Vatican official says new UN protocol important tool for child rights
(June 08, 2011) A Vatican official has encouraged the passage of an international
protocol that would give children a direct line of communication to local and international
authorities, when they are victims of violence, or their rights are violated. Archbishop
Silvano Tomasi, Vatican's envoy to United Nations agencies in Geneva, Switzerland,
said the measure "will become a significant instrument of the human rights system."
The document is an addition to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Archbishop
Tomasi spoke of it on Monday (June 6) in Geneva during a meeting of the Human Rights
Council. The archbishop said that the protocol "provides a word of hope and encouragement
to those children and young people, whose innocence and human dignity have been wounded
by the cruelty that can be present in the world of adults." The prelate said he hoped
that the implementation of the protocol "may bring us closer to our ultimate goal:
the unconditional preservation and respect of the dignity of every single person,
woman or man, adult or child." He encouraged nations, U.N. organizations, civil society
and faith-based organizations to work together to protect the rights, well-being and
future of children around the world.