UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

Concept Note

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

2018 Day of General Discussion

“Protecting and Empowering Children as Human Rights Defenders”

I. INTRODUCTION

1.The UN Committeeon the Rights of the Child (Committee) decided to devote its 2018 Day of General Discussion (DGD) to the theme “Protecting and Empowering Children as Human Rights Defenders”. The discussion will take place on Friday, 28 September 2018, during the 79th session of the Committee at Palais des Nations, in Geneva.

2.In accordance with rule 79 of its rules of procedures, the Committee has devotedone day of its regular sessions to a general discussiononaspecific article of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) or relatedsubject. Since 2012, the DGD has been held every two years.

3.The purpose of the DGD is to foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of the CRC as they relate to specific topics, to improve its implementation. The DGD is a public one-day meeting to which representatives of States, United Nations and regional human rights bodies and agencies, national human rights institutions, civil society and human rights defenders, the business sector, individual experts and not leastchildren are invited to take part.

4.The Committee, with the support of Child Rights Connect and its members, is seeking to actively engage with children across the world to get their views about the issues to be discussed at the DGD and how best children might play a prominent role in the discussion. The Committee welcomes the participation of all children, including those who are already acting as human rights defenders. This concept note has been developed taking into account the views of children from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America who have been consulted by Child Rights Connect and other stakeholders.

5.More than just a conference in Geneva, the DGD isa long-term project topromote a global movement forchildren human rights defenders. Such movement will catalyse and strengthen existing initiatives to support children human rights defenders,by connecting them to broader initiatives. For example, the international coalition of human rights defenders that the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (Special Rapporteur) has been creating around the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (more information below).

6.In this context, the Committee is calling for local, national and regional debatesto take place in the lead up to the DGD through the form of “DGD Hubs”. All interested stakeholders can organise such discussions based on the Guidelines for DGD Hubs, which will be available on the Committee’s 2018 DGD Webpage.

7.All interested stakeholders can also sendwritten and other forms ofsubmissions to the Committee which will be posted on the Webpage. Asthe participation of childrenis at the core of the DGD,aspecific report summarising the inputs from the children engaging in Child Rights Connect’s consultations willbe producedin addition to asummary of submissions. Both publications will be made available a few weeks before the DGD. Please see the Guidelines for Submissions on the 2018 DGD Webpage.

8.A detailed programme of the 2018 DGD will be published at the end of the Committee’s 78thsession (14 May- 2 June 2018). The Committee will develop the programme together with a cross-regional Children’s Advisory Team. Specific information on how to register to attend the 2018 DGD in Geneva will be included in the programme.

II.OBJECTIVES OF THE 2018 DGD

9.The 2018 DGD is the first ever global discussion focusing on children human rights defenders. Its main goal isto bring together a global movement for children human rights defendersincluding children, States, National Human Rights Institutions, Children’s Ombudspersons, the UN, civil society and the private sector to increase general awareness and understanding about:

• the definition of children human rights defenders, their role and activities;
• the situation, experiences and the views of children human rights defenders;
• the gaps in international, regional and national human rights law with regard to the protection and empowerment of children human rights defenders;
• the States’ obligations related to the protection and empowerment of children who act as, or want to become, human rights defenders; and
• the adults’ roles and responsibilities related to the protection and empowerment of children who act as, or want to become, human rights defenders.

The Children’s Advisory Team, which will help the Committee to develop the DGD programme, will also suggest how the DGD can contribute to create of such a global movement.

10.The DGD is an open and inclusive platform where all participants will work together towards the following objectives:

(a)Collect children’s views about their experiences as human rights defenders regarding:

• the role that children play as human rights defenders in society;
• what enables children to act as human rights defenders;
• how children want to be empowered and what support they want from adults, including parents and authorities;
• what barriers children human rights defenders face at all levels (local, national, regional, international);
• what are the risks faced by children human rights defenders; and
• what safeguards are necessary to ensure the protection of children human rights defenders.

