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International Agreements and/or Conferences Signed by South
Africa in Relation to the Youth, Children and People with Disabilities, Particularly
with Regard to the United Nations and the African Union NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR
ORAL REPLY QUESTION NO: 2 (WRITTEN QUESTION 455) PUBLISHED
IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 27 OF 23 AUGUST 2005 MR VC GORE (ID) TO ASK
THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: (1) What international agreements and/or
conventions has South Africa signed in relation to (a) the youth, (b) children
and (c) people with disabilities, particularly with regard to the United Nations
and the African Union;
(2) Whether the principles of these agreements and/or
conventions have been Incorporated into South African legislation; if not why
not; if so, which legislation? N98E REPLY:
(1) There exist
a large number of international agreements/conventions that relate one way or
the other to the youth, children and people with disabilities due to the generality
of human rights as rights inherent to every human being. These conventions will
have provisions that although not directed to youth, children or people with disabilities
specifically, will confer certain rights to them on the basis that they are human.
A non-exhausted list of these conventions is provided (see list below). (2)
There are indeed a number of conventions that deal specifically with children's
rights which are reflected in the list. At present there is no legally binding
international agreement or/and convention on youth specifically. The international
community to date was unable to agree on the definition of "youth".
The is also no existing legally binding international agreement or/and convention
specifically on people with disabilities at present. The non-binding "UN
Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities of People with Disabilities"
is the applicable guideline and negotiations are underway to draft a convention
in this regard. South Africa is an active participant in these negotiations. (3)
List of conventions that will be applicable directly or in-directly to youth,
children and people with disabilities: - Convention for the Suppression
of the Traffic in Women and Children - Geneva
20 September 1921
RSA signed
(definitive) : 28 June 1922
- Slavery Convention - Geneva 25 October
1926.
RSA acceded : 18 June 1927
- Convention for the Suppression
of the Traffic in Women of Full Age - Geneva
11 October 1933
RSA signed
(definitive) : 20 November 1935
- Protocol to amend the Convention
for the Suppression of Traffic in Women and Children of 1921 and the Convention
for the Traffic of Women of Full Age of 1933 - Lake Success, New York 12 November
1947.
RSA signed (definitive) : 12 November 1947
- Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide - 9 December 1948
RSA acceded : 10.12.1998
- Geneva Conventions I to IV - 12 August
1949
RSA acceded : 31.3.1952
- International Agreement for the
Suppression of White Slave Traffic (1904) amended by Protocol signed at Lake Success
1949
RSA accepted : 14.8.1951
- International Convention for
the Suppression of White Slave Traffic (1910) amended by the Protocol signed at
Lake Success 1949.
RSA accepted : 14.8.1951
- The Convention
for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution
of Others, plus Final Protocol - Lake Success, New York 21 March 1950.
RSA
ratified 10 October 1951
- Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees - 28 July 1951.
RSA acceded : 12 January 1996
- Convention
on the Political Rights of Women - 31 March 1953.
RSA signed : 29 January
1993.
- Protocol amending the Slavery Convention of 1926, New York
- 7 December 1953
RSA signed (definitive) : 29 December 1953
- Convention
on the Nationality of Married Women - 20 February 1957. RSA signed : 29 January
1993 and acceded 17 December 2002.
- Convention against Discrimination
in Education - 14 December 1960.
RSA acceded : 9 March 2000.
- Convention
on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
- 10 December 1962.
RSA acceded : 29 January 1993
- International
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination - New York
7 March 1966.
RSA signed : 3.10.1994 and Ratified 10.12.1998
- International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - 16 December 1966.
RSA signed
: 3 October 1994.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights - 16 December 1966.
RSA Signed : 3.10.1994 and ratified 10.12.1998.
- Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - 16 December
1966. RSA acceded 28 August 2002.
- Protocol relating to the Status
of Refugees - 31 January 1967.
RSA acceded : 12 January 1996
- OAU
Convention Governing Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa - 10 September
1969.
RSA acceded : 15 December 1995
- Protocols I and II to
the Geneva Conventions of 1949 relating to the Protection of Victims of International
and Non-International Armed Conflicts -Geneva 10 June 1977
RSA acceded : 21.11.1995
- Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination
against Women - 18 December 1979
RSA signed : 29 January 1993 and Ratified
: 15 December 1995
- Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International
Child Abduction - 25 October 1980
RSA acceded: 8 July 1997
- The
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights - June 1981.
RSA adhered : 9
July 1996
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - 10 December 1984.
RSA signed :29 January
1993 & ratified 10.12.1998.
- Convention on the Rights of the
Child - 20 November 1989.
RSA signed : 29 January 1993 and Ratified : 16 June
1995
- Amendment to article 43 (2) of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child - 12 December 1995. RSA accepted 5 August 1997.
- SADC
Declaration on Gender and Development for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence
against Women and Children
RSA signed the Declaration on 8 September 1997
- Addendum
to the 1997 SADC Declaration on Gender and Development for the Prevention and
Eradication of Violence against Women and Children
RSA signed the Addendum
on 14 September 1998
- Second Optional Protocol to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty
- 15 December 1989.
RSA acceded 28 August 2002.
- African Charter
on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, July 1990.
RSA signed:10 October 1997
Ratified 7.1.2000.
- Hague Convention on Protection of Children
and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption - 29 May 1993. RSA acceded:
1 August 2003.
- Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights -
10 June 1998.
RSA signed 10 June 1998 and Ratified 3 July 2002.
- Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children
in armed conflict - 25 May 2000.
RSA signed 8 February 2002.
- Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution and Child Pornography - 25 May 2000. RSA acceded: 30 June 2003.
- Protocol
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime - 15 November
2000.
RSA signed: 14 December 2000 and Ratified: 20 February 2004.
- Protocol
against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United
Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime - 15 November 2000.
RSA
signed: 14 December 2000 and ratified 20 February 2004.
- Protocol
against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms Parts and Components
and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organised Crime. - 31 May 2001.
RSA signed: 14 October 2002 and Ratified:
20 February 2004.
- Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights in the Rights of Women in Africa - 11 November 2003.
RSA signed: 16
March 2004 and ratified: 17 December 2004.
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