The Commissioner for Legislation returned yesterday from Geneva with the team of officials she led representing the Republic in the presentation/examination of the 5th and 6th periodic report of Cyprus before the competent United Nations Committee under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The team's move to Geneva followed a special approval by the Council of Ministers for the exceptional representation of Cyprus at the 90th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is composed of experts from many UN member countries. The Committee has already expressed its satisfaction and our delegation has received the first positive observations reflected by the Committee on the basis of what was discussed by the mission as regards the level of protection of children's rights in Cyprus.
Through the questions submitted, the main issues of concern to the Committee can be seen for which the Republic, for the most part, is already taking measures through relevant laws, policies and administrative procedures. Among other issues of concern to the Committee are child witnesses, bullying in schools, racial discrimination, intersex children and stateless children. The Commissioner is awaiting the Commission's comments in order to make recommendations to the Government.
The Commissioner welcomes the composition of the team led by Dr Andreas Tsiakkiros from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth, Ms Kyriaki Lambrianidou, representative of the Police, Ms Marina Efthymiadou from the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare (Social Welfare Services), Ms Elena Neokleous from the Ministry of Interior (Office of the Director General), as well as Mr. Mr. George Manika, Counsellor, International Conventions Sector, from the Office of the Legislative Commissioner. At the same time, he wishes to thank the members of the Permanent Representation of Cyprus in Geneva, the Permanent Representative, Ms. Olympia Neocleous, the Deputy Permanent Representative, Ms. Andrea Petranyi and the First Secretary, Mr. Christos Makrygiannis.
All members of the Cypriot delegation, the Commissioner said, are people with broad and specialised knowledge and experience in their field who, through teamwork and excellent preparation, managed to answer the large number of questions and enlighten the Commission on what is happening in Cyprus regarding children and the protection of their rights. The Commissioner thanks the Ministries, the Ministry of State and the Police who took part and especially these officials.
The Commission has already issued a document that gives the summary of what has been played out and the concluding observations are expected by June. The Commissioner underlines her satisfaction with the already positive comments expressed as a result of the presentation and overall picture of the mission. The Commission's observations will form the basis for further action by the Republic to strengthen and sustainably support children and their rights.
Finally, the Commissioner stresses that the work on these reports in particular is an extremely complex but at the same time important process. The reason lies mainly in what is constantly taking place in Cyprus, especially at this time, in the public debate and public criticism. However, she has confidence in the executive for its handling of the protection of children's rights; the Commissioner is ready and next to the executive to contribute as much as possible within the framework of her duties to whatever is needed for the legislative part of any work.
(EC/SX)
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