On 9 December 2019 in the frame of the Celebration of the 71th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR-1948), and in the wake of the 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the FDFE Representative was invited to participate to the event organized by the Associazione per i Diritti Umani e la Tolleranza, United Planet and Fundacion Mejora, all having the UN ECOSOC status. The event was held Geneva, in the Palais des Nations (United nations) room XXIV (from 10am to 5pm) under the theme: Human Rights: where are we at? Past and Future. Indeed, where do we stand on the implementation of human rights? What has been effective?
The Presiding Panel was composed by the Permanent Representations of 6 countries: Republic of Philippines, Republic of Finland, Republic of Ghana, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and Republic of Sierra Leone, who sponsored the event. At the panel was also present the Presidents of the 3 organizing NGOs.
The event stated with a play by the German Concert Violonist Ilona.
Addressing to an audience of about 130 persons, the 29 speakers were shared in 4 panels: Human Rights Education, Faith & Human Rights, Human Rights Good Practices (I) & (II). FDFE was part of the 3rd panel: Human Rights Good Practices (I). The title of the presentation was: The Forgotten CRC Article.
FDFE reminded that in 1924, the Geneva Declaration, drafted by Eglantyne Jebb was the first international text recognizing specific rights for children that was followed by the UDHR in 1948 then the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) addressed to the governments. Putting the stress on the importance of educating the children (as supported by UNESCO) and the necessity of protecting them from the drug use, FDFE reminded the article 33 of the CRC . The FDFE recalled the 1961, 1971 and the 1988 UNODC International Drug Control Conventions as well as the last 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and more specifically the Goal 3 target 5 aligned with the FDFE purpose and strengthening the prevention.
The FDFE Representative showed with illustrations the progressive degradation of young people using drugs when not duly preventively educated and protected according the different Conventions, thus leading to the drug deadly ignorance!
To end up the FDFE representative spoke about the prevention materials made available (The Truth About Drugs) and the great contribution of the volunteers of a hundred of Say No To Drugs groups across Europe. In addition, referring to the different Conventions he says: “with the States implementing the human rights and properly educating the children we will win the ‘war on ignorance” and subsequently the “war on drugs”, thus ending these miseries and creating a healthy life with a safe future for each one of our children, everywhere… The drug problem is not a fatality and Education is THE solution.”
