DCI Newsletter - Defence for Children · Thsi is T he firs T Newsletter of a new phase for DCI, a phase which started with the XI Inter-national General Assembly - IGA (March, 2012)

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DCI - Defence for Children International1 Rue de Varembé - Geneva - Tel : +41 22 734 05 58

This is The firsT Newsletter of a new phase for DCI, a phase which started with the XI Inter-national General Assembly - IGA (March, 2012). I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who actively contributed to the suc-cess of this event, particularly all DCI national sections - the actual actors of this worldwide movement - and I would also like to thank the outgoing International Executive Council for its extremely inspiring and supportive commit-ment towards the International Secretariat (IS). I would also like to welcome the newly elected members of the International Executive Coun-cil, with whom I am sure the whole movement will maintain and ameliorate its role and posi-tion among the other child rights organisations.It is with pleasure that the IS hosted such an important event as the IGA. Special recogni-tion must be given to the work of the numer-ous interns and volunteers that supported the preparation and the follow-up of this event, as we did obtain overall very positive results.

I am sure, and I have already seen it transpire in the course of 2011, that from now on there will be a stronger commitment of all DCI national sections towards the IS and vice-versa; this is a growing trend and I am sure we can find more and more ways to collaborate. On behalf of the IS, I wish to thank all those DCI sections that gen-erously supported the IS, both financially and/or technically: Argentina, Australia, Belgium Bo-livia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Italy, Netherlands, Palestine, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Uganda, Uruguay; among them a very special thank goes to Australia, Belgium, Netherlands and Palestine who demonstrated extraordinary efforts in support of the IS. DCI’s associate members (Mexico and Pakistan) must not be forgotten for their kind contributions, as all the other DCI national sections - that despite difficulties - felt the need to be involved with the

worldwide movement and particularly the IS.

Apart from our two main events (the training course and the IGA), during the same week of March, the General Assembly of the NGO Group for the CRC (now officially ‘International Action for Child Rights’) took place: DCI, represented by the IS and a national section, is now part of the executive board. During the same week, the Geneva based meeting of the NGO Advisory Council on the follow-up to the study on vio-lence (now officially ‘International NGO Council on Violence against children’) took place: it was decided that the focus of its work will be re-search on Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs), in light of the preparation of a major report to be presented during October’s UN General As-sembly in New York, which will examine chil-dren’s rights and violence against children.

As you will notice while reading this edition of the Newsletter, we have decided to highlight one or more national sections in each edition (this edition will focus on Angola). The con-cept of focusing on specific national sections is also enhanced on the official website, with specific pages for each national section; DCI Italy, in collaboration with the IS, are working on and uploading this information which you can view online. We therefore encourage you to share relevant and updated information with us, so it can be presented both on the News-letter and on the website.

I wish you all a pleasant read.

Ileana.

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Foreword

DCI Newsletter- May 2012


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DCI - Defence for Children International1 Rue de Varembé - Geneva - Tel : +41 22 734 05 58

On friday, March 9th, 2012 DCI held a pre-assembly meeting which consisted of two parts: one, dedi-cated to general open dialogue; and the other, dedicated to consider concrete plans of action, providing suggestions and proposals for the de-velopment of a more comprehensive Movement.In the first part of the pre-assembly, presentations were given by the five Working Groups, specifical-ly: the WG on strategy and structure; the WG on gender and ethics; the WG on advocacy; the WG on communication; and the WG on statutory reform.

As a movement, DCI is committed to strengthen-ing children’s rights and to promoting a progres-sive vision. In the growth of the DCI movement, the International Secretariat (IS) in Geneva plays a crucial role: working to implement the Conven-tion on the Rights of the Child among the national sections and within the international arena. The International Executive Council also contributes to supporting the IS when having to make de-cisions on behalf of the General Assembly. Not to mention the work of the national sections which promote the image of DCI in their respec-tive countries and regions, and which share use-ful information with the Secretariat in Geneva.

Out of DCI’s main priorities, particular emphasis is given to juvenile justice, which remains rather unpopular among governments and donors. Dur-ing the pre-assembly, an attractive suggestion was put forward: create a “permanent task force” dedicated to the collection of national and inter-national funds; hire fundraising consultants; and decentralize certain tasks carried out by the Sec-retariat. Furthermore, the question of the costs related to geographic location of the IS was exam-ined. Many representatives considered it appropri-ate to keep the IS in Geneva in order to maintain visibility of DCI within the international arena.

Other salient points which arose during the pre-as-sembly include: the need to rethink the secondary priority of the movement (Child Labour, Education,

inter alia); the creation of regional offices and the professionalization of the movement at different levels; the need for greater concreteness in car-rying out actions. Criticisms were also expressed: the failure to consider national experiences; the absence of political analysis; and the shortcom-ings in relation to the vision of long-term action.

