Monitoring the United Nations convention on the rights of the child: The challenge of information management

Human Rights Quarterly

Volumn 18, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 439-471

  Cohen, Cynthia Price ^a   Hart, Stuart N ^a   Kosloske, Susan M ^a  

^a Assoc Adv Children's Rights I

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EID: 0008461372     PISSN: 02750392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/hrq.1996.0018     Document Type: Review

References (67)

1. Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by The World Conference on Human Rights, 2 June 1993, U.N. Doc. A/Conf. 1 57/24 (Part I), at 29 (13 Oct. 1993).
2. Id. § II(B)(4), ¶ ¶ 45-53. See also section I, paragraphs 15-26 for additional references to the rights of the child.
3. Id. ¶ 45. This sub-section is made up of nine paragraphs.
4. Id. ¶ 46. Significantly, the only other universal ratification goal is that of the year 2000 for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Id. § II(B)(3), ¶ 39.
5. For the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted 20 Nov. 1989, see G.A. Res. 44/25, 44 U.N. GAOR, Supp. No. 49, at 165, U.N. Doc. A/44/736 (1989), reprinted in 28 I.LM. 1488 (1989), corrected at 29 I.L.M. 1340 (1990).
6. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was an initiative of the Polish government. Professor Dr. Adam Lopatka was the chairperson of the UN Working Group that drafted the Convention from 1979 until the final draft was adopted by the Commission on Human Rights in 1989.
7. See Cynthia Price Cohen, Introductory Note to U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 28 I.L.M. 1448 (1989). Throughout the drafting process, there were strong indications that the Convention on the Rights of the Child might be just a sentimental, symbolic gesture on behalf of children - one that would be quickly disregarded and ignored. Originally, there appeared to be little interest in the Convention. Participation in its drafting was very poor during the first few years. Some critics strongly opposed the creation of a special treaty protecting children's rights, arguing that children's rights were already protected under the two human rights Covenants. Other commentators were concerned about poor participation by underdeveloped countries, urging that these countries might consider the Convention to be insensitive to their needs and customs. These fears turned out to be unwarranted. Only one of the first twenty states to become parties to the Convention (Sweden) was a developed country.
8. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was adopted by the General Assembly in 1966, but did not enter into force until 1977. Even the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment required a period of approximately two years to obtain the required number of ratifications. Article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that there be twenty state parties in order for the Convention to enter into force.
9. The World Summit for Children, a gathering of heads of state and other dignitaries from around the world, took place on 29-30 September 1990. It resulted in the signing of a Declaration and Plan of Action aimed at improving the condition of children worldwide.
10. See Convention on the Rights of the Child, supra note S, art. 43(2). Although these Committee members are to be elected by the states parties, they are to act in their "personal capacity," free of government intervention. Id.
11. See id. art. 44(1).
12. In other words, by beginning with unequal term lengths, after each subsequent election, at least four members of the Committee will remain the same. Although the states parties represented remained the same, the expert who had originally represented Brazil had withdrawn and was replaced by another expert. For details of the election and reelection of Committee members, including information about their processes, see Cynthia Price Cohen, The Developing Jurisprudence of the Rights of the Child, 6 ST. THOM. L. REV. 1 (1990).
13. Committee membership is diverse, both geographically and professionally. The original ten members were from Barbados, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Peru, the Philippines, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and Zimbabwe. Two were government ministers, one with a background in family law, the other in agriculture; one was an ambassador with a background in juvenile law and banking; one was a specialist in human rights law; one was a law professor; two had a social work background; one was formerly the head of a children's nongovernmental organization; and one was a priest.
14. See Report of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, U.N. GAOR, 47th Sess., Supp. No. 41, Annex 4, at 22, U.N. Doc. A/47/41 (1992).
15. General Guidelines Regarding the Form and Content of Initial Reports to be Submitted by States Parties, U.N. GAOR, 47th Sess., Supp. No. 41, Annex 3, at 16, U.N. Doc. A/47/ 41 (1992) [hereinafter Guidelines].
16. One exception is Rule 76, in which the Committee established a procedure for holding General Discussions about a particular "article of the Convention or related subject . . . [i]n order to enhance a deeper understanding of the content and implications of the Convention." The Committee held the first of its annual General Discussion days in October 1992. The topic that year dealt with children in armed conflict. Nongovernmental organizations and other experts presented specific information on their topic-related programs and experiences to inform the Committee and the public about the particular topic being discussed.
