HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CONCLUDES DISCUSSION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND THE 2030 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

The Human Rights Council this afternoon held the second part of its annual meeting on the rights of the child, with a panel discussion on challenges and opportunities to reinforce children’s rights through the implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda.

Peter Sørensen, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations in Geneva, served as the panel’s moderator. The panellists were Rodolfo Succar, Ombudsman for the Defense of Children and Adolescents, Santa Fe Province, Argentina; Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health, World Health Organization; Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children; and Marie-Chantal Coulibaly, Citizen Voice and Action Coordinator, World Vision Mali.

Mr. Sørensen said that the panel sought to delve into the specific challenges and opportunities to reinforce children’s rights through the implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda. While the commitments contained in the 2030 Agenda were to be welcomed for their great potential to support the realization of children’s rights, the litmus test for the success of the Agenda would be whether the real challenges on the ground could be overcome, and the opportunities seized.

Rodolfo Succar, Ombudsman for the Defense of Children and Adolescents, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, said the Ombudsman’s team worked in the comprehensive care area and the promotion and monitoring rights area and stressed the importance of working toward specific issues and topics. He wanted each topic to translate into real mobilisation and as such worked with a range of stakeholders. The 2030 Agenda was a major challenge and the Ombudsman wanted to make an active contribution to monitoring progress. “Children are our today, they are our present,” he concluded.

Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health, World Health Organization, said that the health and human rights of children and adolescents, and the health rights of women, were a cornerstone of the global development agenda, and were central to action that States could take to reduce poverty, promote resilience and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In order to generate high-level political commitment to the implementation of a comprehensive rights-based approach, a high-level working group on the health and human rights of women, children and adolescents had been established

Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, said that in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda, strong leadership was needed to put in place a comprehensive and nationally owned sustainable development agenda with a distinct focus on violence against children. Secondly, there was a need for accountability to prevent and address incidents of violence for all children. When listening to children, it became clear that bullying and cyberbullying were truly at the top of their concerns and they constituted the most common reason why children called a helpline.

Marie-Chantal Coulibaly, Citizen Voice and Action Coordinator, World Vision Mali, explained the history of World Vision in Mali and its programmes in promoting the so-called citizens’ voice in action. With this approach, community participation was not only lip service. The exercise had taken place at the community, municipality, district and national levels, and as a result, a document containing people’s recommendations on each Sustainable Development Goal had been prepared and handed to the Government.

During the ensuing discussion, several States underscored the importance of implementing a rights-based approach, and also encouraged the Council and its mechanisms to systematically refer to the Sustainable Development Goals in their reports on children’s rights. Some noted that the insufficiency of means in developing countries was one of the main obstacles to the effective implementation of children’s rights. Others emphasized areas of particular concern, such as modern slavery, asking how the international community could best combine forces to address that problem.

Taking the floor were Brazil on behalf of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, European Union, Switzerland, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay, Albania, Indonesia, Bahrain, South Africa, Council of Europe, United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, United States, Liechtenstein, Honduras, United Kingdom, Slovenia, China, Russian Federation, Malaysia, Peru, Iran, Netherlands, Ireland, Bangladesh, Georgia, Iraq, Mexico, Serbia, France and Thailand.

Also speaking was the Scottish Human Rights Commission as well as the following civil society organizations: Plan International, Jssor Youth Organization, Conseil National des Droits de L’homme, Khiam Rehabilitation Centre, World Environment and Resources Council and United Schools International.

The first part of the annual meeting took place this morning with a panel discussion on the protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A summary of that discussion can be found here.

The Council will meet again on Tuesday, 7 March for a full day of meetings, holding three consecutive clustered interactive dialogues. The first, beginning at 9 a.m. will be with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.

Opening Remarks

AHMED RAMADAN, Vice President of the Human Rights Council, introduced the panel discussion on challenges and opportunities to reinforce children’s rights through the implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda.

