COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD CONCLUDES EIGHTY-SECOND SESSION

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its eighty-second session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mozambique, Portugal and the Republic of Korea under the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the report of Georgia under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and the reports of Georgia and Panama under the Optional Protocol on children and armed conflict.

The concluding observations and recommendations on the reports will be available on the Committee’s webpage on Thursday, 3 October.

Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna, Committee Chairperson, said that there were now 196 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; 168 States had ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict; 176 States had ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and 45 States had ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol on a communication procedure. The Committee had held its eighty-second session from 9 to 27 September. The concluding observations and recommendations on the eight reports considered during the session would be available online on Thursday, 3 October. The Committee had begun its work on the next General Comment on children’s rights and the digital domain.

Amal Salman Aldoseri, Committee Rapporteur, spoke about activities held by Committee Experts during the intersessional period, as well as private meetings that the Committee held with different stakeholders during the session. The Committee had held events to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the Palais des Nations. The celebration had consisted of two main events: an exhibition highlighting pledges made by States for the occasion and a half-day discussion, which involved six child human rights defenders and a young human rights advocate. On communications, the Rapporteur noted that during its eighty-second session, the Committee had adopted views with respect to two cases against Spain on lack of access to asylum proceedings by unaccompanied migrant children; two cases against Denmark concerning the deportation of children with their families to Albania; and one case against Denmark on the deportation of a mother and child to Pakistan. The Rapporteur’s report was then adopted.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Pedernera Reyna said that all of those present were convinced that the debates held in the context of the Committee meetings contributed to the advancement of children’s rights worldwide.

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

The Committee is scheduled to hold its eighty-third session at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 13 to 31 January 2020, during which it is scheduled to review the reports of Austria, Belarus, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Hungary, Micronesia, Rwanda, State of Palestine and Tuvalu under the Convention.



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