人权理事会结束关于儿童权利的年度全日讨论（部分翻译）

下午

2015年3月12日

小组讨论关注在儿童投资中采用基于人权的方针和加强问责制问题

人权理事会今天下午结束其关于儿童权利的年度全日讨论，今年的主题为“实现儿童权利方面的更好投资”。今天下午的小组讨论关注在儿童投资中采用基于人权的方针并加强问责制的问题，聚焦战略和良好做法的具体例子。

人权理事会副主席菲洛蕾塔•科德拉（Filloreta Kodra）代表理事会主席发言称，在关于儿童权利全日讨论的后半部分，理事会将重点阐述如何以尊重地方、国家、区域和国际各级的人权原则的方式进行为儿童权利投资的进程。这将通过突出与基于透明、参与且可问责的体系和提供儿童积极参与空间的治理结构相关的儿童投资中的良好做法和倡议的方式来实现。关于2015年后发展议程的最终确定和落实，人权理事会主席表示，理事会可以发挥建设性作用。

秘书长2015年后发展议程特别顾问阿米纳•穆罕默德（Amina Mohammed）在其开场发言中指出，儿童的福祉是发展的标志，并补充道，可持续发展综合战略国家层面的融资需要与可持续发展目标一致并在预算方面包括儿童权利方针。

欧盟常驻联合国日内瓦办事处代表兼小组讨论主持人彼得•索伦森（Peter Sørensen）在介绍性发言中称，欧盟高度关注投资儿童议题。今天的小组讨论将关注更实际且具体的例子。

国际计划（Plan International）公民和治理全球顾问斯蒂芬妮•康拉德（Stefanie Conrad）称，全球70多亿人口中有三分之一是儿童，让儿童参与决策通常会让人觉得吃惊，但一些决策者非常重视在制定预算时让儿童参与。

太平洋大学社会投资管理硕士项目主任兼秘鲁大学联盟执行理事恩里克•瓦斯克斯（Enrique Vásquez）提到了在官方数据中提高儿童的可视性，特别是次国家层面弱势儿童的可视性。另一个挑战是保护为儿童拨划的预算，特别是在资源和预算限制的背景下。

欧洲儿童事务监察员网以及荷兰儿童事务监察员马克•杜拉特（Marc Dullaert）强调称，各国应不单单承认儿童是权利持有人，还应承认他们是利益攸关方。他强烈建议各国在国家和次国家层面设立所谓的儿童预算，并呼吁他们不要延迟对儿童的投资。

非洲儿童政策论坛非洲儿童观察负责人耶华拉谢特•梅功农（Yehualashet Mekonen）强调称，如果不通过改善儿童的营养状态、确保儿童早期发展服务的获得并提供充足保护避免伤害和剥削的综合项目来投资于儿童生理和认知的发展，那么对儿童的投资就无法实现。

在讨论期间，发言人强调称，对儿童的社会投资必须得到保护，包括在困难的经济状况下。这要遵循《儿童权利公约》，可见且明确，并要把弱势儿童的需求考虑在内。投资儿童在打破代际贫困循环方面发挥着决定性的作用。不能只关注一个领域，必须涵盖卫生、教育、性和生殖等权利。发言者促请政府改变态度并加强儿童政策的透明度。因此，注意到腐败和逃税会对实现儿童权利产生不利影响很重要。为改善儿童生活状况而分配的资源将催生一个更平等和发达的社会。最后，发言人总结称，投资于儿童的权利不单单是公共支出事宜。它还要考虑其他方面，比如武装冲突、气候变化、粮食安全和全球不平等问题的影响。

在讨论中发言的有代表拉美及加勒比国家共同体的厄瓜多尔、古巴、哥伦比亚、保加利亚、摩纳哥、阿尔及利亚、哈萨克斯坦、安哥拉、巴林、卡塔尔、塞拉利昂、苏丹和黑山。

以下非政府组织也作了发言：拯救儿童、萨拉玛基金会（Alsalam Foundation）、世界反酷刑组织（World Organization against Torture）、保护儿童国际、南风发展政策协会（Verein Sudwind Entwicklungspolitik）、世界犹太人大会、世界环境与资源理事会（World Environment and Resources Council）和“为生命而战”组织（Drepavie）。

