Committee on the Rights of the Child Commemorates Tenth Anniversary of the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on a Communications Procedure

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon held an event commemorating the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.

In an opening statement, Ilze Brands Kehris, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, congratulated the Committee on the tenth anniversary of the Third Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol, she noted, had empowered children to raise their voices on some of the most pressing human rights issues, such as climate change and migration, highlighting the evolving nature of children’s rights in today’s world.

Ms. Brands Kehris said the past decade had demonstrated the profound value of the Third Optional Protocol in advancing children's rights, fostering accountability, and driving legal and policy reforms at the national level. The world needed to renew its commitment to the instrument, she appealed.

Ann Marie Skelton, Committee Chair, said in opening remarks that although the Convention was almost universally ratified, there were only 52 ratifications of the Third Optional Protocol. Under the Third Optional Protocol, the Committee had considered high-level cases involving foreign fighters in camps in north-east Syria, and abortion and violence in residential care settings. Through these cases, the Committee was able to make rights real for children.

In closing remarks, Ms. Skelton said the event had shown that the Third Optional Protocol had had a concrete impact on children’s lives. The Committee’s remedies helped to not only address individual children’s situations but also develop systems on the ground for other children going forward, magnifying their impact.

During the event, the Committee heard statements from Committee Experts and representatives from Slovenia, Germany, Belgium and Georgia, as well as from Child Rights Connect, Leiden University and individual child rights advocates.

Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, and webcasts of the public meetings can be found here. The programme of work of the Committee’s ninety-seventh session and other documents related to the session can be found here.

The Committee will next meet in public at 5 p.m. on Friday, 13 September to close its ninety-seventh session.

Statements

ILZE BRANDS KEHRIS, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, congratulated the Committee on the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Child on a communications procedure. Children needed to be at the centre of societies; they were in special need of protection. Yet most child rights violations continued to go unnoticed or unaddressed. Children were rarely able to claim their own rights, much less to obtain justice and reparation.

This needed to change. Today, they celebrated 10 years of justice for children at the international level. The Optional Protocol provided a unique mechanism of direct access to justice for children. Through this mechanism, the Committee on the Rights of the Child could examine child rights violations where national systems had failed. In doing so, the Optional Protocol reinforced recognition of children as rights holders.

The gathering today was an opportunity to recommit to fully realising the rights set forth in the Convention. Last year’s commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a fitting reminder of the enduring responsibility of States to uphold human rights for all, including children.

Since its entry into force in 2014, the Third Optional Protocol had proven to be a powerful tool for children and their advocates in seeking justice. By providing a channel through which complaints could be brought before the Committee, the Third Optional Protocol had not only facilitated redress for violations but had also contributed to the development of national legal and policy frameworks.

Today, the Third Optional Protocol had 53 signatories and 52 States parties, with Kazakhstan being the latest State to ratify the instrument in February 2024. The decision by these States to ratify sent a powerful message of their commitment to the protection of the rights of children. It should also inspire other Member States to follow suit.

The Committee today would hear several stories that illustrated the Third Optional Protocol's transformative impact, including that of Louiza, whose case before the Committee in 2020 allowed her to access education. Through this and other cases, the Optional Protocol brought structural changes that allowed many other children to access education.

The Committee had received over 500 cases, registered over 250, and adopted over 150 decisions. It had closed nine cases where violations were found, most of them after the States concerned had fully complied with the Committee’s recommendations. The Committee had discontinued dozens of other cases after States provided reparation before the Committee even reached a decision.

The Third Optional Protocol had empowered children to raise their voices on some of the most pressing human rights issues, such as climate change and migration, highlighting the evolving nature of children’s rights in today’s world.

The recent announcement by the Committee of the forthcoming general comment 27, focused on children’s right to access justice and effective remedies, provided States with much-needed guidance on strengthening legal frameworks and ensuring that children could seek redress for violations, including before the Committee.

The past decade had demonstrated the profound value of the Third Optional Protocol in advancing children's rights, fostering accountability, and driving legal and policy reforms at the national level. The world needed to renew its commitment to the instrument and work together to ensure that all children, everywhere, could access justice and enjoy the full realisation of their rights.

