international library for a responsable world of solidarity ritimo

Le portail rinoceros d’informations sur les initiatives citoyennes pour la construction d’un autre monde a été intégré au nouveau site Ritimo pour une recherche simplifiée et élargie.

Ce site (http://www.rinoceros.org/) constitue une archive des articles publiés avant 2008 qui n'ont pas été transférés.

Le projet rinoceros n’a pas disparu, il continue de vivre pour valoriser les points de vue des acteurs associatifs dans le monde dans le site Ritimo.

Violence against children : International call for action

Establish a Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children

Violence is a daily reality for millions of children around the world, affecting girls and boys of all ages, all social contexts, and all nationalities. In every part of their lives -their homes and families, schools, institutions, workplaces and communities - children may be beaten, sexually assaulted, tortured, and even killed. The perpetrators of this violence are often the very individuals who are responsible for protecting children - their parents, guardians, teachers, employers, the police and security forces. Violence is a global epidemic of scandalous proportions, violating every child’s right to a safe and healthy environment.

The UN Secretary-General’s 2006 Study on Violence against Children exposes the shocking scope of violence against children and documents its devastating effects on children, their families, their communities, and broader society. The Study clearly establishes the urgent need for immediate action to prevent and respond to violence against children in all of its forms.

We, as local, national, regional, and international non-governmental organisations from every part of the world, call on each UN member state to fully implement the Study’s important recommendations.

Having carefully considered alternative ways of ensuring global leadership on this issue, we also call on member states to act at the 2007 UN General Assembly to establish a Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence against Children to work with the UN system, member states, NGOs, children and youth as a high-level and high-profile advocate to ensure concrete action to end violence against children in all parts of the world.

European appeal against the detention and forced removal of foreign minors

Detention of minors should not be allowed on the bases of immigration status. This principle has been reiterated by numerous international bodies (High Commissioner for Refugees, International Alliance Save the Children, etc.) who called for the immediate admission of minors in the territory. In the framework of children’s rights for protection and the respect of the principle of the best interest of the child as defined by international law (art. 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), forced return of minors is not allowed.

However, the majority of European countries detain and remove foreign minors whether they are alone or with their family. National legislations allowing for practices of the detention and forced removal of children which have very bad consequences, are regularly denounced by NGOs and childhood professionals who point out that many alternatives to these practices are available. Currently, EU Member States are discussing an EU directive on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals (COM 2005-391). The draft text allows for the detention and forced removal of minors.

Global Campaign for Education

Education is a basic human right and fundamental to the fight for human dignity and freedom. For 125 million children and 880 million adults, that right is violated everyday. The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) promotes education as a basic human right, and mobilizes public pressure on governments and the international community to fulfill their promises to provide free, compulsory public basic education for all people; in particular for children, women and all disadvantaged, deprived sections of society.

The campaign is driven by the conviction that quality education for all is achievable, and by the concern for the immense costs of failure. The GCE believes that in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, exclusion from education will translate into growing poverty, inequality and deprivation. The Global Campaign for Education commits itself to achieve its mission with objectivity, transparency and accountability and to follow democratic norms and processes in all its plans and actions.

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