CRC/C/ARG/CO/3-4
Furthermore, attention should be paid to generating and monitoring data and
information on children in need of special protection: children with disabilities,
children in the juvenile justice system, children of single-parent families, sexually
abused children, children in alternative care, or children without parental care, and
others as relevant. The Committee also recommends that the State party seek
technical assistance from, inter alia, UNICEF.
Dissemination, training and awareness-raising
25. While noting the efforts of the State party to disseminate the Convention, the
Committee is concerned at the low level of awareness in many provinces of the Convention
and its Optional Protocols. The Committee is further concerned that the Convention and its
Optional Protocols have not yet been translated into the languages of the indigenous
populations. It also regrets the lack of knowledge of the Convention among technical and
professional cadres working with children, but notes that many universities have begun to
incorporate children’s rights into their programmes.
26. The Committee recommends that the State party increase its efforts to raise
awareness of the Convention, the Optional Protocols and its national legislation on
comprehensive protection of the child, including by translating them into the
languages of the indigenous populations. It also recommends the reinforcement of
adequate and systematic training of all professional groups working for and with
children, including teachers, health workers, social workers, staff at childcare
institutions and law enforcement officials. In this regard, the Committee recommends
that human rights education be included in the official curriculum at all levels of
education, and in training activities.
Cooperation with civil society
27. The Committee welcomes the consultations by the State party with civil society in the
preparation of the report of the State party and the responses to the list of issues, though it
regrets that such consultations did not take place in the provinces. It welcomes in particular
the participatory process - including business, labour unions and children – followed in the
Province of San Juan to establish a Pact for Children and Adolescents in order to reform the
law, formulate policy and allocate resources for children.
28. The Committee recommends that the State party encourage and support civil
society organizations dealing with children to work in all provinces. It also urges
provincial governments to advance children’s rights with the cooperation of broad
coalitions of civil society, business, labour unions and children’s organizations.
Child rights and the business sector
29. The Committee is concerned at the lack of clear guidelines and regulations for business
corporations, both national and international, on the protection of and respect for children’s
rights. It has taken note of the study carried out by the National Ombudsperson (2009) on
the adverse effects on children’s health and the environment of agro-toxics and other
harmful substances used in agriculture, industry and the home. It further notes with concern
reports that the production of tobacco, mate herbs and soya may have harmful effects on
children.
30. The Committee urges the State party to develop clear guidelines and regulations
for the business sector with regard to protecting and respecting children’s rights as
enshrined in the Convention, Act No. 26061 and the Constitution, and to advance in
the area of social and environmental responsibility from a human rights perspective.
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