Universal Periodic Review: The Status of Children's Rights - CRIN

Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) Overall Analysis of Children's Rights in the UPR
Table Explanation:
-The figures in Table 2 illustrate the total number of mentions in Sessions 1-7.
* For example: 507 refers to the total number of mentions on the issue of child health for the first seven sessions.
** For example: 157 refers to the total number of mentions on the issue of child health in the National Reports.
Findings and Analysis
1) Education the most prominent issue in the UPR
Table 2 shows that education is the most prominent children's rights issue in the UPR, with 817 mentions in the first
seven sessions of the UPR. Violence against children is the next most prominent issue, on 773 mentions, and then there
is a big gap to health in third place.
2) States given prominence to 'safer' issues, UN bodies and NGOs address a broader range of issues
Table 2 shows how the different groups prioritise particular children's rights issues in their reports. The two issues,
education and corporal punishment, illustrate the different approaches adopted towards the UPR by States under
Review and NGOs. The National Reports (submitted by States under Review) are dominated by the 'safer' issue of
education, with corporal punishment only mentioned 14 times in National Reports throughout the first seven Sessions.
In contrast, Table 2 shows how the number of mentions made by NGOs on all issues is far more balanced, with 174
mentions on education and 103 mentions on corporal punishment. Interestingly, whilst the final recommendations
column (UN Member States mentions), shows a high number of references to education, the figure for corporal
punishment is far higher than that of the States under Review, perhaps a sign of the influence of NGOs and UN bodies
on the UN Member States when considering which particular recommendations to issue in the UPR.
3) Other findings beyond the nine selected issues highlighted in Table 2
As has been explained, when looking beyond general trends in children's rights, CRIN has focused on the nine selected
issues to look at which children's rights are found to be most prominent in the UPR and which most neglected. The
UPR, however, includes a host of children's rights issues across its reports and review stages:
a) Other rights: Other children's rights issues that do appear (but not as much as the nine most prominent) include:
children with disabilities, street children, birth registration, adoption and the minimum age of marriage.
b) Status of Ratifications: States under review are also regularly questioned on the status of ratification of UN and
other Conventions and treaties, most notably the Optional Protocols to the CRC, but also other Conventions which have
a focus on children's rights, such as the The Hague Convention No. 33 of 1993 on Protection of Children and
Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption or the ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. The majority of States make some reference
to the current status of UN mechanism ratifications in their National Reports.
c) Independent monitoring bodies: The issue of Children's Ombudspersons or National Human Rights Institutions is
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