17. Other states parties' reports that were examined at that session were: Indonesia, Peru, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Rwanda.
18. This session was in June, sandwiched in between the January and September/October session.
19. See Cohen, supra note 12. Unfortunately, assuming that the Committee continues its current scheduling of five to seven states parties reports each session and is granted three sessions each year, even if there are no more ratifications or accessions, it will be nearly the year 2001 before it has completed the states parties' reports that are due now. Moreover, the Committee's agenda will be further cramped by the fact that second reports will become due before that time. For example, all states parties whose reports were examined in 1993 will owe the Committee a second report in 1997.
20. The Guidelines separate the Convention's substantive articles into clusters under the following headings: General Principles; Civil Rights and Freedoms; Family Environment and Alternative Care; Basic Health and Welfare; Education, Leisure and Cultural Activities; and Special Protection Measures. For example, the General Principles cluster includes Article 2 (nondiscrimination); Article 3 (best interests of the child); Article 6 (right to life, survival and development); and Article 12 (respect for the views of the child). Preceding these clusters are other required sections dealing with General Measures of Implementation and Definition of the Child. In keeping with Article 44, the Guidelines require each state party to submit a detailed account of general and demographic information. Article 44 also mandates that states parties report to the Committee regarding difficulties they might be encountering in implementation of the Convention. See Guidelines, supra note 15, ¶ ¶ 5, 9-15. Because this latter requirement is duplicated in other UN human rights treaties, a "core document" has been developed, which allows states parties to use the report for one treaty in meeting the requirements of other treaties.
21. The official UN languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Russian.
22. Due to UN budgetary problems and in an effort to speed up the reviewing process, the Committee has limited state party oral examinations to two half-day sessions and increased the number of reports processed at each session.
23. It is commonplace for a state party to send a delegation of three to five persons with expertise in different areas to answer the Committee's questions.
24. Basically, these steps comprise the totality of the Committee's process for examining states parties' reports. However, in the case of recalcitrant nations, such as Sudan, where the information originally provided was considered unsatisfactory, the Committee has been known to recall that state party and to require additional sessions for further oral examination of their reports. Still, there are no actual sanctions for noncompliance. The only available means for enforcing the Convention is through public opinion. To that end, the Committee's Concluding Observations, along with other information regarding the Committee's activities, are reported periodically to ECOSOC and are published as part of the annual ECOSOC report to the General Assembly, thus becoming part of the United Nations' public record. As with other UN human rights treaties, many states parties' reports have not been completed in a timely fashion. Close to 100 reports were due before the end of 1992; only a very few were even reasonably close to being on time. Nevertheless, the pace of submissions has been picking up and, as of this writing, the Committee has a backlog of reports which will fill its sessions into 1996.
25. In addition, many of these documents are reproduced for more than one purpose. As a consequence, there are often duplications, not to mention that some of the documents are reissued with addenda and corrigenda.
26. Compare this with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted 10 Dec. 1984, C.A. Res. 39/46, U.N. GAOR, Supp. No. 51, at 197, U.N. Doc. A/39/51 (1985); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted 18 Dec. 1979, G.A. Res. 34/180, 34 U.N. GAOR, Supp. No. 46, at 193, U.N. Doc. A/34/36 (1980); and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted 16 Dec. 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, G.A. Res. 2200 (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR, Supp. No. 16, at 52, U.N. Doc. A/ 6316 (1966).
27. The reason for this language is that even though UNICEF is part of the United Nations, technically it is a "fund" and not a "specialized agency" like the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization, etc. Interestingly, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is not a specialized agency either, hence the use of the phrase "other United Nations organs."
28. It should be noted that while each of these sentences provides a list of entities that can be a part of the implementation process, the middle sentence and paragraphs (a) and (b) make special reference to "other competent bodies." The phrase "other competent bodies" was intended to apply especially to NGOs. In practice, these words have been given a broader interpretation by the Committee to mean any competent individual or resource.
29. Typically, these requests involve a need for expert advice in redrafting legislation or assistance in improving the educational, health care, or other systems. Although the idea is well founded, the procedures for implementing it are still in their infancy. The Committee is just beginning to facilitate inquiry into states parties' needs. Nevertheless, to be successful there must be adequate resources, whether they are provided by the United Nations or by NGOs.