Statements by the Panel Moderator and the Panellists

PETER SØRENSEN, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations in Geneva and panel moderator, said that the panel sought to deepen the discussion on this basis, by delving into the specific challenges and opportunities to reinforce children’s rights through the implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda. While the commitments contained in the 2030 Agenda were to be welcomed for their great potential to support the realization of children’s rights, the litmus test for the success of the Agenda would be whether the real challenges on the ground could be overcome, and the opportunities seized. He welcomed the panel and asked what, in their view, was the role of national human rights institutions in ensuring accountability for child rights in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
RODOLFO SUCCAR, Ombudsman for the Defense of Children and Adolescents, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, said his team worked in two major areas: the comprehensive care area and the promotion and monitoring rights area. For example, it worked closely on monitoring the mass media as they flagged up issues on the agenda. It monitored the youth criminal justice system to ensure that it was in line with international standards. He stressed the importance of working toward specific issues and topics. In that vein, the Ombudsman had worked with Ministries on an information system and assessed the State’s policies on children. He underscored the role of ombudsmen and nation human rights organizations in amplifying issues. He wanted each topic to translate into real mobilisation and as such, worked with a range of stakeholders. In all its actions, the Ombudsman endeavoured to make a change in practice and representation. However, its interventions were often not sufficient. A lot remained to be done and they needed to think about the gap in their practices and international laws. They needed to include the voices and participation of children throughout their work and had to stop looking at them from the top down, he said, urging to see the world through their eyes. The 2030 Agenda was a major challenge and the Ombudsman wanted to make an active contribution to monitoring progress. “Children are our today, they are our present,” he concluded.

PETER SØRENSEN, Head of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva and panel moderator, asked Dr. Bustreo about the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for children’s rights? What was the role of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Adolescents’ and Children’s Health as an important initiative in this regard?

FLAVIA BUSTREO, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health, World Health Organization, said that the health and human rights of children and adolescents, and the health rights of women, were a cornerstone of the global development agenda, and were central to action that States could take to reduce poverty, promote resilience and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. There had been an almost 50 per cent reduction in mortality in children under the age of five, from 13 million in 1990 to six million in 2015. Progressive concentration of those deaths was in the neonatal period, which was when the children were most vulnerable. The adolescent group was also really crucial because the world was now seeing the highest number of adolescents ever. The World Health Organization was releasing a report “do not pollute my future”, in which it called attention to the need to address the pollution of air, water and nature for the health of children. The new Global Strategy on Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health had been launched in 2015 by former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. An independent accountability panel had been established to independently track progress and shine light on areas that were neglected or were moving too slowly. In order to generate high-level political commitment to the implementation of a comprehensive rights-based approach, a high-level working group on health and human rights of women, children and adolescents had been established in May 2016. It was time to move from the rhetoric, commitments and august discussions to real action on the ground that could fulfil the rights of children to health.

PETER SØRENSEN, Head of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva and panel moderator, asked how the international community could deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals as an integrated framework, and how the implementation of the 2030 Agenda could be a path to prevent and respond to violence against children.

MARTA SANTOS PAIS, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, noted that the clear inclusion of violence against children in the development agenda was an historic breakthrough, and a solid reaffirmation of the indivisibility and interrelationship of children’s rights. The 2030 Agenda included a distinct target to end all forms of violence against children (target 16.2) and thus provided a shared sense of purpose and urgency, as well as a strategic path to transform the right of the child to freedom from violence into a reality for all the world’s children. The countdown to 2030 had started and there was no time for complacency. In order to achieve the 2030 Agenda, strong leadership was needed, namely to put in place a comprehensive and nationally owned sustainable development agenda with a distinct focus on violence against children. Secondly, there was a need for accountability to prevent and address incidents of violence for all children, and to assess impact and progress in the voluntary national reviews prepared for the High Level Political Forum. Monitoring, sound data and robust indicators were indispensable components of the process. In many countries data was often missing. Strong national ownership and mobilization around the 2030 Agenda was of the essence, and all children needed to be part of that process. Children were crucial actors in the process who would channel their infinitive capacities for the creation of a better and more inclusive world, in which every child grew up free from fear and from violence. More than 800,000 children had participated in consultations to inform the shaping the 2030 Agenda, and they remained strongly committed to be associated with its follow-up and review. When listening to children, it became clear that bullying and cyberbullying were truly at the top of their concerns and they constituted the most common reason why children called a helpline.

PETER SØRENSEN, Head of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva and panel moderator, asked the next panellist to reflect on her experience of supporting and promoting citizens’ participation in Mali, and on the best practices for civil society to take part in strengthening the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the country level, in consultation with children and local communities.

