Nobel Prize Winner calls for the setting up of a Supreme Council for Children
Dr Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, has called on the government of Iran to establish a “Supreme Council for Children”. Dr Ebadi made the call whilst giving a lecture at the UNICEF office in Tehran on the status of children’s rights in Iran. She said that currently different bodies are involved in dealing with children and they are sometimes inconsistent with each other. “A Supreme Council would unify all the elements and be individually responsible for ensuring children’s rights are addressed in Iran,” she said. Dr Ebadi went on to describe the obligations required by everyone regarding the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). “The convention on the rights of the child is an international standard for children and has nothing to do with the West or East,” she said. “CRC implementation requires the cooperation of not only governments, but also families and the community, to meet the best interests of children.” She then went on to question Iran’s decision to ratify the CRC with “general reservations”, saying this violates the ratification and is against the nature of the Convention. She also said there needs to be a clear definition of the age of childhood in Iran. “There are many differences between girls and boys under Iranian law,” she explained. “If a boy and a girl, both aged 13, for example, break the law, the boy won’t be tried because he is under 15, which is the age of criminal responsibility for boys in Iran. The girl however, will be tried like a 40 year old person, because for a girl the age of criminal responsibility is nine.” The lecture, which is part of UNICEF’s Information Resource Centre’s monthly programme, began with a statement by 16 year old Sanam Payandeh, a UNICEF youth volunteer. She said the main problem in Iran was ignorance of the CRC. Sanam then appealed to all participants to take action to make people familiar with the CRC. “As efficient bodies of the community, you all can play a significant role in making people familiar with the CRC.” she stated. UNICEF Iran is working on the promotion of the CRC in two ways: A) Engaging religious scholars to advocate for child rights B) Ensuring project implementation includes a human rights based approach to programming at the local level. UNICEF is also supporting the Human Rights Commission in Iran to establish a national institution for children’s rights. The next lecture to be held at the IRC will be on “NGO’s working with/for children”.
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