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SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The weak writ of the State, particularly in peripheral areas, is another contributing factor to conflict and has played a role in exposing children to violence. Where the State is challenged in its ability to provide security, deliver basic social services, adjudicate on grievances and facilitate economic activity, local communities turn to alternative forms of authority. Traditional governance structures and/or justice mechanisms, may take precedence over weak statutory institutions. However, traditional governance structures are often not underpinned by the normative standards and protection mechanisms facilitated by the State. Where conflict is occurring, local communities also often form self-defence groups and frequently enlist young children in the community to fight and defend them against external threats.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- International and national courts are encouraged to use and build on the jurisprudence arising from the judgement handed down by the International Criminal Court in the Lubanga case and to be guided by the measures that the Court has put in place related to child protection and child participation in judicial proceedings.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- [Strengthening family and community protection mechanisms]: Initiatives to raise community awareness about the rights of children and the long-term implications of children’s association with armed groups and to promote attitudinal change or encourage the intervention of community and religious leaders to halt child recruitment should be conducted in close collaboration with parents, community and religious leaders, teachers and children themselves. Dialogue to foster community ownership is crucial, as are consultations that aim at identifying and building on existing positive practices.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- Measures to address the structural causes of child recruitment must tackle social exclusion and provide children and youth with education and socioeconomic alternatives. At the national level, measures to reintegrate children must be systematically included in broader recovery and development strategies. The economic dimensions of preventing the recruitment of children and reintegrating them into society need to figure prominently in the peacebuilding, recovery and development agenda of international agencies and bilateral donors.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- In the previous report of the Special Representative to the General Assembly, concerns related to internally displaced children were highlighted and the report included an annex specifying the rights and guarantees for this vulnerable group (A/64/254, annex I). The Assembly acknowledged the guarantees in its resolution 64/162 on the protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons. These rights and guarantees include the principle of non-discrimination, the right to documentation, protection from violence and abuse, the right to essential services, and the requirement that when dealing with internally displaced children the best interest of the child must prevail.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- States parties to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol are further urged to implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child as a matter of priority and to submit timely reports to the Committee under the Optional Protocol. To this end, States parties are encouraged to establish effective interministerial coordination mechanisms with a view to ensuring comprehensive measures to prevent and protect children from offences under the Optional Protocol.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Perceptions of discrimination, social injustice, political exclusion and economic disparity are often motivating factors for children to join armed groups. Compounded with collective identity, defined often in ethnic, regional or religious terms, these perceptions become potent mobilizers of communities, including children. Loyalty to the group sometimes becomes a bargaining tool for armed groups, and members of the community are called upon to play their part and contribute their children to the struggle. Children are susceptible to these demands, not only as a result of social pressure or a sense of obligation, but also as a consequence of personal injustices suffered. When crimes against children are committed with impunity, many join armed groups motivated by a desire for revenge.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Initiatives to raise community awareness about the rights of children and the long-term implications of children’s association with armed groups and to promote attitudinal change or encourage the intervention of community and religious leaders to halt child recruitment should be conducted in close collaboration with parents, community and religious leaders, teachers and children themselves. Dialogue to foster community ownership is crucial, as are consultations that aim at identifying and building on existing positive practices.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- [Children as victims and witnesses]: In some countries, traditional justice mechanisms are commonly used to resolve disputes and feuds between families and clans and to bring about settlement and reconciliation. For many children in these countries, traditional justice may be the only readily accessible form of justice, meaningful to their families and communities. As with all other forms of justice, however, there are limitations, particularly in the aftermath of armed conflict. Traditional justice relies on oral tradition and customary practice, which can be lost as a result of displacement, dissipation of collective memory and loss of traditional authority in times of breakdown of social structures. In addition, traditional authority often resides with the elder males of the community. This patriarchal structure does not always take into account or reflect children’s rights, and especially the rights of girls and their need for protection.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- The indoctrination of children by extremist groups poses new challenges with regard to their protection and psychosocial rehabilitation and reintegration. The Special Representative encourages the Human Rights Council to make use of its mechanisms to highlight and address the need for appropriate measures to rehabilitate those children, in compliance with the principle of the best interest of the child and respecting the child's primary status as a victim.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Children constitute the majority of the population in many conflict and post-conflict societies. Conflict destroys social capital and disrupts the development of children and youth, thus acting as a powerful factor of exclusion. Once a conflict has ceased, the lack of educational and socioeconomic opportunities can fuel a legacy of violence and contribute to a relapse into conflict.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Efforts to end violations and abuses against children during conflict must stem from a thorough understanding of the structural causes of conflict and the circumstances that give rise to these violations and abuses. Poverty, discrimination, environmental degradation, social and economic marginalization and inequity are some of the factors that create the conditions for children to be associated with armed forces or groups, forcibly or voluntarily.