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CISMAI
Coordinamento Italiano dei Servizi contro il Maltrattamento e l'Abuso all'Infanzia Partner nazionale ISPCAN |
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- SEXUAL ABUSE: UN meeting tackles problem of abuse by field personnel [news] - CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICTS: Next Steps for the Security Council [publication] - HOUSING: Lives of children on either side of Britain's housing divide [publication] - CHILD PARTICIPATION: Guidebook for Training of Trainers [publication] - HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: NGO meeting on children's rights [news] - HUMAN RIGHTS LAW: Academic student journal seeks papers [call for contributions]
SEXUAL ABUSE: UN meeting tackles problem of abuse by field personnel [news] [4 December 2006] – DNA samples, new international pacts and assistance to victims were among the measures discussed at a conference, held on 4th December, on preventing sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations and non-governmental organisation (NGO) personnel, where Secretary-General Kofi Annan set a strict tone by declaring that no one should be above the law. Almost 150 different agencies and country representatives, including diplomats and other officials, gathered at UN Headquarters in New York for the event. Paying tribute to the vast majority of upstanding personnel who serve under difficult conditions, the Secretary-General called it “tragic and intolerable that those contributions are undermined by the small number of individuals among them who have engaged in acts of sexual exploitation and abuse.” He decried the damage caused by these acts, including “great harm to women and children who already face extreme hardship and violations in their daily lives,” and condemned sexual exploitation and abuse as “utterly immoral, and completely at odds with our mission.” Three years ago, the Secretary-General instituted special measures spelling out prohibited sexual conduct applied to all UN staff, as well as uniformed personnel. In his remarks to the conference, he said those steps had been effective. “Today, our personnel are better informed about what is expected of them. Allegations of exploitation and abuse are being handled in a more systematic and professional manner. Staff who commit such acts are being fired. And uniformed peacekeeping personnel are being sent home and barred from future peacekeeping service, and also in the expectation that their own governments will deal with them.” At the same time, he acknowledged the need for more action. “My message of zero tolerance has still not got through to all those who need to hear it – from managers and commanders on the ground, to all our other personnel.” In response, Mr. Annan called for fostering “an environment in which people feel able to report abuses without fear of retaliation” and said he has drafted a policy statement and comprehensive strategy on assistance to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel. “I look forward to the discussions that the Member States will have on the proposal later this month,” he said. Declaring that “no one in the UN is above the law,” he said a new report includes proposals for a binding treaty on the matter. Mr. Annan, who completes his decade-long service at the helm of the UN at the end of this year, predicted continued focus on the problem. “I am sure that my successor will take this issue every bit as seriously, and will, therefore, find the work of this conference very useful,” he said. Speaking at a press briefing held in conjunction with the conference, Jasmine Whitbread, the Chief Executive of Save the Children, welcomed what she termed “leadership and commitment at the highest UN levels” to address the problem across the UN system. To read the article in full, visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11707 Further information Save the Children attends
UN High Level meeting on sexual exploitation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICTS: Next Steps for the Security Council [publication] The Security Council last week held an open debate on children affected by armed conflict, following the release of the annual report of Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, highlighting that children are still being recruited as soldiers, and also murdered, tortured or sexually abused during times of conflict, and listing parties recruiting children as soldiers. Since it began to address children and armed conflict in 1999, the UN Security Council has made substantial progress in developing strategies and mechanisms to end abuses against children in conflict situations, particularly with regards to the recruitment and use of children as soldiers. Each Resolution adopted by the Council to date has built on those adopted previously, and advanced the agenda further. Some of the most significant achievements of the Security Council attention to this agenda have included: the development of annual
lists by the Secretary General to identify
the specific governments and armed groups
that recruit and use child soldiers
in violation of international standards;
These actions have resulted in a multifaceted set of tools and pressure points that, if fully utilised, represent a robust approach to ending abuses against children, including the recruitment and use of children as soldiers. However, these mechanisms have not yet brought the results desired by the Security Council. Dozens of parties to armed conflict continue to recruit and use children with impunity, and requests from the Security Council for action plans to end this practice have generally gone unheeded. In a recent paper the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers recommends some next steps for the Security Council. Many (though not all) of these recommendations can be taken up by the Security Council Working Group on children and armed conflict and implemented through country-specific Resolutions. Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11584&flag=report For more information,
contact: Further information --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOUSING: Lives of children on either side of Britain's housing divide [publication] [29 November 2006] - One in seven British children - 1.6 million overall - are growing up homeless or in bad housing. This is part of the shocking picture that emerges from new research released this week by a UK organisation, Shelter, to mark 40 years since its launch. Against the Odds provides powerful new evidence of a generation of children torn apart by the housing divide. Using new Shelter analysis of the latest figures from the most comprehensive Government survey of families with children in Britain, the report also reveals that: In England, children
in bad housing are twice as likely to
leave school with no GCSEs (General
