COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD HOLDS DAY OF GENERAL DISCUSSION ON THE RIGHT OF CHILDREN TO BE HEARD

Committee on the Rights
of the Child 15 September 2006


The Committee on the Rights of the Child today held a Day of General Discussion on the right of children to be heard.

Jacob Egbert Doek, the Chairperson of the Committee, introducing the discussion, said children and young people were the rights holders under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. All articles of the Convention were important for them, but article 12 was of special importance, as it should be an integral part of the implementation of other articles of the Convention. For instance, the implementation of the right to protection, to education, to health care, had to come with full respect of the right of the child to express their views and be listened to.

Moushira Khattab, Member of the Committee and key-note speaker, said the Convention on the Rights of the Child brought about a revolution in the status of children, empowering them as rights bearers. The right to be heard, included in article 12 of the Convention, remained a very sensitive if not the most misunderstood of all rights. The articles of the Convention reflected a new global consensus that as soon as children were able to express a preference about a matter of interest to them, they had the right to form an opinion and make it known to others. It empowered the child to be an active actor in the different settings: the home, school, institutions of society and the community at large.

Victor P. Karunan, Senior Advisor at the Adolescent Development and Participation Programme Division of the United Nations Children’s Fund, said children and young persons’ participation should be an essential feature of all global, regional and national initiatives and programmes, and that all should seriously engage with young people as key partners in order to achieve a “World Fit For Children”. Participation was a human right for all children, and as such, it was not a gift or privilege bestowed by adults on children, but the right of every child capable of expressing a view.

Children addressing the Committee said that in each and every country there was a need to have a child-friendly environment. There should be a Children’s Committee which could work together with the Committee on the Rights of the Child to ensure the latter was properly informed and the progress of work could be monitored at regular intervals. All Governments should make sure there were community councillors for children to visit when they had a problem. The Committee should make sure that Governments protected children from abuse. Children often did not know they had rights, and therefore could not defend them. Thus, in order to have their rights respected, information about them should be disseminated, in particular in schools. If this information was made available, it would spread further. Children should have continued involvement with the Committee, and there should be a child on the Committee. Young people should address the Convention, to see if it should be brought forward, 18 years after it was written, and protocols on child participation should be written to ensure their participation.

After hearing these statements, the Committee was divided into two Working Groups to discuss the child’s right to be heard in judicial and administrative proceedings; and children as active participants in society. Nevena Vukovic Sahovic, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the first Working Group, reporting, said there had been comments and discussion on the laws which allowed for children’s participation, on age, and on the role of the Committee and how it could monitor issues, and on what was the role of civil society. Yanghee Lee, Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the second Working Group, said that full participation of young citizens should be allowed before they reached the legal and biological coming of age, which was a barrier to participation. There should be a strong attitudinal change in this regard.

Chairman Doek, in brief concluding remarks, said work on this particular article was not something that could be achieved overnight: it was a long process, as changing attitudes, at whatever level, was something that took time, took training and sensitisation of all relevant people, in order to make sure that they fully respected and implemented the rights of the child to express their view and have those views taken into account, which were two separate things and rights. Today’s discussion was a kind of a gathering of people who were working as advocates or otherwise in the field of children’s rights to discuss the issue and to share views, experiences and concerns with the Committee.

The findings of today’s deliberations will be expressed in recommendations at the end of the session, and then in a General Comment.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Monday, 18 September 2005 at 10 a.m. when the Committee will take up, in chamber A, the initial report of Swaziland (CRC/C/SWZ/1), and in chamber B, the second periodic report of Senegal (CRC/C/SEN/2).


Statements

JACOB EGBERT DOEK, Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, introducing the discussion, said children and young people were the rights holders under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. All articles of the Convention were important for them, but article 12 was of special importance, as it should be an integral part of the implementation of other articles of the Convention. For instance, the implementation of the right to protection, to education, to health care, had to come with full respect of the right of the child to express their views and be listened to. The reports of States parties received by the Committee showed that the implementation of article 12, and in particular the active participation of children in all matters affecting them was a work in progress, and in many States, that progress was slow, and the work faced many obstacles.

