1 April 2004: CRINMAIL 562: Special Edition on Child Rights at the Commission on Human Rights **************************************************************************************** - CHILD RIGHTS: Child Rights a Priority for the European Union [news] - EDUCATION: Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education [reports] - HEALTH: Call for Greater Attention to Sexual and Reproductive Health [report] - CHILDREN'S HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS: Documents and Reports of the Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights [reports] - CRIN: Information for the 60th Session of the Commission on Human Rights [website] **************************************************************************************** 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 **************************************************************************************** - CHILD RIGHTS: Child Rights a Priority for the European Union [news] [GENEVA, 15 March 2004] - Mr Brian Cowen TD, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), said that children's rights were a priority of the EU and that he was committed to protecting the rights and wellbeing of children exposed to armed conflicts. To this end, a priority for the EU is to ensure the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict, adopted on 8 December 2003. He regretted that the general situation of children remains grave and unacceptable and that the conflict-parties violating children's rights continue to benefit from impunity. He therefore urged all states to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which includes - as a war crime - conscription or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years or using them to participate actively in hostilities, in both international and non-international armed conflicts. Joscka Fischer, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, also talked about the implementation of children's human rights as a priority for his country and remarked that notwithstanding the almost universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, millions of children are still subject to violence every day. He particularly named child labour, the recruitment of child soldiers, trafficking in children and child prostitution, but also domestic violence against children and other previously ignored forms of abuse. The statement of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Mr Brian Cowen T.D. is available in pdf on the website of the EU at the following: http://ue.eu.int/pressData/en/misc/79408.pdf, or visit: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/unchr.htm For more information about the High Level Segment, please refer to the Info Note N 1 of the Child Rights Caucus available at: http://www.domeus.co.uk/forum/childrightscaucus_chr [Source: Subgroup for the Commission on Human Rights] --------------------------------------------- - EDUCATION: Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education [reports] [31 March 2004] - Schooling is unaffordable to most people in some of the countries that need it most, says a United Nations human rights expert in denouncing a "global education deficit". According to Katarina Tomasevski, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the right to education, this deficit is epitomised by the fact that no Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country charges for compulsory education, while primary education is free in only three African countries. Worse, nine years of compulsory education has become the norm in the OECD, while five or even three years of primary education is the African average. "The illogic of expecting education to eliminate poverty while those too poor to afford the cost are excluded necessitates open recognition and urgent action", says Ms. Tomasevski, who is presenting her last annual report to the Commission at its ongoing sixtieth session. "We have 83 years old international legal norms obliging governments to make education free and compulsory", says Ms. Tomasevski, "and they were adopted because we knew then as we know today that education cannot be made compulsory unless it is free, and that we doom children to labour, or even criminality, unless we ensure their right to education." Global education statistics provide varying estimates of the number of out-of-school children, ranging between 100 and 130 million. Although the exact number is unknown, says Ms. Tomasevski, the reason is not - it is the poorest who are excluded. Her report to the Commission summarises her findings on the state of primary education in the world. It is not free in 90 countries, almost half of the countries in the world. The largest number is in Africa (38), followed by Asia (19), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (14), Latin America and the Caribbean (11), and Middles East and North Africa (8). Her two country missions in the past year, to the People's Republic of China (document E/CN.4/2004/45/Add.1) and Colombia (document E/CN.4/2004/45/Add.2/Corr.1) have highlighted the financial obstacles for free primary education. The principal reason is the priority for military expenditure over investment in education in government budgets, says Ms. Tomasevski. For most children, the Special Rapporteur says, the knowledge that they have rights, let alone human rights education, is a distant dream. "If children know that they have rights", says a parent quoted in her report, "they become uncontrollable." Indeed, the very idea that children have rights is new and frightening to many, says Ms. Tomasevski. The almost universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the child cloaks a great deal of disagreement. She adds: "Teachers, who should be the principal agents for human rights education, can do nothing where their own rights are denied. They are still killed, often merely for being educators". [source: UNHCHR] The Annual Report is available in word and pdf at: http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.2004.45.En?Opendocument Her report on China is available in word and pdf at: http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.2004.45.Add.1.En?Opendocument Her report on Colombia is available in word and pdf at: http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.2004.45.Add.2.En?Opendocument