(b) Assess legislation, jurisprudence, policies and relevant measures aimed at protecting or empowering children human rights defenders, by providing examples of good practices and challenges,including from children’s perspectives;

(c)Clarify the States’ obligations applicable to children human rights defenders under the CRC and existing standards on human rights defenders;

(d) Identify key elements for an effective implementation of a child rights approach to the situation of children who are, or want to become, human rights defenders, including specific recommendations for duty bearers that can inform the Committee’s recommendations to States.

III.CHILDRIGHTS APPROACH TO HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Who are children human rights defenders?

11.Article 1 of the CRC defines a 'child' as a person below the age of 18. The Committee emphasizes that States parties should respect and ensure the rights embodied in the CRC to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, taking into account children’s development and their evolving capacities[1]. While youth is often highlighted in the UN human rights discourse, those under 18 need separate attention and protection because they are entitled to children’s rights.

12.Article 1 of the “UNDeclaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” – the so-called “UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders” (Declaration) – statesthat “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”. Anyonewho acts at any moment for any human right is a defender. Defenders are identified above allby what they do and not by who they are.Their actions are wide-ranging and include promoting the realisation of human rights, collecting and disseminating information on human rights violations, supporting victims, contributing to the implementation of human rights treaties, and supporting better governance and accountability. There is no minimum age or standard required to be a defender; however, human rights defenders must conduct peaceful actions, accept the universality of human rights and act in compliance with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

13.Based on this framework, children who take action to promote their human rights, the rights of their peers or the rights of others (including adults) are human rights defenders, even if theydo not consider themselves or are not considered and called as such by others. Those children are human rights defendersno matterwhetherthey focus their actions at local, national, regional or international level, andno matter whetherthey act in their own countries or in other countries, like in the case of migrant and refugee children, for example. Children human rights defenders do not defend human rights solely by reacting to violations of human rights but also by proactively promoting human rights, by raising awareness and knowledgeof the CRC for example. They are human rights defenders if they do specific actions, such as events or campaigns, or if they undertake on-going advocacy. Children human rights defenders form and speak their own views.

Examples of children human rights defenders

14.There are numerous examples across the world of children acting as human rights defenders at local, national and international level. The Committee is directly witnessing theseexamples when children human rights defenders engage in its work, particularly in the CRC reporting process. Most of those children are engaged at local and national level in monitoring and advocacy initiatives with the support of civil society, UNICEF or State institutions, such as children’s Ombudspersons and National Human Rights Institutions. Governmental authorities also play a key role in encouraging and supporting such initiatives, including through the creation of safe and appropriate spaces for children’s civic and political engagement and their participation in public policy and accountability processes.

15.Children are active in all countries,by forming groups and associations, engaging in children’s Parliaments and youth clubs, undertaking campaigns such ascollecting signaturesof the public on the streets, holding consultations with politicians, exercising their rights to peaceful assembly, or taking action for human rights through the means of information and communication technology. Most of the children consulted so far for the DGDfeel the need to be defenders within their families and schools, and when they do so it is usually when they see other children suffering. They think they are best placed to understand their challenges and stand up for the rights of the most disadvantaged children, such as children with disabilities, children in need of special care and support, children in alternative care, refugee children, street children, children who are bullied by their peers, children who are victims of corporal punishment, abuse or exploitation.

16.The 2016 DGD on Children’s Rights and the Environment was a major opportunity to engage with children who act as human rights defenders. Given the particular challenges, includingviolent attacks faced by the children who act to defend the environment, the Committee issued a specific recommendation that “States should provide a safe and enabling environment for activists defending environmental rights, and owe a heightened duty of care to activists below the age of 18”[2].

17.Just as adult human rights defenders, children are exposed to risk ofthreats, attacks and other negative consequences linked to their activities as human rights defenders. The case of Malala Yousafzai is probably the most widely known example of such circumstances, but indeed not the only one. The Special Rapporteur has denounced specific cases where children have been subjected to extra-judicial killings[3], excessive use of force, arbitrary arrest, detention,unwarranted charges and prosecution, torture and ill-treatment[4]. The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association has also decried that children are often targeted because they actively lobby for the rights of those most at risk of discrimination and retribution[5], including indigenous children peacefully demonstrating against occupation of their lands[6] as well as children participating in anti-Government protests[7].

