Working for WOMEN'S RIGHTS

57th session of CEDAW : 10-28 February 2014

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, entered into force on 22 December 2000.

CEDAW Committee consists of 23 experts on women’s rights from around the world.

Countries who have become party to the treaty (States parties) are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights of the Convention are implemented. During its sessions the Committee considers each State party report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of concluding observations.

In the next session, the following States are going to be examined: Bahrain, Cameroon, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Sierra Leone and Finland.

News about Children's Rights

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 65^th 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 debate on Children’s rights and Justice is scheduled on 13 March, during the 25^th session of the Human Rights Council. A conference on  “Media, social networks and children’s rights” is scheduled for the 12th September, during the 27^th HRC session. 

The CRC on the Holy See

On the 16^th 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 presence of a large amount of media representatives along with victims of sexual abuse. Such meetings are a regular feature of being a State Party to the convention and are not arranged in response to any one particular issue. However, the controversy surrounding the abuse scandals within the Catholic Church ensured that this would be the predominant subject of discussion.

The 65th session of the CRC

IIMA is currently attending the 65^th 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.

IAmAMigrant

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.

“It always seems impossible until it's done.”  ― Nelson Mandela

Goodbye Madiba.

1993-2013 : 20 Years working for your Rights

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 dignity and worth inherent in the human person, and that the human person is the central subject of human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

A word leads to an idea. From an idea, something concrete rises.

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 embassies visits. They didn’t deal with negotiations, but with genuine sharing.

Dear Humanity, find your lost childhood!

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 is both gift and responsibility.

It is not a privilege. It is the beating heart of life.  

Dignity gives you freedom; it is not the stone that an oyster transforms into a beautiful pearl after an enduring sufferance.

My child, that pearl belongs to you, already. It should belong to you already.

Forgive me if I am forced to speak of it as a dream, instead of an actuality.

We must forgive this world that disfigures your right!