16 September 2003: CRINMAIL 508: Special Edition on the 34th Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child **************************************************************************** ******* - COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Committee on Rights of Child Opens 34th Session [press release] - COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: 34th Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child [event] - NGO ALTERNATIVE REPORTS [publications] **************************************************************************** ******* Your submissions are welcome if you are working in the area of child rights. To contribute, email us at info@crin.org. Please note that we are unable to respond to emails addressed to crinmail_english@domeus.co.uk Adobe Acrobat is required for viewing some of the documents, and if required can be downloaded from www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html **************************************************************************** ******** - COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: Committee on Rights of Child Opens 34th Session [press release] [Geneva, 15 September 2003] - The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning opened its autumn session by hearing an address by the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights who paid tribute to the 23 United Nations colleagues, including High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello, who were killed in Baghdad on 19 August. Bertrand Ramcharan, the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had lost a leader, a colleague and a dear friend. The United Nations, Iraq and the world had lost a tireless and selfless public servant who paid the ultimate price doing what he believed in deeply: defending the inherent and inalienable dignity and rights of every human being. He said that the best tribute one could pay to Sergio and the other colleagues who lost their lives in that despicable attack was to carry on with their mission of assisting the people of Iraq to rebuild their country and build worldwide a solid foundation of human rights. Committee Chairperson Jacob Egbert Doek also paid homage to Mr. Vieira de Mello and the other UN staff who were victims of the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad. The best way to honour the commitment and dedication of Mr. Vieira de Mello and all other UN officers was to continue with even more perseverance with the work for the promotion of, respect for, and implementation of humanitarian and human rights, he said. Before starting its work, the Committee observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the attack on the United Nations in Baghdad. After the Committee adopted its provisional agenda and programme of work, the Secretary of the Committee, Paulo David, said that since the Committee's last session, seven reports had been submitted by States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been acceded to by 192 countries. So far, the Committee has received 178 initial, and 77 second and periodic reports. The Committee has considered 218 reports since it was created. As of 15 September, 17 initial and 99 second periodic reports were overdue. During its three-week session, the Committee is scheduled to review the promotion and protection of children's rights in San Marino, Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan, Madagascar, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Bangladesh and Georgia. When it considers the second periodic report of New Zealand, the Committee will also review the initial report of the State party under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflicts. That will be the first time ever that the Committee will consider a report under one of the two new Optional Protocols to the Convention which came into force in 2002. [source: OHCHR. For the full press release, go to: http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/8841063D5715C6E7C1256DA200 4A1C5E?opendocument] --------------------------------------------------- - COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: 34th Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child [event] The 34th Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 15 September to 3 October 2003. States Parties reports being considered are listed below. The Committee will also review the initial report of the State party under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflicts. That will be the first time ever that the Committee will consider a report under one of the two new Optional Protocols to the Convention which came into force in 2002. San Marino http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.8.Add.46.Fr?OpenDocument [French] Canada http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?OpenAgent&DS=CRC/C/83/Add.6&Lang=E Convention http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=CRC/C/93/Add.4&Lang=E New Zealand Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?OpenAgent&DS=CRC/C/OPAC/NZL/1&Lang=E Pakistan http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.65.Add.21.En?OpenDocument Madagascar http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=CRC/C/70/Add.18&Lang=E Brunei Darussalam http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.61.Add.5.En?OpenDocument Singapore http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.51.Add.8.En?OpenDocument Bangladesh http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.65.Add.22.En?OpenDocument Georgia http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=CRC/C/104/Add.1&Lang=E Information about this session is available at: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/session34.htm - This link includes all the country documentation for the Committee's 34th session, including: States Parties Reports, lists of issues, States' written replies to the lists of issues, delegation lists and