Fwd: Re: [WSIS-CT] #2 - Children's Rights Section 2.1.5

Btw - just wanted to point out the nuances as below " ethical / moral " to law. Extract from UNICEF - Amali

A proposal for a legally binding treaty
Declarations – such as the Declaration of the Rights of the Child that was adopted in 1959 – are statements of moral and ethical intent; they are not legally binding instruments, as were the two International Covenants. For child rights to carry the weight of international law, a 'Convention' or a 'Covenant' was required. Thus, in 1978, on the eve of the United Nations-sponsored International Year of the Child, Poland formally proposed a draft text for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The following year, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights formed a working group to review and expand on the original Polish text. The working group drew heavily from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in formulating what became the 41 substantive articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Adoption of the Convention
The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 20 November 1989 and it entered into force – or became legally binding on States Parties – in September 1990. That same month, the world leaders at the World Summit for Children, held at the United Nations in New York, made a 'solemn commitment' to accord child rights a high priority.
The World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, set the end of 1995 as a target for the universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. By the last day of that year, 185 States had ratified, making it the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. As of mid-2003, only two States had not yet ratified.

Amali De Silva <amalidesilva@yahoo.com> wrote:

thanks for updating / corrections - Amali

Ilka Bailey-Wiebecke <ilka.b-w@bluewin.ch> wrote:

Dear all,

I don't think we should refer to the outdated Declaration on Children's Rights. Can you find a similar paragraph in the UN Convention on Child Rights of 1979 or so?

Regards

Ilka

----- Original Message -----

From: Amali De Silva

To: ct@wsis-cs.org

Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 12:16 AM

Subject: [WSIS-CT] Children's Rights Section 2.1.5 - CS Declaration

Please add the following paragraph to the section on children's rights. I attach the updated word document with this section - Thank you,

Amali De Silva-Mitchell, VCN

" Shaping Information Societies for Human Needs

based on the

Proposed Framework for Civil Society Declaration

Presented at Civil Society Plenary, Thursday 26^th September 2003

and Previous WSIS Civil Society Documents

Bill's second version of November 28, edited by Sally. "

2.1.5 Children’s rights

The Information Society must respect and promote the principles of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1959. A Child is entitled to a happy childhood and to enjoy the rights and freedoms available to all persons under the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. All persons, Civil Society, Private Sector and Government must commit to uphold the Rights of the Child in the Information Society.

Amali De Silva-Mitchell MSc.

Tel: 604-736-9012 & Email: amalidesilva@yahoo.com

Amali De Silva-Mitchell MSc.

Tel: 604-736-9012 & Email: amalidesilva@yahoo.com

Amali De Silva-Mitchell MSc.

Tel: 604-736-9012 & Email: amalidesilva@yahoo.com

Fwd: Re: [WSIS-CT] #2 - Children's Rights Section 2.1.5 - CS Declaration