Swiss re-elected to UN child rights committee
08:06
Swiss re-elected to UN child rights committee
four years on the 18-member UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Swiss
Mission to the UN)
Swiss child rights advocate Jean Zermatten has been re-elected for a further
four-year term on the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child
(CRC).
The
extension of Zermatten's position on the 18-member committee, which oversees the
implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, is an
affirmation of Switzerland's position on human rights and development, the
country's ambassador to the UN in New York says.
Peter
Maurer expressed satisfaction at his colleague's appointment and told swissinfo
that the choice showed many states valued Zermatten's work and his understanding
of the complexity of the subject.
"I am glad to be able to continue my
work in the committee for another four years," Zermatten said after his
re-election. "I think the election is a sign of recognition for my work and my
commitment," he added.
Zermatten has served as a juvenile court judge in
French-speaking Switzerland and is the founder of the International Institute
for the Rights of the Child in Sion.
Serving children
Zermatten
says that in his capacity on the CRC, he does not represent the politics of
Switzerland – and that he will criticise when necessary.
Decades in the
child rights arena have allowed him to witness steps forward, he says but admits
there is still a great need for improvement.
"Among other things, I see
that in just 20 years since the Convention on the Rights of the Child, there has
been real progress. But there is still much to do, I am playing my
part."
The world must keep the promises it made to children and prove its
willingness to implement the convention, Zermatten said. But the responsibility
does not fall on governments alone – other actors including parents, schools and
NGOs must also cooperate for the convention to succeed, he
added.
Progress has been made in the areas of child mortality, child
labour and in the battle against the use of child soldiers over the past 20
years, Zermatten said, adding that there have also been greater efforts to
reduce abuse and prostitution of children as well as child pornography.
Closer to home
There
is also work to be done on the implementation of the convention in
Switzerland.
"Things look good in areas such as education, nutrition or
accommodation. What is still missing is the understanding that the rights of the
convention are comprehensive," Zermatten said.
"The message that children
have rights that they can autonomously exert is not yet fully understood in
Switzerland. We have to have more trust in the children."
Children are
still too often seen as objects rather than being taken seriously as having
their own rights, according to the expert.
"Information about the
convention must be improved. Children's rights must be communicated starting in
school. Teachers have to be trained to this end."
No domestic lobby
To
secure the participation of children in society, paradigms must be changed and
more political will is needed. "We have a political lobby for almost everything,
a lobby for cows or for SUVs but there is no real lobby for children's rights,"
Zermatten pointed out.
Initiatives in parliament usually come up one at a
time and relate to individual issues. What is missing is an overall approach to
child and family politics, he believes.
Today, the responsibilities are
split between the federal government and cantons, which makes coordinated
improvements difficult, Zermatten observed. There has been progress in divorce
rights, however. Today, children have their opinions taken into account in
decisions.
To be able to better implement the convention in Switzerland,
a national policy and action plan are needed, as well as a coordination between
the federal government, cantons and communes, Zermatten believes.
"And an
ombudsman is needed, who would represent and defend children's rights," he
said.
Zermatten says Switzerland has to expect criticism, in particular
in relation to the new laws on asylum seekers and foreigners, which are contrary
to guidelines relating to the detention of minors and family
reunification.
Switzerland will deliver its next report on the
implementation of the convention to the UN committee next
year.
swissinfo, based on an article in German by Rita Emch in New York