MARIE-CHANTAL COULIBALY, Citizen Voice and Action Coordinator, World Vision Mali, explained the history of World Vision in Mali and its programmes. World Vision Mali had organized a consultation with 72 municipalities with 354 villages, and had developed a Charter of Citizens for the Sustainable Development Goals 2016-2030. In total, 1,027 focus groups had participated in the discussion. World Vision Mali was promoting the so-called citizens’ voice in action, in order to bring the voices of citizens, including children, to assess the quality of services provided to them at the community level, and to make recommendations. With this community-based and child focused approach, World Vision Mali had trained groups to organize focus groups in their communities, with the participation of children, women, and men. With this approach, community participation was not only a lip service. Those groups had undertaken community-based consultations on each Sustainable Development Goal, to take stock and formulate recommendations. The exercise had taken place at the community, municipality, district and national levels, and as a result, a document containing people’s recommendations on each Sustainable Development Goal had been prepared and handed to the Government. The National Council for Civil Society and the Mali Forum had committed to promoting the approach, Citizens’ Voice in Action, as a model for citizens’ engagement in community action. In closing, Ms. Coulibaly reiterated that the guarantee of national ownership of the Sustainable Development Goals was dependent on setting up and using proper mechanisms for civic participation.

Discussion

Brazil, speaking on behalf of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, noted that the one of the Community’s main purposes aimed to effectively improve children’s living conditions, their harmonious development, and the eradication of child poverty and child exploitation. European Union stated that it was committed to implementing a rights-based approach, integrating all children’s rights, standards and principles into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all European Union policies. Switzerland said that the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals was a major opportunity to promote and protect children’s rights. It encouraged the Council and its mechanisms to systematically refer to the Sustainable Development Goals in its reports on children’s rights. Sierra Leone stressed that children were rights bearers and that their participation in the decision-making process was vital for developing appropriate child actions and programmes. Many hurdles remained in order for children to fully enjoy their rights due to poverty and conflict. El Salvador stated that the protection of children’s rights was essential for the achievement of sustainable development because children had the capacity of being agents of change. Kyrgyzstan agreed that while not all the Sustainable Development Goals directly referred to children, they were all relevant to their well-being. The insufficiency of means in developing countries was one of the main obstacles to the effective implementation of children’s rights.

Paraguay said that the protection and guarantee of children’s rights were a guarantee of the success of the 2030 Agenda and national welfare systems needed to be empowered. Albania said that the key challenges were to ensure that all children – including those from marginalized groups - benefitted evenly from the 2030 Agenda outcomes, and to ensure that the planning and financing of the implementation did not create new patterns of discrimination and exclusion. Indonesia said its experience had so far demonstrated that progress had always been uneven between regions and social groups in the country, and that steps taken to address this problem included adopting child protection as a national priority and ensuring equal access to basic services and protection from violence. Bahrain said it had set up an umbrella to protect the rights of children in the country, and said that the forced recruitment of children by terrorist groups was a chief obstacle to achieving sustainable development. What steps could be taken to protect the exploitation of children by terrorist groups? The approach to children’s rights in South Africa was based on the belief that investing in children was an investment in the future and that was why the 2030 Agenda was a plan dedicated to the protection and promotion of children’s rights which should build on lessons learned from the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. Council of Europe was fully committed to supporting its 47 Member States in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda, which it had integrated in its work and was using its indicators to measure progress.

Scottish Human Rights Commission described its work, noting that the Sustainable Development Goals would be at the heart of how Scotland responded to its human rights obligations, and further noting that there was an attainment gap between children from low-income and high-income families.

Plan International called on governments to invest in national statistical capacities to fill data gaps, as it was only with reliable and timely data that the ambition to reach the most excluded would be achieved. Jssor Youth Organization said kidnapping was an international problem, and some families used the solution to get modest sums of money, and there needed to be greater awareness in society of that fact, to ensure that the victims would receive care.

Remarks by the Panellists

RODOLFO SUCCAR, Ombudsman for the Defense of Children and Adolescents, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, explained that strengthening capacities according to available data used to be poor in the past. The United Nations Children’s Fund had helped construct an information registry in order to establish childhood indicators. The issue of change in the culture itself was thus important. Proper information and policy-making was key to ensure a comprehensive approach to eliminating violence against children. Budget headings should also be included in indicators so that Governments could be better equipped to invest in child policies and identify policy beneficiaries. It was important and effective to include children’s voices when it came to indicators and goals.

