East Asia and Pacific
The Special Representative participated in the High-level Meeting on South-South Cooperation for Child Rights in the Asia Pacific Region, held in Beijing in November 2010. Attended by representatives of Governments from the region, United Nations agencies and critical organizations and institutions, the meeting was a strategic opportunity to share national experiences and reflect on good practices and lessons learned to enhance the realization of children’s rights.
The protection of children from violence was central to the above high-level discussions. The Beijing Declaration adopted at the Meeting calls for a systematic approach to addressing child protection concerns on the basis of laws and policies that safeguard children from potential harm and ban all forms of violence against children. It also expresses the commitment to strengthen adequately-resourced national child protection and welfare systems and mechanisms, including the prevention of violence, the establishment of timely and appropriate responses and the mitigation of impact on children and their families of such protection concerns. A follow-up process has also been anticipated, and a ministerial meeting will be held in India, in 2013.
The Special Representative also developed a significant platform of cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the recently established Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children. These institutions play a critical role in the promotion and protection of human rights in the ASEAN region, including through public awareness, the review of legislation, policies and practices, the consolidation of data and development of studies, and the sharing of experiences and good practices to foster the protection of children’s rights. This partnership opens clear avenues for broadening the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study among ASEAN member countries, and for supporting developments in other regions. In January 2012, the SRSG participated in a Consultative Meeting on violence against women organized by the Commission in Manila, the Philippines. The Consultation provided an opportunity to exchange views on a rights-based approach to initiatives designed to prevent and address all forms of violence against children and violence against women. In a Joint Statement with the SRSG, the Commission recognized the importance and potential of enhancing opportunities for dialogue and cooperation with strategic partners at the national, regional and international levels, including with the United Nations system, to accelerate progress towards the elimination of violence against children andviolence against women. The Commission and the SRSG-VAC expressed commitment to pursue collaboration in the context of the ACWC’s mandate for the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children and efforts for violence prevention and response including within the framework of the Commission’s five-year workplan recently developed.
Political Declarations
Other articles concerning this region:
We, the representatives of the Council of Europe, the League of Arab States, MERCOSUR Pro-Tempore Chairmanship of the Permanent Commission of the Initiative Nin@Sur, the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC), and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child participating, with UNICEF, in the first held meeting of Regional Organizations and Institutions on Violence against Children,...
The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) convened a Consultative Meeting with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children (SRSG-VAC) and CEDAW Committee experts on violence against women in Manila, the Philippines, on 16-17 January 2012. The Consultation was supported by UN Women and UNICEF.
The Consultation provided an opportunity to...
NEW YORK/GENEVA – We warmly welcome the adoption by the General Assembly of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, providing for individual complaints, inter-state communications and an inquiry procedure, and introducing an international mechanism of...
The roundtable is organized by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and builds upon the process of follow-up to the United Nations Study on Violence against Children in which regional organizations and institutions play a pivotal role.
Significant regional studies and analytical reviews promoted by regional organizations, including the League of Arab States, MERCOSUR...
NEW YORK, 16 April 2012 - The Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, welcomes the accession by the Government of Malaysia to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.
“With this important decision Malaysia expresses a decisive commitment to secure children...
MANILA, Jan. 21, 2012—The anti-corporal punishment bill for children currently pending in the Philippine Senate, would be the first of its kind in Asia, if passed.
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