April 30 Deadline: Poland Proposes "Child-Sensitive Approach" for New UN Convention - Instytut Pileckiego

The photo shows Prof. Stefanie Bock, Prof. Karolina Wierczyńska, and Dr. Krystian Wiciarz sitting in armchairs.
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30.04.2026 (Thu)

April 30 Deadline: Poland Proposes "Child-Sensitive Approach" for New UN Convention

Beginning with today’s (April 30) deadline for all nations to submit their official comments to the United Nations on the draft of the proposed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, Poland has made an aggressive bid to become one of the leaders representing the globe’s most vulnerable victims.

The “Ghostly Shoe”: Breaking the Silence on Children

The push for a more robust legal framework is grounded in a dark historical reality. During the conference, Prof. Karolina Wierczyńska of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Department of Public International Law, Centre for Research on International Criminal Law) used a powerful visual metaphor to describe the historical “invisibility” of children in international law.

Prof. Karolina Wierczyńska of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Department of Public International Law, Centre for Research on International Criminal Law)
Prof. Karolina Wierczyńska of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Department of Public International Law, Centre for Research on International Criminal Law)
Invoking the image of a child’s shoe – a symbol synonymous with the horrors of Auschwitz and Majdanek – Wierczyńska noted that while children were primary targets of 20th-century atrocities, they were rarely the focus of the subsequent trials.

Crimes against children are not merely violations of individual rights; they are attacks on the very continuity of communities and nations, Prof. Wierczyńska argued.

She highlighted that while the Nuremberg trials shocked the moral conscience of the world, they lacked the “legal vocabulary” to specifically address crimes like forced Germanization, identity erasure, and systematic abduction. It was the Polish Supreme National Tribunal, specifically in the trial of Arthur Greiser, that pioneered a more nuanced understanding, recognizing that children were central targets of a genocidal strategy aimed at “extinguishing future generations.”

Poland’s Proposal: A Three-Pillar Approach

Building on this historical legacy, Paweł Wierdak, Legal Advisor to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Director, Legal and Treaty Department), outlined Poland’s specific strategy for the upcoming UN negotiations. While Poland supports the “solid and balanced” draft prepared by the International Law Commission (ILC), the Ministry insists that a “child-sensitive approach” must be woven into the very fabric of the new Convention.

Poland’s proposal focuses on three essential pillars:

  • Prevention: Recognizing the unique indicators of risk when children are targeted by state or non-state actors.
  • Prosecution: Ensuring that the specific nature of crimes against children – such as identity theft and cultural annihilation – is recognized as a distinct legal harm.
  • Reparation: Tailoring justice to the long-term trauma and developmental needs of young survivors.

Poland has historically been very much involved in advocating for the rights of children, Wierdak stated during the conference’s closing session. We would like to use this opportunity to propose a more child-sensitive approach (…) the current draft does not make reference to any targeted or vulnerable groups.

Bridging the Normative Gap

April 30 is a defining day within global diplomacy. Comments submitted today provide the foundation upon which formal negotiations beginning in 2028 will be based. In essence, Poland has established its objective clearly: closing the ‘normative gap’ which permitted the suffering of children to be subsumed by general civilian population statistics .

By calling for children’s rights to be integrated into the crime prevention and reparation mechanisms of international law, Poland wishes to convert international law from a perpetrator-centered model to a victim-centered bulwark. As Prof. Wierczyńska concluded, dealing with these crimes is more than a legal technicality – it is necessary for humanity to survive.

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