Προστασία των δικαιωμάτων του παιδιού σε διεθνές και ευρωπαϊκό επίπεδο
Child rights protection in practice
Committee on the Rights of the Child
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is a body of independent experts that oversee the implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Member States bound by it. It also oversees the implementation of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention, the first dealing with the involvement of children in armed conflict and the second relating to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
All Member States are required to submit reports on the implementation of rights, as set out in the Convention, to the Committee at regular intervals. They are required to submit the first report within two years of their ratification of the Convention and every five years thereafter. The Committee examines each report and presents its concerns and recommendations to the Member State in the form of ‘concluding remarks’.
In addition, the Commission examines the supplementary reports submitted by the States that have signed the two Optional Protocols. The Commission also interprets all provisions relating to children’s rights in the form of general comments.
Greece and the Committee on the Rights of the Child
Α. The International Convention on the Rights of the Child
The International Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by Greece under Law 2101/1992 (Government Gazette A 1992). Since then, the Greek state has submitted reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2000 (initial report) and in 2009 (2nd and 3rd periodic reports). In addition, non-government organisations have submitted alternative reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the first in 2001 (as a follow-up to the original report) and subsequently in 2011 (following periodic reports 2 and 3).
The Network for Children’s Rights was one of the contributors of the last alternative report. The Ombudsman (following a review of the Second and Third Regular Reports) also submitted a report to the Commission entitled “Findings and Proposals of an Independent Authority for the Implementation of Children’s Rights in Greece (July 2003 – December 2011)”.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its first concluding remarks on children’s rights in Greece in 2002, in response to the initial report of the Greek State. Concluding remarks by the Commission were also issued in 2012 following the review of Greece’s second and third periodic reports.
B. Optional Protocols
The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict was ratified by Greece under Law 3080/2002 (Government Gazette A’ 312), while the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography was ratified under Law 3625/2007 (Government Gazette) A’ 290).
Greece submitted an initial report in 2010 on the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and in 2011 on the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography The Commission, in turn, responded to the two initial reports with concluding remarks in 2012.
About Us
The Network for Children’s Rights acquired non-profit organisation status in 2004, but actually began as an informal action group four years earlier with the aim of raising awareness of problems relating to the righs of children and interceding in order to solve them. It encourages initiatives and actions to ensure that the UN International Convention on the Rights of the Child is implemented in Greece, to guarantee respect for diversity and to put an end to discrimination.
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11Β Alkamenous Str., PC 104 39 Athens
+30 210 8846590
diktio@ddp.gr
