Committee on the Rights of the Child concludes seventy-sixth session

Adopts Concluding Observations on Reports of Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, Guinea, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, and Vanuatu

GENEVA (29 September 2017) - The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its seventy-sixth session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, Guinea, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan and Vanuatu.  The consideration of the report of Mexico, also scheduled for this session, has been postponed.

The concluding observations and recommendations on the reports will be made available on the session’s webpage on 4 October.

Renate Winter, Committee Chairperson, in her concluding remarks, summarized the activities of the Committee during the seventy-sixth session, which had been held from 11 to 29 September 2017. 

The Committee had considered 13 reports from eight countries, and had adopted the concluding observations on the initial report of Cyprus under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict; the fifth periodic report of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; the fifth periodic report of Denmark; the fifth periodic report of Ecuador; the combined fourth to fifth periodic report of the Republic of Moldova; the combined third to fifth periodic report of Tajikistan and its initial reports under two Optional Protocols, on the sale of children and the involvement of children in armed conflict; and, in a video conference, the second periodic report of Vanuatu, and under the two the Optional Protocols, the initial report on the sale of children and the initial report on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

The Chair noted that to date, there were 196 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; one State - the Central African Republic - had acceded to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict since the beginning of the session, bringing the number of States parties to 167; while the number of States parties to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography stand at 173.  The third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure had been ratified or acceded to by 35 States, one more since the beginning of the session (Cyprus).

During the session, the Committee had reviewed information it had received in relation to the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, and, in the context of the outcome of the treaty-body strengthening process as adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 68/268, it had continued to work on its working methods, including the simplified reporting procedure.

The Committee had decided that the topic for the next day of general discussion, to be held in September 2018, would be: Protecting and empowering children human rights defenders. 

Bernard Gastaud, Committee Rapporteur, presented the report on the intersessional activities of the Committee Experts, and the Committee then adopted the report of the seventy-sixth session.

Meeting summaries of all public meetings held during the seventy-sixth session can be found here.

The seventy-seventh session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child will be held from 15 January to 2 February 2018 at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, during which the reports of Guatemala, Marshall Islands, Palau, Panama, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Spain, and Sri Lanka will be reviewed.

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For use of the information media; not an official record