A breakthrough has recently been achieved in the enforcement of children’s rights: With its signature, Costa Rica has ensured that children can also file a complaint about their human rights with the United Nations. In order for this individual complaints procedure to come into force, ten states had to sign it.
In future, children whose human rights have been violated will be able to submit their case to the United Nations (UN) for review. In mid-January 2014, Costa Rica became the tenth country (after Albania, Bolivia, Gabon, Germany, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Thailand) to ratify the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The International Federation Terre des Hommes played a key role in its implementation in the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Strengthening children’s rights with more pressure
The right to an individual complaints procedure contained therein could only come into force after ten countries had deposited their instruments of ratification with the UN. The additional instrument of the right of appeal increases the pressure on states to ensure that children’s rights are respected. The Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child will enter into force in mid-April.
This is an important step towards enforcing children’s rights, which are violated every day around the world, whether they are subjected to violence and sexual abuse, sentenced to death or exploited through human trafficking and child labor. Until now, however, there have been no opportunities to sue for such offenses.