Regional representatives put forward some proposals:

• LatinAmerica:TherepresentativefromLatinAmericaproposedtheuseofSWOTanalysis(Strengths,Weaknesses,OpportunitiesandThreats)toshowupinternalandexternalperspectives,andthepossiblerisksandchallenges.Therepresentativepointedouttwomajorchallenges:thetimerequiredtocompletethisstudyandthecreationofapermanentmonitoringmechanism.ThestructureoftheMovementwaschar-acterizedas‘pyramidalandfairlyrigid’,andotherap-proacheswereconsideredworthtakingintoaccount.

• Africa:TheAfricanrepresentativehighlightedthe fact that somenational sectionswork asNGOsand others as voluntary associations. On the sub-jectofthestructure,itwassuggestedthatinaddi-tiontotheVicePresident,therebeaCommitteetosupport thework of theVicePresident and the IS.

• Europe&restof theworld:Representativesfrom the ‘rest of theworld’ discussed a couple ofsignificant points: the strengthening of the IS’srole; the turnoverof staff; analysis on fundraising;and the expansion of the juvenile justice priority.

On Saturday, March 10th, 2012, the XI Inter-national General Assembly (IGA) began with aspeech on behalf of the President of DCI, Mr.RifatKassis (his term would end the following day).Mr. Kassis spoke of his many country visits andhis participation in fund raising activities. For fi-nancial reasons he could not visit all DCI na-tional sections, and recommended his succes-sor to intensify country visits, as they are anessential means for motivating national sections.

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Overview on the Pre-Assembly and the General Assembly (9th-11th March 2012)

Overview of the Pre-Assembly... (continue in page 2)









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Mr.KassisthankedallnationalsectionswhoexpressedtheirsolidaritytothePalestiniansectionduringtheWarinGaza,andalsototheColombiansectionwhenDCI’s offices were vandalized. The conferences ofPalestinein2010andUgandain2011wereseen,byMr.Kassis,asameansofexposureandvisibility forDCI,strengtheningitsoverallimage.Attheregionallevel,workshopswereconducted(Jordan)andotherprojects are currently underway. In addition, net-workswith other organizationshavebeen created.

TheAfrican Vice President of the International Ex-ecutiveCouncil(IEC),Mr.AbdulKemokai,confirmedthecompletionoftheactivitiesplannedforthetimeframe2009-2011.Animportantoutcometonotewasameetingheld inKenyaduringwhichcleartargetsweresetinordertoimprovejuvenilejusticeinAfrica.Mr.Kemokaialsoparticipatedinmanyforums(CivilSocietyOrganizationsForum)andconferences(Ethio-pia,Kampala),andvisitednationalsections(Liberia,Uganda).Accordingtothe IECmember,manychal-lengesarestilltobeovercome,includingthemulti-plicityanddiversityoflanguages,aswellastheissueoftravelcosts.Mr.KemokaialsocalledonnationalsectionspresentintheAfricanregiontobemorepro-active,andnottowaitforactionfromtheISandtheCouncil;healsonotedtheneedtofindotherwaystointerveneandtoparticipateintheinternationalarena.

Regarding theAmericas, a regional project involv-ing seven countries was established and meetingswereorganizedto improvethevisibilityof theDCImovement. Various alliances have also emerged,particularly with The Latin American and Carib-beanChapterof theGlobalMovement forChildren(MMI-CLAC),whichiskeyinthecoordinationofdif-ferentorganizations suchas the Inter-American In-stitute for Children, Save the Children, inter alia.DCI has also actively participated in the LatinAmericanForumonChildren,held inBuenosAires,andmany othermeetingswere organizedwith im-portant key players, notably the United NationsCommission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Jus-tice(CCPCJ)andtheInter-AmericanCommissiononHuman Rights. The Latin American regional proj-ect isprogrammedtoproceeduntil 2013,however

the budget has been subject to reduction, mak-ing it difficult to fulfill all the objectives set out.Finally, with regard to the DCI as an internationalmovement in Europe, itwas stressed that there isno coordination between the various national sec-tionspresentintheregion,primarilyduetofinancialreasons. Itwas suggested that a guide on JuvenileJustice be published, and that further research ontheissuetakeplace.Thelanguagebarrierandlackofcoordinationamong sectionswere recognizedaschallengesyettobeovercome.Tonotearethena-tionalsectionsofMacedoniaandSpain,whichweresuspended,failingtomaintaincommunication.Not-withstanding mentioned reproaches, some positiveactivitieshavetakenplace,includingtheConferenceonJuvenileJusticeheldinBrussels,towhichthema-jorityofsectionsinEuropeandtheMiddleEastpar-ticipated;duringthisconferencecertainissueswereraised,suchas:theimprovementofjuvenilejusticeandsecuringfreelegalassistance.Nevertheless,thecoordinationofnationalsectionspresentinEuropeisataskwhichisdifficulttoachieve,mostlyduetothefactthateachnationalsectionpossessesitsownspe-cificprioritiespertinenttoitsownnationalcontext.

Sunday, March 11th, 2012 symbolized the last dayof a long week of training and exchange on thefuture of the DCI Movement. Topics discussed onthis day included DCImembership, specifically thecurrent situation of national sections and the ob-tainment of DCI accreditation. Altogether aboutthirty national sections were present at the IGA.Two national sections were accepted as definitivemembers: Liberia (new organization) and Zimba-bwe (formerly known as ‘New Hope Foundation’).