The Day of Discussion was meant to explore the meaning of article 12, and any implications for children as individuals and a group as members of society. The Day would promote child participation and opportunities at all levels: in the home, school, community, and wider society, as well as in emergency, conflict and post-conflict situations. The discussions in the Working Groups should result in concrete suggestions for further actions which could then become a part of the recommendations based on today’s discussions. The results of the discussions would also inform and guide the Committee’s work on a general comment on article 12 and recommendations on child participation.

MOUSHIRA KHATTAB, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, acting as keynote speaker, said the Convention on the Rights of the Child brought about a revolution in the status of children, empowering them as rights bearers. Unlike international instruments that preceded it, the Convention did not limit itself to protection, but went further to give the child its first civil and political right: the right to freedom of expression. Implementation of the Convention brought about tangible progress for millions of children across the globe; the number of children who went to school had risen, many were healthier and lived longer. Unfortunately, the same progress could not be claimed with regards to other rights, including the right to be heard, included in article 12 of the Convention, which remained a very sensitive if not the most misunderstood of all rights.

Article 12 did not set a minimum age at which children could begin expressing their views freely, according to the Convention, nor was there a limit to the contexts in which children could express their views. The child’s right to express an opinion was contingent on the child’s capability to formulate views and to articulate them. Children should have access to information about choices available to them, and the consequences of such choices, as it was a necessary foundation for informed participation in decision-making. The articles of the Convention reflected a new global consensus that as soon as children were able to express a preference about a matter of interest to them, they had the right to form an opinion and make it known to others. It empowered the child to be an active actor in the different settings; the home, school, institutions of society and the community at large. The best interests of the child, the right to life, survival and development, family environment and alternative care, and protection, were also relevant to the right of the child to be heard. These were critical articles to the development of a democratic society and to the participation of children in the realisation of their rights. However, article 12 was not just about the “individual right” of the child, but also a “collective right” of children and young people - e.g. the right to association.

The family, Ms. Khattab said, was the ideal framework for the first stage of the democratic experience for children. Children’s participation and parental authority were mutually enhancing and not at odds. Parents needed to recognise that fulfilling the right of the child to be heard at home was a tool to preventing domestic violence, strengthened child/parent relationships, helped to close the generation gap, and protected children from straying. The child also had an individual right to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting them. Many cultures and societies did not interpret the rights of the child to be heard the way that policy makers and child rights experts did. The right of the child to be heard was challenging to implement, particularly reaching children in environments in which their choices were limited by social reality. It was therefore not just about children being able to express themselves, but also the ability of adults to listen to what the child was saying. Fulfilling the right of children to participate entailed training and mobilising adults who resided and worked with children so that they were equipped to provide children with the opportunity to freely and increasingly partake in society and gain democratic skills.

VICTOR P. KARUNAN, Senior Advisor, Adolescent Development and Participation Programme Division, United Nations Children’s Fund, said UNICEF was convinced that children and young persons’ participation should be an essential feature of all global, regional and national initiatives and programmes, and that all should seriously engage with young people as key partners in order to achieve a “World Fit For Children”. The participation and contribution today of over 30 young people from different parts of the world would help the adults to be more practical and relevant in order to better understand the complexity of the contexts and situations in which children and young people sought to advocate on their issues and concerns and actively involve themselves in the family, school, community and national levels. UNICEF championed the child’s right to survival, protection, participation and development, and viewed its obligations to promote the participation of all children as one of its core guiding principles.

Participation was a human right for all children, and as such, it was not a gift or privilege bestowed by adults on children, but the right of every child capable of expressing a view. It was a fundamental right for all children, especially the most marginalized and vulnerable. Participation was critical to self-development; it fostered learning, built life-skills and enabled self-protection, helped children to make a positive contribution to society, and built democracy. A General Comment on article 12 needed to address both the legal and social context in which children and young people today lived, sought to express their views, and participate in decision-making. There were three main areas that needed attention: to provide space and opportunities for meaningful child participation; to build capacity among children/young people and adults; and to create a safe and supportive participatory environment to promote child participation.

