Committee on the Rights of the Child election:
Presentation of two candidates part of the DCI movement
The 20th Meeting of States parties and Elections 2024 will take place on 23rd May 2024 in New York.
Nine Members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child will be elected to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 28 February 2025.
We are excited to announce that the President of DCI-Mauritania (Association Mauritanienne pour la Santé de la Mère et de l’Enfant, AMSME), Zeinebou TALEB MOUSSA from Mauritania, is candidate for CRC membership (first term).
We are equally happy to announce that the current CRC member and former President of the DCI Movement, Benoit VAN KEIRSBILCK from Belgium, is also candidate for CRC membership (second term).
Zeinebou TALEB MOUSSA :
As a woman from the north-west of the African continent, her expertise in the field has consisted in managing major programmes for over 27 years to protect children against all forms of violence and discrimination, particularly sexual violence and children deprived of their liberty. Having developed socio-legal defence centres in her country, she has specialised in social, legal and psychological care for child victims of sexual violence and children in conflict with the law. She has organised regional debates on child protection and advocated for the follow-up of the implementation of the national child protection strategy.
At the international level, she has in-depth knowledge of the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty (2019), as well as that on Violence (2006), and of course the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its three protocols. She contributed to the dissemination and follow-up of the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UPR and the ACERWC for Mauritania through the Coordination by Defence for Children International for the elaboration of alternative reports on the CRC and the ACERWC.
Her main motivation is that she wants to monitor and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at local, national and international level. Her vision is that children, as human beings, should be able to enjoy their fundamental rights with dignity, in a just and responsible society.
She is an activist for the rights of girls and young women in Mauritania. In 2000, she set up the AMSME association to educate girls and young women about reproductive health and rights. Early in her work, however, she realised that another issue – sexual violence – needed to be addressed urgently. So, in 2001, she founded the El Wafa centre in Nouakchott to help victims of rape and sexual assault.
She is fighting to draft new laws on rape, which is not specifically recognised in Mauritania’s penal code. She would like to put all her commitment and expertise at the service of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to make progress on emerging issues and challenges.
Benoit VAN KEIRSBILCK :
During his +35-year career in the field of children’s rights, Benoit Van Keirsbilck has been committed to foster a greater respect for children’s rights enshrined in the CRC.
His fieldwork with young people and families has enabled him to become aware of the realities experienced by children and the importance of ensuring their participation in all issues that concern them.
As founder and director of Defence for Children International Belgium, Benoit Van Keirsbilck is actively involved in monitoring the implementation of the CRC in Belgium, in particular by taking part to the drafting of alternative reports for the United Nations treaty bodies and conducting projects to assess and improve children’s rights.
He has a wide range of skills and experience in the field of Child Rights and Child Justice:
- He is a trainer and expert in children’s rights, justice for children and child protection at international level
- Co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Centre for the Rights of the Child (CIDE)
- Founding member of the Association des Services droit des jeunes, the Federation of Youth Right Services of the French-speaking Region of Belgium
- Member of the advisory body of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child
- Member of the Advisory Committee of the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty
Read their CV here: Benoit Van Keirsbilck, Zeinabou Taleb Moussa
Read their brochures here: Benoit Van Keirsbilck, Zeinabou Taleb Moussa
Watch their video here: Zeinabou Taleb Moussa, (Benoit Van Keirsbilck available late April)
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