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| Saturday, 20 November 2004 |
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A 15th anniversary assessment: Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Sri Lanka by Lionel Amarakoon Information and Public Relations Officer, Sri Lanka Library Association
As individuals we must practise the principles of the convention in our lives. As for an example, the UNCRC says that the child who is capable of forming his or her own views have the right to express those views freely. If you are a father, a mother, a community leader, a health visitor, govt official working in the field, brings the children into discussion of their own lives. Listen to them. Ask for their ideas and their help in making their own lives better. Find out from them what they think are important challenges in their lives and look for ways to make things better. In line with their growing responsibility and judgment learn to see them as actors and decision makers not just beneficiaries. Give children a good example of fairness and tolerance in the way you deal with them and with other people. If you are a teacher, a judge, a police officer, a member of the media, or a community health worker learn well what the convention says about the rights of the child in your field of work and see to it that all the children you come in contact with enjoying their rights - all the children - the child who is difficult and the child who is agreeable, the child of your brother and the child of your opponent; the child who is quick and the child who is retarded; the boy who is aggressive and the girl who is shy. You have to remember "rights violated today are the roots of conflict tomorrow". Hence, you have to protect all rights of all children. As supporters of child rights we need to take the following steps: - if govt is slow, we should advocate and insist on laws to punish those who violate the rights of the child and we must insist on fair and effective implementation of the laws. - we need to teach everyone in our own community - children, adults how to prevent violation of rights. Equally important people need to know how to prevent violation of rights. Equally important people need to know how to identify violations and how to make appropriate reports. - we need to ensure that the child-victim is promptly treated and cared for. The UNCRC is clear on this. It calls upon us to take "all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration" of the child who has been abused, exploited, neglected, tortured or degraded. We all should neither blame the child nor turn away. They need and are entitled to our special attention. In general the functioning of the Convention can be considered from two perspectives: - it provides a statement of minimum standards to be achieved in terms of the quality of children's lives through an expression of their rights as human beings, and - it provides a framework and tools for mobilizing action in achieving these standards. The process of the CRC is relevant. A reporting mechanism is part of the States parties commitment, to provide a structured opportunity to review progress, the commitment includes a cycle of five yearly reports are to be widely disseminated to identify areas of concern and highlight areas for action. Opportunity is provided for interested parties to submit alternative reports and thus provide for balanced and objective reporting. The initial State's Party report, as stated earlier was compiled in January 1994 in Sri Lanka. Its research and production were not undertaken directly by the Government of Sri Lanka but an independent institute, the Marga Institute. A committee for the monitoring of progress was convened under the office of the Ministry of Health and Social Service, Department of Probation and Childcare. Subsequently a supplementary report was compiled by the then 'NGO Forum of the CRC' in November 1994. However the State party's second periodic report, which was dated 1998, was sent to the committee in the year 2002. Save the Children in Sri Lanka made a submission to the UN Committee in response to this 2nd Sri Lanka State party report in January 2003. The UNCRC Committee in Geneva responded to the second periodic report in June 2003. Areas of concern to the committee were listed. The Committee welcomes the submission of the State party's second period report, which gave a clearer understanding of the situation of children in the State party. It is greatly encouraged by the ongoing peace process and the inclusion of human rights issues, including the human rights of children in peace talks. They were pleased to hear from the delegation during the dialogue that the state of emergency has been lifted and the Prevention of Terrorism Act has been suspended. The Committee notes with satisfaction the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict on 8th September 2000. They welcome the various legislative measures aimed at improving the protection of children from domestic violence, child labour and commercial sexual exploitation. The Committee welcomes establishment of various mechanisms and programmes aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of children such as: - The National Human Rights Commission in 1997. - National Child Protection Authority in 1999 and provincial level committees, to address problems of child abuse and sexual exploitation; - The dissemination of materials, including audiovisual materials, publications and posters, to raise awareness about the Convention and child rights. The Committee recognizes that the armed conflict and the challenges of reconstruction, particularly in the North and East, pose difficulties to the full implementation of the Convention in the State Party. The Committee noted with satisfaction that various concerns and recommendations made upon the consideration of the State party's initial report have been addressed through legislative measures and policies. However, recommendations regarding, inter alia, harmonization of legislation, coordination of the implementation of the Convention , child participation and juvenile justice have not been given sufficient follow-up. The committee notes those concerns and recommendations are reiterated in the present document. The Committee urges the State party to make every effort to address those recommendations from the concluding observations of the initial report that have not yet been implemented and to address the list of concerns contained in the present concluding observations on the second periodic report. Legislation The Committee, acknowledging the various legislative measures taken to implement the Convention, is concerned at the lack of a comprehensive and systematic review of existing news, including the different sets of personal laws, with the aim of bringing them into conformity with the Convention. They wanted the State party undertake a systematic review of all the existing laws in order to bring them into conformity with the Convention and to consult with the different ethnic communities regarding the inclusion of their personal laws in this process of reform. Coordination Although encouraged by the establishment of mechanisms such as the National Monitoring (NMC) and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) and their respective monitoring and child protection committees at the provincial and district level, the Committee is concerned that these bodies and others like the Department for Probation and Child Care Services (DPCCS) do not provide for an effective coordination of the implementation of the Convention. It is further concerned that the roles of these bodies are not clearly defined which may contribute to duplication of efforts and a lack of effective cooperation. The Committee recommends that the State party establish one effective and identifiable governmental body for the coordination of all activities regarding the implementation of the Convention and which has adequate power and sufficient human and financial resources for an effective performance of its coordinating role; and clearly define the role of the NMC and NCPA and the various committees at provincial and district levels in order to avoid duplication and to facilitate their cooperation and to provide these bodies with the necessary human financial resources. Resources for children The Committee notes with great concern that the expenditures for education and health as a percentage of the Country's GDP decreased between 1998 and 2001. It is further concerned at the lack of disaggregated data on budgetary allocations for the implementation of children's rights at the national and district level. |
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