Committee on the Rights of the Child Opens Ninety-Eighth Session
The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning opened its ninety-eighth session, which is being held in Geneva from 13 to 31 January, during which the Committee will review reports on the efforts to adhere to the Convention on the Rights of the Child of Ecuador, Eritrea, Gambia, Honduras, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Slovakia.
In an opening statement, Andrea Ori, Chief, Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Representative of the Secretary-General, said children around the world continued to be profoundly affected by economic downturns, climate change, public health emergencies, and armed conflicts. He said there was an urgent need for coordinated global efforts to protect their rights, and it was imperative that governments honoured their commitments under the Convention.
Mr. Ori expressed deepest gratitude to the five outgoing members of the Committee whose mandate was expiring on 28 February: Mikiko Otani (Japan), Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna (Uruguay), Ann Marie Skelton (South Africa), Velina Todorova (Bulgaria), and Ratou Jean Zara (Chad). He said these Experts’ commitment and contributions had been invaluable to the Committee.
Mr. Ori wished the Committee all the best for the busy session ahead.
Ann Marie Skelton, Committee Chair, in her opening statement, said since the last session, the Committee had marked the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Convention, and diverse celebrations of this milestone were held across the world.
However, she said it was hard be in a celebratory mood while children’s rights continued to be violated across the world, particularly in conflict zones. In Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, wartime sexual violence against children was widespread. In Gaza, children constituted a significant portion of the casualties, and grave violations against children continued to be witnessed daily. However, Ms. Skelton said the Committee would not give up; it would continue to uphold children’s rights to the best of its ability.
Before adopting the session’s agenda, the Committee also heard statements from representatives of Child Rights Connect, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children's Fund, and the Secretary of the Committee.
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-eighth session and other documents related to the session can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. this afternoon to consider the sixth periodic report of Slovakia (CRC/C/SVK/6).
Statements
ANDREA ORI, Chief, Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Representative of the Secretary-General, opening the session, said the beginning of a new year offered a fresh start and the opportunity to build upon past successes while addressing the challenges that lay ahead.
He said children around the world continued to be profoundly affected by a convergence of crises, including economic downturns, climate change, public health emergencies, and armed conflicts. These overlapping challenges had heightened risks for children, exposing them to violence, malnutrition, disrupted education, and restricted access to healthcare and essential services.
It was of particular concern that one in six children lived in regions plagued by violent conflict. Every day, these children were victims of killing, maiming, recruitment into the armed forces, attacks on schools or hospitals, rape or sexual violence, abduction, and denial of humanitarian access. Their health and access to education were significantly affected. The outlook for children continued to be concerning, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated global efforts to protect their rights and ensure their well-being. It was imperative that governments honoured their commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Regarding draft general comment 27, the Committee had received over 300 submissions and held over 90 consultations with children and adults. Mr. Ori expressed appreciation for the valuable insights provided. Children voiced their opinions about what access to justice and effective remedy meant for them, highlighting the importance of being safe, feeling respected and fairly treated regardless of who they were, and receiving proper support. Many children said that they felt a sense of satisfaction when serious action was taken in response to violating their rights, when the wrongful act was not repeated, and when the person violating the rights of children learned from their mistakes. Mr. Ori welcomed the efforts of the Committee’s working group and its partners to engage with the consultations and continue the drafting process.
Mr. Ori said the last year had been particularly challenging. In addition to chronic resource constraints, the liquidity crisis had hampered, and continued to hinder, the planning and implementation of the treaty bodies’ work - a point that the Chairs communicated forcefully during their meetings with Member States and other interlocutors in New York. The Office of the High Commissioner was doing its utmost to ensure that the treaty bodies could implement their mandates by highlighting the direct impact that resource limitations had on human rights protection. Nevertheless, all indications pointed to continuing the difficult liquidity situation for the foreseeable future.
