Investing in the rights of the child – a legal obligation by UN Office for Human Rights 11:21am 11th Mar, 2015   The Annual Day on the Rights of the Child    The 28th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) starts in Geneva (2 March) and ends on 27 March. Out of the Council’s three annual sessions, the March session is the most important for children’s rights because this is when the Council’s annual day on the rights of the child takes place.    This year’s theme will be on “better investment in the rights of the child”, and will take place on the 12th March.    The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (OHCHR) report on better investment in the rights of the child that will inform the day’s discussions.    The report sets out the obligations of States to invest adequately in the rights of children, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).    It considers the different stages of the budget process – preparation, allocation, spending and monitoring – and provides a framework for a human rights-based approach to budgeting.    The day itself will start with an overview of key aspects and challenges in planning, mobilising, allocating and spending public resources to realise children’s rights, followed by an afternoon panel focused on illustrating how the process of investing in children can be conducted in a manner respectful of human rights principles at local, national, regional and international levels.    A number of Special Procedures will also be presenting their annual reports to the HRC during this same week, they include:    On 11 March both the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Violence against Children and the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict will present their reports to the Council as well as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.    Investing in the rights of the child – a legal obligation    Since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), many States have reformed and improved legal frameworks in view of implementing the CRC but in many cases these legal reforms and commitments to children’s rights have not been followed by adequate public resource allocation and spending for their effective implementation.    Commitments made by States by ratifying the CRC and its optional protocols and by adopting child-related laws and policies are important first steps to realize children’s rights, but will remain empty promises unless translated into allocations in local and national budgets and efficient public spending for children, while at the same time being mindful of the interest of future generations and other vulnerable groups.    It is primarily through government budgets that State obligations and essential services to children, such as protection from violence, neglect, exploitation and abuse, health, education, social protection and child participation in governance are delivered and children’s rights realised.    Article 4 of the CRC places an obligation on all 194 States Parties, to undertake all legislative, administrative and other necessary measures, including to mobilize, allocate and spend public resources, to realize children’s rights. In relation to children’s economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties have an obligation to undertake all appropriate measures to the maximum extent of available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation.    Investing in the rights of the child is thus not only a national priority, but a shared responsibility between all countries towards global realization of all children’s rights.    Investment in the rights of children is not only a legal obligation for all countries, regardless of the economic circumstances, but also an economic strategy for long-term sustainable development.    As the General Assembly emphasised in “A World Fit for Children”, investing in the rights of children lays the foundation for a just society, a strong economy, and a world free of poverty.    Conversely, inadequate investment, especially in the most vulnerable and marginalised, can perpetuate the inter-generational transmission of poverty and lead to irreversible negative impacts on children’s development.    The lack of sufficient, effective and efficient public spending on children is one of the biggest barriers to the realisation of children’s rights.    Children’s rights and their best interests are generally not a primary consideration in budgetary decisions and as a result are not prioritised in policy implementation.    Moreover, the global financial and economic crisis, which was followed by a wave of austerity measures, including severe budget cuts in social sectors, is also having a serious impact on children and families worldwide, with the rise in the proportion of those living in poverty and social exclusion.    Investment in the realization of children’s rights is not only about securing adequate resource allocation, but also about improving the quality of public spending. Transparent fiscal processes where citizens, including children, can actively participate in the different stages of the budget cycle based on access to comprehensive, timely, and disaggregated information, making budget allocations and expenditures for children visible, is crucial to ensure accountability of States for managing public resources efficiently and effectively and to limit corruption and leakages.    The importance of resources for children’s rights was repeatedly emphasised in several thematic reports from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights , Special Procedures and Human Rights Council resolutions, including resolution 22/32 on “the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” which encouraged “the implementation of rights-based budget monitoring and analysis for expenditure on children in general, especially child health”.    Good governance has also been highlighted as a key factor to realize human rights and is particularly relevant in the context of investment in the rights of the child.    * OHCHR report: Better investment in the Rights of the Child: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session28/Pages/ListReports.aspx (see A/HRC/28/33)    Real breakthrough needed to protect children from abuse, UN rights body told    Millions of children are subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, being sold and trafficked for prostitution, forced labour, illegal adoption or the transfer of organs, an independent United Nations expert told the Human Rights Council today, calling for a real breakthrough to end such crimes.    “Persisting and new forms of sale and sexual exploitation of children continue to be a reality in all regions of the world,” the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Maud de Boer, said in her first address to the Geneva-based Council since being appointed to the post last year.    “There is an urgent need for all stakeholders, especially Member States, to [take] action to put an end to these endemic crimes,” said the expert, who added that she wants children to “inspire, feed and guide” her work.    “For this purpose, I intend to maximize the potential of child participation mechanisms, such as child-friendly forums and consultations with child-led organizations,” said Ms. de Boer, emphasizing that country visits are an essential part of the work in helping Member States combat the sale and sexual exploitation of children. She intends to visit Armenia in May and Japan in September.    Children were the focus of the Council’s discussion today, with the Secretary-General’s Special Representatives on violence against children, Marta Santos Pais, and on children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, also addressing the 47-member body.    Highlighting the role of new technologies, Ms. de Boer said that on the one hand, children use new technologies to access information and to facilitate their social lives and on the other hand, this new phenomenon is also “easing the commission of crimes of sexual exploitation, as well as new forms of exploitation behaviour, such as the online streaming of child abuse.”    To that end, Member States must establish clear and comprehensive legal frameworks to avoid protection gaps, through explicit criminalization of specific exploitative activities to ensure accountability of perpetrators and the “desired deterrent effect.” She urged countries that have not done so to ratify and implement the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child – a minimum standard of protection of children – through national legislation.    “Member States need to develop detection, reporting and identification mechanisms to qualify the phenomena, identify the victims and track down the perpetrators,” she said, highlighting how child helplines and hotlines can help facilitate the reporting of abuse. Countries must also invest in creating specialist law enforcement units which work closely with agencies that are trained to work with child victims.    “Child victims must have access to child-sensitive justice and redress. Children must have easy access to child-friendly complaint and reporting mechanisms,” Ms. de Boer added.    Involving the information and communications technology (ICT) industry in actively tackling online sexual abuse is critical as well, she said, emphasizing that the Internet industry is uniquely placed to act as a conduit for reporting suspicions and blocking inappropriate content.    The current negotiations around the post-2015 development agenda offer an extraordinary opportunity to make a real breakthrough on the child protection agenda.    “Member States must maintain the agreed goals and targets to end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against children, and to eliminate harmful practices, including child marriage,” Ms. de Boer stressed. Visit the related web page
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