FLAVIA BUSTREO, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health at the World Health Organization, spoke about ensuring that children in conflict were not left behind. There was a concentration of death in humanitarian and fragile settings. Services for children were not provided in such settings. Certain interventions, such as immunizations, could be offered to children who were on the move. It was the responsibility of Governments to ensure that those children did not fall through the cracks. Globally there was immunization coverage that missed one child out of five because the child was not registered. Thus, it was important to register children. As for the question on ensuring that all stakeholders participated, the best way was to encourage the participation of youth. The United Nations had to learn how to make such citizen participation real.

MARTA SANTOS PAIS, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, underscored the importance of mainstreaming children’s rights into national development plans. A national strategy focused on children’s needs could make a huge difference, she said. In terms of violence against children, household surveys could also be key as they brought together all institutions and stakeholders in the planning, implementation, assessment and dissemination of findings, and ensured that everyone spoke about the topic in the same way. Safe learning environments did not have an indicator and yet were so important to children. States played a key role but often did not have the right data available. When analysis was available, the independence of statistics was important so that their ethical use could be ensured.

MARIE-CHANTAL COULIBALY, Citizen Voice and Action Coordinator, World Vision Mali said she did not have much to add, but highlighted that some excellent approaches had been expressed and they could learn from others.

Discussion

United Arab Emirates said that today’s children were tomorrow’s men and women and thus the implementation of all 2030 Agenda objectives were key. The United Arab Emirates had established sustainable schools to increase children’s understanding of the importance of environmental sustainability. Ecuador said the rights of children were cross-cutting throughout the 2030 Agenda. Implementation of and compliance with the goals were urgent for human rights and the rights of children. Compliance with the goals needed political will and resources.

Ethiopia asked the panellists how they related the cross-country and cross-regional financial support of one member of the Convention to others when it came to fulfilling their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Bulgaria urged the greater engagement of civil society and academia in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as education, technology and innovation were among Bulgaria’s priority areas. United States said that the global youth bulge, the rise of violent extremism, and high global youth unemployment demonstrated the urgency of investing in young people, noting that the United States would continue to encourage young people as full partners in efforts to foster inclusive economic growth and promote resilient, democratic societies. Liechtenstein said modern slavery was of particular concern, noting that children who were also displaced or unaccompanied were among those most in need of protection, asking how the international community could best combine forces to address that problem. Honduras welcomed the panellists’ contributions, noting that poverty left the most vulnerable behind, and adding that it was vital to talk about a child rights-based approach which articulated follow-up mechanisms. United Kingdom asked the panel how the international community could best ensure a coordinated response to ensure that every girl received an education.

Slovenia said that as the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets were integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, there was also the need to find the internal-external cohesion in realizing children’s rights in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. China noted that it had one of the largest children populations in the world, and that it had been carefully implementing its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. China was committed to helping developing countries implement child programmes. Russian Federation noted that the issue of children’s rights was one of the top priorities for the Russian Government. It was concerned about the wish of some to elevate the protection of children’s rights as an absolute principle. Children’s rights should be protected within the family. Malaysia stated that it ensured that different segments of society, including children, received adequate support to enable them to enjoy equal access to the benefits of development. The challenge was to make sure that approaches were effective and efficient.

Conseil National des Droits de L’Homme du Maroc said it aimed to reduce the prevalence of vulnerability amongst children and was pursuing plans of action in the protection of children. Children were not only the beneficiary of public programmes, but should be participants as well. The 2030 Agenda could be an opportunity to institutionalise that participation, he said. Khiam Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture said that measures taken by Bahraini authorities undermined the rights of children. Excessive force and tear gas had been used by the police and the Government had not guaranteed a safe environment to children. Police had detained 218 children between 2011 and 2016 and some had been subjected to abuse and torture. World Environment and Resources Council said that children were deprived of many rights around the world. In particular, Pakistan was a country that had a serious situation when it came to children’s welfare. The country was a theatre of numerous conflicts and children had no protection from society, and suffered from a high incidence of sexual exploitation. United Schools International said practices such as female genital mutilation violated the rights of the girl child and more than 200 million women and girls had undergone this procedure. In Pakistan, it was practised at a very extreme level and it was high time that the Government recognised the danger of this practice and punished any family that resorted to it.

