January 16 2002: CRIN Special Session on Children, Issue 30 Contents: - SPECIAL SESSION: UN General Assembly Sets New Date for Special Session on Children [news] - ON THE RECORD: Why the Special Session Still Matters [publication] - SPECIAL SESSION KEY DOCUMENTS: Secretary General's Report 'We the Children' [publication] - SPECIAL SESSION KEY DOCUMENTS: Latest version of Outcome Document 'A World Fit for Children' [publication] - CHILD RIGHTS CAUCUS: Background and Documentation [reports] - CRIN: CRIN coverage of the Special Session [information service] From: info@crin.org Email CRIN at info@crin.org to contribute information, such as regional preparations, publications, events and other activities concerning the Special Session on Children. Please note that we are unable to respond to requests addressed to crin_specialsession@domeus.co.uk ______________________________ - SPECIAL SESSION: UN General Assembly Sets New Date for Special Session on Children [news] The UN Special Session on Children has been formally rescheduled by the UN General Assembly for 8-10 May 2002. The Special Session, originally planned for 19-21 September 2001, was postponed following the tragic events of 11 September. The Special Session on Children is an unprecedented meeting of the UN General Assembly dedicated to the children and adolescents of the world. It will bring together government leaders and Heads of State, NGOs, children's advocates and young people themselves at the United Nations in New York in 2002. The gathering will present a great opportunity to change the way the world views and treats children. Source: http://www.unicef.org/specialsession For further information and updates on the Special Session, please visit: www.ngosatunicef.org and www.crin.org/specialsession ______________________________ - ON THE RECORD: Why the Special Session Still Matters [publication] Volume 3, no.5 (December 2001) of On The Record, the regular news service of The Advocacy Project and The NGO Committee on UNICEF, is now available online at: http://www.ngosatunicef.org/Special%20Session/newsletters/vol3news5.html The editorial for this issue presents a strong argument emphasising the continued relevance of the UN Special Session on Children and calls for a renewed focus and re-engagement in the preparation for this event, which will now take place in May 2002. This issue also presents a working group of the NGO Committee on UNICEF that is planning to use the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to advocate on behalf of girls in the run-up to the Special Session. Other features presented in this issue are the inclusion of Child Protection Advisers in the UN Interim Mission in Afghanistan, the 2002 World Cup being dedicated to the Say Yes campaign and a special report on child exploitation in North America. Finally, On The Record states that the NGO Steering Committee for the Special Session will reconvene in January 2002. 'On the Record for Children' was sent out via e-mail daily during the Second and Third PrepCom and will be produced during the Special Session itself. Monthly coverage will be produced until the Special Session in May 2002. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: childrights-subscribe@topica.com. 'On the Record for Children' is produced by the Advocacy Project on behalf of the NGO Committee on UNICEF. For further information, contact: NGO Committee on UNICEF, Attention: Ms. Hourig Babikian, UNICEF House H-8A, 3 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, USA. Tel: 00 1 212 824 6394; Fax: 00 1 212 824 6466 / 00 1 212 824 6483; Email: ngocommittee@unicef.org; Website: www.ngosatunicef.org See: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=1938&flag=report _______________________________ - SPECIAL SESSION KEY DOCUMENTS: Secretary General's Report 'We the Children' [publication] Over the past 11 years, a number of significant events have contributed to the promotion of child rights within the international arena and subsequently led to the UN General Assembly convening a Special Session on Children. One of these was the World Summit for Children held at the United Nations on 30 September 1990. The World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and a Plan of Action for Implementing the World Declaration were signed by 71 Heads of State and Governments, and later endorsed by 181 countries. General Assembly Resolution 54/93 was adopted in December 1999 which also requested 'the Secretary General to submit to the special session ... a review of the implementation and results of the World Declaration and Plan of Action.' This report is known as 'We the Children', the end-decade review of the follow-up to the World Summit for Children and was considered during the Third Substantive Session of the Preparatory Committee in June 2001. It is available at: http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation/documents/a-s-27-3e.doc (word format) and http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation/documents/a-s-27-3e.pdf (pdf format). See also: http://www.crin.org/docs/themes/SpecialSession/we-the-children.htm _______________________________ - SPECIAL SESSION KEY DOCUMENT: Latest version of the Outcome Document 'A World Fit for Children' [publication] One of the main outcomes of the Special Session on Children will be agreement on a Declaration and Plan of Action for the next decade entitled 'A World Fit for Children'. Given the General Assembly's nature as a consensus body, this declaration and plan of action will require the full support of all UN Member States. Heads of states and government shall sign the final approved text at the Special Session on Children. For the full text of 'A World Fit for Children - Third Revised Draft Outcome Document,' in word format go to: http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation/documents/a-ac-256-crp-6- rev3part1.doc (part 