人权理事会将于3月13日（周四）上午9点再次召开会议，听取关于人权高专和联合国秘书长的专题报告的介绍，随后进行促进与保护包括发展权在内的所有人权、公民、政治、经济、社会及文化权利的一般性辩论。

开场发言

人权理事会副主席菲洛蕾塔•科德拉代表理事会主席发言称，在关于儿童权利全日讨论的后半部分，理事会将重点阐述如何以尊重地方、国家、区域和国际各级的人权原则的方式在儿童权利方面进行投资。这将通过突出与基于透明、参与且可问责的体系和提供儿童积极参与空间的治理结构相关的儿童投资中的良好做法和倡议的方式来实现。

2005年的全球首脑会议承认，和平和安全、发展和人权是联合国的三大支柱，它们相互促进且相互关联。如果没有人权，就不会有可持续发展，如果没有可持续发展，就无法实现人权。因此，难怪秘书长2014年12月题为《通往尊严的道路：结束贫困、使所有人的生活转型并保护地球》的综合报告反映了这些相关性。设想的许多目标和子目标都与人权理事会的工作有着错综复杂的联系。关于2015年后发展议程的最终确定和落实，人权理事会主席表示，理事会可以发挥建设性作用。

秘书长2015年后发展议程特别顾问阿米纳•穆罕默德指出，不同于她小的时候，尼日利亚的儿童现在面对着诸如绑架和被用作自杀式炸弹的恐惧。儿童加入恐怖主义组织也是一个需要关注和分析的问题。千年发展目标的落实情况表明，还需要做很多才能实现可持续发展的目标。法治、经济繁荣，特别是确保儿童的权利都是这些目标的重要元素。这是一个不应将任何人落下的普遍议程。世界越来越相互依赖，可持续发展的解决方案需要国际努力。安全、健康和营养充足的儿童是可持续发展的核心，因为他们特别容易受到经济变动、气候变化和冲突的影响。儿童的福祉是发展的标志。联合国七十周年纪念为我们提供了反思的机会，特别是在落实千年发展目标方面。可持续发展综合战略国家层面的融资，包括个人、国家和国际资源符合可持续发展目标并关注儿童是必须的。在预算上采用儿童权利方针是必要的，议会和民间社会将是这一领域监督政府政策和活动的关键。这类政策需要通过跨部门的方式来实现。投资于儿童权利不应被视为单方面的问题，而应被视为多方面的问题。

Statements by the Moderator and the Panellists

PETER SØRENSEN, Permanent Representative of the European Union to the United Nations Office at Geneva and panel moderator, said in his introductory remarks that the European Union attached great attention to the issue of investing in children. The panel discussion today would focus on more practical and concrete examples.

STEFANIE CONRAD, Global Advisor for Citizenship and Governance, Plan International, said that about one third of the world’s population of over seven billion were children; involvement of children in decision-making usually raised some eyebrows, but there were some decision-makers who valued the involvement of children in budget making processes. The consultation with 2,700 children in 71 countries on what Governments needed to invest in had revealed children’s views: investing in children brought benefits for all of society, investing in families could enable investments in children, and public expenditure needed to benefit all children, especially vulnerable children, and it needed to be distributed fairly across the country and its communities. The children had also reiterated that they wanted to be associated with decisions on budgets and considered that their insight would help governments to make better decisions about investments, and that they needed support from respectful adults to help them to understand public spending processes and express their views. Participation must be meaningful and adapted to children’s evolving capacities, and the participation at the municipal level, where Government spending was the most visible, could be particularly useful and effective. Creating participation opportunities for children and transparency on budget plans and spending was an investment in future voting citizens who understood and committed to a strong social contract and related fiscal duties.

ENRIQUE VÁSQUEZ, Director, Master Programme in Social Investment Management, Universidad del Pacífico and Executive Director of the Peruvian University Consortium, spoke about the need to raise the visibility of children in official statistics, particularly the visibility of vulnerable children at sub-national levels. Another challenge was to protect the budget for children, particularly in the climate of resource and budgetary restrictions. The third challenge was to strengthen public policies to really realize children’s rights and it was crucial that States improved the planning of their public services for children and their tax and fiscal policies. Tax planners needed to specify deficit and how much was needed in each area and how much needed to be collected by taxation. A number of States had protected their budgets and programmes for children, for instance in Peru resources for pre-school and school children were earmarked irrespective of external circumstances. The participation of children in budgeting and public policies was born in Brazil and had spread in other countries in Latin America, but more space needed to be created for children’s participation to ensure they had the tools to influence public expenditures.

