Committee on Rights of Child opens fifty-fourth session

Committee on the Rights of the Child
25 May 2010

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning opened it fifty-fourth session, hearing an address by Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Committee also adopted its agenda and programme of work for the session, and a new Committee member, Azza El-Ashmawy, took the solemn oath.

Ms. Pillay noted that today marked the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The official commemoration would take place in New York later today and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had co-organised this event with several other bodies. She was pleased that the Chairperson of this Committee, Yanghee Lee, would be among the panellists. Two global campaigns would also be launched on this occasion to promote the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols by 2012, the year that will mark the tenth anniversary of their entry into force.

Ms. Pillay also informed the Committee of other noteworthy initiatives that pertained to their work. Earlier this month the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights hosted a meeting on the cooperation between regional and international human rights mechanisms. Representatives of the existing regional human rights mechanisms in Africa, the Americas and Europe shared the results of earlier regional consultations and discussed lessons learned as well as proposals for enhanced cooperation between international and regional human rights mechanisms. She believed that the strategies which could be developed and adopted at fora such as these could help broaden the reach of the Committee’s work in promoting the rights of children and all other human rights. She encouraged the Committee to take full advantage of such cross-fertilization with other human rights bodies.

Ms. Pillay said she was also encouraged by the first meeting of the joint working group of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which took place in January with the support of United Nations Children's Fund. At the time, the members agreed to pursue a number of avenues of cooperation, including a decision to draw up a joint general comment/recommendation on harmful traditional practices, with a focus on female genital mutilation and early marriage. Ms. Pillay said such cooperation among treaty bodies was most welcome and this initiative would also serve as an excellent example to others.

Jean Zermatten, Committee Vice Chairperson, thanked the High Commissioner for her remarks and noted that the Committee had unanimously accepted the appointment of Egypt to replace Committee expert Moushira Khattab until the end of her term because she had a great deal of activities in her country and had decided to resign. He was happy to announce that the Committee had accepted the nomination by Egypt of Azza El-Ashmawy, the Director General of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood and the Director of the Anti-Trafficking in Children Unit.

Mr. Zermatten remarked that there was still concern about how the Committee would examine all of the reports being submitted to it in a timely fashion, despite the fact that the Committee continued to work in two chambers to review reports. The Committee would continue to review its methods of work and great progress had been made the day before in developing and adopting new rules to help the Committee harmonize its work.

Mr. Zermatten noted that during the last session the Committee drew up a long and ambitious list of general comments which would take a great deal of time and work, but they had already made great progress over the last two days. He expressed hope that the Committee could return to the practice of having a day of general discussion in 2011, but there would be no opportunity to do so during the remainder of 2010.

At the end of the meeting, Committee Secretary Maja Andrijasevic-Boko said that since the Committee's last session, 20 reports had been received – 7 under the Convention and 13 under the Optional Protocols. A second periodic report had been received from Malta, and combined second, third and fourth periodic reports had been received from Armenia, Guyana, Lithuania, Slovenia, Yemen and Uzbekistan. To date, the Committee had received a total of 603 reports, and had considered 435. There were five outstanding initial reports: from the Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Tonga and Tuvalu. Reports on the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict had been received from Burkina Faso, Holy See, Montenegro, Morocco, Rwanda, Slovakia, Thailand, and the United States. Argentina, Burkina Faso, Holy See, Rwanda, and the United States had submitted their reports under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

When the Committee next reconvenes in public, at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 26 May, it will begin its review of reports by State parties in two parallel chambers. In Chamber A, Serbia will present its initial reports under the two Optional Protocols to the Convention, on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/SRB/1 and CRC/C/OPSC/SRB/1). In Chamber B, Nigeria will introduce its third and fourth periodic reports (CRC/C/NGA/3-4).

Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights

NAVI PILLAY, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that today marked the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The official commemoration would take place in New York later today and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had co-organised this event with several other bodies. She was pleased that the Chairperson of this Committee, Yanghee Lee, would be among the panellists at the day’s events. Two global campaigns would also be launched on this occasion to promote the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols by 2012, the year that will mark the tenth anniversary of their entry into force.

Ms. Pillay was pleased to note that the Committee had reviewed its working methods in light of the challenges arising from the large number of reports submitted for consideration and had agreed to reduce the length of the documents it produced, while maintaining its focus on key priorities.

Ms. Pillay said that the Committee had undertaken much interesting work, including the joint meeting held between representatives of the Committee and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in Addis Ababa in March. Ms. Pillay expressed the belief that collaboration with regional human rights mechanisms in areas of mutual interest had the potential to be of great benefit to the Committee in carrying out its mandate.

Ms. Pillay also wanted to inform the Committee of other noteworthy initiatives that pertained to their work. Earlier this month the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights hosted a meeting on the cooperation between regional and international human rights mechanisms. Representatives of the existing regional human rights mechanisms in Africa, the Americas and Europe shared the results of earlier regional consultations and discussed lessons learned as well as proposals for enhanced cooperation between international and regional human rights mechanisms. She believed that the strategies which could be developed and adopted at fora such as these could help broaden the reach of the Committee’s work in promoting the rights of children and all other human rights. She encouraged the Committee to take full advantage of such cross-fertilization with other human rights bodies.

Earlier this year the Committee also participated in the Human Rights Council’s annual full day of discussion on the rights of the child, which was dedicated to the theme of sexual violence against children. The Committee’s contribution enriched the Council’s discussion and Ms. Pillay said she hoped to build on this premise to bolster efforts towards prevention and protection of children from sexual violence.

Another significant development of the thirteenth session of the Human Rights Council, according to the High Commissioner, was the adoption of Resolution 13/3 on the Open-Ended Working Group on an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to provide a communication procedure. She urged the Committee to continue to follow these developments closely and to continue contributing to the process.

Ms. Pillay said she was also encouraged by the first meeting of the joint working group of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which took place in January with the support of United Nations Children's Fund. At the time, the members agreed to pursue a number of avenues of cooperation, including a decision to draw up a joint general comment/recommendation on harmful traditional practices, with a focus on female genital mutilation and early marriage. Ms. Pillay said such cooperation among treaty bodies was most welcome and this initiative would also serve as an excellent example to others.

The High Commissioner reminded the Committee that the Human Rights Treaty Branch had become a division, with enhanced resources and an improved structure that reflected the expansion of the treaty body system, the importance of enhanced visibility and accessibility to all stakeholders, and the need of the treaty body to have its own core staff.

Regarding the Committee’s work ahead, Ms. Pillay said that the session would be a busy one with 19 reports scheduled for consideration in two parallel chambers over the next three weeks. There was also a list of 18 issues set for adoption and the discussion of general comments, reporting guidelines, and other methods of work. The High Commissioner wished the Committee a fruitful and successful session.

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