1) and http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation/documents/a-ac-256-crp-6- rev3part2.doc (part 2) For the full text of 'A World Fit for Children - Third Revised Draft Outcome Document,' in pdf format go to: http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation/documents/a-ac-256-crp-6- rev3part1.pdf (part 1) and http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation/documents/a-ac-256-crp-6- rev3part2.pdf (part 2) For further information on the development of the Outcome Document, including NGO comments, please refer to: http://www.crin.org/docs/themes/SpecialSession/world-fit-for-children.htm _______________________________ - CHILD RIGHTS CAUCUS: Background and Documentation [reports] The Child Rights Caucus is made up of a broad range of national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from around the world. Caucus members are committed to protecting and promoting the human rights of children as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other international human rights instruments. The Caucus was established early last year to ensure that a strong voice for children's rights, implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and rights-based approaches were present in the preparations for the Special Session on Children. To date, the Child Rights Caucus has worked hard to influence the Outcome Document of the Special Session, 'A World Fit for Children'. During the preparatory process for this key event for children, the Caucus has lobbied governments to both increase the references to the CRC and to strengthen the language of child rights in the Outcome Document. This work has ranged from establishing dialogue with governments to preparing NGO Alternative Texts to the Outcome Document and emphasising information sharing and communication within the NGO community to support this process. The latest Child Rights Caucus Alternative Text, 'A World Fit for Children' can be viewed on-line at: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=1678&flag=report In October 2000, the Caucus developed a 'Child Rights Agenda for the Coming Decade' highlighting key issues and recommendations to be addressed by the Special Session. These key issues and recommendations include birth registration, children and the justice system, participation, poverty, education, health, disability, support for parents and families, armed conflict, violence against children, child labour and slavery, sexual exploitation and trafficking. The result of extensive consultation among NGOs, this document can be found on the CRIN website. http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/child_rights_agenda.pdf (English) http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/child_agenda_fr.pdf (French) http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/child_agenda_sp.pdf (Spanish) At the Third Meeting of the Preparatory Committee, questions were raised about the future of the Caucus after the Special Session, and whether or not it would continue functioning. The coordinating group prepared a discussion paper outlining issues for consideration and options for the Caucus's future, also available at: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/CRCaucus_Future.doc (word format) http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/CRCaucus_Future.pdf (pdf format) The Caucus coordinating group welcomes your comments on this paper and the options outlined. Please send these to Jo Becker, beckerj@hrw.org and Bill Bell, b.bell@scfuk.org.uk by February 1, 2002, and they will inform the Caucus? discussion at the Special Session in May. For further information on the work of the Child Rights Caucus, contact: Jo Becker at beckerj@hrw.org For further information on how NGOs can be involved in the Special Session, please see: http://www.crin.org/docs/themes/SpecialSession/involvement.htm or http://www.ngosatunicef.org _______________________________ - CRIN: CRIN coverage of the Special Session [information service] Comprehensive coverage of the Special Session can be found on the CRIN website at http://www.crin.org/themes/specialSession/index.asp. This includes: an overview of the Special Session and its proceedings; details of the regional consultations and the meetings of the Preparatory Committee (PrepComs); background on, and links to, the key documents ?A World Fit for Children? and ?We the Children?; details of NGO participation to date; meetings of the Preparatory Committee and the Child Rights Caucus; publications on Child Participation; and, contact details and links to organisations involved with the Special Session. In addition, issue 14 of the CRIN Newsletter focuses on the Special Session, which can be downloaded from: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/CRINvol14SpecialSessione.pdf [English] ttp://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/CRIN_Newsletter14Spa.pdf [Spanish] http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/CRIN_Newsletter14Fre.pdf [French] CRIN will continue to provide information on this important event and encourages those working on the Special Session to share the results of their work through CRIN's information services; the thematic Special Session theme desk on the website and the Special Session email service. For further information, contact: Child Rights Information Network (CRIN), 17 Grove Lane, London, SE5 8RD, UK; Tel: 00 44 (0)20 7716 2240; Fax: 00 44 (0)20 7793 7628; Email: info@crin.org; Website: www.crin.org _______________________________ The CRIN Special Session on Children is an electronic mailing list of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN). CRIN does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by the members to the CRIN Special Session on Children. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the orginator.
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