The deliberations today, and particularly the views and opinions of the children and young people present, would provide both clarity and guidance in the drafting of the General Comment on article 12. The General Comment should serve as a useful guide for Governments to promote the efficient application of the article, and support the meaningful participation of children and young people in the implementation of all other provisions of the Convention. Furthermore, it should provide a strong legal basis for future technical cooperation and partnerships between States parties and UNICEF, child rights NGOs, youth organizations and networks to make meaningful child participation an essential feature of national policies and programmes. The child’s right to be heard, participate and decide had today become an integral part of the development discourse, and an essential feature of many key international and national events, campaigns and initiatives. This reality should be acknowledged and ensured that with the General Comment, a legal and institutional basis was established to safeguard and promote this right.

Statements from Children

A child from Bangladesh said the problems of the children in Bangladesh were similar to most of the problems of South Asian children and of children throughout the world. In each and every country there was a need to have a child-friendly environment, so that children were not afraid of adults, in the family, in working life, in society, hospitals, police stations, and in all other institutions so that there was easy access to all institutions and resources. Adults should respect children and value their opinions equally. There was a need for a completely separate child-friendly juvenile court. Children should not be punished and should receive community-level responsibility so that they could correct themselves. There should be a Children’s Committee which could work together with the Committee on the Rights of the Child to ensure the latter was properly informed and the progress of work could be monitored at regular intervals.

A child from Zimbabwe spoke about the abuse of children. Children could be abused by their parents, for instance if the mother was absent and the father sexually abused the child. All Governments should make sure there were community councillors for children to visit when they had a problem. The Committee should make sure that Governments protected children from abuse. Children looked to the Committee for protection.

A child from Peru said he was the voice of the children of the world. Children often did not know they had rights, and therefore could not defend them. Thus, in order to have their rights respected, information about them should be disseminated, in particular in schools. If this information was made available, it would spread further. A Ministry for Child Affairs should be set up in each country, and this should be included in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as thus States would understand the importance of the issue. Children should be involved in monitoring and reporting the work of the Ministry and ensuring it upheld the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This would take a long time, and this was why children demanded that the Convention on the Rights of the Child include punishment for every country which had ratified the Convention but did not fulfil it. All should be united for the cause of children’s rights.

A child from the United Kingdom said this was the first time children were present at a Day of General Discussion. All the young people present were children’s activists who had worked tirelessly at home and abroad for the participation of children. Children should have continued involvement with the Committee, and there should be a child on the Committee. Young people should address the Convention, to see if it should be brought forward, 18 years after it was written. Protocols on child participation should be written to ensure their participation. All believed that education was essential to further promote children’s rights, and this was appropriate for both adults and children. It was hoped that participants in the Day and Experts would meet children half-way.

Reports of the Two Working Groups

NEVENA VUKOVIC SAHOVIC, the Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Working Group on the child’s right to be heard in judicial and administrative proceedings, said it had been an interesting discussion. There had been comments and discussions on the laws which allowed for children’s participation, on age, and on the role of the Committee and how it could monitor issues, and on what was the role of civil society. Many had also raised the need to train different groups of people, both children and adults, including the police, and particularly those in administrative proceedings. There had been much discussion on asylum-seeking children, migrant children, and immigrant children. Much had been said on discrimination and how it related to the right to be heard. Access to justice was harder for some children than others, as was access to procedures. The issue of children’s rights to be heard in difficult circumstances such as times of emergency, conflict and post-conflict had been raised, and children had said it was a situation in which it was very difficult for themselves to express themselves.

