Child
Rights Glossary : O
OPTIONAL PROTOCOL
The term refers to only those protocols in various conventions
in which states are not strictly obliged to ratify.
The two Optional Protocols were adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly on 25 May 2000 (General Assembly Resolution A/Res/54/263).
They are:
»Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement
of children in armed conflict
»Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography
In order for the Optional Protocols to enter into force, States
must ratify each of the Protocols following the same procedure
required when ratifying the Convention. In the case of the Optional
Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, upon
ratification States are also required to make a declaration regarding
the age at which they will permit voluntary recruitment into national
forces.
Reporting Mechanisms
States must first report to the Committee on the Rights of the
Child on their actions to implement each of the Protocols two
years after ratification. Subsequent reports must then be included
with the government reports of implementation of the CRC as a
whole. This ongoing monitoring is a further impetus toward the
full protection of children's rights. For each of the Optional
Protocols, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has adopted
guidelines detailing which information States are expected to
give in their implementation reports.
» Reporting Guidelines
on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
» Reporting Guidelines
on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography
Optional Protocol on the involvement
of children in armed conflict
The Optional Protocol entered into force on 12 February 2002.
UNICEF encourages all governments to ratify the text.
Worldwide, an estimated 300,000 children are engaged in armed
conflict in their countries, with tragic consequences. Often recruited
or abducted to join armies, many of these children -- some younger
than 10 years old -- have witnessed or taken part in acts of unbelievable
violence, often against their own families or communities. UNICEF
has seen many children that had been immunized, educated or otherwise
helped by programmes later systematically brutalized when armed
conflicts took place in their countries.
In article 38, the Convention on the Rights of the Child urges
governments to take all feasible measures to ensure that children
have no direct part in hostilities. On 25 May 2000, the United
Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus an Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement
of children in armed conflict which raises from 15 to 18 years
the age at which direct participation in armed conflict will be
permitted and establishes a ban on compulsory recruitment below
18 years.
Optional Protocol on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography
UNICEF supports the worldwide ratification of the Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child. An estimated one million children
(mainly girls but also a significant number of boys) enter the
multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade every year. The 2nd
World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,
held in December 2001 in Yokohama and co-organised by the Government
of Japan and UNICEF, showed the commitment of the international
community - States, international organisations, NGOs - to tackle
this global issue urgently. During the negotiations for adoption
of this protocol, UNICEF had promoted the consideration of several
issues aiming at the highest level of protection for children.
The Optional Protocol gives special emphasis to the criminalisation
of serious violations of children's rights - namely sale of children,
illegal adoption, child prostitution and pornography. Similarly,
the text stresses the value of international cooperation as a
means of combating these transnational activities, and of public
awareness, information and education campaigns to enhance the
protection of children from these serious violations of their
rights.
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