30. The Secretary-General's appointee, Mrs. Machel, began her task in early 1995.
31. See Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, supra note 26, art. 21; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, supra note 26, art. 41.
32. In the Committee's view, it is not enough to have the Convention available in libraries and government offices. States parties must ensure that the Convention is widely promulgated, whether by the government itself, through educational institutions, or through NGOs.
33. At the very least, it should be in public libraries and educational institutions. Ideally, it should be publicized and made readily available to all citizens, prior to and following its submission to the Committee.
34. Additionally, the Committee is beginning to refer to the reports on the National Programmes of Action that have been initiated by signatories to the World Summit Declaration and Plan of Action as part of their commitment to the World Summit for Children. Lastly, at some time in the near future, members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child are expected to follow the pattern established by other UN human rights treaty bodies of drafting comments elaborating on the content of each of the articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. What is important is that even though this information was not originally prepared in accordance with the Committee's reporting Guidelines, all of it could be easily adapted to this format. The comments by treaty bodies are statements explaining how the monitoring body for a particular human rights treaty interprets the language of that treaty. This guidance can be of great importance to states parties which are striving to implement the standards of the Convention, as well as encouraging consistency in the Committee's report-examining procedures.
35. See Reporting Obligations of States Parties to International Instruments on Human Rights and Effective Functioning of Bodies Established Pursuant to Such Instruments: Ways and Means of Improving Reporting Systems under the United Nations Human Rights Instruments, U.M. ESCOR, 45th Sess., Supp. No. 3, U.N. Doc. E/1989/20; E/CN.4/1989/ 86 (1989).
36. See Effective Functioning of Bodies Established Pursuant to United Nations Human Rights Instruments: Report of the Secretary-General, U.M. ESCOR, 46th Sess., Agenda Item 18, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1990/39 (1990).
37. The Secretary-General appealed to member states for voluntary contributions to cover the one time start up costs of a system of computerization for the Centre for Human Rights. Only three states responded.
38. See U.N. ESCOR, 47th Sess., Supp. No. 2, U.N. Doc. E/1991/22, E/CN.4/91 (1991). See also Human Rights Questions: Implementation of Human Rights Instruments: Note by the Secretary-General, U.M. GAOR, 47th Sess., Agenda Item 97(a), U.N. Doc. A/47/628 (1992).
39. See U.N. ESCOR, 48th Sess. Supp. No. 2, at 50, U.N. Doc. E/1 992/22, E/CN.4/1992/84 (1992).
40. See U.N. Doc. A/CONF.157/23, supra note 1, Pt. II(A), ¶ ¶ 9-12 (1993).
41. Id.
42. Members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and representatives from the Centre for Human Rights, UNICEF, WHO, ILO, UNHCR, UNDP, and Defence for Children International attended this meeting.
43. This information is based on the personal notes of Cynthia Price Cohen, who was present at the meeting.
44. Outrageous as it may seem, most employees of the Centre for Human Rights, including those in executive positions, did not obtain computers until 1994!
45. UNICEF played a supportive role in development of the slogan "Target '89," which was used by delegates and NGOs to push for completion of the Convention by the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It can also be said that it was the UNICEF contribution to the Technical Review of the Convention, written by Philip Alston, that had the greatest influence on the wording of the final text of the Convention. See U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1989/WG1/CRP1 (1988).
46. The Committee initiated "on site" visits to different geographic areas during its first years. The first visits were to Quito, Ecuador; Beijing, China; and more recently to Bangkok, Thailand. The purpose of such visits is twofold: To give the Committee a greater comprehension of the problems faced by children and their families in these areas and to stimulate local public interest in and understanding of the Convention.
47. As of October 1993, 350 questionnaires had been mailed out, and a database started. This project is under the supervision of Laurie S. Wiseberg at Human Rights Internet at the University of Ontario in Ottawa.
48. For a detailed description of the activities of UNICEF in regard to information management, see UNICEF, CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: SUMMARY REPORT (1994).
49. Seminar on Appropriate Indicators to Measure Achievements in the Progressive Realization of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 25-29 Jan. 1993, Geneva, Switzerland. See Report on Other Meetings and Activities: Report of the Secretariat, U.N. GAOR World Conference on Human Rights Preparatory Committee, 4th Sess., Provisional Agenda Item 6, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.157/PC/73 (1993).
