New Zealand and San Marino become the latest countries to ratify the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

New York, 26 September 2011 - The Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, welcomes the recent ratifications by New Zealand and San Marino of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

In a Treaty Event, held at the United Nations on the occasion of the ratification of the Protocol by San Marino, the Special Representative said, “the ratification of the Protocol by San Marino is a crucial step to strengthen children’s protection from sexual exploitation and to support international cooperation efforts to fight impunity for these serious crimes.”

The treaty, one of two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, extends the obligations of States parties to guarantee the protection of children from sale, pornography and prostitution, through explicit prohibition of these acts in their laws.

San Marino ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 25 Nov 1991 and is also a party to the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, also known as “Lanzarote Convention”.

San Marino has become the 149th State to adhere to this important human rights treaty, which was recently ratified by New Zealand, Luxembourg, Jamaica, Pakistan and Mauritius and signed by St. Lucia. Since the launch of the campaign, 12 countries ratified the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The process of ratification of the Protocol is building momentum and is drawing the world closer to the goal of universal ratification promoted by the UN campaign for the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, launched by the Secretary General, in May 2010.