Edmund Rice International

  Five thousand children from various sections of Delhi joined representatives of 27 states and union territories who had gathered in the national capital for the culmination of the Global Action 2015 launch.  These children who were largely in their teens assembled at Jantar Mantar to seek the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals that […]

Children whose rights have been violated will soon be able to complain directly to Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) after Costa Rica became the 10th country to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure on the 14th January. Under UN rules the […]

Earlier this year I felt the excitement, anxiety and anticipation that fills one at the prospect of the birth of a new family member.   William was born October 23rd amidst great relief and celebrations.   The whole family wanted to personally welcome its newest member into the fold.  The season of Advent /Christmas is upon us, […]

Edmund Rice International welcomed Nine is Mine to New York from September 18- September 27, 2013. Eleven students and nine chaperones composed the delegation under the direction of Br. Steve Rocha of the Indian Province of Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. The group had traveled from India and was the guests of Edmund Rice International, Iona […]

As issues of asylum seekers and migration increasingly become a global concern an international panel has agreed that detention of children is not justified and that alternatives must be sought. While the UN General Assembly discussed International Migration and Development in New York earlier this month, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, […]

Afghan refugee children Photo UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe The Committee on the Rights on the Child held its 60th session in Geneva May 20 – June 15.  The Australia Government reported against the Convention on the Rights of the Child on June 4 & 5 and was open to question by the Committee.  Edmund Rice International […]

Photo shows an Afghan family in a UN refugee camp. UN Photo/Luke Powell On June 4th & 5th the 60th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child was held at the Palais Wilson in Geneva where Australia gave its 4th Periodic Report and was questioned by members of the Committee on their […]

 Vijay Kumar was one of the group of young people who came to Geneva recently to lobby around the submission that a group of children had written for the Universal Periodic Review of India. Here is his account of the visit:- A couple of years ago when I was in school I was introduced to […]

 Anne-Tamara Lorre from the Canadian Permanent Mission with members of the children’s delegation from India. Also pictured are (at back l-r) Br Steve Rocha, Aditya Garg and Vijay Kumar. In front Rikida Shadap (l) and Ridahun Khriam (sign language translator for Rikida) Rikada is a 16 year-old girl from a rural tribal area in north-east […]

To listen to a series of sad-eyed social scientists list the cruel and degrading treatment of children held in detention centres is a harrowing way to spend two hours in Geneva. To know that Australia still has 528 children in detention centres, simply because they are seeking refuge there, adds immensely to the pain experienced. […]