BackJorge Cardona, the Spanish member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and Professor of Public International Law, visited the headquarters of the Ombudsman where he met with Ombudsman Soledad Becerril, and Second Deputy, Concepció Ferrer.
Cardona asked the Ombudsman the collaboration of the Ombudsman Institution to spread the Third Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which allows children to submit communications to the Committee on the Rights of the Child to denounce the violation of their rights. The protocol entered into force on April 14, 2014. Cardona has also suggested that the Ombudsman helps channelling the complaints that could be made by children.
During the meeting, the representative of the United Nations has welcomed the reports made by the Ombudsman Institution on children's rights and has stressed the importance the Committee on the Rights of the Child attaches to cooperation with National Human Rights Institutions, such as the Spanish Ombudsman Institution.
In 2015, Spain will present its periodic report on the situation of the rights of minors to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and Cardona has suggested the Ombudsman submit a parallel report with proposals of recommendations from the Institution.
Source: Defensor del Pueblo, SPAIN