ElectionsformembersoftheInternationalExecutiveCounciltookplace;newlyelectedmembersinclude:Mr.BenoitVanKeirsbilck(Belgium),President;Mr.Dé-siréAroga(Cameroon),Treasurer;Mr.AbdulKemokai(Sierra Leone), African Representative; Mr. JuanFumeiro(Uruguay), Americas Representative; Ms.PerlaRibeiro(Brazil),Memberatlarge;Mr.RifatKas-sis(Palestine),VicePresidentAsiaandOceania;Mr.AloysvanRest(Netherlands),VicePresidentEurope.


Overview of the Pre-Assembly ... (continued from page 1)






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Presentation of the newly elected members of the International Executive Council (IEC)

I am currently the president of DCI Belgium andhave beenmember of the International ExecutiveCouncil (IEC) for two terms (elected in 2005 andreelectedin2008),actingastreasurerandnowasthe current president of the IEC.My commitmentinthefieldofchildren’srightsisconsiderable:Di-rectorofthe‘Children’sRightsService’(InFrench:Services droit des jeunes – S.D.J.) in Brussels formorethantwentyyears;ChiefeditoroftheNews-paperforYouthRights(InFrench:«JournalduDroitdesJeunes–JDJ);Foundingmemberandpresidentof the Defense for Children International (DCI) inBelgium; and founding member of the Coordina-tion of Child Rights NGOs (Coordination des ONGpour lesdroitsde l’enfant -CIDE), amongothers.

DCIhasgreatpotentialandIamconvincedthatitispossibletousethispotentialinamuchmoresub-stantialway,makingarealdifferenceinpromotingtherespectforchildren’srights.Thevariousstruc-tures of the Movement: sections, regional offices(whichdonotexistinallregions),theInternation-al Secretarial (IS) and the International ExecutiveCouncil(IEC),bringanimportantdimensiontothe

Movement; it is only reasonable to better coordi-natethesevariousstructuresinordertoguaranteethemoreefficient progress of theMovement as awhole.ThefivedifferentWorkingGroups,whichmettopreparetheGeneralAssembly,embodyanimpor-tant dynamism for the improvement of theMove-ment, and will hence play a crucial role therein.

Organizing the Kampala Conference; membershipin the NGO Advisory Council on the follow-up tothestudyonviolence(nowofficially‘InternationalNGO Council on Violence against children’); host-ingoftheInteragencyPanelJuvenileJustice(IPJJ);partnershipsbuiltwithotherNGOs;involvementintheCommitteeontheRightsoftheChild;etc.areallverypositivesigns.TheDCIMovementisinfactmade up of many internationally recognized ex-perts.However,wemust remainaware that chal-lengesarestillconsiderableandmanyaspectshaveyettobeimproved.Astrong,united,committedanddeterminedfrontisneededinordertomeetthe-ambitiousbutpracticable–objectivesoftheMove-ment;andallactors involved,both internallyandexternally, must have clear and structured roles.


Presentation of the newly elected members... (continue in page 2)

Mr. Benoit Van Keirsbilck (Belgium), President

“I wish to participate in the development of a strong, united, committed and determined movement that consistently puts children’s rights in the center of its concerns and denounces

human rights violations”






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Presentation of the newly elected members... (continued from page 1)



Mr. Désiré Aroga ( Cameroon), Treasurer

“I wish to participate in the development of a strong, united, committed and deter-mined movement that consistently puts children’s rights in the center of its concerns

and denounces human rights violations”

Since 1993 (establishment of theDCI national section in Cameroon),I have consistently acted as a advo-cate for the DCI Movement, and Ihavealwaysworkedfortheenhance-ment and progress of the Movementwithin the national context of Cam-eroon, and wherever other pos-sible opportunities arose (i.e. duringour formal and informal meetings).

During these past 19 years of advo-

cacy, Ihavebeenable toacquireanextensiveexperience,whichIhumblyput at the service of DCI Cameroon,andofotherchildrightsorganizationsworking alongside DCI in Cameroon.

Idonotdoubtmysuccessfulpromotionwithin the DCI Movement: thanks tomyaforementionedexperience,whichhas infactenabledmeestablishtieswith relevant people and structurespresentbothinAfricaandworldwide.

Mr. Abdul Kemokai ( Sierra Leone), Vice President Africa

“DCI should be recognized as the most resourceful organization for juvenile justice by the African Union, UN field offices and other important CSOs”

CurrentlytheexecutivedirectorofDCI-SierraLeone,IhavebeenpartoftheDCImovementsince2003,andIamnowDCIvicepresidentforAfrica.

