Webinar | COVID-19 and Children Deprived of their Liberty
Channel: The Alliance
Date: 2020-04-28

In this episode, the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and UNICEF host a discussion on COVID-19 and children deprived of their liberty, highlighting some successes and challenges in protecting the rights of children in detention during the pandemic. Prof. Ann Skelton provides an introduction to the current context of children deprived of their liberty and relevant international frameworks. Vijaya Ratnam discusses the Technical Note and its inter-agency development in greater detail. The latter portion of this webinar is dedicated to a question and answer period.

Panelists:
Audrey Bollier, the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action
Ann Skelton, the Committee of the Rights of the Child
Vijaya Ratnam, UNICEF
Ben Lewis, OHCHR on Migration and Human Rights
Brigid Pfister, UNICEF
Holly Hobart,  International Legal Foundation
Marta Gil, Terre de Hommes

Main Points:
0:10 Audrey gives opening remarks and introduces The Alliance Technical Note, focusing on the annex concerning children deprived of their liberties.
3:42 Ann begins her presentation by giving introducing the crisis of children deprived of their liberty, who are often thought of last by governments and society, and discusses the range of relevant international law frameworks.
6:58 Ann shares that in crisis situations and states of emergency there will be limitations of certain human rights, but it is important to remember that these limitations must but be reasonable and proportionate.
8:46 Ann shares that many countries do not have enough information about children deprived of their liberty within their own country, meaning they are unsure of  actions they need to take and therefore keeping in mind the context is very important.
11:28 Ann shares some of the challenges that have resulted due to COVID-19 regulations and lockdown restrictions, including strictly enforcement of lockdown measures leading to more arrests. This concludes Ann’s presentation.
13:28 Vijaya begins his presentation on the Technical Note Annex on children deprived of their liberty by discussing the heightened risks to children deprived of their liberty due to their often compromised physical, psycho-social, and mental health issues.
14:21 Vijaya shares the development process of the guidance, as addressing concerns for children deprived of their liberty in COVID-19 went beyond humanitarian contexts and required an inter-agency task-force.
16:38 Vijaya discusses the guidance, which calls on states, in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic to respect, protect and fullfil the human rights of every child who is deprived of their liberty, and shares the three key asks.
17:56 Vijaya discusses the aim of the guidance and the importance of determining which children should be released, while recognizing that this is ultimately a decision to be made by states.
19:48 Vijaya shares the recommendations that organize the structure of the guidance, including steps key justice actors can take to achieve these goals and ensure the release of children. This concludes Vijaya’s presentation.
22:10 Audrey begins the Q&A session.
23:10 Q1: What can be done with justice actors and governments to assure that the justice system can continue functioning as much as possible to prevent backlogs that lead to children being left in detention?
28:46 Q2: In countries where lockdown measures are in effect, what can be done with government and civil society organizations to support social workers to do their job, so that release and reunification can be done in a safe manner and so that follow up can happen? 
33:55 Q3: What can be done to push for the release of certain groups of children in detention that governments refuse to release?
45:32 Q4: Is there a risk that the communities will not accept released children, because they consider them dangerous, especially those suspected or convicted of a more serious offense?
51:52 Q5: Should assistance be provided to places of detention to improve the condition of detention?
56:30 Q6: What can be done about other aspects related to rights of children in detention during COVID-19, such as ensuring that children can stay in contact with their parents and families and continued monitoring of detention of facilities?
1:02:30 Q7: While COVID-19 is happening, what can we learn from those in this context in regard to tracing and relying on local community efforts?
1:06:00 Q8: It can be argued that the guidance in the Technical Note should be applied outside of the COVID-19 context. How can we ensure that actors don’t lose ground on gains already achieved?
1:15:32 Audrey concludes the webinar.

Important Links: 
Technical Note: COVID-19 and Children Deprived of their Liberty: https://www.alliancecpha.org/en/series-of-child-protection-materials/protection-children-during-covid-19-pandemic
Other Alliance COVID-19 and CP Resources:
https://www.alliancecpha.org/en/series-of-child-protection-materials/protection-children-during-covid-19-pandemic