General Documents Not Relating To Specific States - Meetings of State Parties or of the UN Economic and Social Council - CRC - 1999 - Election of the Members of the Committee

Seventh meeting

New York, 16 February 1999

Item 5 of the provisional agenda

ELECTION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 43 OF THE CONVENTION ON

THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, OF FIVE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON

THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, TO REPLACE THOSE WHOSE TERMS ARE DUE

TO EXPIRE ON 28 FEBRUARY 1999

Note by the Secretary-General

Addendum

1. The present addendum contains biographical data concerning additional nominations for election to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, received after the submission by the Secretary-General of the list of candidates in documents CRC/SP/24 and Add.1. Biographical data of the persons nominated, as furnished by the States concerned, is contained in the annex to the present document.

Name of candidate Nominated by

Mr. Jiri KOVARIK Czech Republic

Mr. Jorge VILA DESPUJOL Bolivia

Annex

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA OF NOMINEES

Jiri KOVARIK

(Czech Republic)

Date and place of birth: 14 December 1942, Prague

Working languages: English, with some knowledge of Russian and French

Current position/function

Vice-Chairman of the Czech Committee for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Vice-Director of the Centre for Substitute Family Care

Teacher of child psychology, Charles University, Prague

Scientific researcher of the Research Institute of the Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic (child clinical psychology)

Main professional activities

Participated in a team preparing family planning policy and took part in working group on the child and the State and co-edited its proceedings

Conducted several research projects on families, marriages and parenthood, currently finalizing the situation analysis on children in Czech Republic (1996) and working on a project on the effects of foster care

Member of international working group on "Measuring and monitoring children's well-being: beyond survival", coordinated by Asher Ben-Arieh from Jerusalem University

Lecturer at South Bohemian University (life cycle, social training)

Editor of the situation analysis report on children in the Czech Republic 1996 (prepared for the Czech Committee for UNICEF)

Editor of Czechoslovakian bulletin Substitute Family Care (with extensive English summaries)

Educational background

1967-1973 Charles University Prague: Psychology and social sciences (later specialized in clinical and child psychology)

1968-1969 University College of North Wales, Bangor: psychology and philosophy

1973 Charles University, Prague: thesis on substitute family care, deprivation and remedy of its consequences; trained and practised in the field of substitute family care (adoption, children's villages, children's homes) for about 10 years, part-time practice in psychology department at Thomayer Hospital, Prague

Other activities in the field relevant to the mandate of the treaty body concerned

Participated in the international comparative research project on childhood as a social phenomenon - implications for future social policies, coordinated by Jens Qvortrup and European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (Vienna)

Volunteered for the Board of Czechoslovak National Committee for UNICEF

Active participation in several international conferences and seminars on childhood, children at risk, child abuse and neglect children's rights (Trondheim, Norway; Gananogue, Canada; Madrid; Prague; Amsterdam; Sofia; Wild Dunes, Columbia University, South Carolina, Zurich, Athens, Vienna, Kiawah Island, Charleston)

List of most recent publications in the field

Kovarík J., 1997: Family and Convention on the Rights of the Child, Bulletin of the Czech Committee for UNICEF

Kovarík J. et al., 1997: International Adoption - Report for Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

Kovarík J. et al., 1997: Social and Legal Protection of Children in some

European Countries

Kovarík J. et al., 1997: Late consequences of psychological deprivation, Psychiatric Centre, Prague

Kovarík J. et al., 1998: Children in Czech Republic 1998 - updated English version of situation analysis, Czech Committee for UNICEF

Jorge VILA DESPUJOL

(Bolivia)

Date and place of birth: 21 May 1941, Barcelona

Nationality: Bolivian, 28 December 1965

Working language: Spanish

Current position/function

Priest of the Society of Jesus (since 1960)

Chairman, Defence for Children International (DCI)

Representative of the DCI International Executive Council in the negotiations for an agreement between the Andean Parliament and DCI

Member of the World Network on Juvenile Justice

Member of the Latin American Platform on Human Rights, Democracy and Development

Main professional activities

1965-1990 Teacher, counsellor and trainer of Jesuit students, Bolivia

1973-1988 Member of the Human Rights Association, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, Bolivia

1977 Chairman of the Santa Cruz Human Rights Assembly

Since 1985 Founder and Chairman of Defence for Children International (DCI)

1992-1997 Vice-Chairman of DCI for Latin America and the Caribbean

1989-1997 Member of the DCI International Executive Council

1988-1995 Member of the Executive Committee of the national coordinating body for work with children and teenagers

Since 1992 Member of the Latin American Partnership for the Rights of the Child (Save the Children), Inter-American Children's Institute, CANSAVE, International Federation Terre des hommes, UNICEF, Rädda B~rnen International and DCI)

Educational background

Degrees in philosophy and theology

Other activities in the field relevant to the mandate of the treaty body concerned

Participation in various national and international seminars since 1985. The most recent were on juvenile justice (1997, Dakar), child and teenage labour (1996), and an exchange of views between Governments and non-governmental organizations on welfare policies for children (Bolivia,1995)

Andean Social Summit - Andean Parliament (Caracas, 1994)

International Federation Terre des Hommes Assembly (Germany, 1992)

World Assembly organized by Defence for Children International (Spain, 1992)

Analysis of the situation of children in the countries of the South (Amsterdam, 1991)

Drafting of the proposed amendments to the Children's Code (Bolivia, 1990)

List of most recent publications in the field

Edited and was responsible for the following publications:

Children of the Hotel Mil Estrellas (1998)

Rights of teenage boys and girls: "Our duty to one another" (1997)

Children's Code (in force), Children's and Teenagers' Code (draft): comparative analysis (1996)

Do children enjoy their rights? (1995)

What do Latin American children think of the family? (1993)

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