New York, US - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Ms. Marta Santos Pais, on Tuesday hailed the decision of member states to adopt a new protocol aimed at protecting children from abuse and violence. The new protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted on Monday by the UN General Assembly, will encourage State parties to develop national mechanisms enabling children whose rights have been violated to access a system through which their voices and complaints can be heard.

The protocol will enter into force three months after it acquires ratifications or accessions from 10 countries.

In a statement, Pais said: ``I wholeheartedly welcome the historical adoption of this protocol which consolidates the international system of accountability for human rights and is of decisive relevance to children’s protection from violence'.

She stated: ``I am confident the adoption of the protocol will be followed by a swift process of ratification and its provisions will help bring to an end the invisibility and conspiracy of silence surrounding incidents of violence against children'.

She also called on governments to always focus on protecting children and ensure their well being for the growth and development of their nations.

PANA reported that the new protocol is the third one to the Convention and joins the Optional Protocols on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and on the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, both of which entered into force in 2002.

Established in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally-binding international instrument incorporating the full range of human rights, including civil, cultural, economic, political and social for people under the age of 18.

Pana 20/12/2011