HSLDA News	June 14, 2001

UN News Update

Among the United Nations international treaties and activities monitored by Home School Legal Defense Association is one of the most dangerous attacks on parental rights ever-the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Because the UN is holding a Child Summit this September, the CRC is taking center stage worldwide this year.

HSLDA/PHC Attend UN Symposium in DC

On June 8, HSLDA's Congressional Action Program Manager Samuel Redfern and Patrick Henry College Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Paul Bonicelli attended a symposium on United Nations activities at the Family Research Council in Washington, DC. Several speakers, including FRC Counsel William Saunders and Heritage Foundation's Pat Fagan, discussed their concerns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Addressing children's rights, Fagan insisted that a "child has a right to married love between the man and the woman who brought that child into existence, They have a right to demand that and expect that their parents will stay married." He gave a chilling statistic: "Out of 100 children conceived in America, only 27 make it to adulthood escaping abortion, single parenthood or experiencing parental divorce."

During the question and answer session about the U.S.'s role in crafting child's rights language, Dr. Bonicelli pointed out that we should still prevent the CRC from being ratified in this country, so that the U.S. can solve these issues domestically rather than have family policy dictated by the United Nations.

HSLDA/PHC Staff Travel to NYC for UN Training Session

On Saturday, June 9, Patrick Henry College Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Paul Bonicelli and Executive Director of HSLDA's National Center for Home Education Doug Domenech participated in a training session in New York on the proposed outcome document for the UN Child Summit. The purpose of the meeting was to review the status of the proposed outcome document and strategize on how to improve the document and eliminate anti-family language.

This week, June 11-15, Dr. Bonicelli is participating as an official member of the U.S. Delegation to the Preparatory Committee on the Children's Summit at the United Nations. Delegates from around the world are negotiating on the words to be included in the outcome document scheduled for approval by UN member nations in September.

HSLDA Staffer Publishes Excellent UN Report on National Review

Doug Domenech, Executive Director of the National Center for Home Education, recently wrote "Hands Off Our Children" published online by National Review, summarizing the change in position that the U.S. has taken on U.N. treaties and policy. To read the story visit: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-domenech061101.shtml

Focus on the Family Releases UN Report

Focus on the Family has released a report that calls for governments worldwide to de-ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, calling it a danger to children, parents and national sovereignty.

To read this report, visit: http://www.family.org/cforum/tempforum/A0016282.html

How Will New Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair View CRC?

Major changes in Washington may impact American family freedom from United Nations oversight. Due to the recent party switch by Senator James Jeffords and subsequent restructuring of Senate committee assignments, Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., (D-DE), 58, will replace Jesse Helms (R-NC) as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Helms has been a strong ally in the fight against UN expansion and has personally kept the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child from Senate consideration.

HSLDA spoke with Helms staff after the Jeffords decision and confirmed that the treaty, although signed by former President Clinton's Secretary of State it has never been sent to the Senate. President Bush has confirmed that he is opposed to the treaty, meaning that it is highly unlikely he would ask for ratification.

However, the new chairman, Senator Biden, a serious student of foreign affairs and may be inclined to pursue Senate ratification. HSLDA will be closely watching his decisions and attempt to converse with his staff about his positions.

UN Session Ends

The 27th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, held at the United Nations Office in Geneva, ended June 8. HSLDA is awaiting published reports from the meting and we will report to our members any significant findings.

UN Finishes Reviewing Pro-Family NGO Applicants

According to the Catholic Family and Human Rights League's weekly update, the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) just ended a three-week approval session. ECOSOC approves and governs participation of all UN NGOs, which currently number more than 2,500.

During this round of hearings, pro-family groups met with mixed success. The committee deferred the application of Washington DC-based Family Research Council (FRC) until the next meeting in January 2002. (ECOSOC rarely turns down a group outright, instead "deferring" applications, sometimes for years.) During his interview, FRC's Darren Logan came under blistering questioning from a number of countries regarding FRC's conservative positions on family issues.

The British Antioch Christian Center was also deferred because a French delegate feared the center's connection to something called the "Evangelical Alliance," which is simply an association of evangelical churches and organizations in Great Britain.

However, the committee accepted Concerned Women for America (CWA), the largest women's public policy group in the United States and one that has been involved with UN issues for years. Cuban delegate grilled CWA's Wendy Wright and demanded to know if CWA supported the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Wright declined to answer directly but said CWA believed in rights for children in so far as they are connected to parents.

Official UN recognition of a non-governmental organization allows the group access to UN property and participation in negotiations. NGOs range from service groups that carry out UN programs, such as the Red Cross, to policy groups that lobby the UN on particular issues, such as the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy.

The long, arduous official recognition process can last more than two years. Groups must submit a lengthy application and reveal membership, officers, sources of funding and much more. The final step is to appear before the NGO committee of ECOSOC, which is made up of 19 UN member states, and answer sometimes very difficult questions. This was the meeting that ended last week.