Joint letter on the cancellation of the May pre-session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Amidst growing concerns over the cancellation of the May pre-session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a coalition of civil society organisations has penned a joint letter urging UN Member States to address the issue promptly, highlighting its implications for children's rights advocacy and engagement.
Joint letter on the cancellation of the May pre-session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Geneva and New York and the Secretary-General of United Nationas:
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