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The key principles consist of overarching considerations for children in transitional justice processes as a whole, as well as specific precepts as related to judicial mechanisms, truth commissions and truth-seeking mechanisms, local, traditional and restorative justice processes, reparations for children and institutional reform.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The motivations for attacking teachers, students and school buildings are numerous and cynical, including to achieve military, political or sociocultural objectives. In some cases, attacks are perpetrated as a means of creating a general climate of insecurity, to destabilize local communities or target them for retribution for perceived support of the Government, or to undermine the Government by destroying symbols of State institutions. The result is a growing disregard for the sanctity of schools, the notion that schools, above all other places, are safe havens for children. The consequence is a growing fear among children to attend school, among teachers to give classes, and among parents to send their children to school.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- [What is “justice” for children?]The ability of children to have access to justice is seen as a vital part of the mandate of the United Nations to reduce poverty and fulfil children’s rights. A clear definition of what constitutes “access to justice” cannot be found in international instruments. According to the United Nations Development Programme, access to justice can be defined as “the ability of people to seek and obtain a remedy through formal or informal institutions of justice, and in conformity with human rights standards”. The Common Approach to Justice for Children, as explained by the United Nations Children’s Fund in 2008, expands on this definition: “Access to justice can be defined as the ability to obtain a just and timely remedy for violations of rights as put forth in national and international norms and standards [...] Proper access to justice requires legal empowerment of all children: all should be enabled to claim their rights, through legal and other services such as child rights education or advice and support from knowledgeable adults.”
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Protocol recognizes children's legal standing with respect to seeking redress for the violation of their rights - either directly or through a representative. To promote its implementation, domestic remedies and child-sensitive procedures and mechanisms need to be in place, including ombuds for children or similar national independent human rights institutions. Similarly, child-sensitive procedures and legal safeguards need to be established to ensure respect for the best interests and the views of the child, to protect children's privacy and prevent the risk of ill- treatment or intimidation.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- [The Bali meeting adopted important policy recommendations, highlighting the following areas:] Legislation - States should undertake a comprehensive legislative review to align relevant domestic legislation, whether in statutory, customary or religious laws, with human rights standards; in countries with plural legal systems, the supremacy of legislation aligned with international human rights standards should be explicitly recognized in the law to avert potential conflicts in legal interpretation and implementation. - Legislation should decriminalize status offences and survival behaviours and include legal safeguards to protect the child's best interests, and the child's right to freedom from violence and discrimination, to free and safe participation in proceedings throughout the restorative justice process, and to legal and other relevant assistance. - Legislation should provide law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary with options for diverting children away from the criminal justice system and promoting restorative justice processes at all stages of the proceedings; it should include alternative and educative measures such as warning, probation, judicial supervision and community work, to be applied in combination with restorative justice processes or when restorative justice is not appropriate. Children's right to recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration should be firmly expressed in legislation. - Legislation should recognize that restorative justice and informal justice or conflict resolution mechanisms, while being accessible at the local and community levels and playing an important role in the protection and reintegration of children, should never jeopardize children's rights or preclude children from accessing the formal justice system.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, notably the Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography provide important guidance for the realization of children's rights online. All measures, including legislative, policy and educational initiatives, should be guided by the best interests of the child; respect and support children's growing autonomy and agency, and protect children from violence and discrimination. These principles lay the foundation to capitalize on the potential of the online environment; to promote children's learning and freedom of expression; to support children in accessing, receiving and imparting information; and to protect them from harmful materials and information, from unlawful interference with their privacy or correspondence, and situations where their honour and reputation may be at risk.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 41a
- Paragraph text
- [In some countries, important legislative initiatives have addressed violence against children with albinism and those accused of witchcraft, criminalizing harmful practices and issuing protective measures to secure children's safety and protection. Legislation is, however, insufficient to change superstition and deeply rooted beliefs. To ensure the protection of these children, the Special Representative has called for a comprehensive strategy highlighting, the following measures:] Supporting the protective role of the family. Parents and members of the extended family play a central role in the care and protection of children and need to be sensitized and supported in their child-rearing responsibilities. To address the social and economic drivers of violence against children with albinism or accused of witchcraft, it is critical to provide basic social services of quality to families concerned, to promote child development, well-being and effective protection, and to prevent children's exposure to harm.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 31c
- Paragraph text
- [To address these dimensions and capitalize upon a growing body of knowledge and experience in this area, the Special Representative organized with the Government of Sweden an expert consultation in 2012 (see also A/67/230, para. 24). The conclusions and recommendations highlighted the urgency of the following measures:] Capitalizing on children's perceptions, views and experiences while ensuring due respect for their protection from harm and their right to express views and influence decisions, and avoiding situations that may place children at risk; and