MARC DULLAERT, Chair-Elect of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, Children’s Ombudsman of the Netherlands, reminded that the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliged States to recognize children as rights holders. The next step was to recognize them as stakeholders because too often States paid only lip service to children’s rights. Due to the economic crises in Europe, 1 in 5 children throughout the European Union was at risk of poverty. Children’s rights to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing and housing, to education, to health, to legal assistance, to benefit from social security, to family life and to protection from all forms of violence were thus severely endangered. The recent financial and economic crises and State responses to them had had significant negative effects on a wide range of children’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. They had resulted in an increase in levels of child poverty and social exclusion as States cut social services and social protection programmes. Those cuts in social spending had inevitably impacted heavily on children who were particularly dependent on social programmes and services. Resource constraints provided no excuse for violations for civil and political rights. They could not constitute a justification for discrimination, or a failure to ensure equality of rights enjoyment for different groups of children and youths. States had to prioritise the most socially deprived children in their economic policymaking, even where the full realisation of rights was impossible due to the lack of resources.

YEHUALASHET MEKONEN, Head of the African Child Observatory of the African Child Policy Forum, underlined that today’s investment in children was tomorrow’s peace, stability, security, democracy, and sustainable development. Africa had made commendable achievements in the child rights arena, particularly a remarkable reduction in child mortality in Africa and improvement in children’s access to essential services such as healthcare, education, nutrition and clean drinking water. Nevertheless, many challenges remained. Africa remained a region where one in every ten children died of preventable causes. Child abuse and exploitation was widespread with very limited efforts to enhance child protection. Vulnerable groups of children such as those with disabilities and without parental care were excluded from public service delivery programmes and experienced multiple deprivations. Access to pre-primary education was limited to only 20 per cent of children in Africa. Investment in children was not commensurate with the huge magnitude of deprivations that children, particularly the most vulnerable groups, were faced with in Africa. For example, average budget expenditures for education in Africa stood at about 5 per cent of the gross national product, whereas some 11 per cent was invested in health and only 2.8 per cent in social protection. Allocation of adequate finance was one side of the coin, efficient and effective utilization of these resources was the other. Today’s investment in children would ensure tomorrow’s sustainable development. But, it would not materialize without investing in their physical and cognitive development through integrated programmes that improved their nutritional status, ensured access to early childhood development services and provided adequate protection from harm and exploitation.

Discussion

Ecuador, speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, emphasized that social investment in children must be protected, including in difficult economic situations; it must be guided by the Convention and must be visible, identifiable and must take into account the needs of vulnerable children. Despite the progress made in the realization of the rights of the child, there were 17,000 children under the age of five who died every day from preventable causes, said Cuba and called for the immediate implementation of policies and the show of cooperation and solidarity. Colombia said that investment in children was decisive in breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty; it could not be focused purely on one sector, but must encompass health, education, sexual and reproductive rights and others. Investing in the rights of the child was a national priority in Bulgaria, which put in place measures to improve the well-being of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, including children with disabilities. The commitment to the rights of the child of Monaco was reflected in providing education and health care and combatting all forms of violence against children nationally; internationally, programmes for education and health of children and mothers were supported.

Algeria had recently established a fund to provide support to children of divorced women, and provided about 25 percent of its national budget to sectors linked to children. Developed countries should respect their commitment to provide international cooperation. Kazakhstan said it was in the process of establishing an ombudsman’s office on the rights of the child, and had adopted programmes to build schools and hospitals. Full State support was provided for children without parental care to access education. Angola had adopted a law on the protection of children, and had taken measures for the implementation of a national development plan, which included guidelines for the protection of children. Angola sought international assistance to develop the collection of data and statistics. Bahrain said governments were required to change attitudes and strengthen the transparency of their policies on children. Bahrain had funded various community centres for children, and would continue supporting the sharing of good practices. Qatar had enacted legislation on the rights of the child, and sponsored projects on access to education in conflict areas, particularly in Gaza. Sierra Leone said the rights of children had to be considered in all themes discussed within and outside of this Council. Each of the Special Procedures had to consider the rights of children in the exercise of their respective mandates. Sudan was making efforts to implement programmes and policies to address the problems experienced by the children, particularly refugees; it had set up a National Council for the care of orphans and the network for the protection of children which provided assistance to refugee and displaced children.