MyvisionforDCIisthatofaMove-ment that has strong presenceworldwide, through its sustainableand resourceful national sections.In Africa in particular, DCI shouldberecognizedbytheAfricanUnion,UN field offices and other impor-tant CSOs as the most resource-ful organization for juvenile jus-tice,thesameway-orevenmoreso – as theMovement’s reputationwithintheUNofficeinGeneva.DCI

shouldbeabletocountonastrongresource base, with many impor-tant allies that can contribute toitsworkbothtechnicallyandfinan-cially. The Movement is envisagedtobeenrichedwithqualityhumanresources that have strong valuesand passion for children’s rights.

ItishopedthatDCIwillbeabletostrengthen its IS and establish subregionaloffices thatpossessa sus-tainable resource base and clearvision.DCI shouldbecomeahouseholdnameatlocal,regionalandin-ternational level for theworkthatit does and examples that it sets.






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Mr. Juan Fumeiro ( Uruguay), Vice President Americas

“What role does the Movement play in the progress towards a more just, equitable and inclusive gift of children to fully enjoy their rights?”

Having been part of the interna-tionalmovement forover20years,I am the current president of DCI-Uruguay, as well as recently elect-ed vice president of the Americas.

TheDCIMovementmustdefinespe-cific strategies in order to addressits objectives adequately, tacklingtherealissues,andcallingonstatesto implementcomprehensivepublicpoliciesthatpromotetheimplemen-tation and protection of children’srights.Asawayofencouragingsuch

promotion of children’s rights, thefundamentalissueofhealthmustcon-stantlybeconsidered:childrenmustbe healthy in order to enjoy theirrights,andtobehealthychildrenhavetobefed,educated,liveinadequatehousing,befreefromviolence,etc.

The core challenge of the Move-ment is therefore to achieve thesupport needed to realize our ob-jectives, and increasingly escalatethe momentum of the Movement.

Ms. Perla Ribeiro ( Brazil), Member at large

The existing global context challenges us to understand and work in a complex scenario in order to guarantee the human rights of children.

CurrentPresidentofANCED,DCI-Brazil,IamnowtakingontherecentlyelectedroleofRepresentativefortheAmericas.

The existing global context chal-lenges us to understand and work ina complex scenario in order to guar-antee the human rights of children.The challenges posed by models ofdevelopment, social inequalitiesand the criminalization of the youngpopulation of our countries have ledto serious human rights violations.

ANCED places great emphasis on theneed to understand that it is peoplethatholdaprincipleroleintheplight

forchildrenrights,aplightthatispartofa largermovementforthepromo-tion and defense of fundamental hu-manrights -whichare inalienable toall.Thisplightcallsforamulti -dis-ciplinarily, intersectional, profes-sional and multicultural approachin order to recognize and guaranteehuman rights holistically, by work-ingwithabroadviewtoprotectandprevent human rights violations, andbymaintaining a vision of emancipa-tionandempowermentofchildrenassubjects entitled to their very ownrights,inalliancewithothermarginal-izedandvulnerablegroupsthatareinneed,andseek,ofspecialprotection.






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Mr. Rifat Kassis ( Palestine), Vice President Asia and Oceania

During my terms as President, I sought to facilitate and strengthen the process of bring-ing national sections together and creating a culture of cooperation and solidarity.

IhaveservedasPresidentofthe IECand the DCI international movementforthepastsevenyears.Beyondthisposition, Ihave25years’experienceinthefieldofchildren’srightsattheinternational level, both in terms ofadministrative experience and workontheground.IhavealsoworkedasthedirectorofDCI-Palestineforfouryears, a position I currently hold.

DuringmytermsasPresident,Isoughtto facilitate and strengthen the pro-cess of bringing national sectionstogether and creating a culture ofcooperation and solidarity. This pro-cessandthisculture,generatedboththroughspecificprogramsandpractic-

esand through thegeneral toneand“spirit”oftheorganization,arewhatIbelievetobeoneofDCI’smostpress-ingneedsforconsideration;andgiventhe Movement’s richness of experi-enceandexpertise,itstruepotential.Ihopetocontinuecultivatinganen-vironment of collaborative and coor-dinated work within the Movement.Furthermore,duringmypresidency, Iledan initiativetoestablishnationalsections intheArabWorld,an initia-tive I would like very much to con-tinue. Ifeelthatthis initiativeposesan opportunity both to improve thestate of child rights resources in theregionandtodeveloppracticesofre-gionalworkwithintheDCImovement.

Mr. Aloys van Rest (Netherlands), Vice President Europe

“My belief is that only by working together we can develop and achieve a more impactful and suc-cessful movement”

I have been part of the DCI Move-ment since July 2010, prominentlyas Director of the Dutch Section.The primary duty of the DCI Move-ment is to influence public policiesof governments and institutions from achild’srightsperspective.Suchob-jectiveisrecognizablybroadandam-bitious, consequently the Movementmust be considerably more focused,andestablishstrategiesthatwillmakea substantial difference worldwide.

We all hold a personal responsibil-ity to strengthen the Movement, onboth a local and regional level. Wehave to develop plans to strengthenthe structure of the Movement. Itgoeswithoutsayingthatthefinancialcutswhichhaveoccurredinthepastyearscreateanadditionalchallenge.

