INDIGENOUS CHILDREN
The Working Group on Indigenous Children promotes the fulfillment of rights for indigenous children as set out in the CRC and other human rights instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Working Group maintains its own website that provides more detailed information on the Working Group as well as associated resources.
General Comment on Indigenous Child Rights
The Committee is currently drafting a general comment on indigenous children and their rights. The Working Group has been providing advice and support to the Committee and the expert writer in the development of the general comment. To make the draft version more accessible, the working group translated the English original into Spanish and French and some related documents into Russian. A website was created to better consult with indigenous communities. These efforts were linked with three events:
- An international consultation was held in Victoria (Canada). It was attended by indigenous peoples from Nepal, Ecuador, Brazil, New Zealand, United States and Canada, and a number of young Aboriginal people from Canada and the Amazon as well as experts on the subject.
- Over 25 persons, including indigenous peoples from Russia, Ecuador, Argentina, Nepal, United States, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada, attended a side event at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May 2007.
- A presentation was made at the Secretariat of Aboriginal and Islander Child Care conference in Adelaide (Australia). Indigenous communities and NGOs working with indigenous peoples’ rights in Australia attended the conference.
In addition, members of the working group organised internal consultations with indigenous children and informal meetings with the expert writer. As a result, a second draft version of the general comment was prepared for presentation to the Committee in January 2008. A third draft of the general comment was submitted to the Committee incorporating consultation feedback from indigenous peoples in various parts of the world and is currently being reviewed by the Committee.