Carta conjunta sobre la cancelación de la sesión previa de mayo del Comité de los Derechos del Niño de las Naciones Unidas a las Misiones Permanentes ante las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra y Nueva York y el Secretario General de las Naciones Unidas.
Excellencies,
The undersigned civil society organisations working for the promotion and protection of children’s rights worldwide express great concern over the cancellation of the pre-session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee), scheduled to take place from 27 to 31 May 2024, due to the UN liquidity crisis. This sets a terrible precedent, which will have a negative impact on the ability of the Committee to undertake its core work in monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention) through the review of States parties in a way that allows for children, civil society, and other stakeholders to contribute to this process. We also regret that this measure will add to backlogs for future dialogue with States parties.
We join the Committee in expressing deep concern that the scheduled opportunities to consult with children, who are rights holders under the Convention, have been postponed alongside opportunities to interact with civil society representatives and UN agencies. Children and civil society representatives from the countries scheduled for the pre-session have been preparing for months to interact with the Committee. Postponing the pre-session will have a clear impact on their future ability to engage. The postponement, announced just days before child and civil society submissions were due, has also resulted in disruptions and squandered efforts by all, and in frustrations for children who now feel discouraged rather than empowered.
This measure comes after the announcement in January of the cancelling of hybrid modalities for UN human rights bodies and mechanisms just a few days before the February pre-session of the Committee was planned to take place in a hybrid format. At the time, many civil society representatives and some children were not able to interact with the Committee online for the pre-session after months of preparations.
In the context of the UN liquidity crisis, we are also concerned that the Day of General Discussion that would normally take place as part of the drafting process for the Committee’s new General Comment on “Children’s right to access justice and effective remedies” might be postponed or even cancelled. Given that this is one of the main opportunities for States, civil society, UN agencies, and especially children, to interact with the Committee on emerging issues, such a step would be a further and significant setback.
These series of measures have all come at the expense of meaningful and effective engagement with civil society and participation of children. They come at a time when the work of the Committee continues to be more crucial than ever amidst the multitude of crises that disproportionately affect children in the world today, including armed conflicts, climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, growing poverty and persisting inequalities, shrinking civic space, among others. It also comes at a time when the Secretary-General, in his Guidance Note on Child Rights Mainstreaming, has mandated the mobilization of the UN system to collectively strengthen and elevate a shared UN child rights agenda, including through meaningful and effective child participation.
We deeply regret that the UN liquidity crisis is impacting the overall regular functioning of the Committee, in particular the spaces for children and civil society to engage, adding to the worldwide trends of shrinking civil society space. Such measures have not only impacted the Committee, but also on the proper functioning of the treaty bodies system, the work of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN human rights mechanisms as a whole, setting a dangerous precedent.
We call on UN Member States worldwide to comply with their financial commitments to the UN by paying their fees to the UN in full and without delay so as to ensure that the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the UN human rights system as a whole can continue its critical work.
Please accept, Excellencies, the assurances of our highest consideration.
List of signatories (As 11.04.2024):
- ACARI – Associação Civil de Articulação para a Cidadania
- ACOLEA
- Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
- All Survivors Project
- ARARTEKO. Ombudsperson of Basque Country (Spain)
- Asdown Colombia
- Associação de Mulheres contra a Violência
- ASSOCIAÇÃO NACIONAL DOS CENTROS DE DEFESA DA CRIANÇA E DO ADOLESCENTE – ANCED-BRASIL
- Associação Pamen CHEIFA
- Associação Portuguesa de Estudos sobre as Mulheres (APEM)
- Association du Développement et de la Promotion de Droits de l’Homme
- Association EPA
- Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women – ESE
- Association Mauritanienne pour la santé de la Mére et de l’enfant AMSME
- Association of the Survivors of Makobola Massacres < ARMMK>
- Association “Our Children” Sarajevo/ Network Stronger Voice for Children, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Boutokaan Inaomataia ao Mauriia Binabinaine Association (BIMBA)
