Resolution 1992 (2014) Provisional version
EU - The Protection of Minors against Excesses of Sects
1. The Parliamentary Assembly underlines the commitment of the Council of Europe to a policy for the protection of minors, which has led to the adoption of a number of conventions in this area, including the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201), the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197) and the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights (ETS No. 160), and which may be relevant where the excesses of sects lead to exploitation and abuse of or trafficking in children or to disregard for their rights in the framework of judicial proceedings.
2. The Assembly is particularly concerned about the protection of minors, in particular minors who belong to religious minorities including sects. It is committed to a policy for respect for freedom of religion or belief as stated in Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and condemns intolerance and discrimination against children on grounds of religion or belief, in particular in the education system.
3. The Assembly itself has adopted texts on child protection and welfare, including Recommendation 1551 (2002) “Building a 21st century society with and for children: follow-up to the European Strategy for children (Recommendation 1286 (1996))”, Resolution 1530 (2007) and Recommendation 1778 (2007) “Child victims: stamping out all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse” and Resolution 1952 (2013) and Recommendation 2023 (2013) on children’s right to physical integrity.
The United Nations treaty body system has been a victim of its own success. In a report to the General Assembly in 2012, Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay summed up the situation: “The treaty body system is surviving because of the dedication of the experts, who are unpaid volunteers, the support of staff in OHCHR and States’ non-compliance with reporting obligations.”
New conventions and the growing number of ratifications had stretched the system to breaking point, Pillay said.
The Treaty Bodies are 10 Geneva-based independent expert committees, each of which reviews periodically how countries actually implement the international treaties they have ratified.
The independent experts who sit on the committees consider submissions from States Parties in light of information available from all other sources. In their findings, the committees highlight areas of concern and make concrete recommendations for action.
In the 2010-2011 biennium, only 16 percent of States were reporting on time and according to the report, four of the (then) nine treaty bodies, even with the low reporting rate, were facing “significant and increasing backlogs of reports awaiting consideration.”
Both the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner Pillay have described the treaty body system as “one of the greatest achievements” in the history of the global struggle for human rights”.
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Developing Leadership for the Next Generation of Women-led Change - Women's Funding Network
Извор: WUNRN – 10.04.2014
The Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG5) set out to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters and targeted universal access to reproductive health by 2015.
As of today, maternal-mortality globally has declined by 47 per cent over the last two decades with a decrease of two-thirds in Eastern Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Asia.
However, only half of pregnant women in developing regions receive the minimum of four prenatal care visits. Childbirth and complications during pregnancy are still the leading causes of death among adolescent girls. Under the MDG framework, sexual and reproductive health rights have only been addressed through the lens of maternal mortality and morbidity.
This narrow framing failed to incorporate critical aspects of women’s human rights which are not only necessary to improve maternal health, but in order to protect women’s human rights related to sexual and reproductive health more broadly, says Maarit Kohonen Sheriff, Deputy Chief of the New York Office of the UN Human Rights Office, at a special side event held during the 59th session on the Commission of the Status of Women, which was held at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Every year, the Commission meets to evaluate progress, identify challenges, and develop global policies for promoting gender equality and women's empowerment.
Young forcibly-displaced Roma from south-east Europe. Many have no citizenship which affects their daily lives. Photo: UNHCR/L. Taylor
On International Roma Day, the United Nations independent expert on minority issues is calling on all European countries and institutions to fully include Roma people in their decision-making processes at all levels.
“Europe cannot stand for exclusion,” said UN Special Rapporteur Rita Izsák, adding that with upcoming European Parliament and other national elections, now is the time to call on Governments and international organizations to step-up their efforts and attention to ensuring the full integration of their Roma populations, including in decision-making bodies at all levels.
She went on to stress that political parties have a responsibility to promote the importance of minority rights protection in line with international standards, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and European human rights standards.
“With a rising tide of anti-Roma sentiment and hostility against Roma throughout Europe, it is a primary duty of politicians from across the political spectrum to ensure the inclusion of Roma as well as promoting understanding and tolerant societies,” said Ms. Izsák, emphasizing that they must clearly condemn anti-minority propaganda and hate speech and protect Roma, as well as other excluded groups, from being negatively stereotyped and treated as scapegoats.
