COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD HOLDS DAY OF GENERAL DISCUSSION ON RESOURCES FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today held a day of general discussion on the theme of resources for the rights of the child – responsibility of States, focusing on investments for the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights of children and international cooperation.

Yanghee Lee, the Chairperson of the Committee, introducing the discussion, said the day of general discussion was an annual event where important issues could be discussed and experiences could be shared. Today, the theme of the discussion was the second part of article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provided that, with regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties should undertake such measures to the "maximum extent" of their "available resources". Today's discussions would reflect on what those two concepts of "maximum extent" and "available resources" meant for States parties.

Kamal Siddiqui, Member of the Committee and keynote speaker, said that article 4 was an essential instrument to implement the whole Convention effectively. To do that three things needed to be examined: political will, factors affecting resources available for children, and factors affecting the maximum extent of resources being made available to children.

Patrick Reichmuller of the World Bank, delivering a statement on behalf of the World Bank's Middle East and North Africa Region, said evidence was increasingly demonstrating that the political and economic costs of not investing in children and youth could be staggering – as evidenced in risky youth behaviours such as teenage pregnancy, school leaving, crime and HIV/AIDS. He noted that the World Bank was the world's largest lender for education and health, spending over $30 billion in the last decade on those two sectors most directly related to children and youth outcomes.

Eibe Riedel, Member of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, noting that the second sentence of article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child took up almost verbatim the wording in article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, went on to draw parallels between the interpretation of that obligation of States parties by the two Committees. He underlined that resource constraints alone did not alter the immediacy of the obligation, nor could they justify inaction.

After hearing these statements, the Committee was divided into two Working Groups to discuss the available resources and their allocation to children and the use of resources to the maximum extent. After the Working Groups met separately, their Rapporteurs summed up their work in the plenary.

Hatem Kotrane, Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the Working Group on the use of resources to the maximum extent, said participants had affirmed that States had to ensure the broadest possible enjoyment of relevant rights under its particular circumstances, and in particular to ensure those rights to the most vulnerable groups of children. In particular, any decisions of allocation of resources should be monitored to ensure that they were not discriminatory, and did not impact negatively on a particular group of children.

Lucy Smith, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Working Group on the available resources and their allocation to children, said the most important theme of their discussions had been budgeting for children. Participants had emphasized the need for transparency in the budget process, and that the budget should be readable and accessible by children. It had been suggested that members of the Ministry of Finance should be present when delegations from State parties made presentations before the Committee.

Children from Peru, in a video message, made a number of recommendations in this area. Among them, they recommended that children's representatives took part in discussing in local and national budgets; that in setting priorities for budget for public investment, that maximum priority should be given to children; that in school curricula, children had to have the information and knowledge that would enable them to understand the budgeting process and the allocation of funds to children; and that civil servants awareness needed to be raised with regard to involving children in budgeting issues concerning them.

Norberto Liwski, former Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in concluding comments, said among conclusions reached today were the importance of the Human Development Index, an appropriate, objective universal indicator; that participation of children's organizations should be enabled both at the design and the audit phase of budgetary process; and that there was a need for a rights-based approach in any national children's plans.

Chairperson Lee, in brief concluding remarks, said populations were aging, and Governments were increasingly tending to want to spend on those populations. The task of those here today was to ensure that the focus was kept on children.

The findings of today’s deliberations will be expressed in recommendations at the end of the session, and then in a General Comment.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Monday, 24 September at 10 a.m., when the Committee will take up the initial reports of Bulgaria under both of the Optional Protocols to the Convention – on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPAC/BGR/1 and CRC/C/OPSC/BGR/1)

Opening Statements

YANGHEE LEE, Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, introducing the discussion, said the day of general discussion was an annual event where important issues could be discussed and experiences could be shared. Today, the theme of the discussion was the second part of article 4 of the Convention, the fulfilment of which was essential for the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in its second part, provided that, with regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties should undertake such measures to the "maximum extent" of their "available resources". Today's discussions would reflect on what those two concepts of "maximum extent" and "available resources" meant for States parties.

KAMAL SIDDIQUI, Committee Expert and keynote speaker, began by noting that, under the first part of article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, "States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention". In its second part, however, it provided that "with regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties shall undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation." In Article 4, resources essentially meant financial resources, but they also included human and organizational resources. "Maximum extent" meant to aim at maximum positive changes, qualitative as well as quantitative, and should be achieved despite the financial resources of the country concerned and as quickly as possible. However, that provision did recognize the situation of the country concerned, and thus progressive implementation was possible.