Two children, reporting on the same Working Group, said there had been talk on immigrant children. Governments shirked their responsibilities, transferring these to NGOs, but these required backing from the State. There was a need for more information on the rights of the child. The children said many participants had brought up that children’s inputs were not valued, and that children were forced into prostitution and did not have their rights respected. Children should have the right to express themselves in judicial proceedings, no matter their age or maturity. There should be training to help children implement their legal rights, and children should be reminded that they were allowed to voice their opinion without fear of prosecution.

YANGHEE LEE, the Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Working Group on Children as active participants in society, said there had been a very active debate, and it was felt that it was important to allow the younger participants priority in having their voices heard, and there had been success in this regard. The general overtone of the Working Group was the comment that children should be seen and not heard was of great concern, as was coming of age at 18, which seemed very arbitrary. Full participation of young citizens should be allowed before they reached the legal and biological coming of age, which was a barrier to participation. There should be a strong attitudinal change in this regard. The topic had been very diverse - society had been dealt with from the family to the national and even to the international global perspective. Children’s active participation was more than just talking, but was self-initiated. There should be a budget to ensure that children’s views were given a place and reflected in local decisions.

Two children, reporting on the Working Group, said that a Children’s Parliament should be established with the mandate of changing laws and not being merely consultative, but also active. The speakers said children should be allowed to participate fully in political processes before the age of 18, and attitudes should be changed to make all children participate. Children could marry or leave their parents’ home at 16, but could not vote.

Concluding Statements

JACOB EGBERT DOEK, Chairperson of the Committee, in concluding remarks, said today’s discussion would play a role in furthering the work on the implementation of article 12. The work on this particular article was not something that could be achieved overnight. It was a long process, as changing attitudes, at whatever level, was something that took time, and took the training and sensitisation of all relevant people, in order to make sure that they fully respected and implemented the rights of the child to express their view and have those views taken into account, which were two separate things and rights. Today’s discussion was a kind of a gathering of people who were working as advocates or otherwise in the field of children’s rights to discuss the issue, and to share views, experiences and concerns with the Committee.

There had been a lot of questions as to how the Committee could put pressure on States to fulfil their obligations. The Committee had no silver bullets to make a change overnight, and was depending on an ongoing reminding of States of their obligations. It could not make a change if that was not supported at the national and community levels by everybody who took children’s rights seriously. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was not a toy of the Committee - the Committee had a specific role to play: to remind States parties of what they were supposed to do. Today’s discussion was not so much a starting point as it was a milestone in joint efforts to further the implementation of article 12 and to fully respect and implement the rights of the child to participate in all matters affecting them.

The findings of today’s deliberations would be expressed in recommendations at the end of the session, and these would be sent to Governments, who were expected to implement them and make them part of policies, programming and legislation. The attendees of the meeting had the responsibility of reminding Governments of these findings and recommendations. Children’s rights, despite all the beautiful words and lip service, were not immediately translated into concrete and effective actions, and all should work on them, including the Committee and young people themselves. The next step in the process for the Committee would be a General Comment, explaining to Governments how this article should be implemented and interpreted.

JEAN ZERMATTEN, Committee Member, also in concluding remarks, said that there had been a number of cross-cutting themes that had arisen during discussions, the first of which was that the shock of the notion of participation and that this was a non-negotiable right attached to a child’s person. To talk about rights meant that this was something that could be demanded, and that the State owed this right to children, and had the obligation to put in place a mechanism that was adapted to children and their progressive development. To speak of rights also meant going from protection to an approach based on law, and where it was recognised that each and every child, no matter their age or situation, had rights, and relationships with the children had to be rethought from this perspective. This should be a true exercise, with a change in the adult mindset at all levels, and training in the exercise of listening. There should be a balance between over-protection, and giving children too much responsibility. All in the room recognised a child had the right to speech and to participate, and recognised that this would bring benefits both to children and to others. It was the responsibility of all to make States aware that they needed to remove barriers to participation and to encourage children to do so. Children should be recognised as full-fledged persons.
* *** *

For use of the information media; not an official record