- Bris (Children’s Rights in Society)
- Cabildo por las Mujeres de Cuenca
- Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE)
- Casa da Criança e do Adolescente
- CATW-LAC chapitre Haïtienne
- CEDECA-RJ
- Central Union for Child Welfare (Finland)
- Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation
- Centro de Defesa dos Direitos da Criança e do Adolescente – CEDECA RIO DE JANERIO, BRASIL
- Centro Dom Helder Câmara de Estudos e Ação Social – CENDHEC
- CESIP – Centro de Estudios Sociales y Publicaciones
- Child Law Clinic, University College Cork
- Child Rights Coalition Cambodia (CRC-Cambodia)
- Child Rights Connect
- Child Rights Information Center/ CRIC
- Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
- ChildFund Alliance
- ChildFund Korea
- Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE)
- Children’s Law Centre (Northern Ireland)
- Children’s Parliament (Scotland)
- Children’s Rights Alliance for England, part of Just for Kids Law
- COFRADE
- Colectivo de Derechos de Infancia y Adolescencia de Argentina
- Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la Ciudad de México
- Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines
- Conscience and Peace Tax International (CPTI)
- Coordinadora de Profesionales por la Prevención de Abusos (CoPPA)
- Coordinadora por los Derechos de la Infancia y la Adolescencia
- DCI Canada
- Defence for Children International
- Defence For Children International – Canada
- Defensa de Niñas y Niños – Internacional DNI Americas
- Defensa de Niñas y Niños – Internacional, DNI Costa Rica
- Défenseurs Plus
- Doncel
- Dr EM Knudsen, Department of Social Work, Trent University, Canada (Individual)
- Dutch NGO Coalition on Children’s Rights | Kinderrechtencollectief
- ECPAT Luxembourg
- ECPAT NZ
- ECPAT Sri Lanka
- Ecuador Violencias Cero
- Edmund Rice International
- Espace Boris Vian (centre social)
- European Network on Statelessness
- EYEYA MUNZEBE JULINNE
- FENASE
- Fondation Apprentis d’Auteuil International
- Fondation « Zanmi Timoun »
- Fondation pour l’Enfance
- Fórum estadual de prevenção e erradicação do trabalho infantil do Rio de janeiro
- Fundación PANIAMOR
- Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer
- Global Campaign for Education
- Global Detention Project
- Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)
- Greek Helsinki Monitor
- Grupo Curumim
- Grupo de Iniciativa Nacional por los Derechos del Niño. GIN-PERU
- Grupo Impulsor para Poner Fin a la Violencia contra las Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes
- Hope and Homes for Children
- Hope For Children – CRC Policy Center
- Human Rights Watch
- Humanist Union of Greece
- ICASM International Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogate Motherhood
- Icelandic Human Rights Centre
- Institute for NGO Research
- Institute of Child Protection Studies
- Instituto de Desenvolvimento e Direitos Humanos – IDDH
- INSTITUTO PROMOVIENDO DESARROLLO SOCIAL – IPRODES
- Intact Denmark
- International Catholic Child Bureau
- INTERSEX-BELGIUM
- Jubilee Campaign USA
- Justice for Girls
- Juvenile Justice Advocates International
- Lawyers for Human Rights
- Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights
- Methoria
- Minority Rights Group – Greece
- Molo Songololo
- Movimento de Emaus- CEDECA-Emaus
- Mulher Século XXI – Associação de Desenvolvimento e Apoio às Mulheres
- National Coalition Austria, Netzwerk Kinderrechte Österreich
- National Coalition Germany _ Network for the Implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of the child
- National Secular Society
- Núcleo Cearense de Estudos e Pesquisas sobre a Criança
- Núcleo de Pesquisas e Estudos sobre o Desenvolvimento da Infância e Adolescência
- Observatório da População Infantojuvenil em Contextos de Violência/Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
- Ombudsman for Children, Croatia
- Organisation des Jeunes pour le Monde d’Avenir (OJMA)
- Peace Movement Aotearoa
- Plataforma de Direitos Humanos – Dhesca Brasil
- Plataforma de Infancia
- Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights
- Positive Discipline in Everyday Life
- Punanga Tauturu Inc
- QADER for Community Development
- Rede Ecpat Brasil
- Rede Não Bata, Eduque
- REGARDS DE FEMMES
- REIPER
- Repatriate the Children – Sweden
- Right to Education Initiative
- Save the Children
- Save the Children in Albania
- Save the Children Norway
- Save the Children South Africa
- SOS Children’s Villages International
- South African National Child Rights Coalition (SANCRC)
- The Advocates for Human Rights
- The Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children (CCRC)
- The Child and Youth Friendly Governance Project
- The Egyptian Foundation for the Advancement of Childhood Conditions
- The Public Health Foundation of Georgia
- Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)
- UNICEF Ireland
- Validity Foundation – Mental Disability Advocacy Centre
- Vulnerable Children Assistance Organization (VCAO)
- World Organization for Early Childhood Education – OMEP
- WORLD Policy Analysis Center, UCLA
- World Vision International
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