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Council of Ministers considers draft report on the rights
of children, 21 November 2006
The Council of Ministers has discussed a draft report on the
implementation in Timor-Leste of the United Nation's International
Convention on the Rights of Children.
The report - with some minor amendments - is expected to be resubmitted
to the Council of Ministers on Thursday (November 23) to be approved
and forwarded to the UN Secretary-General.
The Prime Minister Dr José Ramos-Horta told a seminar
attended by children from schools and orphanages in Dili that
the Government has an obligation to prepare a detailed report
on these matters and submit the report to the treaty body in Geneva.
"Timor-Leste ratified the Convention on the Rights of the
Child in 2002 - along with all other human rights conventions.
We were one of the few countries in the world to ratify all of
the human rights conventions," Dr Ramos-Horta said.
"But ratification of any international treaty implies the
government has to adapt laws and policies consistent with the
obligations deriving from those conventions. One of the obligations
of states that have ratified treaties is to submit a detailed
report to the Secretary-General of the UN, who then forwards it
to the treaty body in Geneva."
The one-day seminar was organised by UNICEF and the Ministry
of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. The seminar was held at
the Ministry of Education Culture and Sports Hall and was originally
scheduled to be held on May 30, which is National Children's Day,
however it was delayed because of the crisis.
Dr Ramos-Horta said Timor-Leste was the first country in the
world to pioneer a simplified reporting technique concerning convention
reports that is less cumbersome and repetitive. He said it consisted
of one basic document similar to all other conventions and then
a second document of the report specifically dealing with the
rights of the child. This format is being adopted by other countries
including Australia, Afghanistan and Angola.
"Former Timor-Leste human rights advisor Katherine Anderson
traveled to Afghanistan to help the authorities there establish
a similar reporting format," Dr Ramos-Horta said.
"Supporting children is part of national policy and our
Constitution sets out the obligations of every person in Timor-Leste
towards our children.
"While the First Constitutional Government of Timor-Leste
immediately ratified this Convention, there might be some areas
where Timor-Leste law may need to be amended to ensure it can
be applied in practice."
Dr Ramos-Horta said the report submitted to the last Council
of Minister was presented by his Human Rights Advisor Joaquim
Fonseca, an experienced human rights activist.
"The report will be resubmitted on Thursday to the Council
with some minor updates of facts and when approved will be forwarded
to the Secretary-General," Dr Ramos-Horta said.
"I thank the UN Office for Human Rights Commission for its
very generous assistance which was critical in enabling Timor-Leste
to fulfil its reporting obligations. The report called for a major
effort in consultation.
"The staff of MNEC initiated this report and it took almost
two years of hard work in gathering the data from across Government
agencies, and extensive travel to all districts to listen to people
on the ground.
"This process served to educate everyone about the content
of the treaty."
The Prime Minister praised the staff of MNEC, Ms Anderson, the
UN's Human Rights Unit in Dili, and UNICEF for their outstanding
contribution in making the treaty a reality. November 20 is the
day on which the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of
the Rights of the Child in 1959 and also the Convention on the
Rights of the Child in 1989.
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