CRC leads meeting to discuss the rights of children.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community, UNICEF and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights are hosting a 3 days workshop in Samoa as part of the Committee on the Rights of the Child 10 days follow up visit to the Pacific.

Before convening in Samoa this week, the delegation of three members of the Committee visited the Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands and Tuvalu which were the three countries that were under review in the 84th Extraordinary Outreach Session  in 2020.

The CRC is leading the “The Regional Experience Sharing Workshop on Implementation of Recommendations” which brings together Pacific Island Country governments and all relevant partners to discuss children’s rights issues, including protection from violence and exploitation, protection in the administration of justice system, and protection and promotion of children’s rights in the context of environment and climate change.

The CRC Committee will listen to opportunities to improve children’s rights and good practice stories from the Pacific, as well as challenges and difficulties faced by governments, civil society, and children.

At the High level opening ceremony today, it included the Pacific Launch of the Committee’s general comment no. 26 on Children's Rights and the Environment with a Special Focus on Climate Change on the occasion of World Children’s Day (20th November). At the event, there was a huge participation of children from various schools in Samoa and had the opportunity to meet with the CRC members and to to discuss children’s rights.

The Honorable Minister of the Ministry of Women Community and Social Development Afioga Mulipola Anarosa Ale in her Keynote address reiterated on the Governments commitment to the protection of the rights of every child given, that Samoa ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994. However, there are existing gaps and needs that the Government is committed to support.

The UN Resident Coordinator Themba Kalua congratulated the organisers of the event, SPC, UNICEF and OHCHR and he specifically acknowledged the presence of the children at this event, as this event was about them and that we must ensure that the rights of the child is at the centre of everything we do.