UN Study on children and violence

[Guest guest]

Dear friends and colleagues

Last year at the UN General Assembly Special Session for Children held in New

York in May, a global study on the issue of Violence Against Children was

announced. REcently an independent expert has been appointed and it is

extrememly important for NGOs and indiepedent activist to cooperate with this

expert so that the study may effectively relfect the situation of children and

the extent and character of the problem. I am pasting below a brief summary of

the developments:

Selection of the Independent Expert

The Secretary General has selected o Sérgio Pinheiro as the independent

expert to conduct the UN Study on Violence Against Children. Professor Pinheiro

is from Brazil, and currently serves as his government's Secretary of State for

Human Rights. (He will leave this post on December 31.) He serves as the UN

Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, and chair of the

UN Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. He is a

professor of Political Science and the Director of the Center for the Study of

Violence at the University of Sao o. He also has a law degree.

Bibliography

I am also attaching a format for a Bibliography being prepared for this study.

While I am aware that many of you are not specifically focussed on the issues of

children and/or violence I also feel that your specific work areas such as for

instance HIV and Aids or campaigning against large dams gives you some knowledge

of situations where violence of children either targeted individually or as part

of a community experienceing violence occurs, often frequently and systemically.

Perhaps some of your existing documentation has such information or reflects

such vulnerabilites of children of the groups you work with. If so I earnestly

request you to provide this information. to us.

You may send your compilation either to me or directly to Jo Becker.

(beckerj@...) I would of course appreciate a copy of whatever you send her.

The format that you are required to send it in for inclusion in the bibliography

is attached.

Since there is a very tight deadline ( the study is expected to be complete

early 2004) I request all of you to kinldy respond to this as early as possible.

This will also enable us to plan for meetings later on and even perhaps to

organise systematically that the expert be invited to visit India and see the

situation first hand.

Looking forward to your cooperation

Warm regards

E-mail: <anastasiapinto@...>

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