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xCRC complaints mechanism opens for signature
Date: 20th February 2012
Category:
General measures of implementation
The Optional Protocol to the CRC on a complaints mechanism for children will open for signature at a signing ceremony on 28 February at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The new mechanism will allow children and their representatives to bring complaints to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child - the treaty body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the CRC - for violations against their rights. The creation of this new instrument illustrates the recognition that children, just like adults, should have equal access to international human rights bodies and the international system of accountability for rights violations.
The Optional Protocol is open for signature by any State that has signed, ratified or acceded to the CRC or either of the Convention's first two Optional Protocols on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
Get your State to sign!
To assist national lobbying to encourage your State to ratify the Optional Protocol, the NGO Group for the CRC prepared a sample letter (below), that may be adapted to suit the context of your country, and which you can send to relevant national institutions, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, or high-level individuals.