Peru said it had adopted a national policy for the protection of children to 2021, allocated a specific budget for its implementation, and put in place measures to address violence against children, particularly in the context of juvenile justice. Iran said it had expanded the coverage of national education and adopted measures to prevent school drop out of girls and boys throughout the country, 48,000 undocumented Afghan children had been allowed to enrol in school, and child friendly health programmes were being implemented in a number of hospitals. Netherlands stressed that children should be regarded as agents of change. They deserved their role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and should be able to find in it a platform to channel their infinite capacities for activism to create a better world. Ireland underlined the shared commitment to the 2030 Agenda and stressed that practical tools must be available at national levels for the realization of that commitment. What would be the best way to ensure that children’s voices were best heard in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda? Bangladesh stressed the principle of the best interest of the child enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially in the context of climate change, globalization, food security, water scarcity, mass displacement, and others. Georgia had established a joint technical working group for the monitoring of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals at the national level, and said that the Goals had been mainstreamed in all policies and programmes, but the protection of children’s rights in the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Ossetia was challenge.

Iraq said it attached special importance to the rights of the child, and noted that terrorist attacks by ISIS had had a negative impact on the rights of children as they had recruited children, trained them in military camps, and used them as human shields. Iraq asked the panellists how such children could be reintegrated in society. Mexico said it had created a working group for follow-up to the Sustainable Development Goals. Mexico was also working on a law protecting migrant children in the country. Mexico asked the panellists how cooperation could be made more effective. Serbia welcomed the panellists and noted that practical steps toward the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals should be taken by all stakeholders, asking about the most critical issues to be remedied by urgent actions. France said access to education for all was a priority, noting that it was essential to understand phenomena facing children everywhere, and essential to involve children in the decision-making process. Thailand said the protection of children required a strong legal framework, noting that Thailand had adopted a life cycle approach to social protection, addressing both poverty and vulnerability.

Concluding Remarks

MARIE-CHANTAL COULIBALY, Citizen Voice and Action Coordinator, World Vision Mali, thanked all participants for their efforts in the area and noted what Ireland had said about appropriate tools. She also noted the substantial progress made by non-governmental organizations toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, making them easier to attain. Political will was needed, and it needed to be turned into practice, she said. In terms of ways and means to ensure children’s participation, she said that one approach was a citizen-based approach that involved getting the testimony of children.

MARTA SANTOS PAIS, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, addressed the opportunity to eradicate modern slavery. She said it was not by accident that the 2030 Agenda called for immediate and effective steps to eradicate modern slavery, it was indeed urgent. It was fundamental to free child victims and give them a vision of what they could achieve. Later this year, there would be another global conference on child labour. Concerning the situation of education of girls, addressed by goal 4, she said there was already a global partnership but the international community needed to move implementation efforts forward. Mandatory schooling for girls was needed and education must be free so that families did not feel compelled to take children, especially girls, out of school. Child marriage was another key issue, and working with families and communities in this area was essential. The international community must listen to the voices of young people and it needed to have a way of disseminating information in a child-friendly manner. She was confident that no State would fail to show its commitment toward children and make it a priority in national plans.

RODOLFO SUCCAR, Ombudsman for the Defense of Children and Adolescents, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, said that the issue of social investments was a very important one, particularly in reducing gaps, but it alone was not sufficient. What was needed was an integrated approach which would address children in a number of vulnerable situations, such as children in conflict with the law, or adolescent mothers. It was important to ensure that laws and policies avoided trapping children in old paradigms. It was the responsibility of all States to put those issues on the agenda and address them at all levels, including in homes and families of children who needed them. Also important was to increase the participation of children and create space for their active participation.

PETER SØRENSEN, Head of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva and panel moderator, in his concluding remarks noted that a multi-stakeholder dimension was absolutely crucial for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the only way to make it a reality for all. The participation of children was fundamental to ensure ownership and contribute to the overall goal of leaving no one behind. Also, there must be a system for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals using reliable and accurate data.



For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC17/020E