The NGOs Network Monitoring Adherence to the Convention for the Rights of the Child that consists of 47 organizations drew up the Alternative Report for the Convention for the Rights of the Child. The Report was submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child following the National Report submitted by Greece in 2009.
On behalf of NGOs Network, the following organizations along with their respective teams, coordinated the preparation of the report:
General Measures: Amnesty International
General Principles: UNICEF
Health: Medecins Du Monde
Family & Alternative Childcare: SOS Child Villages, KMOP (Family and Child Care Center)
Education, Culture and Leisure: Schedia Network for Child Rights.
Special Measures: ARSIS (Association for the Social Support of Youth), Greek Council of Refugees.
The Report’s key points are as follows:
Network for the Rights of the Child: Our attending the Committee meetings during the deliberation of the Alternative and the National Reports stressed the necessity for cooperation and effective operation of organizations such as a Rights of the Child Watch and a National Action Plan that this time will materialize.
The Committee focused on the existing and future condition of children’s rights amid economic crisis, as well as on how these rights will be safeguarded.
UNICEF regarding the General Measures: underlines the fact that nowadays, under the circumstances of economic crisis, it is of paramount importance that the Rights of all Children in Greece – the rights of children with special needs, Roma children, impoverished and marginal children in particular – are respected. UNICEF suggests : a) allocation of a separate State and Local Authority Organizations (OTA) Budget outlay on children, b) integration of Child Rights Tuition in the Ministry of Education’s Official Curriculum combined with the equivalent training of teachers c) proper training in Child Rights for all those who work with children (health and social care workers etc.)
Medecins Du Monde regarding Health Care:
Access to medical care should not be a luxury, living in health is an indefeasible right of all children. We are all obligated to assert children’s basic rights and to work solely to the best of the interest of all children and the overall health of each child individually.
SOS Child Villages-KMOP regarding Family& alternative Child Care: Social support to families and vulnerable children continues to be provided, in the main, by NGOs which themselves suffer the consequences of economic policies.
Schedia – Network for the Rights of the Child, Education, Culture and Leisure: Economic recession and cutbacks have extended over to the majority of the population issues that used to afflict minorities.
1. A vast number of children are deprived of preschool education due to inadequate facilities.
2. In elementary and secondary education there has been a major shift of students from private to public schools, while at the same time the number of teachers as well as outlays on basic public school expenses have been cut down dramatically.
3. In tertiary education, the combination of underfunding and the voting of the new law, which the academic community refuses to put into effect declaring it unconstitutional for the most of its part, result in universities falling into decline. Inevitably, all the above affect both research in the field of pedagogy and implementation of innovative programs for the promotion of child rights.
4. As for the children’s right to culture, most the facilities essential for its realization remain shut down owed to the fact that Local Authority Organizations lack resources.
ARSIS – Greek Council of Refugees regarding the Special Measures: We are particularly concerned about the fact that children often fall victims of life-threatening racial violence attacks due to their foreign nationality or origin, while at the same time they run perpetual risk of being arrested and detained (deported or returned accordingly ) because they don’t carry legal documents
The NGOs Network Monitoring Adherence to the Convention for the Rights of the Child was established in 2009 on initiative of Children’s Rights Ombudsman and consists of 47 NGOs: ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth, AmKE Athens, Anoixti Agalia – Friends of Social Pediatrics & Medicine, Medecins Du Monde, Gonis (Parenting Equality), Network for the Rights of the Child, Amnesty International-Greece, Society for the Development and Creative Occupation of Children (EADAP), Society for the Social Support of Minors & Adolescents of Syros island, Cerebral Palsy Greece, ELEPAP Hellenic Society for the Protection and Rehabilitation of Disabled Children, EYTOKIA (society for the preferment of natural childbirth), APHCA Association for the PsychoSocial Health of Children and Adolescents, National Council of Greek Women, Greek Network of European Women, Greek Council of Refugees, Hellenic Red Cross, Hellenic Committee on Child Aid and Support, Hellenic association for Research and Prevention of Sexual Abuse –OMPRELA, Hellenic National Committee for UNICEF, ZANNEIO Institute of Child Protection, Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights, ASKLIPIOS(Asclepius) (Institute for the Psycho-Social Development of Children, Adolescents and Family), Social Solidarity Institute – BRIDGES OF FRIENDSHIP, Institute for the Rights of Children and Youth with Special Needs (IDIPNEA), ROOTS Research Center, Family and Child Care Center, “ HAPPY CHILDREN HAPPY YOUTH” Camps, Klimaka, Merimna, Mothers Mission, “Yes to the Effort” Team of Independent Volunteers, Volunteers’ Association – The Child’s Corner, SOS CHILD VILLAGES, Patrotis Association of People with Genetic Disorders “ TO MELLON”, Association for the Welfare of Minors, SYGAPA Men’s and Father’s Dignity Association, Association for Women’s Rights, Scouts of Greece (Soma Hellinon Proskopon), The Greek Guiding Association (Soma Hellinikou Odigismou), SCHEDIA, HATZIKYRIAKIO Child Care Institution – Social Work Foundation HATZIPATERION, PRAKSIS, SAFER INTERNET HELLAS, WELFARE ACTION HELLAS.