Nearly 61 million children in Latin America, or half of the children were affected by poverty, said Save the Children in a joint statement, adding that public policies were not reaching children in rural areas and indigenous children. Alsalam Foundation called attention to torture and ill treatment of children and juveniles in detention in a number of countries in the Middle East, while coerced confessions were often admitted in court. World Organization against Torture, in a joint statement, welcomed the continued support of States and the Council to the Global Study of Children Deprived of Liberty and said that the detention of children generated negative short- and long-term impacts on both children and the society.

Comments by Panellists

AMINA MOHAMMED, Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, in response to questions and comments raised in the discussion, said that many of those were relevant for the discussions on financing the framework for sustainable development.

STEFANIE CONRAD, Global Advisor for Citizenship and Governance at Plan international, was impressed by efforts of States to increase investment in children’s rights and said that it was important to ensure that the money was used in an efficient and effective way. Investing in children was also an opportunity to involve children themselves in the monitoring and feedback on the quality of services received. Investments made by many States to establish Youth Councils or Parliaments were crucial opportunities to help children contribute to budget monitoring. Education was crucial to develop aptitude and skills in children to act as citizens and participate in budgeting process.

ENRIQUE VÁSQUEZ, Director, Master Programme in Social Investment Management, Universidad del Pacífico and Executive Director of the Peruvian University Consortium,
said it would be useful to have some sort of a compendium of good practices. There was a need to identify children and raise their profile. It was necessary to respect the identity of children, and ensure that there was updating of information. Then there was a need to breakdown that information according to age, income, ethnicity and other factors. There was also a need to ensure that public services respected the rights of the child. One could measure how much Governments were devoting to children’s rights and the maximum use of those resources, in particular towards reduction in violence, provision of social programmes, and comprehensive care and education. It was important to consider how to evaluate and monitor the impact of Government policies, and how to improve the access to information by civil society organizations working with children. A great deal of progress had been made in improving information systems, and now the question was how those numbers could translate into concrete policies benefiting children. Results based budgeting meant that all institutions linked up their work. Three main work areas were emerging: visibility of children, provision of public goods and services, and monitoring and assessment of policies.

MARC DULLAERT, Chair-Elect of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children and Children’s Ombudsman of the Netherlands, noted that the children’s ombudsman could play an important role in collecting and analysing relevant data, and in effecting children’s participation in policy making. He strongly recommended that all States establish so-called children budgets at national and subnational levels. Finally, he urged States not to delay investing in children, to listen to them and to act accordingly.

YEHUALASHET MEKONEN, Head of the African Child Observatory, African Child Policy Forum, expressed delight that investment in children was a priority in a number of countries, and said he looked forward to developments in that respect. First, investment in children in many developing countries relied on external resources, which was a concern. A fair chunk of money should come from domestic sources. Second, planning of budgets for children usually was not based on evidence, and that called for improvements in data collection systems. Investment should be based on evidence that clearly showed gaps. The African Union therefore called for national child rights observatories. A few existed in north Africa. Finally, there was a major gap between policy making and budget making. There was a need for coordination in that area, otherwise there would be no meaningful investment in children. Lack of coordination between implementing agencies was another reason that there was missed opportunity in achieving effective investment in children.

Discussion

Ecuador said States were legally obliged to invest in children; the resources allocated to improving the living conditions of children would lead to a more egalitarian and developed society. Ecuador understood that; it had invested in children on an unprecedented scale. Australia said investing in early childhood was the most opportune time to break the cycle of poverty, and had since 2008 allocated more than $2 billion for quality preschool education, particularly for children living in remote Indigenous communities. Malaysia said it believed that the advancement of the present generation of children would result in more confident, responsible and caring future generations. Malaysia asked the panellists for examples of tangible international cooperation to address investment challenges for children. Ghana spoke about its efforts to address challenges faced by children in enjoying their rights. The opportunities for the fair development of the child in Ghana were wide and improving. Ghana, asked for shared experiences and best practices in that regard. Indonesia spoke about its successful anti-corruption campaign, and agreed that the consequences of tax evasion had a negative impact upon the fulfilment of the rights of children. Egypt highlighted that investment in the rights of the child was more than just a matter of public spending; other dimensions included the impact of armed conflict, climate change, food security and global inequalities. Montenegro said it had made remarkable progress in terms of moving children out of institutions and into foster care. It had also undertaken reforms and now the Montenegrin judicial system was child-friendly and close to international standards. Maldives provided free and compulsory education for children and had one of the highest levels of literacy in the world. Infant and child mortality remained low. Maldives had recently passed a sexual violence act that also sought to protect children.