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 111
- Paragraph text
- Schools have a unique potential to promote non-violent behaviour and to support change of attitudes condoning violence. Through quality education, children can gain the skills and abilities to surf cyberspace with confidence, to avoid and address risks, and to become well-informed and responsible digital citizens. This includes promoting creative, critical and safe use of the Internet and preventing and responding to incidents of online violence, including cyberbullying, even when they were not originated in the school environment.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2016, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Promoting a safe and peaceful learning environment is a major cultural undertaking that requires leadership and support from Government, including adequate resources, to become a reality. It is crucial to strengthen children's protective environment with the support of all relevant stakeholders, including parents and caregivers, teachers and service providers. No less important is engaging and empowering children themselves. Children need to develop their own capacities as digital citizens and learn solid values and life skills, including being responsible in their actions towards others.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2017, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- In April 2016, in Sofia, the Council launched its new Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021), which was developed with the participation of the Special Representative. Children's freedom from violence is at the heart of the Strategy and is mainstreamed in actions concerning the protection of children from online abuse; the promotion of child participation; the development of child-friendly justice; the prevention of deprivation of liberty and the promotion of diversion measures; and the protection of children on the move.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 124
- Paragraph text
- Legislation should provide law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and the judiciary with options for diverting children away from the criminal justice system and promoting restorative justice processes at all stages of the proceedings; it should include alternative and educative measures, such as warnings, probation, judicial supervision and community work, to be applied in combination with restorative justice processes or when restorative justice is not appropriate.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2012, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- Children growing up in poverty are less likely to access basic social services of quality or to benefit from effective preventive initiatives or protection mechanisms. This is a particularly acute problem for children living or working on the street, who often struggle to survive in unhealthy, hazardous and violent public spaces where crime is rampant and protection hardly available, and who are at risk of enduring ill-treatment by the authorities or being criminalized for survival behaviour, including truancy and begging.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2010, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- The situation of those children remains hidden and surrounded by stigma, and is seldom envisaged as a priority in the policy agenda. There is scarce information on the numbers of children deprived of liberty and on the reasons that lead to their placement in justice and care institutions; independent monitoring mechanisms are rarely available to safeguard their rights and address their complaints; and sensationalistic information, combined with ill perception of growing juvenile delinquency, fuel social pressure for the criminalization of children and adolescents, and for the introduction of increasingly lower ages of criminal responsibility and longer measures of deprivation of liberty. This is a pattern that helps to create a culture of tolerance of violence against children, and which often contributes to the stigmatization of children belonging to poor and disadvantaged groups.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2012, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- Economically advanced countries are also implementing severe cutbacks in social spending and are promoting budgetary austerity measures to reduce national debt and boost their economies. In some cases, cuts in child benefits in the area of education have hampered families' ability to buy schoolbooks and cover the cost of their children's meals and transportation, while child labour in the informal sector and in agriculture may be on the rise as a result of shrinking family income. As recently highlighted by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, increasingly difficult socioeconomic situations for families and high levels of stress and pressure can result in serious risks of domestic violence towards children and need to be carefully monitored.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- [The Bali meeting adopted important policy recommendations, highlighting the following areas:] Training and guidance - Effective training should be assured to all relevant law enforcement and justice actors, including the police, prosecutors, the judiciary, probation officers, lawyers, social workers, facilitators and mediators. It should provide skills to promote dialogue, manage emotions and conflict, and secure safety of child participants; and address child rights and relevant legislation, as well as diversion, restorative justice processes and other alternative non-custodial measures. Guidelines and standard operational procedures should be developed for professionals involved in this process.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- Economically advanced nations are also implementing severe cutbacks in social spending and promoting budgetary austerity measures to reduce national debt and strengthen their economies. In some cases, cuts in child benefits in the area of education have hampered families' ability to buy schoolbooks and cover the cost of their children's meals and transportation, while child labour in the informal sector and agriculture may be on the rise as a result of shrinking family income. As highlighted by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, increasingly difficult socioeconomic situations for families and high levels of stress and pressure can result in serious risks of domestic violence towards children and needs to be carefully monitored.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- Collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, human rights treaty bodies and special procedures of the Human Rights Council continued to feature highly in the Special Representative's agenda. In this regard, the collaboration with the Committee on the Rights of the Child focused on the advancement of the global campaign for the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; follow-up to the Committee's concluding observations in the context of field visits; and support to the development and implementation of general comments, especially No. 15 (2013) on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health; No. 16 (2013) on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children's rights; and No. 17 (2013) on the right of the child to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph