The Third Optional Protocol to the CRC on a Communications Procedure sets out an international complaints procedure for child rights violations. It will enter into force in April 2014, allowing children from states that have ratified to bring complaints about violations of their rights directly to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.  During its 65th session, the Committee reviewed Congo, Yemen, Holy See, Portugal, Russian Federation and Germany.  The CRC will publish its concluding observations on Wednesday, 5 February. The next CRC session will take place from May 13 to June 16, 2014. What's Next: A general...

On the 16th of January 2014, IIMA attended a meeting between the Committee on the Rights of the Child and a delegation from the Holy See to discuss the implementation of their human rights obligations in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols. This was only the second such meeting since the Holy See ratified the Convention in 1990. It is significant that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is one of only three international instruments which the Holy See has ratified. The meeting, unusually, took place in the...

IIMA is currently attending the 65th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. This body periodically meets with a delegation from each State Party, to discuss the State`s progress towards meeting their obligations under the convention and its optional protocols. The first state to be reviewed was The Republic of Congo. As one of Africa’s most urbanised countries, with 65% of the population living in cities, the committee was keen to emphasise the need to protect the rights of children even in more challenging rural areas. In addition, the committee highlighted the difficulty the country...

18 December 2013:  International Migrants Day In his message, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon  stated: "Let us make migration work for the benefit of migrants and countries alike. We owe this to the millions of migrants who, through their courage, vitality and dreams, help make our societies more prosperous, resilient and diverse." Read the whole message here. ...

Today, December, 5, we celebrate the Human Rights Day 2013, as a conclusion of a year-long commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, that was established in 1993, after the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, to represent the world's commitment to universal ideals of human dignity. The event, held in Palais des Nations in Geneva, highlighted that the promotion and protection of human rights is a matter of priority for the international community, recalling the key message of the Vienna Declaration: “all human rights derive from the...

When we think of an ambassador, we have a solemn picture in our mind: with think of someone with a high political role, a woman or a man formally dressed, dealing with protocol and being cautiously diplomatic. Well, embassies represent a golden world, where you can find warmth and you can have an honest exchange. While the new crucial negotiation on nuclear power is happening with Iran at the International Conference Centre in Geneva, the diplomatic heart of the world, Sister MariaGrazia and Sister Leonor, together with Maria D’Onofrio, Advocacy Officer of IIMA Office, completed a tough program of...

Today, all of us go back and we are little kids again. On November 20th, the World celebrates the International Day of the Child. This day reminds us of the date when the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. Dignity. That is the magic word. Dignity was born together with the human being, you can read it in his eyes. It is not transmitted through DNA. Dignity is something you take care of, with devotion. Dignity must be stated, not conquered as a war chest. It...

When two Nobel Prizes winners, Martti Ahtisaari and José Ramos-Horta, tell about their long-time experience and their passionate fight, our wish of Peace smells like hope, because we feel it’s not just about words. Which better location than Room XX, the room of “Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations", to host a dialogue of Peace? Held in Palais des Nations on Wednesday, November 13th, the Conference was entitled "Complexities of Peacemaking: the untold story”. In Geneva, which has been consecrated, once again, the capital of dialogue and mediation, the setting for negotiations and conciliation. The two leaders shared a very...

On 14th May 2012, Israel decided to suspend its relations with the Human Rights Council (HRC), becoming one of the most controversial countries at the United Nations in Geneva. Absent during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 29th January 2013, the meeting was postposed to 29th October 2013. Israel has been the first country to do this. As a result, the international community feared for the future and legitimacy of UPR process. Following negotiations with the President of the HRC and international pressure from Member States, two days before the agreed date, Israel government confirmed its participation and just a...