not relate directly to the Human Rights Council. The office of the Special Representative should be funded with voluntary contributions and be based in New York, with a small staffed office.

See also the Questions and Answers on the need for a Special Representative.

More information:

Web: 
http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=10352

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