For direct links to the reports, and more, visit: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/unchr.htm For more information, contact: Right to Education Project IBE-UNESCO, Case Postale 199, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland Tel: + 41 22 9177854; Fax: + 41 22 9177801 Email: info@right-to-education.org Website: www.right-to-education.org --------------------------------------------- HEALTH: Call for Greater Attention to Sexual and Reproductive Health [report] [GENEVA, 30 March 2004] - Paul Hunt, Special Rapporteur on the right to health, spoke before the Commission on Human Rights this afternoon, saying respectively that countries should not shrink from confronting sensitive issues of sexual and reproductive health and that all nations should provide free public primary school education. Paul Hunt, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, said his report to the Commission this year had three main themes: neglected diseases, poverty, and sexual and reproductive health. The rights to sexual and reproductive health had an indispensable role to play in the struggle against poverty, HIV/AIDS, gender inequality and intolerance, Mr. Hunt contended - they were among the most sensitive and controversial in international human rights law, but they were also among the most important. Representatives of the United States, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia took issue with Mr. Hunt's focus on sexual orientation as it related to health, saying the topic appeared to fall beyond his mandate. Canada expressed support for Mr. Hunt's engagement with the subject. Mr. Hunt responded by saying that it was important that his mandate be relevant, and one of the abiding concerns in the international community at the moment was the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, which involved meeting targets on preventing HIV/AIDS and maternal and infant mortality, all of which were intimately linked to sexual and reproductive health. For further information, including Government responses and NGO statements, go to: http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/NewsRoom?OpenFrameSet --------------------------------------------- - CHILDREN'S HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS: Documents and Reports of the Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights [reports] The subgroup on the UN Commission on Human Rights works in close partnership with all the thematic subgroups of the NGO Group for the CRC, to enable their participation in the plans and events of the subgroup during the Commission. The subgroup also has regular consultation with member States, special rapporteurs and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to promote mutual information sharing and dialogue in support of promoting children's rights within the work of the Commission. The subgroup hosts a special interest group called the Children's Human Rights Caucus during the Commission. Being the only one of its kind, the Caucus serves as an important focal point for a range of participants in the Commission can meet on children's issues. The subgroup: - Plans and organises morning briefings on children's issues at the Commission and thematic presentations by NGOs, rapporteurs, Member States - Ensures daily information on children's issues at the Commission for Caucus members worldwide through e-mail and in-site announcements and reports - Liaises with other Caucuses, notably through CONGO, in order to develop joint NGO information and lobbying efforts The subgroup sends out regular updates about the Children's Human Rights Caucus by email. To receive the updates, send an email to: childrightscaucus_chr-subscribe@domeus.co.uk ; or visit the CRIN website at: www.crin.org/email/index.asp. Archives of the updates are available at the following: http://www.domeus.co.uk/forum/childrightscaucus_chr A draft timetable for the activities of the Children's Human Rights Caucus is available in word format at: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-leaflet.doc For more information about the Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights, go to: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR.htm ------------------------------------- - CRIN: Information for the 60th Session of the Commission on Human Rights [website] Links to websites and reports relevant to the 60th Session are available from the CRIN website, including: - The State of implementation of the Programme of Action for the Prevention of the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography - The report submitted by Juan Miguel Petit, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, including reports in his mission to France and Brazil - The Secretary-General's Report to the Security Council on the impact of children in armed conflict and the Statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to the Security Council - The report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child - The report of the Secretary-General on Human rights in the administration of justice, in particular in post-conflict States and in juvenile justice Go to: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/unchr.htm **************************************************************************************** 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 ****************************************************************************************-- .................................................................... Take advantage of this incredible advertisement from Spin Palace Casino. With its 2004 Casino software, including 7 state-of-the-art power pokers, 11 huge Progressive Jackpots and 49 slots, featuring the revolutionary Thunderstruck slot, The Palace gaming hall has it all! Sign up now and get £75 FREE! http://ads.domeus.com/re?l=nx272X1bxgnuX1 ..................................................................... To unsubscribe from this group please click here: http://uk.domeus.com/public/unsubscribe.jsp?tsp=1080838265454&gid=105231&uid=6229458&sig=JIPJLGKFCNLGLJFF The use of domeus is subject to eCircle AG's terms and conditions: http://www.domeus.co.uk/info/terms.jsp -- 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
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