WUNRN
http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/story/2012-09-13_538
SRSG CALLS FOR ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN WITHDISABILITIES
- IMPORTANCE OF SECURE, PROTECTIVE ENVIRONMENT
13/09/2012 - SRSG Santos Pais
participated in a roundtable discussion on children withdisabilities during the
fifth session of the Conference of States Parties to theConvention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, alongside with Governmentrepresentatives,
namely Ms. Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, Deputy Minister of Women,Children and
People with Disabilities of South Africa, UNICEF and civil
societyrepresentatives.
In her presentation, SRSG Santos Pais stressedthe very
widespread pattern of violence endured by children with
disabilities,acknowledged positive and encouraging progress in preventing and
addressingincidents of violence and highlighted strategic recommendations for
futureaction.
Ms. Santos Pais identified five key areas tosecure a
protective environment for children around the world includinginvesting in
early childhood development and education; promoting publicawareness, capacity
building of professionals working with and for children,enacting in all
countries strong legislation to ban all forms of violenceagainst children,
including within the home, and universal ratification andeffective
implementation of core human rights treaties including the OptionalProtocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a CommunicationsProcedure, adopted
in December 2011 by the General Assembly.
Moreover, SRSG Santos Pais recognized thedecisive
contribution children and young people can make to this process ofchange.
“We should work together to put in place theright
conditions to enable children with disabilities to participate andact as
real partners in our important reflections in future sessions
ofthis important conference of States Parties.”
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http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/story/2012-08-09_507
Message from SRSG on Violence against Children on
theInternational Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
09/08/2012- The past years havebeen
marked by a strengthening of the rights of indigenous peoples, includingthe
rights of indigenous children. Together with other international standards,the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols remain
acrucial reference in this regard. The new third Optional Protocol to theConvention
on a Communications Procedure will allow children to bring complaintsto the
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. With this newinstrument
children, just like adults, will have an access to internationalhuman rights
bodies.
The
Protocol has a special significance for indigenous children since itstrengthens
their ability to seek justice in case of violation of their rights,including
when incidents of violence take place.
Despite
these important developments, the gap between international humanrights
instruments and their implementation remains wide and challenging. Stilltoo
often, indigenous children live in extreme poverty, suffer from poor healthand
face inequalities in accessing and enjoying education. Moreover,
indigenouschildren are oftennot covered by birth registration efforts. These
conditionsmake them highly vulnerable to violence, abuse and exploitation.
Exposure toviolence, marginalization and social exclusion erodes their identity
and senseof self-esteem and compromises their ability to seek advice and
benefit fromservices of quality.
The
United Nations Study on Violence against Children urged all States topromote
non-violent values and awareness-raising, and to promote change inattitudes and
behaviour that condone violence, perpetuate stereotypes and allowdiscrimination
against children. I see a great potential in indigenous media inpromoting the
protection of indigenous children from violence; at home, inschools, places
where children work, institutions and communities, as well as inour societies
at large. Indeed, international instruments have little meaning ifchildren,
their families and people working with and for them are not aware ofchildren’s
rights and the available means to protect them. Indigenous media canhelp fill
this information gap!
Let’s
work together to create a sustainable environment for indigenous mediaand build
a better world for indigenous children!