The Independent Expert participated in the launch of the Study at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) which was held on 6 March in Washington. Prof. Pinheiro delivered the key note address at the event. Other speakers included Armand Pereira, the Director of the ILO office in Washington, who spoke about violence against children in the work setting; Ileana Arias, the Director of the Center for Injury Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Angel Saltos, the Executive Director of the Ricky Martin Foundation; and Katherine Valdovinos, a young person from Barrios Unidos, an NGO based in Falls Church. The launch was well attended and the event was also be followed via the web-cast for the PAHO offices in Latin American and the Caribbean. For more information, click here.

The Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Rima Salah chaired the meeting which brought together UN organisations and NGO partners to discuss the follow up to the Study during 2007. A number of participating organisations provided summaries of their follow up plans. To see these summaries click here.

The Independent Expert outlined his terms of reference for 2007, according to the GA resolution of 2006, and also discussed elements of the follow up framework which will be included in the progress report to be prepared for the 2007 GA. He emphasised the tight deadline for submission of this progress report to the GA by end July 2007, and called upon the IAG to assist in providing information and guidance regarding the report.

Partner organisations agreed on a matrix for reporting on implementation progress and agreed to submit information by 31 MAY, 2007, for consideration within the 2007 GA report of the Independent Expert. The IAG also agreed to meet again end May/early June to compile the information.

The Independent Expert thanked Ms Salah for her leadership throughout the Study process.

Click to see the agenda and background information.

The event included an overview by the Independent Expert on activities during 2007 and the longer term follow up process. More than 20 countries made statements during this Human Rights Council event. To see an article written about the event, click here, or to see an overview of the event click here, or to see the Statement made by the Independent Expert click here.