A/HRC/16/56
make known any incidents of violence. In most cases, children are unaware of the existence
of such services, lacking information about where to go and whom to call to benefit from
advice and assistance, to overcome trauma and re-shape their lives. Overall, they feel
uncertain as to whether and how impunity can be fought.
B.
Objectives
6.
With these concerns in mind, the report was developed with the following
objectives:
(a)
To provide an overview of available models of accessible and child-sensitive
counselling, complaint and reporting mechanisms established at the governmental level,
and as developed by independent institutions and civil-society and community-based
organizations;
(b)
To draw attention to positive developments, as well as challenges, in the use
of such mechanisms, including in terms of accessibility, confidentiality, child participation,
effectiveness, safeguard of privacy and protection of victims of violence, including sexual
violence and exploitation;
(c)
To highlight legal obligations, roles and responsibilities of State institutions
and other key stakeholders;
(d)
To make recommendations for the strengthening of effective, child-sensitive
counselling, complaint and reporting mechanisms to protect children from violence.
C.
Methodology
7.
The report was developed with the following methodological approach:
(a)
A literature review of relevant documentation;
(b)
An expert consultation organized by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights and the Office of the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, with the participation of the Special
Rapporteur on the sale of children, and a cross-regional group of governmental and nongovernmental experts, national independent institutions for children’s rights, United
Nations agencies and the Committee on the Rights of the Child;
(c)
Request for information sent to Permanent Missions to the United Nations, as
well as to United Nations departments, funds, programmes and specialized agencies, and
other regional and inter-governmental organizations, which generated significant
contributions.3 A questionnaire circulated to UNICEF country offices also yielded
3
4
Replies were received from Argentina, Austria, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco,
Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Russian Federation, Spain, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and
Uzbekistan. United Nations contributions to the report were sent by: United Nations Integrated
Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA), International Labour Organization
(ILO), United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), United
Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Innocenti
Research Centre, and the World Food Programme (WFP).
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