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Committee on the Rights of the Child
30th session
3 June 2002





Statement by Mary Robinson,
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights


Palais Wilson, Geneva
Monday, 3 June 2002




Mr. Chairperson, Distinguished Experts of the Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to greet you here in Geneva once again. I was sorry to miss the opening of your session on 21 May but I am pleased to have this opportunity to join you today and highlight a number of developments since your last session that are of interest and relevance to your work.

GA Special Session on Children

Allow me first to share a few thoughts with you on the GA Special Session on Children. I must admit that on reflection I have concerns about this important event. From a human rights perspective, the Declaration and Plan of Action clearly did not meet all expectations. As you know, specific links between the Plan of Action and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other related international instruments were weak. It is therefore crucial that the child rights community continues to stress the commitments of States parties to the Convention. The Committee has a critical role to play in ensuring that States implement the Plan of Action and the Declaration of the Special Session within the frame of the CRC implementation process already in place at national level.

A more positive aspect of the Special Session was the participation of children and young people and their emphasis on the CRC and on human rights in general. I was extremely impressed with the commitment and competence of the youth participants I met in New York. I encourage all those who work for child rights to continue and strengthen your efforts to involve children and young people directly in your work.

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

The Special Session on Children was followed by another historic moment for the international community, namely, the first session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. As the Secretary-General noted in his remarks to the closing session, the Forum has formidable responsibilities and must determine how best to mobilize the expertise and resources of the United Nations system. It will also have to convince governments that they must join these efforts and increase the practical attention they give to indigenous issues.

As members of this Committee, you are well placed to understand the concerns and challenges of indigenous people and especially indigenous children who are the most vulnerable to any form of discrimination. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the only legally binding human rights instrument that explicitly recognizes the rights of indigenous children in its article 30. I would encourage you to consider how best the Committee could support the work of the Forum in the future.

Commission on Human Rights and UN Study on violence against children

The 58th session of the Commission on Human Rights was one of the most challenging sessions in the Commission's history. In addition to addressing the difficult issues of the aftermath of 11 September and the conflict in the Middle East, the Commission was faced with the cancellation of evening and night meetings, forcing it to make drastic adjustments in its work.

I expressed my concern during the session about a growing North/South divide and a possible trend seeking to weaken the protection role that the Commission has been exercising. I proposed that the Expanded Bureau, in the course of the coming year, engage in consultations on the role of the Commission in acting for the protection of human rights, and how this could be done in a manner that is equitable.

Notwithstanding the difficulties, significant progress was made on a number of issues. Under the agenda item on the rights of the child, the Commission suggested in its resolution that the Secretary-General appoint an Independent Expert for the Study on violence against children. This resolution complements the one adopted during last year’s General Assembly on the same issue and should facilitate the possible appointment of an independent expert, hopefully before the end of the summer.

As you are aware, a core group of UN agencies has agreed to provide support and leadership for the Study on violence against children. My Office, UNICEF and WHO are part of this group and are currently working together on establishing a Secretariat. NGOs and States have also shown interest in this critical process.

The role of the Committee will be crucial in providing expert guidance to the Study. The Committee’s jurisprudence as well as the results of discussion days organized by the Committee in the past, such as the ones held on Children and the Media (1996), State violence against children (2000) and Violence within the family and schools (2001), offer an important body of knowledge. I believe strongly in the enormous potential of this process which the Committee initially put forward to the General Assembly. Together with the UN Study on the impact of armed conflict on children, which was also requested by your Committee and completed in 1996 by Ms. Graça Machel, these studies show how human rights treaty bodies can constructively impact on critical situations.

I also wish to note that the Commission adopted a resolution including a proposed text of an Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, which would allow for on the spot country visits of all types of detention centers. This mechanism has the potential to contribute greatly to protecting detainees, including young ones. It is my hope that the General Assembly will now adopt this optional protocol.

Another noteworthy resolution endorsed by the Commission during its last session approved the appointment of a new Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. I believe that it would be important for the Special Rapporteur to look into the child-related implications of his or her mandate. I am aware that your Committee is currently drafting general comments on HIV/AIDS and on Adolescent Health. I would encourage you to consider how your work in this area could assist the Special Rapporteur and similarly how the new Special Rapporteur might be involved in the drafting of general comments.

World Conference against Racism follow-up

Follow up to the World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related Intolerance continues to be a key priority for OHCHR. We are actively involved in working to ensure effective implementation of the final documents of the Conference. This work is spearheaded by an Anti-Discrimination Unit established in my Office, one of several follow up initiatives that the General Assembly endorsed on 27 March 2002. At that occasion the GA also agreed upon the nomination of a group of Eminent Persons to monitor the implementation of the Durban Programme of Action.

I am grateful to your Committee and the other treaty bodies for the input that was made into the World Conference process and we count on your continued support.

Strengthening the United Nations

I would also like to note briefly the second phase of the Secretary-General’s initiative to strengthen the United Nations that is now underway. As part of the Secretariat, OHCHR has been called upon to contribute ideas to the strengthening process. Our submission addresses primarily structural areas that are central to the achievement of OHCHR's mandate.

We have stressed in particular the need to ensure effective implementation of the rights and duties under the human rights treaties. A crucial aspect is the effective functioning of the treaty-monitoring bodies. It is upon the foundations of the treaties and under the guidance of the treaty bodies, that national action for the promotion and the protection of human rights must be built. It is therefore essential to strengthen the activities of the United Nations in the area of human rights treaty implementation.

I am pleased that the First Inter-Committee meeting will be held in Geneva at the end of this month (26-28 June). This meeting will take place just after the Annual meeting of Chairpersons of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies (24-26 June). It will undoubtedly provide a unique opportunity for all treaty-bodies to exchange experiences in order to enhance and better streamline their global work, capacity and impact.

I further believe that the quality of the work of the UN is increasingly determined by its capacity to adequately deal with upcoming and evolving challenges of the international community. In this regard, I congratulate you for having taken the initiative to organize at your next session a discussion day on “The private sector as service provider and its role in implementing child rights”.

Both in developed and developing countries, privatization of education, health and other services is a growing trend worldwide. This trend needs to be better understood as we still have fragmented knowledge about the impact of privatization of these services on the enjoyment human rights. I understand that you are seeking to involve in this discussion States parties, the World Bank, participants in the UN Global Compact initiative as well as the World Economic Forum, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other relevant parties. It is indeed vital to involve the private sector in these discussions. In this regard, the work of your Committee is innovative and crucial, as it will help to increase knowledge and protection of human rights in this field.

I would like to conclude by expressing my appreciation for your ongoing work that has been and continues to be so valuable to OHCHR’s activities. We, for our part, will continue to strive to provide you with the highest quality support in every way that we can.

Thank you.




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