Side-event 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (en)

Bern, 04.03.2014 - Genf, 03.03.2014 - Rede Rede von Bundespräsident Didier Burkhalter - Es gilt das gesprochene Wort

Mr. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to this high level side event in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child Switzerland has the honour of co-hosting along with the other members of the quadrilateral group: Austria, Liechtenstein and Slovenia.

Since youth and the upcoming generation is one of three priorities of my presidency of Switzerland this year, I am particularly delighted to have the opportunity to reflect upon the Convention on the Rights of the Child today.

25 years: This is an important landmark and a perfect opportunity to look at progress achieved and challenges ahead.

Switzerland signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child in May 1991. It then engaged in a major process in order to ratify the Convention which took 6 years to be completed. It ratified the first two optional protocols to the Convention in 2002 and 2006 respectively.

The ratification of the Convention and its two first optional protocols lead to numerous adaptions of Swiss national law, including the Swiss Constitution. In addition, several awareness raising and prevention campaigns were organised on cantonal and national levels.

These had the objective of spreading the spirit and obligations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but also to make people aware of other issues within this context, such as youth violence, addiction or handling media.

Over the years, the situation of children has improved overall. The recognition of the child as a rights-holder certainly had a positive effect. Switzerland will be presenting its second periodic report to the Committee of the Rights of the Child at its 68th session in January 2015 and we look forward to that discussion.

The participation of the youth and the expression of their views is of uttermost importance for the realisation of their rights and dreams.
We recognise that also in Switzerland ensuring the participation of children and the expression of their views in matters affecting them remains a challenge. On the one hand we must become more aware of and knowledgeable about the participation of children in all matters that affect them, on the other, we must work to create the necessary political will to consequently put this right into practice.

My aim by putting youth in the centre of my presidency of Switzerland this year is also to motivate the upcoming generations to participate more actively in public life.

Switzerland welcomes the upcoming enactment of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is in the process of analysing the impact that its ratification will have on Swiss national law.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Switzerland’s engagement in the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, also contributed to making the realisation of children’s rights in the world one of Switzerland’s top foreign policy priorities.

We believe the United Nations child protection system has developed very positively over the years, the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child contributing to greater attention given internationally to children.

While we are speaking an estimated number 250’000 children remain associated with armed forces and armed non-state actors and face serious violations of their rights. While the United Nations and in particular the United Nations Security Council has succeeded in creating a strong normative set of standards, there remain immense challenges in ensuring that conflict parties respect these norms. Those who commit grave violations against children must consequently be held accountable.

Despite repeated calls of the international community to put an end to grave violations against children’s rights in situations of armed conflict, in 2013 the list of “shame” of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General has grown from 52 to 55 perpetrators, 46 of them being armed non-state actors.

Switzerland, therefore for example supports Geneva Call, which conducts dialogues with armed non-state groups and engages them to sign deeds of commitments to prevent and put a ban on the recruitment and use of children in hostilities. Furthermore, we push for the continuous improvement of policy standards within multilateral fora and work to keep the protection of children affected by armed conflict high on the international agenda.

Another priority area is early and forced marriage which Switzerland is committed to ending. Early and forced marriage is a serious human rights violation and a form of gender-based violence against women and girls. It violates, among others, the right to education, the right to free movement, the right to health as well as sexual and reproductive rights and the right to decide freely on when and whom to marry.

On the multilateral level, Switzerland actively participates in the on-going debate on early and forced marriage at the United Nations aimed at improving and implementing the legal and political standards.

Switzerland also uses its bilateral foreign policy to raise the issue in its human rights consultations with a number of countries and to fight against early and forced marriages. In Bangladesh for example, Switzerland supports the initiative ‘Media campaign, Stop Early Marriage in Bangladesh’, in which spots are dispersed both in the radio and TV country-wide.

In line with its multilateral and bilateral engagement, Switzerland promotes a stand-alone goal on empowering women and girls in the Post-2015 United Nations Development Agenda.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Switzerland will have the honour to host the World Congress on Juvenile Justice which will take place here in Geneva from 26 until 30 January 2015. I cordially invite you to participate and contribute to reaffirming the international standards and encourage all states to further improve the situation for children within the justice system, both on the legislative and implementation levels.

Children are vulnerable by definition: they are even more so when in contact with the law. Juvenile justice is precisely one of those areas where implementation is the greatest challenge. It is essential in this field to favour the approach of restorative justice when dealing with children. The World Congress will be one opportunity to encourage regional and cross-regional efforts, the sharing of best practices and the provision of technical assistance in the field of juvenile justice.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely accepted agreement in the field of human rights with almost universal ratification. Let’s work together to make it a reality for children worldwide!


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