A/HRC/19/64
74.
Similarly, in a number of countries, including the Plurinational State of Bolivia and
Belize, national follow-up consultations were held on the implementation of the Study
recommendations.
75.
In early December, representatives from Central American countries, Mexico and
Cuba met in a regional consultation in Santo Domingo. The meeting was hosted by the
Government of the Dominican Republic in cooperation with the Office of the Special
Representative and the Latin American Chapter of the Global Movement for Children. It
included the participation of national institutions and authorities on children and
adolescents, international and regional human rights bodies, United Nations agencies, civil
society organizations, the media, and young representatives.
76.
The consultation was framed by an analytical regional mapping of national
implementation measures for children‘s protection from violence. The discussions
addressed national experiences and positive developments, critical challenges and emerging
concerns, and anticipated areas where further progress is required. In view of its particular
relevance for the region, special emphasis was placed on children‘s protection from
violence in the criminal justice system, and on children‘s vulnerability as a result of
trafficking and migration. The Santo Domingo Declaration adopted by the meeting
reaffirms the commitment to pursue implementation of the Study recommendations.
77.
Building upon the consultations held in Paraguay and the Dominican Republic,
respectively for South American and Central American countries, a Caribbean regional
meeting will be held in May 2012 in Jamaica.
78.
Initiatives were equally promoted in 2011 with the African Union Commissioner for
Social Affairs and the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. These
include a conference in Addis Ababa to support the universal ratification of the Optional
Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other child rights treaties; and a
technical workshop in Burkina Faso on legislative reform to strengthen children‘s
protection from violence in all its forms, including corporal punishment.
Day of the African Child
The Special Representative joined the commemoration of the 2011 Day of the African
Child, devoted to the theme ―All together for urgent actions in favour of street children‖.
The Day highlighted the significant challenges encountered by children living and working
in the streets in Africa, including their vulnerability to violence. It was a strategic occasion
to join the African Committee in calling for the establishment of widely publicized,
accessible, safe and child-sensitive counselling, reporting and complaint mechanisms; for
national investment in child-protection systems with legislation banning all forms of
violence against children; and for the abolition of status offences and criminalization of
survival behaviour, such as begging, truancy or vagrancy.
16
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