Sudwind said investment in children was possible in all countries if measures were taken, and highlighted the situation in Iran, where the number of street children was on the rise and where efforts to eradicate poverty had been insufficient. World Jewish Congress said education should serve as a bridge between cultures and faiths, rather than promote hatred and fuel conflicts and extremism. World Economic and Resource Council said Pakistan denied a constitutional framework to Gilgit Baltistan due to its status as a conflict area, which had resulted in the lack of the rule of law and accountability and judicial resources governing education matters. Human Rights Advocates said migrant children arriving in the United States were often immediately deported after expedited legal proceedings that violated due process protections, or were transferred to detention centres in violation of international and domestic standards. Drepavie spoke about efforts to manage sickle-cell disease, the most prolific genetic disease in the world, which affected more than 50 million people worldwide, and called for more investment by States into public screening programmes, particularly in Africa.

Concluding Remarks

AMINA MOHAMMED, Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, responding to a question about international cooperation, spoke about successes in multi-stakeholder and vertical funds such as the GAVI programme for immunization and the Every Women Every Child initiative. The data revolution and the post-2015 development agenda indicators would rely on how much investment could be made at the country level; when States said they wanted to invest in every child, they needed disaggregated data and real-time feedback on how that investment was working. They must not forget that child rights were human rights.

STEFANIE CONRAD, Global Advisor for Citizenship and Governance at Plan International, spoke about the importance of using natural resources sustainably in order to ensure that not only today’s children but also future generations could continue to enjoy their rights. It was important to understand the profile of vulnerability for each country. Ms. Conrad also emphasized that it was crucial to make young people a part of the decision-making process in order to ensure they did not become politically apathetic or that their major frustrations resulted in civic unrest.

ENRIQUE VÁSQUEZ, Director, Master Programme in Social Investment Management, Universidad del Pacífico and Executive Director of the Peruvian University Consortium,
said that the availability of resources needed to be improved, foremost tax and fiscal policies. He suggested that it was important to address the planning, implementation and monitoring of tax policies. First of all, States had to implement progressive taxes. Secondly, it was necessary to develop the capacity of Governments to collect more taxes. Thirdly, it was necessary to develop instruments to quantify the needs of societies, and particularly the needs of children. As for the implementation of tax policies, two recommendations could be made: combat corruption, and combat tax evasion. The monitoring of tax policies required international cooperation. Looking at fiscal policy and the best use of those resources was also needed, as well as to ensure that there was disaggregate information in order to identify populations with specific needs. There was also a need to improve technical and moral capacities of State officials, in other words to improve transparency. States would not make any progress on the rights of the child unless they improved their monitoring centres for children and the availability of solid information.

MARC DULLAERT, Chair-Elect of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children and Children’s Ombudsman of the Netherlands, said it was urgent to follow up on the link between the rights of the child and the new sustainable development goals. Many developing countries faced difficult economic situations, but even in developed countries many children lived in poverty. He called on all European Union Member States to take targeted measures so that children could exercise their rights. Another area promising for international cooperation was children’s participation in budgetary processes.

YEHUALASHET MEKONEN, Head of the African Child Observatory of the African Child Policy Forum, said that investment in children went beyond the rights of the child and included economic, social, political and stability terms. More needed to be done, and States had to review their policies, planning systems and accountability mechanisms to ensure the effectiveness of investment in children. It was important to move from a sectorial to a multidimensional approach to investment in children. There was a need to document and share good practices, as one aspect of international cooperation. He insisted that the international community had to keep the promises it had made to children and move from rhetoric to action.

PETER SØRENSEN, Permanent Representative of the European Union to the United Nations Office at Geneva and panel moderator, said the European Union would continue its efforts, and underlined the importance of moving from words to action, making sure that investments were appropriate and national policies were properly assessed. He called for as many delegations as possible to co-sponsor the resolution on the issue that would be introduced by the European Union and the group of Latin American States at this session.

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