PDA Bullying Collaborates in the Drafting of a Report for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child

The Xarxa dels Drets de la Infància de Barcelona - XDI (Network for Children Rights of Barcelona – affiliated entity) participated in the Pre-Sessional Working Group of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which took place during the week of September 17, 2024, in Geneva.

This meeting brought together representatives from various civil society organizations and invited children, with the goal of directly collaborating with the Committee in preparing for the review of the situation of children's rights in the States to be evaluated, including Spain.

Prior to this, before August 1, 2024, child-focused entities submitted a shadow report highlighting key issues after analyzing the report submitted by the Spanish State. The XDI’s shadow report focused on the following:

1. Improving protection for children against peer violence, with a request to the Committee on the Rights of the Child to issue a General Comment guaranteeing children’s rights in the face of peer violence.
2. Recommendations for addressing suicide prevention to reduce child mortality.
3. Children's rights in the digital environment.
4. In 2018, XDI requested the Committee to make the official name of the Convention on the Rights of the Child inclusive in Spanish (currently the name is “Convención de los Derechos del Niño”). Since the official name in Spanish has not changed, this request was reiterated to the Committee.

During the week of work, the XDI team had the opportunity to engage directly with the Committee to clarify the concerns identified by child-focused civil society organizations, with a particular focus on the growing issue of child and adolescent suicide in Spain.

The central objective of these meetings was to provide the Committee with the necessary information so that, in the upcoming interactive dialogue session with the Spanish State scheduled for January 2025, the most relevant questions could be raised and recommendations made to improve the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In this context, we had the opportunity to present alarming data on the increase in suicides among children and adolescents in Spain. In Barcelona, for instance, the data shows a worrying increase: while there were three suicide deaths per year among adolescents aged 10 to 19 between 2020 and 2021, in 2022 there were 26 suicide attempts among children and adolescents aged 6 to 17. This situation has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic, with adolescent girls being particularly affected, showing a higher rate of hospitalizations and suicide attempts.

However, we emphasize the lack of specific measures in the Spanish State’s report to address this issue, despite the obligation established in Article 24.2.A of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires States to take measures to reduce child mortality, including the prevention of suicide.

In our report, we highlight the importance of strengthening suicide prevention protocols, particularly through initiatives such as the Suicide Prevention Helpline in Barcelona, which managed approximately 4,000 calls in 2023, including 41 cases of imminent suicide. We also emphasize the relevance of programs like Konsulta'm, which assisted 1,100 young people with mental health issues in the past year, and the GRETA program, which offers specific strategies for suicide and self-harm prevention. In the image: Our colleague Estefania, from Ethikos & Compliance, an entity affiliated and certified by PDA Bullying, who attended the meeting in Geneva on September 19 to defend the shadow report drafted by PDA Bullying with the support of XDI.

Therefore, an integrated approach is needed that addresses suicide not only as a mental health issue but also as a systemic phenomenon linked to factors such as precarious employment, lack of adequate housing, and restrictive migration policies.

In Catalonia, there is a strong awareness of community-based associations and approaches, which are key to addressing the challenge of maintaining the mental and emotional health of the population. Investing in the training of this social fabric is essential, which requires specific political and financial commitment.

In this regard, the Barcelona City Council has launched a "grant for projects aimed at improving and caring for the health of citizens," focusing in one of its areas on "Promotion and improvement of mental health and emotional well-being, awareness, and combating stigma related to mental health."

During the interactive session with Spain, scheduled for January 2025, the Committee will have the opportunity to ask additional questions based on the information and concerns raised during this pre-sessional phase. This session will conclude with the adoption of Concluding Observations by the Committee, which will highlight the progress made and provide recommendations for the future.

XDI's commitment remains to actively work to ensure that the protection of children and adolescents is a political priority, with a special focus on suicide prevention, peer violence, strengthening the mental health of our children and youth, and promoting digital well-being. We provide the XDI report presented to the Committee on the Rights of the Child for download.