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Children's rights will be protected

By Messenger Staff
Wednesday, November 25
On November 20 a joint initiative of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia and UNICEF to create a Child Rights’ Council was announced at a special event dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The event was organised by the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of Parliament, the Public Defender’s Office, UNICEF and the Delegation of the European Commission in Georgia.

The main goal of the Child Rights’ Council will be to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the recommendations of the UN Children’s Rights Committee. The Council will also draw up legislative initiatives and policy recommendations in compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international standards.

“UNICEF welcomes the initiative of the Parliament of Georgia to create the Child Rights’ Council. This establishes the coordinating mechanism for monitoring child rights as per one of the major recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child”, said Benjamin Perks, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Georgia. “We appreciate the efforts of Parliament in advancing the rights of children in Georgia and this initiative is an important step forward in this regard.”

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most ratified human rights treaty. It has transformed the way children are viewed and treated throughout the world. The Convention has 193 ratifications, the process by which countries decide to be bound by the articles of an international treaty. It articulates a set of universal children’s rights, such as the right to an identity, a name and a nationality, the right to an education, and the rights to the highest possible standards of health and protection from abuse and exploitation.

Georgia has made considerable progress over the past twenty years in implementing the Convention – infant and under 5 maternal mortality rates are decreasing, free health insurance for the vulnerable has been introduced, immunization coverage has increased and ongoing efforts are being made to bring national practices in line with evidence-based international standards. Another important milestone is the ongoing reform of the child welfare system, with 4,000 children having been returned from institutions to families and alternative services having been developed. Birth registration has significantly improved, especially among the Azeri minority.

The decentralisation of school systems, the introduction of per capita funding, the unified national exams and the improvement of the school infrastructure and pre-school and primary and secondary school enrolment are also considerable achievements. The ongoing reform in the administration of juvenile justice to bring the system in line with international standards is another area of success.

Despite this progress however there are still challenges ahead, which are also underlined in the concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Georgia report. In particular, there is a need to take urgent measures to reduce the high rates of neo-natal deaths and premature births, especially among minority ethnic groups, a need to ensure that comprehensive child protection mechanisms are in place that protect all children from violence, that children are not placed in institutions due to lack of financial assistance, social services and effective gate-keeping mechanisms and that there is a comprehensive state policy for the social inclusion of disabled children. Active measures should be taken to improve children’s living standards in the face of persistent poverty.

“UNICEF will continue to work with the Government of Georgia to tackle these challenges and to ensure that the best interests of children are protected,” said Benjamin Perks. “It is our collective responsibility to ensure every child’s right to survival, development, protection and participation."