I am eager to help and stimu-late the professionalization ofthe international Movement.






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DCI - Defence for Children International1 Rue de Varembé - Geneva - Tel : +41 22 734 05 58 www.defenceforchildren.org

The meeTing of the Latin American and CaribbeanChapter of the Global Movement for Children (MMI-CLAC) took place in Panama City in April. This en-tity ismadeupofacoalitionofkeyorganisationsandCivil Society networks involved in children’s rights.DCI attended the meeting, along with UNICEF andthe Latin-American Children’s Institute, inter alia.The main purpose of the meeting was to evalu-ate the results of the previously approved Strate-gic Plan; make the necessary adjustments for thetime frame 2012-2015; and elect a new Secretary.The MMI-CLAC evaluated the importance of continu-ing to participate in impact areas such as SICA (Cen-tral American Integration System), CARICOM (TheCaribbean Community) and MERCOSUR (South Ameri-can Common Market), which work for the economicand social integration of the Latin American region.Themeetingincluded,amongothers,thedistinguishedparticipation of Ms. Rosa María Ortíz, member of theOAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Ms.MartaMaurás, Vice-president of theUNCommittee ontheRightsoftheChild;Ms.CeciliaAmicama,representa-tiveofMs.MartaSantosPáis,SpecialRepresentativetotheSecretaryGeneralonViolenceagainstChildren;Ms.LidaGloriaLonzanodeDíaz,DirectorGeneraloftheNa-tionalSecretariatforChildhood,AdolescenceandFam-ily;andthePresidentoftheBoardofGovernorsoftheInter-American Institute for Children andAdolescents.

The adjustments approved in the meet-ing, and which are to be implemented in thetime frame 2012-2015, were the following:

- Violence: the issue of Juvenile Justicewas de-bated, taking into consideration the hard line propos-alsofStates,suchastheloweringofcurrentstandardswithin the region (i.e. reducing the minimum age ofcriminalresponsibility–whichhasoccurredinEcuador,Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay, inter alia). Coordinationandmonitormechanisms constitutemuch needed means in order tomake rightsa reality. In this sense,themonitoring of the national andregionalissueswillenableactionstobeorganised inorder toeconomiseefforts and take effective action.

- Participation: child participation (article 12,CRC) is still not quite considered a reality withinthe Region, thus to achieve this in an integral form,muchwork isneeded. It isnecessarytoworkwith im-pact areas in order to promote and implement par-ticipation, and in particular, obtain budget inclusion. - Investment: With regards to investment, a re-cent study by CEPAL (Economic Committee for LatinAmerica), showed that over 175 million children livein poverty in the LatinAmerican Region. The inequal-itygaphaswidenedconsiderably.Paradoxically, Stateshaveimprovedtheireconomies,increasedGDPandtaxcollection,yettheseadvancesarenotreflected inthemorevulnerable sectorsof thepopulation. Such situa-tioncallsfortheneedtobetteradministrateStatebud-gets, so that there is a fairer allocation of resources.

The MMI-CLAC promotes placing the ‘childhood’ top-ic on the regional agenda, and encourages moni-toring of the recommendations of both the UN Re-port on Violence and the UN Committee on theRights of the Child in each country of the Region.At a national level, national coalitions must bestrengthened and children’s voices must be included.On this point, the production of national roadmapsand monitoring mechanisms are regarded as crucial.

AsforthepresentationofcandidatestotheCommitteeontheRightsoftheChild,itwasconsideredvaluabletogivemaximumsupporttointegratetheCommitteewithmembers fromtheLatinAmericanRegion,suchas:Mr.Wanderlino (Brazil);Ms.Marás’ (Chile),who expressedherdesiretocontinueasmembertotheCommitteebutunderlinedthatitisultimatelyadecisiontobemadebytheChileangovernment,;and,ourcolleaguefromDCI-CostaRica,Ms.VirginiaMurillowhohasthesupportofthesocialnetworksinCostaRica,CentralAmericaandotherregions.DCIAmericasisfullyawareofthedecisiveimpact

potentialmembershiptotheCRC entails: a fundamental toolforthecoordinationandorganisation of actions topromote public policies forchildren within the Region.

Annual meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Chap-ter of the Global Movement for Children ( MMI- CLAC)

- Panama, 17 - 19 April 2012






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Representative of DCI - Palestine at UN Interna-tional Meeting


The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian PeopleconvenedanInterna-tionalMeetingontheQuestionofPalestineonApril3rdand4th,attheUnitedNationsOffice inGeneva.Thethemeofthemeetingwas:‘TheQuestionofPalestin-ianpoliticalprisoners in Israeliprisonsanddetentionfacilities: legalandpolitical implications’.Themeet-ing,keepingwithGeneralAssemblyresolutions66/14and 66/15 of 30 November 2011, aimed to furtherraiseawarenessofthesituationofPalestinianpoliticalprisonersandmobilizethedeterminationoftheinter-national community to bring this issue to a solution.