ANITA PIPAN, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said she was happy to co-organise the event alongside Germany, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Child Rights Connect. Children’s rights had always been a cornerstone of Slovenia’s national policy. Slovenia had contributed to the creation of the Third Optional Protocol, which ensured that children had recourse to seek remedies for violations when domestic remedies had been exhausted. The Optional Protocol was a profound example of putting children’s right to be heard into practice.

As a high-profile example, 16 child petitioners from around the globe had put forward a petition on climate inaction against several States, leading to the first international ruling on climate inaction. There was insufficient awareness of this recourse to justice and an insufficient number of ratifications by States. Ratification would allow more children to seek justice. Today’s event would allow civil society and the Committee to explore ways to strengthen the Optional Protocol, so that it could safeguard children’s rights everywhere.

NIKOLA GILLHOFF, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva, expressed hope that today’s event would allow for reflection of the impact of the Third Optional Protocol, which allowed children to have their voices heard. The emotional stories that would be told today would provide insight into the real-life impact that it had. The event was also an opportunity for interested parties to ask States about progress toward ratification and to ask the Committee technical questions related to the Optional Protocol.

ANN MARIE SKELTON, Committee Chair, said that although the Convention was almost universally ratified and the first two Optional Protocols had high levels of ratification, there were only 52 ratifications of the Third Optional Protocol. The Third Optional Protocol allowed for individual communications and inquiries. For rights to have meaning, effective remedies needed to be made available. States needed to invest in pathways to achieving access to justice, but when all domestic remedies had been exhausted, an international remedy process was needed. The Committee built on the jurisprudence of national and regional bodies. It had considered high-level cases involving foreign fighters in camps in north-east Syria, and abortion and violence in residential care settings. Through these cases, the Committee was able to make rights real for children.

MARIA LUCIA URIBE, Child Rights Connect, said the Third Optional Protocol played a key role in ensuring access to justice for children. Civil society had supported efforts to increase its ratification and had led efforts to enhance its effective use. Ratification was necessary to make the Optional Protocol effective. Lack of ratification was mostly due to practical or perceived barriers for States, which could be addressed through increased dialogue. Many campaigns pushing for ratification had been led by children. Civil society was also working to ensure that the Optional Protocol was used effectively. It was raising awareness of children’s right to use the remedy, providing technical advice on the possibility of bringing a complaint, and making sure that national pathways to access to justice were available and accessible. Civil society’s goal was to ensure that human rights violations against children did not occur.

In recent years, there had been an increasingly well-mobilised backlash against child rights and a shrinking of the civil space for child rights defenders. There needed to be renewed efforts to ensure that the Optional Protocol was an available tool for children, and increased resources to promote the proper implementation of the Optional Protocol.

BENOIT VAN KEIRSBILCK, Committee Expert and Chair of the Committee’s Working Group on Individual Communications, said the Committee had adopted 148 decisions under the Optional Protocol. On average, the Committee received 33 cases per year. If there were more ratifications, the Committee would expect to receive more communications. There was a high level of compliance by States parties with the Committee’s decisions. The Committee continued to follow-up after decisions were issued to ensure that they were implemented. Redress was provided on an individual and global level.

In a recent decision, the Committee found Georgia had failed to provide a remedy for children abused in an institution. The State party had taken measures to implement the decision, and the Committee would continue to monitor whether there were structural changes in the country. In another decision involving a child’s right to an abortion in Peru, the Committee was monitoring whether redress was being provided. The Committee had been able to intervene in several cases where children’s lives were at risk.

There was a backlog of complaints before the Committee that it was working to address. The Committee was also working to raise awareness of the mechanism among children. In many cases, the Committee’s decisions had an impact on legislation, policies and practices. The Committee was continuing to work to convince States of the importance of the mechanism.

HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Chair of the Working Group on Inquiries, said the Third Optional Protocol allowed children to directly address an international mechanism. Inquiries were initiated when the Committee received credible information indicating grave and systematic violations. In some cases, the Committee visited the State party involved to conduct investigations into inquiries. One inquiry had been completed, and a report on a second inquiry had been submitted to a State party. Two further inquiries were ongoing, one of which would entail a country visit. Time was vital when it came to children’s rights, and the Committee was hampered by slow responses by States to its requests for cooperation. The Committee also faced institutional challenges, lacking time and resources to draft reports on inquiries. The Committee hoped that the inquiry mechanism would be properly resourced in the future. Inquiries allowed States parties to become aware of issues threatening children and to put a stop to them.

