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Report on the International Bureau for
Children's Rights conference: Making Children's Rights Work:
National and International perspectives
November 18-20, 2004
Montreal, Canada
by Megan Murphy-MacKenzie
Background: On November 20, 2004 the international community celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It was the CRC that led to the creation in 1994 of the International Bureau for Children's Rights (IBRC), an international non-governmental organization based in Montreal, Canada. The mission of the IBCR includes:
-inform and raise public awareness about children's rights;
-develop strategies and tools to promote children's rights and address violations of children's rights;
-and, support international, regional and national initiatives to implement children's rights;
General Summary of Conference: The conference held in Montreal from November 18-20, 2004 celebrated the 15th anniversary of the CRC and the 10th anniversary of the IBRC. Further, the organization of the Conference 'Making Children's Rights Work: National and International perspectives' confirmed IBCR's commitment to contribute to the implementation of the Convention.
Conference participants were predominantly domestic and international lawyers; although there was also representation from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics, field researchers, and social workers. The main theme of the conference was the implementation of the protocols of the CRC. Many of the speakers mentioned the 'gaps' between the concepts and ideals of the CRC and the 'realities' for many children. Education for practitioners and children themselves was delineated by many of the presenters as the key to promoting the CRC. Discussion groups were set up to facilitate networking and 'brainstorming.' These groups were extremely beneficial as they allowed for a level of idea sharing and information exchange that is not typically facilitated at international conferences. For example, within these groups I was able to introduce the Children and War Project at the University of Alberta and to discuss our research on the impact of war on children. I inspired great enthusiasm about the project and distributed numerous conference reports to those interested.
Although the conference title was 'National and International
perspectives,' the majority of the presentations referred to
the promotion and implementation of children's rights in Western
societies. However presentations from a variety of international
perspectives included: Mr. Toshiyuki Niwa, Deputy Executive
Director of UNICEF; Ambassador Moushira Khatta, Rapporteur for
the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and General Secretary
of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, Egypt;
Senator Landon Pearson, Advisor on Children's Rights to the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada; Ms. Maude de Boer-Buquicchio,
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe; and, Dr.
Willie McCarney, President of the International Association
of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates, Northern Ireland.
Full Report
[the file in *.doc format]
List
of Participants [the file in *.pdf format]
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