OnbehalfofDCI–Palestine,Mr.KhaledQuzmarpartici-patedasspeakeratthefirstplenarysession(03April),which addressed the current situation of Palestinianpolitical prisoners in Is-raeli jails and detention facilities, particularlythe legal and humani-tarian aspects, pro-viding insight into thesituation of imprisoned members of vulnerable groups,suchaswomen,minorsandsickpersons,andtheurgencyoftheirprotection. Mr. Quzmarhighlighted that thereareover4,300prisonersareheldinIsraelideten-tion, out of which 216are children. Over thepastdecadeover8,000children have been ar-rested,furthermore,childrenareoftendetainedwithadults,humiliatedandexposedtoill-treatmentwhichhasasevereimpactontheirhealthydevelopment.TheDCIrepresentativewentontostressthatthepoliciesof the OccupyingAuthority are abusive and contrarytointernationalhumanrightslaw,statingthattheUNSecurityCouncilmust takeup its responsibilities androle, and call on Israel to honour its commitments.

Mr.JanBorgenoftheInternationalCommissionofJu-rists reiterated that Israel is in fact bound by inter-national humanitarian and human rights law, stating

that administrative detention systematically violatesinternational law and that the way Israel uses mili-tary detention is ‘patently illegal’. Borgen went ontomention the so called ‘Unlawful Combatants Law’which is applied to anyone who takes part in hos-tilities, directly or indirectly, against Israel; this lawpermits detention for up to fourteen days and de-nies legal assistance for up to twenty-one days.

Mr.MohammadAlbattaofthePalestinianMinistryofPris-oners’Affairsstatedtheneedforthereintegrationofliberatedprisoners:detaineesoftensufferpsychologi-callyfrompost-traumaticstressdisorder(PTSD).Sofar20,000peoplehavebenefittedfromtherehabilitationprogramsputinplacebytheMinistry,oftenenrollinglaterintouniversityorstarting-uptheirownbusiness–

collateralaffectsofdetention includescarce employ-ment possibilities,which also have asevere repercus-sion on the econ-omy as a whole.

Ms. Lama OdehSharif, psycho-so-cial supervisor ofthe rehabilitationprogramme at theYoung Men’s Chris-tian Association,pointed out theconsequences andimpactoftheIsraeli

occupation: traumatic situation for children, wheregenerations have beenmarked for life and thereforesocietyatlargeisjeopardised.Childrenareparticularlyaffectedbydetention,astheirnaturaldevelopmentisdisrupted-morethan95%ofchildrensufferfromPTSD. More information on this top-ic, is available on DCI Palestine website.Check out the latest DCI-Palestine report:‘Bound, Blindfolded and Convicted - Childrenheld in military detention’ (available online).



http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/com.htm

http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/com.htm

http://www.dci-pal.org/

http://www.dci-palestine.org/sites/default/files/report_0.pdf



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Working group on Children and Violence


DCi – inTernaTional SeCreTariaT (iS) acts as conve-noroftheWorkingGrouponChildrenandViolence,a sub group of InternationalAction for Child Rights(formerly known as the ‘NGO Group for the CRC’).

TheWorkingGrouponChildrenandViolenceactsasaplatformforinformation-sharingandstrategyworkwithrespecttofollow-upoftheUNStudyonViolenceagainstChildren(2006).TheWorkingGroupworksto-wards the implementation of the recommendationson violence against children put forward by theUNStudypresentedbyMr.PauloSergioPinheiroin2006.TheWorkingGroupactsasaglobalfocalpointforad-vancingtherecommendationsoftheUNStudyonVACthroughadvocacytowardskeyplayersinGeneva,no-tablytheUN,diplomaticmissionsandregionalinstitu-tions,incollaborationwithcivilsocietyorganizationsandnetworks.Specifically,theWorkingGroupworkscloselywiththeSpecialRepresentativeoftheSecre-taryGeneralonViolenceagainstChildren(SRSG/VAC),Ms. Marta Santos Pais, and the Special Representa-tiveoftheSecretary-GeneralforChildrenandArmedConflict, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, by puttingforward suggestions, following the mandates agen-daandcoordinatingactions,organisingevents,etc.

TheISpresentedanoralstatementonbehalfoftheWorking Group during the 19th session of the Hu-manRightsCouncilinMarchofthisyear.Thisstate-

ment addressed issues pertinent to this year’s an-nual full day meeting on children’s rights theme‘rights of children and administration of justice’.Specific topicsmentioned included: pre-trial deten-tion, conditions within detention centres, inadmis-sible sentencing measures, immigration detention.The promotion and implementation of child-friend-ly justice systems was also strongly encouraged.