Article 4 was an essential instrument to implement the whole Convention effectively, Mr. Siddiqui observed. To do that three things needed to be examined: political will; factors affecting resources available for children; and factors affecting the maximum extent of resources being made available to children. The allocation of maximum resources for children was only possible where a strong commitment to child rights existed, as expressed in political manifestoes, national plans for children, the prominent status of a Ministry for Children, a Children's Ombudsman, and effective legislation on children's rights. Strong political will meant that there would be a maximum amount of resources. Factors effecting available resources for children included the strength and efficacy of the taxation system and a stringent implementation of them; the extent of the taxable population; efficiency and lack of corruption of the officials responsible for the system. There were also social factors, such as concentration of political power in the hands of unproductive member of the society, trade and productivity. Factors affecting the maximum allocation of resources for children included regular adjustments to budgets for children and targeted, monitored allocation; maximal use of resources available; close coordination between service providers; and a continued effort to enhance resources for children through training and educational improvements, among others

PATRICK REICHENMILLER, of the World Bank, delivering a statement on behalf of the World Bank's Middle East and North Africa Region, said that, to build a brighter future for the world, there was no way around investing in its children and youth, and he would like to illustrate some of the ways that the World Bank had been supporting that agenda. Children represented the greatest leverage point for investments to build human and social capital. Moreover, evidence was increasingly demonstrating that the political and economic costs of not investing in children and youth could be staggering – as evidenced in risky youth behaviours such as teenage pregnancy, school leaving, crime, and HIV/AIDS. The lifetime cost to premature school leavers in the Middle East and North Africa region amounted to between 3 and 4 per cent of gross domestic product on average, with costs to some countries reaching upwards of 10 per cent. Despite those scary figures, with sound policies and prudent investments, the energy and creativity of an educated and healthy population could be leveraged to improve the lives of the poor and to jump-start growth. In East Asia, between 1965 and 1990, there had been tremendous growth in the under 24 population, but through a strong education system, health advances and growth policies such as trade liberalization, the national economies of East Asia had been able to absorb and benefit from their boom generation, as evidenced in the East Asia Miracle.

The World Bank was the world's largest lender for education and health, spending over $30 billion in the last decade on those two sectors most directly related to children and youth outcomes. The Bank had also contributed significantly to addressing the issues of poverty, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, social protection and social development. Total Bank lending for Early Childhood Development projects had amounted to some $1.5 billion between 1990 and 2005. In addition, the Bank was intensifying its support for reaching out to the most vulnerable children and youth, in programmes such as a joint interagency research programme called "Understanding Children's Work and its Impact", launched in 2000 with the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and "Changing Minds, Policies, Lives", a campaign with UNICEF to promote community services for children with disabilities deprived of parental care, and the aging. The Bank had also been investing in youth – those between 12 and 24. Since 1995, the Bank had invested over $8.8 billion in projects with youth components, representing an average annual increase of over 30 per cent.

However, those investments represented a small fraction of what was needed, Mr. Reichenmiller emphasized. Making available sufficient resources and focusing them on where they were most needed required collective action and partnerships between Governments, international agencies, and civil societies within countries. Part of the answer lay in global funds and other pooled resources such as the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Education-For-All Fast Track initiative. But equally important, countries themselves had to be committed to invest in children and youth. They had to dedicate both human and physical resources and to ensure that those resources were effectively spent. That meant that children and youth had to be a priority within countries' national development plans; that transparent and accountable governments had to underpin spending priorities; and that civil society and young people themselves were part of the process. Only through collective, participatory and accountable attention to children and youth would adequate resources be available and used to their "maximum extent" for youth. The world over, children and youth were looking to those represented in the room to help build a world of prosperity. For its part, the World Bank was committed to help unlock the potential of children and young people.

EIBE RIEDEL, Member of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, noted that the second sentence of Article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child almost took up verbatim the wording of Article 2, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The idea of "progressive realization", as elaborated by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, had also been taken up by the Child Rights Committee, even though article 4 did not mention it specifically, and it had also adopted the same approach as his Committee so that even where the available resources were demonstrably inadequate, the obligation remained for a State party to strive to ensure the widest possible enjoyment of the relevant rights under the prevailing circumstances. The Committee on the Rights of the Child had gone on to stress, in a General Comment, that States were required, whatever their circumstances, to undertake all possible measures towards the realization of the rights of the child, and special attention had to be given to the most disadvantaged groups.