LOUIZA, child rights advocate, said that four years ago, when she was 12 years old, she and her friends had held a protest as she had been denied the right to an education in Spain due to her nationality. She had made a complaint to the Committee, which allowed her and her compatriots to quickly return to school and gave her the opportunity to pursue studies in medicine. She thanked the Committee for the support it had provided and called on other children to make use of the complaints procedure and fight for their rights.

STEPHANIE ANNA MOTZ, litigator, said important changes had resulted from the Committee’s decisions concerning Switzerland. There were gaps in protection of children’s rights in Switzerland. Three Kurdish children had petitioned the Committee to stop an order to remove them from Switzerland. The Committee had decided that the removal order violated the children’s rights, and Switzerland had since withdrawn the order. Another child with a disability was awaiting a decision from the Committee concerning their right to inclusive education. A third case, which the Committee had yet to issue a decision on, involved the deportation of a foreign man from Switzerland who had a child who had become a Swiss citizen. The complaint argued that the child had the right to family reunification as a Swiss citizen, and thus that the father should not be deported. There remained a lot of work to be done and Swiss children were looking to the Committee to make several important decisions in the future.

TON LIEFAARD, Leiden University, said that he had initiated the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory, which had published numerous commentaries on the Committee’s Views and reports and promoted children’s access to justice. The Observatory had organised an international conference on children’s rights, which had explored ways to strengthen the petitions procedure. The Third Optional Protocol confirmed that all children had the right to access justice. There needed to be more State ratifications of the Optional Protocol so that children everywhere could access this critical mechanism. More ratification, however, would lead to more work for the Committee. The Committee needed increased support to provide remedies for children and guidance for States.

States needed to improve protections against rights violations. Third party interventions were also needed to keep the Committee informed about developments in communications. The Committee had worked with civil society to develop child-friendly summaries of decisions to make them more understandable for children. Significant achievements had been made by the Optional Protocol, but more remained to be done to make it accessible and impactful. National solutions needed to be strengthened so children could seek justice in their own countries without having to resort to the Committee. The right to access justice needed to be available for children everywhere.

Statements by States Parties

In the discussion, speakers from States parties reported having ratified the Third Optional Protocol. Individual complaints had the potential to improve the situations of both individual children and legal and policy systems affecting children. Speakers described efforts to implement the Committee’s decisions; one speaker presented a case where a decision by the Committee had led to reform of the domestic visa regime. Speakers also called on other States parties to ratify the Optional Protocol.

Closing Remarks

ANITA PIPAN, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the event had allowed for reflection on the concrete impact of the Third Optional Protocol. Louiza was an inspiration for many children to use the procedure to get help to follow their dreams. It was essential to enhance global awareness of the Optional Protocol’s mechanisms and benefits, and enhance efforts to encourage States parties to ratify the instrument. Implementation of the Optional Protocol at the national level also needed to be strengthened. Civil society played an important role in ensuring that the Optional Protocol was used efficiently. Slovenia would continue to advocate for greater awareness and implementation of the Optional Protocol. The passion of all involved in the event was inspiring.

NIKOLA GILLHOFF, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said speakers had shared experiences on the concrete ways in which the Third Optional Protocol applied and on how it affected individuals. The Optional Protocol had had a concrete and positive impact on the lives of many children like Louiza, but there remained a low number of ratifications. For the Optional Protocol to be fully applied and for children to have their rights heard, as many countries as possible needed to ratify it. Joining the Third Optional Protocol was worth it for all children.

ANN MARIE SKELTON, Committee Chair, said that the event had shown that the Optional Protocol had had a concrete impact on children’s lives. The Committee’s remedies helped to not only address individual children’s situations but also develop systems on the ground for other children going forward, magnifying their impact. The Committee was working to develop its jurisprudence to reach more children. There was much more work to be done to encourage ratifications and build access to justice at the national level. Capacity constraints were also hampering the Committee’s work. The work of the petitions unit could be bolstered by the assignment of junior petitions officers by States.

The Committee called on civil society to make use of the mechanism and make more people aware of it. Justice processes for children needed to be made faster, so children could receive help while they were children. The Committee was developing a framework for friendly settlements and working to create a legally empowering environment for children to submit complaints. It was always open to criticism and advice from civil society and academia. In closing, Ms. Skelton expressed thanks to all persons who had contributed to the event and to the implementation of the Optional Protocol.

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