A/HRC/16/54
Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to launch a global
campaign aiming at their universal ratification by 2012.
31.
The campaign for the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols was launched
with the Secretary-General, at Headquarters, and is pursued in close cooperation with
UNICEF, OHCHR and the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Special
Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. In the light of
her mandate, during this two-year campaign, the Special Representative places a special
focus on achieving global adherence to the Protocol on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography. As at 15 December 2010, the Protocol was in force in
142 countries,, and more than 80 per cent of those who have not yet ratified it are parties to
the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) of the International Labour
Organization (ILO), a treaty with legal obligations to fight the sale of children, trafficking
and sexual exploitation of children. Several of the remaining countries have also formally
committed to ratification, including in the context of the universal periodic review of the
Human Rights Council.
32.
Advancing the aims of the campaign has been a constant concern in the Special
Representative’s global advocacy and field missions. The campaign has received wide
support from Member States, United Nations agencies and civil society organizations. The
goal of universal ratification was incorporated in the policy agenda of high-level United
Nations initiatives, including the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat
Trafficking in Persons8 and the Roadmap for Achieving the Elimination of the Worst Forms
of Child Labour by 2016, adopted on 11 May 2010 at The Hague Global Child Labour
Conference. Moreover, the launch of the campaign has been followed by the adherence to
the Protocol by an increasing number of States. Efforts to advance progress in this field will
be pursued in 2011.
33.
In her collaboration with United Nations bodies, the Special Representative has built
upon existing inter-agency mechanisms, in particular the Inter-Agency Working Group on
Violence against Children, of which ILO, OHCHR, UNICEF and the World Health
Organization (WHO) are core members. The Working Group is a critical forum for
consultation, promotion of policy formulation and mainstreaming of concerns relating to
violence against children within the agenda of the United Nations system.
34.
The protection of children from violence is a key dimension of the UNICEF
mandate. In this context, firm collaboration has been pursued with the Fund at Headquarters
and across regions to advance the follow-up to the United Nations study recommendations
and to mainstream the protection of children from violence in national policy agendas. A
critical aspect of this process is the follow-up to the Third World Congress against Sexual
Exploitation of Children and Adolescents. In this connection, the Special Representative
took part in the review meeting of the Organizing Committee, held in Bangkok in October
2010. The meeting, organized with the participation of UNICEF, the Governments of Brazil
and Thailand, ECPAT International, other civil society organizations and young
representatives from the Mekong region, highlighted the urgency of accelerating progress
in the implementation of the Rio de Janeiro Call for Action, and achieving the time-bound
targets agreed upon by the Congress, in the overall framework of the study follow-up and
the Special Representative’s mandate.
35.
Collaboration with UNICEF has been critical in strengthening national child
protection systems, preventing and addressing violence in early childhood9 and
8
9
GE.11-11445
General Assembly resolution 64/293, annex, para. 4.
Implementing child rights in early childhood was the thematic focus of the Third Committee at the
sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly.
9
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