Progressive realization, as elaborated by the Committee on Economic, Social And Cultural Rights, was the principle of non-retrogression, which prohibited any deliberate step backward that could not be justified by severe economic difficulties or force majeure. But the modalities for achieving targets were up to States parties, and there was no one recipe for full rights realization. Accordingly, the Covenant's reference to the "maximum available resources" weighed heavily in that context, but left scope for different economic and financial allocations and budgetary discretion for Member States. In terms of "available resources", if States were unable to meet their obligations, they had to show at least that they had made serious efforts. If resource constraints posed insuperable barriers, then those States were obliged to seek cooperation and assistance. In that connection, for the Covenant, while obligations in this area fully respected the authority of the State to adopt whatever it considered the most appropriate policies, and to allocate resources accordingly, in doing so, States parties had to take deliberate, concrete and targeted steps within a reasonably short time after the entry into force of the Covenant. Resource constraints alone did not alter the immediacy of the obligation, nor could they justify inaction. Every State had to make all efforts, to the best of their ability, to provide the necessary minimum protection. Mr. Riedel recommended a similar approach for the Children's Rights Committee. In the end, they were not talking about a grand bouquet of everything that looked desirable as a political aim – but at the survival kit, the core rights minimum for every human being, needed for leading a life in dignity.

Summation by Rapporteurs of the Two Working Groups

HATEM KOTRANE, the Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Working Group on the use of resources to the maximum extent, said the Working Group, which had been chaired by Committee Member Jean Zermatten, had had a very fruitful and interactive dialogue. It had discussed two issues, focusing mainly on the definition of the precise nature and scope of obligation under article 4 on States to take adequate measures to promote the economic, social and cultural rights of children, and on what it meant to do that to "the maximum extent of available resources". Several statements had also focused on the fact that all rights of the child were interrelated and could not be seen as separate; and also that the maximum mobilization of resources for economic, social and cultural rights would have an impact on civil and political rights, such as the right to birth registry, and would have an effect on children being placed in institutional care.

Several issues were focused on: indicators on whether States had discharged their obligations adequately; measures to combat waste and adequate use of resources; and coordination mechanisms for evaluation and monitoring of follow-up that should be put in place at the national and international level to ensure proper utilization by States parties of their resources. Among other issues discussed, Mr. Kotrane continued, were principles and priorities guiding the use of available resources for children, and the role of international cooperation and the responsibilities of States, institutions and non-governmental organizations.

Regarding the parameters for measuring the degree and scope of implementation by States parties of their obligations under article 4, participants focused on the fact that the Convention imposed on States the duty of protecting economic, social and cultural rights for children, as well as proper use and allocation of resources. With regards to protection, that meant that States had to prevent violations of children's rights by third parties, including by monitoring and sanctions, including criminal sanctions. States should ensure procedures for monitoring proper use of resources allocated to children. Participants had also affirmed that all States had the responsibility to act immediately upon the entry into force of the Convention to implement its provisions, although treaties were implemented progressively. States also had to ensure the broadest possible enjoyment of relevant rights under its particular circumstances, and in particular to ensure those rights to the most vulnerable groups of children. In particular, Mr. Kotrane said, any decisions of allocation of resources should be monitored to ensure that they were not discriminatory, and did not impact negatively on a particular group of children.

As for non-governmental organizations, they should ensure cooperation with the relevant actors, so as to ensure equitable use of resources, among others. In terms of the Committee's role, Mr. Kotrane said that participants stressed the need for the Committee to continue its reflection on indicators that could demonstrate whether a State party's obligations were indeed fulfilled in this regard.

LUCY SMITH, the Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the Working Group on the available resources and their allocation to children, said participants had given some country-specific perspectives, necessary to understand the reality on the ground. The most important theme of their discussions had been budgeting for children. In budgeting for children there were many difficult issues to manage. The need for transparency in the budget process had been emphasized in the budget process, in particular inter-ministerial transparency. Revenue and expenditure information should be available to all governmental agencies, and the budgeting process should be opened up to the general public and civil society as well, so as to make clear the different choices that were being made in budgeting. The budget should be readable and accessible by children. In that connection, the social and financial education of children was stressed so that they could take part in the budgeting process themselves.