50. These standards are commonly referred to as "progressive implementation." For example, Article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that "[w]ith regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties shall undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation."
51. See U.N. Doc. HR/GENEVA/1993/SEM/BP.6 (1993).
52. For a description of the concepts underlying the "information model," see Cynthia Price Cohen et al., UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Developing an "Information Model" to Computerize the Monitoring of Treaty Compliance, 14 HUM. RTS. Q. 216 (1992).
53. The prototype was presented by the directors of the Association for the Advancement of Children's Rights Information Management (AACRIM), which is a voluntary group associated with the School of Education at the University of Indiana-Purdue University at Indianapolis. The prototype was based on the ideas articulated in their 1992 article on the "information model" and children's rights. See id.
54. Human Rights Internet (HRI), headed by Laurie S. Wiseberg, has long been a leader in this field. HRI regularly publishes information related to human rights events, while also producing compilations of human rights organizations in geographic categories. All of this information is appropriate for entry into cooperative databases.
55. "HURIDOCS" is a world-wide network with the objective of improving access to, and dissemination of, public information on human rights through more effective, appropriate, and compatible methods and techniques of information-handling. To this end it has given high priority to the development and introduction of standard formats for the recording of human rights information, starting with a series of formats for bibliographic materials. See BJORN STORMORKEN, HURIDOCS STANDARD FORMATS FOR THE RECORDING AND EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS (1985).
56. Relating text and data to treaty articles would facilitate cross-referencing with other human rights treaties. For example, the proscription against torture appears in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It would be helpful for the Committee on the Rights of the Child to have easy access to the reports that a state party gave to these other committees as well.
57. These include the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, and the Organization of African Unity. The Hague Conference on Private International Law and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe also should be considered part of these resources.
58. The Senegal Report, which was completed in April 1995, was written in French and has yet to be made available in English.
59. See Research Project: Indicators for Children's Rights (update: Nov. 1995).
60. Plans for further development of the project include: organizing textual supports from reports to provide specific information about each table entry; adding evaluative codes to indicate the nature of the evidence provided for each table entry (for example, abstract general statement; formal declaration, law, or regulation; verifiable practice); and adding information from processes and actions of the Committee specific to each entry in the table for each state party report. Additionally, Mr. Scherer has accepted the invitation of Juan Carlos Tedesco, Director of the International Bureau of Education (IBE), to research the IBE's archives of over sixty years of reports on the education articles of the Convention. This would provide the opportunity to extend the project's database and tables backward in time. Clearly, if this and other projects like it were fostered and offered the opportunity to apply the information model and technology proposed in this article, it would significantly benefit the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and all those attempting to advance children's rights.
61. Interestingly, there were no representatives from the United States present at the meeting.
62. See Stuart N. Hart, The Emerging International Research Agenda Necessary to Guide and Facilitate Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (paper presented at the XIIth Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Free University, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 28-30 June 1994). See also Stuart N. Hart & D. Derouin, The Research Agenda for Children's Rights: A Model to Guide Priority Setting (1994) (unpublished manuscript, on file with the authors).
63. See Stuart N. Hart, The Emerging International Research Agenda Necessary to Guide and Facilitate Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (paper presented at the XIIth Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Free University, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 28-30 June 1994). See also Stuart N. Hart & D. Derouin, The Research Agenda for Children's Rights: A Model to Guide Priority Setting (1994) (unpublished manuscript, on file with the authors).
64. See Constance Kamii, Toward Autonomy: The Importance of Critical Thinking and Choice Making, 20 SCH. PSYCH. REV. 382 (1991). See also Constance Kamii, Autonomy: The Aim of Education Envisioned by Piaget, 65 PHI DELTA KAPPAN 410 (1991).
65. See Constance Kamii, Toward Autonomy: The Importance of Critical Thinking and Choice Making, 20 SCH. PSYCH. REV. 382 (1991). See also Constance Kamii, Autonomy: The Aim of Education Envisioned by Piaget, 65 PHI DELTA KAPPAN 410 (1991).
66. See JOHN RAWLS, A THEORY OF JUSTICE (1971).
67. See Stuart N. Hart & Moshe Zeidner, Children's Rights Perspectives of Youth and Educators: Early Findings of a Cross National Project, 1 INT'L J. CHILDREN'S RTS. 165 (1993).