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June 21, 2012
in News EN

On Tuesday the 12th of June, the UN Secretary-General published his “list of shame”, which reported 52 parties who recruit and use, kill and maim or commit sexual violence against children in addition to those who attack schools and hospitals. This included four new parties in Sudan, Yemen and Syria. Mr Ban’s annual report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict gave an overview of the grave violations committed against children in conflict zones, the main perpetrators, as well as measures taken for the protection of children. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed...

June 13, 2012
in News EN

On the 31st of May 2012 the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) examined the situation of children and the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Vietnam. The Committee drew attention to some necessary reforms in order to align domestic legislation with international standards. This included raising from 16 to 18 the age of adulthood and reforms in the field of juvenile criminal justice. The experts’ concern focused on discrimination against children from minority groups and children with disabilities. They drew attention to inequality in the accessibility of basic services (birth registration, education, health facilities etc.)...

June 13, 2012
in News EN

On the 12th of June, World Day Against Child Labour, several experts released statements expressing their continued concern for children labouring to survive. According to the ILO’s Director-General Juan Somavia, 215 million children remain in child labour and over half of these in the worst forms of labour. Despite ILO targets to end child labour by 2016, only 30 million children have been brought out of labour. The number of children in the worst forms of labour is over 11 times the population of Hungary.   The ILO estimates that 5 million children are trapped in forced labour, a...

June 13, 2012
in News EN

New York, 6th of June 2012  4:50 PM On Wednesday the United Nations created an online platform to measure the financial and political progress made by States towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). "From today, we have made available to all an accessible tool so that the whole world can follow the progress made by Member States towards achieving the MDGs", said Mr Ban during the informal meeting of the General Assembly organized to launch the website http://mdgsupport.un.org. This tool will be known as the "Framework for integrated implementation". There are a total of eight MDGs, which range from...

June 4, 2012
in News EN

On the 22nd and 23rd of May the Committee Against Torture (CAT) held and interactive dialogue with a delegation from Cuba led by Rafael Pino Becquer, Deputy Attorney General of Cuba, following the submission of a national report. Among the topics discussed were: Habeas Corpus, prison conditions, abusive treatment within prisons, police conduct, forced emigration, the harassment of individuals, attacks on political activists and their families, the definitions of crimes within the Cuban Criminal Code, conditions within psychiatric hospitals and individuals judged “socially dangerous”. At points the committee experts referred to specific, sometimes high profile, cases to support their questions and in...

May 30, 2012
in News EN

On 24th May IIMA and VIDES Human Rights Office’s team attended the reception by the Permanent Mission of Italy to the Office of the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva for the presentation of Ms. Bianca Pomeranzi, Italian candidate to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Ms. Pomeranzi has devoted her life to women’s rights protection and promotion both at national and international level. She was co-founder of the Italian Association Women for Development (AIDOS) and Advisor for Equal Opportunities of the Italian Government and of the Italian Delegation at UN. She is currently...

May 17, 2012
in News EN

Experts of the United Nations called the European Union to take the lead in promoting the adoptation of a global financial tax to offset the costs of the current economic crisis. As they see it, the actions taken so far to overcome the crisis, including varying austerity programmes, risk causing significant human rights regressions. A financial transaction tax is an alternative which does not entail these same risks. They called attention to the fact that a similar tax exists in South Korea and suggest that such a tax may shift the burden from the citizens to the private sector. According to them “EU...

May 17, 2012
in News EN

Ban Ki-moon declares support for families in need of work On the 15th of May, the International Day of Families, Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the united nations, issued a statement highlighting the need for decent work for families. He emphasised the growing importance of work-family policies, drawing attention to the need to help workers meet the emotional and financial needs of their families. "Millions of people around the world lack decent working conditions and the social support to care for their families. Affordable quality childcare is rarely available in developing countries, where many parents are forced to leave...

May 11, 2012
in News EN

On the 1st of May, the Secretary-General met the leader of the opposing party in Myanmar, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, for the first time at her house in Yangon. Mr. Ban-Ki Moon thanked her for her commitment and perseverance towards democracy, development and human rights, affirming that she  has been “a symbol of hope for human rights for all, all around the world.”  In April, Myanmar citizens headed to the polls to vote for representatives of the Parliament, with Ms. Suu Kyi winning a position in the Lower House of Parliament. These elections were part of a series...

April 27, 2012
in News EN

On the 26th of April, IIMA attended a panel on “Humanitarian Principles in a Changing World: Bridging the Gap between Policy and Practice”, organized by Caritas Internationalis. The meeting was opened by the speech of the moderator, Mr. Alistair Dutton, Humanitarian Director of Caritas Internationalis, which presented the four humanitarian principles of independence, neutrality, humanity and impartiality, recalling that September 11th was a turning point for humanitarian interventions. After the moderator’s speech, Mr. Jan Weuts, Emergency Aid Coordinator of Caritas Belgium, explained that humanitarian workers are adversely affected by the fact...

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