Certificate of Secondary Education)
Against the Odds also reveals that, compared with other children, youngsters in bad housing are: Twice as likely to be
persistently bullied Shelter is calling on Gordon Brown, UK Chancellor to the Treasury, to fund 20,000 extra social homes each year to give these children the chance of a brighter future. To get his attention, the charity has unveiled a 30-metre interactive Wall of Shame on London's South Bank and inviting the public to sign a brick to show their support for the protest against bad housing. Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said: "It's a scandal that 40 years after the plight of Cathy Come Home's on-screen family shocked the nation, the lives of 1.6 million children are today being devastated by the grim reality of homelessness and bad housing. "It's vital that the Chancellor commits to funding 20,000 extra social homes each year to give these children a fair start in life." Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11643 For more information,
contact: Further information --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHILD PARTICIPATION: Guidebook for Training of Trainers [publication] Child Workers in Asia has just published Working Together: A guidebook for training of trainers on mainstreaming children's participation. The Guidebook covers pre-training knowledge assessment, training methods, and evaluation and is designed to be augmented by the use of local experiences and interventions to facilitate organic reflection on practices of children's participation in order to improve those practices, and to develop more systematic conceptualisations and programmes to more fully mainstream children's participation. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child lists a range of entitlements guaranteed to children as rights. Among these rights are the right to express one’s views on decisions in all matters concerning them and to have those views be taken into account in accordance with one’s maturity, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and conscience, and freedom of association and peaceful assembly. In addition to these specific rights, participation is established as a guiding principle in the pursuit and implementation of all rights of children. Thus, the Convention on the Rights of the Child highlights the central role of children in efforts to claim and guarantee their own rights. The extent to which children are empowered to effectively claim the entire range of their entitlements depends on the attitudes and practices of adults and the opportunities and support they provide for children, on the growing capacity of children to advocate for and effectively claim these entitlements, and on the strength of collaborations and solidarity among children and others working to secure rights and end exploitation. Working Together was developed following the recommendations of the Regional Workshop on Mainstreaming Children’s Participation in 2004 in which NGOs and children identified capacity and skills building as a requirement for further mainstreaming efforts. The result was a regional research project to document practices of children’s participation in interventions for working children in nine countries in South and Southeast Asia, and a programme of training for members of the network to create a pool of trainers on children’s participation within our network to facilitate mainstreaming within the network, and among its partners and the partners of its members. The programme of training consisted of Training of Trainers workshops in South and Southeast Asia in which participants shared and discussed experiences and lessons learnt in practicing children’s participation, explored the meaning of meaningful children’s participation, built skills, and planned future efforts. This process was continued by participants holding trainings within their own organisations, among their partners, and in their communities, in which they used a draft of the current guidebook to help structure and enrich their trainings. In every culture and society and in every understanding of justice are seeds from which concepts and practices of participation can be grown. Working Together will be a useful tool for practitioners to structure, design, and augment their training on children’s participation in order to make their participation a more common and regular aspect of their lives and the lives of others. Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11636 For more information,
contact: Further information --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: NGO meeting on children's rights [news] On Wednesday, 29th November, the Subgroup on the Human Rights Council (NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child), held an informal discussion in Geneva on “Placing the rights of the child on the Human Rights Council agenda”, during the resumed Second session of the Human Rights Council (HRC). Thirteen country delegations and over 20 NGOs participated in the discussion; five UN agencies were also present. The discussion focused on the Subgroup’s recent Call for Action to make children’s rights visible on the agenda of the newly established Council. Eric Sottas, Director of OMCT was chairing the discussion, which opened with presentations on the work of the Subgroup and on the background of the Call for Action by Allison Phillips (Director of the NGO Group for the CRC), Simone Ek (Senior Adviser at Save the Children Sweden and Convenor of the Subgroup), and Roberta Cecchetti (Save the Children Representative in Geneva). The Call for Action's main recommendations to the Council are: to devote two days a
year - or 4% of its sessions time -
to children's rights The aim of the Call for Action, said Roberta Cecchetti, is for child rights NGOs to engage in the process of institution building of the Human Rights Council to make it fit for children from the outset, and avoid having to adapt its methods of work, once decided, to children’s needs. The Call for Action therefore identifies gaps and needs and presents concrete steps to make the Council fit for promoting and protecting children's rights, and involve them in this work. All those who took the floor welcomed the principles of the Call for Action, its useful and concrete suggestions, as well as its timely launch - while Special Procedures are under review and consultations are held on the new Universal Periodic Review mechanism. The Finnish representative stressed the fact that the new Council gave us the opportunity to be creative and innovative, and she encouraged other missions to give weight to the Subgroup's suggestions contained in the Call for Action. However, she added that, while many members would support the idea of child participation in the Council, they had no guidance on how to implement it practically, and avoid simply having a tokenistic statement. She therefore