A participant had mentioned that a whole budget perspective had to be undertaken. The Committee should not just ask about child-specific funding, but also related issues. Opportunity cost in budget allocation was also discussed. A participant brought up the opportunity cost in relation to military spending, saying that spending on children should always be compared to the military spending of a given country. In that connection, Ms. Smith noted that that was already the Committee's practice, and that it compared spending on children to that on a number of different areas, including the military, but also on health, for example.

The importance of involving the Ministry of Finance had been underscored in discussions of the Working Group, and it had been suggested that members of the Ministry of Finance should be present when delegations from State parties made presentations before the Committee. That would be one of the recommendations coming out of the process today, Ms. Smith noted.

Another area that was brought up was that budgetary allocation was not only important to scrutinize at the national level, but also at the local level, Ms. Smith continued. Raising awareness in States parties of their obligations under article 4 was also mentioned, and some participants felt that States had a tendency to fund areas other than economic, social and cultural rights from their regular budgets, while looking for external funds for programmes in that area. The need to have a strong Minister for Children's Affairs was also emphasized, as a key factor in allowing for intergovernmental cooperation and furthering a children's agenda. Tax policy was another area to be explored, and participants felt that there was a need to "make the cake bigger".

Video Message from Children from Peru

In a video message from children from Peru, a child said he had taken part in activities affecting his jungle region of Saint Martin. One of the things they had worked on there was preventing child sexual tourism. Children there had also made proposals so that they would have the right to take part in the participatory budgets process. A child from the Central Andes region had also been involved in participatory budgets. Her group had set up a cultural house for children in her province. The children agreed that the Committee was an important place to discuss the budgetary situation regarding children. The children recommended to the Committee that children's representatives took part in discussing in local and national budgets; that the documents of the Committee all be translated; that, in setting priorities for budgets for public investment, maximum priority should be given to children; that national action plans for children should be allocated adequate funds for their implementation; that in school curricula, children had to have the information and knowledge that would enable them to understand the budgeting process and the allocation of funds to children; and that civil servants awareness needed to be raised with regard to involving children in budgeting issues concerning them.

Concluding Statements

NORBERTO LIWSKI, former Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in concluding comments, lauded the opportunity the days of discussion provided to establish new links between various stakeholders from different countries around the world. He wished to share some general conclusions on this day of discussion, which would have an impact on national budgets and programmes throughout the world. There was a new dynamism emerging in enabling conditions for the exercise of rights. It had now been 18 years since the Convention entered into force. It had reached the age of majority, and had to assume new responsibilities that came with maturity, that came with challenges as well.

They had heard substantive presentations from the over 120 participants in the two Working Groups, Mr. Liwski said. In addition, over 40 documents had been submitted in advance of the day, which showed the commitment of participants, who saw that a new field of work was opening up. The Committee's capacity to formulate its conclusions and recommendations in this area needed to be strengthened so that they could be more effective, including in the area of international aid, and calling upon international institutions to do more. The way the subject had been treated today made it clear that a rights-based, holistic approach was the right one in this area, highlighting the universality of children's economic, social and cultural rights, their indivisibility and the justiciability of those rights. That linked article 4 to all the rest of the rights guaranteed under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, such as the right to health, social services, and others.

This set of rights was seen in terms of progressive realization. That did not mean that States should postpone their immediate commitment and action on needs in this area, Mr. Liwski stressed. A critical review of models operating outside this focus was needed. Among conclusions reached today were the importance of the Human Development Index, an appropriate, objective universal indicator; that participation of children's organizations should be enabled both at the design and the audit phase of budgetary process; that there was a need for coordination of government at the national, local and regional levels; and that there was a need for a rights-based approach in any national children's plans.

YANGHEE LEE, Committee Chairperson, in final remarks, noted that today's topic was a very technical one in comparison with previous days of discussion. But it had been a great success as it had seen discussion from such a wide range of partners. The United Nations Children’s Fund had taken a very big part, and there had been participation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, academics and others to elucidate what article 4 could mean.

Populations were aging, and Governments were increasingly tending to want to spend on those populations. The task of those here today was to ensure that the focus was kept on children, Ms. Lee stressed. It was the State party that had to be held accountable; to do that indicators and benchmarks had to be set. But that should not be a checklist. As the children from Peru demanded, maximum priority had to be given to children. The slogan of the groups as they were working towards the Convention on Persons with Disabilities had been "nothing about us without us". That should be the Committee's slogan as well. It was children's right and their duty to participate in their country's budgetary planning on children.


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