Toviewthewebcast:(+)

Withinits2012workplan,theWorkingGroupintendsto: collaboratewith the Special Rapporteur on Vio-lenceagainstWomen,Ms.RashidaManjoo (violencemustbetackledasasystematicandcomplex issue:violenceagainstwomenhasdirectandindirectcon-squencesonchildren)andtheSpecialRapporteuronContemporary Forms of Slavery, Ms. Gulnara Shahi-nian. The Working Group on Children and Violencealso plans to participate in the presentation of theanalytical report of the High Commissioner on theadministration of justice, in particular juvenile jus-tice (which will occur in September); to take partin the Day of General Discussion ‘the rights of allchildren in the context of international migration’of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (alsotaking place in September) and to support the re-newal of the SRSG/VACmandate (set for October).



http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/03/dci-joint-statement-id-on-violence-and-the-sale-of-children-25th-meeting.html



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DCI Newsletter

Side Event on Kampala

ThiS marCh many activities took place in Geneva,withthepresenceandactiveparticipationofallDCInational representatives: an intensive training ses-sion,which includedattendancetothe19thsessionof the Human Rights Council; the DCI InternationalGeneralAssembly,with theelectionofanew Inter-national Executive Council; andthe participation to many sideevents – many of which werein fact organized by DCI itself.

DCI,incollaborationwiththeAf-ricanChildPolicyForum(ACPF),heldaspecificsideeventwhichfocused on the outcome of theKampala Conference – a globalconferenceonchildjusticeinAfricaheldinKampala,UgandainNovemberoflastyearandorganisedbybothaforementionedorganizations.Thesideevent,‘Child-friendlyjusticeinAfrica-Guidelinesonactionforchil-dren in the justice system inAfrica’, tookplace on

Thursday,March8th;Keynotespeakersincluded:Mr.GeroldVollmer,FirstSecretaryofthePermanentMis-sionofAustriatotheUN;Mrs.MartaSantosPais,Spe-cialRepresentativetotheSecretaryGeneralonVio-

lenceagainstChildren;Prof.JuliaSloth-NielsenalsoMemberoftheAfricanCommitteeofExpertsontheRightsandWelfareof theChild ;andMr.RifatKas-sis,formerPresidentDCI/DCI-Palestine.Duringthisevent the process for the adoption of the KampalaConferencewasdiscussed,consideringthebackgroundandfuturegoalsandchallenges.Theconceptof‘child

– friendly justice systems’wasconsideredonall levels:local, national, regional andinternational, drawing frominternationalchildren’srightsobligations and standards.

The role of States in imple-mentingchild–friendlyjustice

systemsandthecorrespondingresourceallocationforpoliciesandprogramswhichimplementsuchsystemswasalsohighlightedandstressed.Forfurtherinforma-tionontheKampalaConferenceanditsoutcomes(+) .

It is important that the follow-up and implementa-tion of the outcomes of the Kampala Conferenceremainconsistentandenhancedby the internation-al DCI Movement; much more has yet to be done.



http://www.kampalaconference.info/





Focus on : DCI Angola

angola, a CounTry borDering The republiC of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia andZambia, is the second largest Portuguese speak-ing country in Africa as regards size and the thirdlargest as regards population. Luanda is its capital.

Angolaisacountry,whichuntil2002,wassufferingfromcivilwarleadbytheguerrillagroupsthatlastedfor27yearsandresultedin:thedeathofnearly500,000peo-ple,thedisplacementoffourmillionpeople,andtheto-taldestructionofagricultureandtransport.Thecoun-trywasthereafterforcedtodependonitsoilexports. DCI - Angola was established in1996. In total there are 15 volun-tary staff members working there,including permanent members whowork hard to accomplish the sec-tion’s various tasks. The sectionalso works in close collaborationwithotherentities,suchastheMin-istry for Welfare and Social Inclu-sion,theMinistryforEducationandCulture, UNICEF, and many others. The vast majority of the section’sactivities primarily aim to promotethe social and professional reinte-gration of children who were in-volveddirectlyorindirectlyinthewar:havingactedasfighters,spiesorequipmentsmugglers.Moreover,many children suffered directly from the effects ofthe war - attacks, injuries, kidnappings, deaths offamily members, separation, or even psychologicaltraumascausedbythewaritself.Thesechildrenweredeprived of education, food and healthcare whilstliving in conditionsofextremehardship,whichalsostifledtheirdevelopment.InAngolafamiliesoftendonothavethemeanstomeettheirbasiclivingneeds.

IndeedtheobjectiveofDCI–Angolaistoreintegratethese children into the labour market by involving

them in apprenticeships(i.e. upholstery training),but also by familiarisingthem with the Conven-tion on the Rights of theChild (CRC) and by offer-ing them adequate socio-psychological support.

DCI-Angola,hasrecentlyimplementedthefollowingprojects:

• In 2009, DCI - Angolaorganised training sessions in primary schools, target-ing over 500 children andaddressing themes such as:crime, child labour, sexualandcommercialexploitationofchildren;• From July to November2009,morethan500childrencametogethertoparticipatein a football tournament; • In2010,forgreatervis-ibility,thesectionoptedforseminar cycles which tookplace in local churches,

schools and police stationswithinthethreemunicipalitiesofthecapital(Sambi-zanga,CazengaandCacuaco):o Seminaronthesexualexploitationofchildren(March15th&May11th)o Seminaronchildlabour(July7th)o Seminar on children in conflictwith the law(September14th)o Workshoponchildlabour(October24th)• In2011,DCI-Angoladevelopedvariousprojectswhichwerepresentedtodonors,andarewaitingtoreceivefunding.Ithasalsorecentlysetupa‘one-off’projectforschools.





