UN Committee hails Somalia’s ratification of Convention
on the Rights of the Child
GENEVA (2 October 2015) – The UN Committee on the Rights
of the Child welcomes Somalia’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on 1 October 2015 and repeats its call for universal ratification of
the Convention.
“We applaud Somalia for ratifying the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, as the 196 th State
to do so,” the Chairperson of the Committee, Benyam Dawit Mezmur, stated.
“Ratification is an important step that brings with it a commitment towards
implementation,” he added.
The Convention, which is the most widely ratified
international human rights treaty, sets out a number of children’s rights
including the right to life, to health, to education and to play, as well as
the right to family life, to be protected from violence, to not be
discriminated, and to have their views heard. While the Convention was adopted
just over 25 years ago, the rights it contains are as important today as in
1989. “The Convention is not counting its days, but making its days count, with
a view to continuing to improve the lived realities of children throughout the
world,” Mr Mezmur underscored.
The Committee repeats its call for universal ratification
of the Convention and looks forward to engaging with the United States, as the
last remaining State that is yet to ratify the Convention. We also urge States
to ratify the three legal instruments that address specific areas of children’s
rights, namely the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography;
the involvement of children in armed conflict; and enabling children to bring
complaints of serious violations of their rights to the Committee.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org .
BACKGROUND:
The Committee on the Rights of the Child monitors
implementation of the Convention by States Parties:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx
Convention on the Rights of the Child:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx
Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography
(ratified to date by 169 States):
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPSCCRC.aspx
Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed
conflict (ratified to date by 159
States): http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPACCRC.aspx .
Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure (ratified
to dat by 14 States). This gives
children who have exhausted all legal avenues in their own countries the
possibility of applying to the Committee.
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=A/RES/66/138&Lang=en
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