UN Committee to review Ireland’s record on children’s rights

GENEVA (7 January  2016) – Children’s rights in Ireland will be reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 14 January in sessions that will be webcast live.

Ireland is one of the 196 states that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and so is required to undergo regular examinations of its record by the Committee of 18 independent experts.

The CRC members will hold discussions with a delegation from the Irish Government on how the Convention is being implemented. The Committee will base its evaluation on the delegation’s replies, as well as information from civil society groups.

These are among the possible issues to be discussed: Impact of austerity measures; freedom of religion and belief, measures to ensure children not denied a school place on religious grounds; accountability for sexual abuse by religious leaders and in religious organizations; legal definition of “real and substantial risk” under Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013; steps to ensure asylum-seeking, refugee, migrant, Traveller and Roma children not excluded from primary care, child benefits and social protection; support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children.

The full list of issues and Ireland’s submitted written report can be found here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=924&Lang=en

The CRC’s meetings with the Irish delegation will take place in Room XXIV at Palais des Nations on 14 January from 10:00 – 18:00 and will be webcast here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.

The CRC will hold a news conference to discuss its findings on Ireland and the other countries being reviewed - Senegal, Iran, Oman, Latvia, France, Haiti, Peru, Maldives, Zimbabwe, Maldives, Zambia, Benin, Brunei and Kenya – at 12:00 on 4 February at the Palais des Nations. The findings, officially called concluding observations, will be published on 4 February here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=924&Lang=en

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell (+41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org

Media accreditation for the Palais des Nations:   http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

To learn more about the Committee on the Rights of the Child, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc

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