The General Assembly report of the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty will be presented tomorrow, 8 October, 2019 to the Third Committee on Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Issues. According to this study, at least 1.5 million children are deprived of their liberty each year.
A coalition of 170 non-governmental organisations is calling on UN Member States to take action to dramatically decrease the number of children detained and confined worldwide.
The report reveals the consequences of deprivation of liberty on children: aggravation of existing health problems or the appearance of new ones (anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and post-traumatic stress, etc.). The detention of children may also lead to premature death among children once released.
We believe that there is no place for children in detention, therefore the IBCR strongly supports the NGO Advisory Committee’s call to implement the recommendations of the Global Study, including the collection of reliable and systematic data on children deprived of liberty, and the creation of national action plans aimed at an overall reduction in the number of children in detention and/or the elimination of detention for children.
The full study can be found online here: https://undocs.org/en/A/74/136
The independent expert’s presentation of the study to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee on October 8 will be livestreamed here: http://webtv.un.org/
A panel discussion including the UN independent expert and other experts will take place at 6.15 PM (EDT) on October 8 at the UNICEF House in New York.