statements, press releases, as well as the Committee's concluding observations. It will be updated on a daily basis during the session. For more information, contact: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - Committee on the Rights of the Child 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. Tel: 00 41 22 917 9000; Fax: 00 41 22 917 9022; Email: khemmerich@ohchr.org or jmermet@ohchr.org Website: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/ See also: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=2441&flag=event --------------------------------------------------- - NGO ALTERNATIVE REPORTS [publications] Reports submitted by NGOs to the Committee on the Rights of the Child are made available on the CRIN website, in partnership with the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These reports are known as NGO Alternative Reports. The reports are submitted in accordance with article 45(a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that "The Committee may invite the specialised agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund and other competent bodies as it may consider appropriate to provide expert advice on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their respective mandates." The reports can be searched by country, CRC session or by NGO on the CRIN website. Go to: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/CRC.asp?catName=International+Treatie s&flag=legal&ID=6 For more information, please contact: Laura Theytaz-Bergman CRC/NGO Liaison Officer NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child P.O. Box 88, CH-1211 Geneva 20 - Switzerland E-mail: NGO-CRC@tiscalinet.ch Alternative NGO reports submitted to the 34th Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child concerning the following countries are available in pdf and word format at the following links. Very large files can be downloaded in two parts in either format. ----------------- SINGAPORE National Council of Social Service, 170 Ghim Moh Road Singapore 279621, Singapore. Tel: 00 65 6210 2500; Fax: 00 65 6468 1012; Email: LEOW_Yong_Fatt@ncss.gov.sg. http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3591 [English] --------------- PAKISTAN Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child-Pakistan, PO Box 301, F-8 Islamabad, Pakistan. Tel: 00 92 51 227 9504; Fax: 00 92 51 227 9256; Email: sparc@comsats.net.pk; Website: www.sparc.org.pk. http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3592 [English] --------------- NEW ZEALAND Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa, Box 11 318, Manners St, Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand. Tel: 00 64 9 828 2209; Email: tina.sch@ihug.co.nz; Website: www.acya.org.nz. http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3593 [English] ---------------- CANADA Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, 384 Bank Street, Suite 200, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1Y4, Canada. Tel: 00 1 613 230 8838; Fax: 00 1 613 230 6654; Email: childrens_rights@uccb.ca ; Website: www.rightsofchildren.ca. http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3595 [English] Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, 384 Bank Street, Suite 200, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1Y4, Canada. Tel: 00 1 613 230 8838; Fax: 00 1 613 230 6654; Email: childrens_rights@uccb.ca ; Website: www.rightsofchildren.ca. UPDATE 2003: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3596 [English] Focus on Family Canada, 200 20486 64 Avenue Langley, BC V2Y 2V5, Canada. Tel: 00 1 604 539 7961; Fax: 00 1 604 539 7997; Email: rogusky@fotf.ca; Website: www.familyfacts.ca. http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3594 [English] ---------------- BANGLADESH Human Rights Watch, 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299, United States. Tel: 00 1 212 216 1837; Fax: 00 1 212 736 1300; Email: hrwnyc@hrw.org; Website: www.hrw.org. http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3597 [English] ----------------- GEORGIA Claritas, 11 m/r., TVS Distr. M. Guramishvili Pediatric Clinic 380 091 Tbilisi, Georgia. Tel: 00 995 32 94 3448; Fax: 00995-32-94-0009; Email: claritas@kheta.ge. http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=3598 [English] ---------------- Archives of previous NGO Alternative Reports are also available at: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.25/annex-vi-crin.shtml For more information, contact: NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child c/o Defence for Children International, 1 rue de Varembé, P.O. Box 88, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. Tel: 00 41 22 740 47 30; Fax: 00 41 22 740 1145; Email: ngo-crc@tiscalinet.ch Website: www.crin.org/NGOGroupforCRC **************************************************************************** ********* The CRINMAIL is an electronic mailing list of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN). CRIN does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to the CRINMAIL. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator. To subscribe to this list send an email to crinmail_english-subscribe@domeus.co.uk. If you do not wish to continue receiving this email service, then send an email to crinmail_english-unsubscribe@domeus.co.uk. Archives of all these services can be viewed on CRIN's website at http://www.crin.org/email/index.asp **************************************************************************** ********* -- The "child-rights" mailing list provides information on issues related to children's human rights. Archives of "child-rights" messages, as well as instructions on how to (un)subscribe to the list, can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/child-rights/markup/maillist.php
[Reply to this message] [Start a new topic] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Author Index] [Subject Index] [List Home Page] [HREA Home Page]