Children ‘Growing’ the Declaration Strong

Opportunities and Strategies for Advancing Indigenous Children’s Rights: Published 2012

Background

The effective implementation of human rights standards is inevitably a gradual, protracted and challenging process. The adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Declaration)¹ by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007 was a landmark moment, reflecting decades of staunch negotiation by Indigenous peoples, and finally proclaiming the unique position of Indigenous peoples and the struggles they face to realise their human rights. The Declaration articulates how human rights set out in other instruments apply to Indigenous peoples in their specific cultural, historical, social and economic circumstances. Since its adoption, however, progress to give full effect to the Declaration has been slow. This is despite the imperatives for states to take urgent and concrete action to redress the stark and persistent human rights violations experienced by many Indigenous peoples around the world.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in operation for over 20 years, has been able to bring about a qualitative transformation of the status of children as the holders of rights.² Its impact has been rapid, widespread and sustained.³ The CRC is the most widely ratified treaty in history and its impact has seen significant change in national laws, policies and programs for the benefit of children.⁴ The CRC was also the first core human rights treaty to include specific references to Indigenous children in a number of its provisions.⁵ As the Committee on the Rights of the Child recognises, the specific references to Indigenous children in the Convention are indicative of the recognition that they require special measures in order to fully enjoy their rights.⁶

Yet, Indigenous children around the world still continue to face significant challenges in exercising their rights. The Declaration is a pivotal instrument for government and non-governmental actors alike to change this reality. In addition, using the strengths of both the Declaration and the CRC in tandem offers significant opportunity to overcome persistent challenges and strengthen the protection and fulfilment of the rights of all Indigenous children.

Purpose of this Paper

This paper explores various avenues to give greater attention to the protection and promotion of Indigenous children’s rights through implementation of the CRC in combination with the Declaration.

In this context, the purpose of this working paper is threefold:

(a) to identify opportunities to use the CRC to strengthen and enhance the implementation of the standards and principles contained in the Declaration;

(b) to increase awareness of the international UN human rights system to advance advocacy in relation to Indigenous children’s rights; and

(c) to identify strategic campaigns to be used by Indigenous organisations to advance the rights of Indigenous children at the national and international level.

This paper begins by discussing the international mechanisms for advancing Indigenous children’s rights and the guiding principles of the Declaration. It then identifies the key successes and strengths of the CRC in its first 20 years and outlines the strong complementarities between the CRC and the Declaration, with a view to determining emerging opportunities for advancing the rights of Indigenous children. The paper concludes by identifying practical opportunities and making recommendations about new opportunities to advance the rights of Indigenous children at both the international and domestic levels.

In summary, the successes and strengths of the CRC present important and tangible lessons and opportunities to advance the protection and promotion of the rights of Indigenous children, which can be informed by the Declaration in a reinforcing and mutually beneficial way. In seeking to advance the implementation of the Declaration for the benefit of Indigenous children, the immediate challenge is to ensure that the legal and institutional foundations are in place to build a strong system to make children’s rights a reality.⁷