18.A study conducted by Save the Children and the Centre for Children’s Rights at Queen’s University with 1.600 children from 60 countries found that only 34% of children felt safe expressing their views in public and only 38% felt safe joining a public protest or demonstration[8].Children consulted for the DGD told the Committee that they fear being harassed if they speak up and that if children are not allowed or supported to form their own associations, their role as human rights defenders cannot be fulfilled. Children face challenges in family and school settings as well, where they often cannot find the necessary information and support to act as defenders.

Rights of children human rights defenders

19.Children human rights defenders have the same rights articulated in the Declaration as adult defenders. In addition, all children human rights defenders, including the most vulnerable and marginalised, should be able to exercise all the rights enshrined in the CRCaccording to their evolving capacities (art. 5 of CRC) and best interests (art. 3 of CRC).While the CRC does not specifically mention children human rights defenders, it provides the full spectrum of rights needed for children to become and act as human rights defenders, and recognizes that children are entitled to empowerment measures, based on their right to be heard (art. 12 of CRC), participate in decision-making and exercising their civil and political rights and freedoms (arts. 7, 8, 13-17, 19 and 37 (a) of CRC). This should be the case for those children who are already acting as human rights defenders. More generally, the guarantee of these rights creates the necessary conditions for all childrento be able to act as human rights defenders. The Committee has acknowledged the role of children as “promoters and defenders of children’s rights in their daily lives” in its first General Comment (2001) on the aims of education[9].

20.As articulated in the CRC, all children are entitled tospecial protection and empowerment due to their special and dependent status. However, striking the balance between empowerment and protection when it comes to children human rights defenders can be particularly challenging and the best interest principle can be difficult to determine. Furthermore, every child is affected differently by the same human rights violation, because of his/her opinion, evolving capacities, age, nationality, background, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. This must be taken into account when affording protection and support to children who are or want to be human rights defenders.Achildrights approach that recognizes the evolving capacities needs to be groundedwithin the domestic legal and policy framework of States, the work of the United Nations and other multilateral and regional organisations, the private sector and civil society as a whole, to ensure that children who act as human rights defenders, or want to become human rights defenders, can do so based on their human rights as defined by the CRC.

21.The childrights approach starts with the recognition of children as holders of human rights and subjects of their own rights, as opposed toobjectsof concern, good will or charity. The principles and rights outlined in the international human rights framework apply to children.In addition,the CRC sets global human rights standards for every person under the age of 18.

22.Children must be recognised as human rights defenders, when they act as such. As highlighted by the Special Rapporteur, “without being perceived by others or perceiving themselves as such, defenders may not be aware of their rights as defenders, not seek support from peers and support networks and may not receive protection from States, civil society and the international community”[10]. This is more relevant for children whose identity is often influenced by the way adults perceive them. While most of the children consulted so far for the DGD told the Committee that they see themselves as human rights defenders, they also said that many of the adults they are in contact with do not want them to be defenders, either because they want to protect them (“allowing them to be children”) or because they do not believe in their capacities and do not take them seriously. While some children highlighted their experiences of being supported by NGOs and their parents, others said they feel underestimated, judged and disrespected by adults as well as by their peers.

23.Children must be empowered to act as defenders, if they wish to do so. All children who wish to act as defenders have the right to be empowered by adults without discrimination (art. 2of CRC) and according to their evolving capacities (art. 5of CRC), abilities (art. 23of CRC) and best interests (art. 3of CRC). Childrenshould be able to: a) enhance their knowledge of human rights and their self-esteem; b) build their strength through collaboration; c) actively engage in the realisation of their rights, in particular their right to be heard and to participate (art. 12of CRC), their freedom of expression, thought, association and peaceful assembly (art. 13of CRC), their right to access information (art. 17of CRC) and education (arts. 28 and 29of CRC), and their right to name, nationality and identity (arts. 7 and 8of CRC). Most of the children consulted for the DGD confirmed the results of recent research establishing that children’s ability to engage in political and public affairs depends largely on the extent to which their civil and political rights are fulfilled[11].They also highlighted the role of children human rights defenders in empowering other children as well as the critical importance of access to information andbetter education and training as the cornerstone for children to increase their understanding of human rights and the role of human rights defenders.