COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD HOLDS DISCUSSION WITH STATES PARTIES

CRC
32nd session
29 January 2003



The Committee on the Rights of the Child held a discussion today with representatives of States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, reviewing procedures and fielding questions on such matters as proposed changes in country reporting procedures and expansion of the Committee's membership to help deal with a growing backlog of work.
In an opening statement, Committee Chairman Jacob Egbert Doek said it was the first time the Committee was meeting with States parties in such a fashion. He said the Committee had been striving to work efficiently, for example by considering nine country reports during each session. The Committee also had adopted a series of general comments to guide States parties in their implementation of the provisions of the Convention.
Mr. Doek said the Committee's workload would further grow when in 2004 it would receive the first country reports on implementation of two Optional Protocols to the Convention concerning the involvement of children in armed conflict and the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitution. The increase in the Committee's membership from 10 to 18, which would take place next session, might contribute to reducing the Committee's backlog of work, he said.
The Committee currently is composed of 10 independent Experts. States parties have adopted an amendment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child that will increase the membership to 18. The amendment entered into force on 18 November 2002, and the new members will be appointed following elections to be held on 10 February in New York.
Mr. Doek went on to say that the Committee was in the process of revising its 44-page guidelines on country reports in light of a report of the Secretary-General on "Strengthening the United Nations: an agenda for further change".
Representatives of States parties who took the floor stressed, among other things, the need for exchange of best practices among treaty bodies. The Committee was asked how it could proceed with its work after the expansion of the Committee from 10 to 18 members; if equitable geographical distribution of membership would be maintained; about the Committee's opinion on a proposal for the submission of a consolidated country report to all human rights treaty bodies -- one report common to all committees; and if it was considering creating working groups to dealt with various issues and to reduce its backlog.
Responding to these queries, Mr. Doek said among other things that the Committee had so far received 245 initial and periodic reports, and that another 206 initial, second and third periodic reports were overdue. The Committee usually reviewed some 27 country reports per year in three three-week sessions. There would be a two-year backlog under the group's current working pace.
With 18 members, the Committee could attempt to reduce its backlog and could accelerate its work through the creation of several working groups dealing with different issues, the Chairman said. The idea of creating parallel chambers to consider country reports simultaneously might result in additional expense for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Concluding observations and recommendations should be adopted by the Committee itself and not by parallel chambers even if they were created to reduce workload, Mr. Doek added.
Differing views were expressed by States representatives and Committee members on the subject of the presentation of a consolidated report to all treaty bodies. Since the number of States parties to each committee was different, each State party might have difficulties in addressing all the issues of different treaties in one common report of a few pages, speakers said.
The need for technical assistance was emphasized by some national representatives. They said such advice was valuable in helping States to prepare and present useful and timely reports. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was cited as a principal provider of technical assistance to States parties.
Some speakers said the press releases coming out of the meetings should reflect correctly the debate. The Chairperson said the press releases were the subject of ongoing discussion. He said sometimes negative issues might appear to be highlighted in the press releases rather than positive ones.
Participating in the discussion were representatives of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden, Haiti, Cuba, Georgia, Denmark, Switzerland, Thailand and Jamaica.
One-hundred-ninety-one States have ratified the almost-universal Convention on the Rights of the Child. Only Somalia and the United States are not parties to the Convention.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will continue its work in closed session. It is next scheduled to meet in public at 10 a.m. Friday, 31 January, the last day of its spring three-week session. At that meeting the Committee is expected to release its conclusions and recommendations on the nine country reports it has reviewed during its thirty-second session.



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