Switzerland NGO working group widening its network!

13 Mar 2009 |

Geneva, Switzerland: the Working Group of NGOs for Juvenile Justice will henceforth be jointly steered by two NGOs based in Geneva: Defence for Children International (DCI) and the Terre des Hommes International Federation (TDHIF). This Working Group aims to serve NGOs and national coalitions as a network and act as a focal point for everything related to juvenile justice, most notably with regards to the work of the United Nations. The Working Group is also concerned with specific pleas concerning themes or situations in relation to the most serious violations of the rights of children in conflict with the law: juvenile death penalty, abuses in preventive detention, the promotion of alternatives to imprisonment, minors held captive in armed conflicts, arbitrary executions, etc.

Until now, the Working Group has been composed only of NGOs active at the international level – and especially those with a presence in Geneva. The Working Group has largely been coordinating the contributions of various NGOs’ to the Committee of the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 10 on “Children’s Rights in Juvenile Justice”, published in 2007.

The group would now like to widen its network to include partners working at national levels. This would allow a regular exchange of information on the general situation of juvenile justice, and more specifically on cases of serious violations linked to juvenile justice. In turn, this flow of information will support and strengthen our plea-making activities and of denouncement of the most serious violations of the rights of children in juvenile justice systems. National coalitions of NGOs represent ideal partners for the functioning of such a system. The aim is to develop a strong centre for documentation (including studies, reports, results of investigation and research) which will be invaluable in analyzing the socio-economic, cultural and political contexts of juvenile justice systems wherein serious violations are prone to happen.

This Working Group, acting as a “network of networks” in the domain of intervention into juvenile justice, could be equally useful to partners in their work:

• to support partners in their initiatives aimed at promoting juvenile justice and improving laws and procedures according to international norms;
• to serve, if necessary, as a relay between partners and the United Nations
• to provide partners with information, documentation or assistance necessary, for example, in drafting reports related to juvenile justice to the Committee for the Rights of the Child.

Please respond by April 15th, 2009, whether your organisation would be interested in being in contact with the Working Group, also indicating the ways in which your organization would most benefit from such contact. Please propose additional ideas on possible collaborations to the following address: director@dci-is.org