Child Rights event - New York

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Invitation to Attend the Third Child Policy Forum of New York

IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING OF THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE U.N. CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD ON THE SALE OF CHILDREN, CHILD PROSTITUTION AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY


DAY: FRIDAY
DATE: FEBRUARY 6, 2009
TIME: 1:00 – 5:00 P.M.
PLACE: CHURCH CENTER FOR THE UNITED NATIONS MEETING ROOM 212 777 UN PLAZA, NEW YORK

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a human rights treaty created specifically to promote and protect the best interests and human rights of children worldwide. Since 1990, 193 countries have ratified the CRC. The U.S. and Somalia are the only two countries which have not ratified this historic treaty.

Although the U.S. has not ratified the CRC, it has ratified the Optional Protocols to the CRC on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (OPSC) and the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) on 23 December 2002.

The U.S. has submitted an official report, which was discussed in Geneva in May/June 2008 with official recommendations by the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child. The recommendations and treaty obligations for implementation and monitoring will be the topic of our Forum with an emphasis on New York State.

Opening Remarks
Gertrud Lenzer -- Professor, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center/CUNY
Director, Brooklyn College Children's Studies Program and Center/CUNY
Christoph M. Kimmich -- President, Brooklyn College/CUNY
William A. Tramontano -- Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Brooklyn College/CUNY
Kathryn Grant Madigan, Esq. -- Immediate Past President, New York State Bar Association


Speakers
Angela O. Burton, Esq. -- Associate Professor, CUNY School of Law
Howard Davidson, J.D. -- Executive Director of the ABA Center on Children and the Law
The Honorable Jeffrey Dinowitz -- New York State Assembly
Gertrud Lenzer -- Professor, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center/CUNY
Director, Brooklyn College Children's Studies Program and Center/CUNY
Rachel Lloyd – Executive Director, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS)
Marta Santos Pais – Director, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (Pending Final Confirmation)
The Honorable William A. Scarborough -- Chair of the Standing Committee on Children and Families,
New York State Assembly
Carol Smolenski -- Executive Director, ECPAT - USA

Hosted by the Children's Studies Center & the Brooklyn College of The City University of New York in collaboration with the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, The Campaign for U.S. Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Covenant House Nineline, CUNY School of Law, ECPAT-USA, and the New York State Bar Association Committee on Children and the LawSupported by the CUNY University Affirmative Action Committee of the Diversity Projects Development Fund and the New York Community Trust/Mark Family Fund.

For information visit our website: http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/childrensstudies