5



News - from the national sections

dCi- BeLGiUM

DCI–Belgium,incollaborationwithDynamoInternationalandwiththesupportoftheEuropeanCommission–PROGRESSProgramme,publishedaguideon‘DefendingChildren’sRightsinEurope(APracticalGuide)’.The guide highlights the gap between formal rhetoric and substantial practice: how interna-tional documents promoting children’s rights are very often unknown and/or violated on theground; this guide tries to bridge this existing gap: explaining concretely how to activate in-ternational mechanisms and bring real experiences to the attention of the monitoring bodies.This publicationmay be of reference to anyone in contactwith children, andmore specifically forstreetworkerswhoaredirectwitnessesoftheincomplianceandviolationofinternationalstandards. dCi- IVORY COAST

dCi- PaLesTine

New DCI- Palestine report on the recruitment of children in armed conflict

OnApril,23rd2012,DCI-Palestinereleasedareport:RecruitmentandUseofPalestinianChildren inArmedConflict.The recruitmentanduseofchildreninarmedconflictisprohibitedunderinternationallaw,andcantakemanyforms,rangingfromdirectinvolvementinfighting,tosubsidiaryroles,suchasactingasinformants.Theprohibitionalsoincludesusingchildrenashumanshields.ThereportfindsthatinthecontextofthemilitaryoccupationofthePalestinianTerritory,bothIsrael and Palestinian armed groups have violated the prohibition.

The report covers an eight year period between 2004 and2011 (the reporting period), and identifies three circumstanc-es where children are particularly vulnerable to recruitment by both parties to the conflict:

• TheuseofchildrenashumanshieldsbytheIsraeliarmy;• TherecruitmentofchildrenasinformantsbyIsraeliinterrogators;and• TheuseofchildreninhostilitiesbyPalestinianarmedgroups.

Thefullreportisavailableon lineandhardcopiesareavailableonrequest.


The“AFLATOUN”programwillintroducecivicandmoraleduca-tionwithin the pre- and primary schools of the Cote d’Ivoire.This program was created by DCI - Cote d’Ivoire and is sup-ported by Citibank. It teaches children ‘the respect for com-mitment, savings,honesty,doing things thebestwaypossible,sharing feelings and being kind’. The launch of this new pro-gram - which is going to educate future Ivoirians and teachthe aforementioned fundamental values - took place during aceremonyheldat theEPPPort-Boët1B,onMarch23rd2012.

Findthefullarticle(+)

News from the national sections... (continue in page 2)



http://www.dci-palestine.org/documents/new-dci-report-recruitment-children-armed-conflict

http://news.abidjan.net/h/430257.html



5



DCI- Palestine: Annual General Assembly

On April 20th 2012, DCI-Palestine held its annu-al General Assembly at DCI’s main office in Ramallah.During themeeting, the narrative and financial reportswerepresented. The General Assembly members acknowledgedtheachievementsofDCI-Palestineanditsstaff,andthusex-pressed their appreciation.Thenelections for thenewboardof directors were held, the new list of board members in-cludes:Ms.RandaSiniora(President);Mr.ZakariyaOdeh(VicePresident); Ms. Fatima Daana (Secretary); Mr. Husam Sababa(Treasurer);Mr. FayezAl Fasfous (Member);Ms. SulaymaAbuAl Haj (Member);Mr. Mahmoud Jiddeh (Member);Ms. Maj-douleenAssaf (Member);Mr. HassanAbedAljawad (Member).

dCi- ZIMBABWE

Greetings toallChildRightsDefenders .Wewrite to introduceyou toournewwebsite,andour fa-cebook page ; both are child rights advocates’ platforms managed by DCI – Zimbabwe directly.Thesemeansareourwayofreachingouttoourbeneficiariesandpartners inZimbabweandaroundthe Globe; an open platform to communicate and share ideas with us and to promote the spir-it of networking aswework to build a child rights violations responsivemechanism for Zimbabwe.

dCi- URUGUAY

DCI Uruguay has renewed its website and hopes to provide better service and information exchange for those involved or interested in issues of childhood and adolescence in Uruguay and elsewhere. The new website includes a cover page with news updates on the situation of local children, and will gradually add new spaces for public interaction. Beyond improving the website for visitors, this page includes new management tools and management for ongoing projects. The online devices aim at the professionalization of the socio educational approach and the construction of bridges with other NGOs, INAU (the Uruguayan Institute for Children and Adolescents) and the juvenile justice system.


News from the National Sections ... (continued from page 1)



http://dci-zimbabwe.webs.com

http://www.facebook.com/dcizimbabwe

http://www.facebook.com/dcizimbabwe

http://www.dniu.org.uy/



Documents

DCI Newsletter - Defence for Children · Thsi is T he firs T Newsletter of a new phase for DCI, a phase which started with the XI Inter-national General Assembly - IGA (March, 2012)