UN Child Rights Committee to review Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

GENEVA (11 January 2017) – Children’s rights in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will be reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on 16-17 January  in sessions that will be webcast live. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is one of the 196 States that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and so is required to be reviewed regularly by the Committee of 18 independent experts.

Committee members will hold discussions with a Government delegation from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on how the Convention is being implemented. They will base their evaluation on the delegation’s replies, as well as information from civil society groups.

Among the possible issues for discussion:
·    Elimination of corporal punishment and child abuse;
·    Children left behind by migrant parents;
·    High incidence of pregnancies and HIV infections among adolescents;
·    Child poverty and malnutrition;
·    Lack of inclusive quality education;
·    Elimination of worst forms of child labour, including sexual exploitation and child trafficking;
·    Discrimination against LGBT children;
·    Children’s access to cultural heritage and history, including those of Garifuanas and Callinagos;
·    Low minimum age of criminal responsibility.

The complete list of issues and the country’s submitted written report can be found here.

The discussions will take place at Palais Wilson in Geneva on Monday 16 January from 15:00-18:00 (10:00-13:00 in Kingstown) and 17 January 10:00-13.00 (5:00-8:00 in Kingstown). The meetings are public and will be webcast here:   http://webtv.un.org/live/

The findings, officially known as concluding observations, will be published on 8 February here.

ENDS

For media requests please contact:
Nicoleta Panta,  +41(0) 22 9179310 / npanta@ohchr.org

Media accreditation – please see:    http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background

Members of the CRC are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. To learn more about the Committee on the Rights of the Child: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx

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