invited NGOs to come forward with ideas. The representative from the Uruguay delegation said that Uruguay shared the spirit of the Call for Action including some specific aspects of it, such as the idea of devoting two days a year to child rights, and the idea of child participation, which, she said, is "not only possible but also enriching". She added that an interactive dialogue should be focused solely on children's rights. Finally, she told participants that Uruguay and the group of Latin American and Caribbean States were of the opinion that more thought should be given to the idea of linking up the work of the Council and the work of the General Assembly on children's rights. Jennifer Grant, Child Rights Advocate at Save the Children UK and member of the Subgroup, announced that the Subgroup would soon write another paper outlining the vision and principles for child participation in the Council. However, she added that the Subgroup will not be able to design any mechanisms for participation until it has a clear idea of the outcomes of the Working Groups. The UNHCR participant commented on the Call for Action, and said that child rights topics discussed at the Council should be selected early to allow all stakeholders to plan and participate efficiently. UNHCR for example would want to know when displacement is being discussed. He also suggested that legal standards forming the basis of the UPR should also include general human rights standards (see Call for Action, 2.2.2). The representative from the UK mission also expressed support for the overarching aims of the Call for Action, and its goal to ensure that the rights of the child are discussed during the HRC. However, he raised concerns about child participation and how to avoid tokenism. He therefore invited contributions from panellists with experience of successful child participation scenarios within other UN mechanisms. Bharti Mepani, Child Participation Advisor at Save the Children UK, took the floor to tell participants about child participation at the recent Day of General Discussion held by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, on 15 September 2006. Although Palais Wilson, in Geneva, was maybe not the best arena, the children made themselves heard and participated effectively in the discussion alongside CRC members and NGOs. A report on lessons learnt will be produced and presented to the Committee in January. Follow-up work focuses on systematising child participation with the Committee's work. Bharti's advice to the Subgroups was to think about (a) the information that children will need to get involved in the work of the Council, (b) defining the framework and principles of child participation at the HRC before thinking about methods. Caroline Bakker, from UNICEF, expressed UNICEF's support for the Call for Action, and pointed to similarities with the UNICEF statement delivered at the 1st session of the Human Rights Council in June. She said that we needed to come up with concrete and focused outcomes which allowed for follow-up work. On child participation, she added that UNICEF was happy to support the future work of the Subgroup. Roberta Cecchetti concluded by saying that the Human Rights Council needed to go beyond what the Convention on the Rights of the Child says. The current process for drafting and adopting the GA Resolution on the rights of the child is cumbersome and often consists in finding the lowest common denominator to reach consensus. This means that new instruments often end up below current CRC standards. What we need, she said, is to advance those standards, without challenging the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. On behalf of the Subgroup, Allison Phillips thanked everyone for their support for this continuing process, which will require a lot of thought and careful work. The Subgroup will carry on producing more detailed papers on specific aspects of the Call for Action, and she welcomed suggestions and contributions from all. A statement is currently being drafted on UPR to be delivered at this session. The Subgroup will hold a similar event at the Spring session of the Human Rights Council, to be held from 12 March to 6 April 2007. Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11634 Further information --------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN: Discrimination and violence against girls [call for contributions] Every day, in every part of the world, girls are kept out of school, hit, ignored, forced to marry and have sex, sold as slaves, made to fight in wars and asked to sit silently while decisions are made for them – about them. These are all violations of their rights. Governments are asking how they can work to stop this discrimination and violence against girls. Children know their issues best – and have clear ideas about how to solve problems. That is why the Working Group on Girls and UNICEF’s Voices of Youth are asking children and young people to read the youth version of an expert report and tell them what they think should be done. The report talks about which girls are in danger of violence and unfair treatment and suggests ways governments, and their citizens, can protect them. Children and young people's recommendations and suggestions will be presented at the 51st annual Commission on the Status of Women at United Nations headquarters in February-March 2007 and will influence how the world works to stop discrimination and violence against girls. Read the report and answer the questions at the end, or use the online questionnaire, and send your answers back by 15 January 2007. Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11711 Further information --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUMAN RIGHTS LAW: Academic student journal seeks papers [call for contributions] The Editorial Board of the Human Rights Law Commentary, affiliated to the Human Rights Law Centre at the University of Nottingham, is calling for the submission of academic papers for consideration for publication in Volume 3 of the Commentary, to be published in 2007. The Human Rights Law Commentary is an annual online journal produced and edited by postgraduate students at the School of Law, University of Nottingham. The Commentary is legally-oriented, informed by human rights practice and related disciplines. Papers may address any human rights issue and previous articles have examined a wide range of topics from the religious foundations of human rights to issues of international criminal justice to the role of non-governmental organisations in human rights litigation. Papers must be between 5,000 and 10,000 words, written in English, accompanied by an abstract of 150 words, in 12 point type, electronically submitted. Please refer to format and style requirements on the website. Submissions deadline: 18 January 2007 |
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