The treaty body strengthening process had reached a key moment, with the adoption of the biennial resolution on the treaty body system by the General Assembly in December of last year. While the resolution did not explicitly endorse the eight-year predictable review schedule, it did refer to a “clear and regularised cycle for scheduling reporting by States parties, and the additional modalities for harmonisation for procedural and substantive coordination among the human rights treaty bodies”. It also promoted the further use of digital technologies in the work of treaty bodies, including by means of videoconferencing.
On the occasion of Human Rights Day last year, on 10 December, the Geneva Human Rights Platform organised an informal meeting of the Chairs and focal points on working methods to explore the latest developments in the treaty body system and identify possible ways to improve the harmonisation of procedures. The Chairs and focal points on working methods also held an exchange with the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures mandate holders, in which speakers called for an “all mechanisms” approach to the many challenges the human rights mechanisms were facing. The Office of the High Commissioner would continue to work alongside the Chair and all the treaty body experts to strengthen the system.
The 2025 full-day meeting on the rights of the child at the Human Rights Council, provisionally scheduled to take place on 13 March 2025, would focus on early childhood development. The Office of the High Commissioner was finalising the selection of panellists and would support children’s direct participation as speakers at the event. The first meeting of the open-ended intergovernmental working group of the Human Rights Council, with the mandate of exploring the possibility of elaborating and submitting a draft Optional Protocol to the Convention explicitly recognising the right to education, including early childhood care and education, was scheduled to take place in Geneva at the Palais des Nations from 1 to 5 September 2025.
Mr. Ori expressed deepest gratitude to the five outgoing members of the Committee whose mandate was expiring on 28 February: Mikiko Otani (Japan), Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna (Uruguay), Ann Marie Skelton (South Africa), Velina Todorova (Bulgaria) and Ratou Jean Zara (Chad). He said these Experts’ commitment and contributions had been invaluable to the Committee. They had consistently shown professionalism, creativity and perseverance that had contributed to increasing the visibility of the Committee and made a profound impact on children’s rights jurisprudence and on the lives of children worldwide.
In closing, Mr. Ori wished the Committee all the best for the busy session ahead.
ANN MARIE SKELTON, Committee Chair, said that since the last session, the Committee had marked the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Convention, and diverse celebrations of this milestone were held across the world. In Suriname, a celebratory event was held that was attended by the President and over 220 children, and several other events were held in Asia. In Latin America, the United Nations Children's Fund held commemorative events that promoted the rights upheld by the Convention. A commemoration of the Convention was also held in the European Parliament.
States parties’ reports reflected the progress that had been made in protecting children’s rights. However, it was hard be in a celebratory mood while children’s rights continued to be violated across the world, particularly in conflict zones. The Committee would not give up; it would continue to uphold children’s rights to the best of its ability.
In the past few months, the world had witnessed a continued increase in violence against children, particularly in conflict zones. It was children who had borne the brunt of war’s devastating impact. In Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, wartime sexual violence against children was widespread. It was important that the international community redoubled its efforts to address this issue. In the Middle East, the conflict had escalated alarmingly. The latest official figures reported 44,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, with children constituting a significant portion of the casualties. Grave violations against children continued to be witnessed daily.
Amid these tragic events, a beacon of hope was seen in Bogota, where Colombia hosted a conference on ending violence against children, which convened representatives from more than 130 Governments, as well as from many civil society organizations. The conference had significant outcomes – seven countries pledged to enact legislation prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings, which would help to protect approximately 145 million children, and nearly 50 countries committed to school-based initiatives to prevent violence against children. It was imperative that the pledges that States made were enacted. Ms. Skelton said that the Committee would take note of the pledges made and hold States accountable for implementing them. She called for continued collaboration with States and civil society to create nurturing environments for children that allowed them to reach their full potential.
Last session, Ms. Skelton said, the Committee concluded agreements with the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on violence against children and children and on armed conflict and would operationalise those in this session. It would also, during the current session, hold meetings with the Working Group on violence against women and girls and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Further, it would consider any communication and information it had received through its communications procedure.
The Committee would also hold consultations in preparation for the upcoming general comment, provisionally entitled “Children’s rights to access to justice and effective remedies”. The Committee hoped to present a draft of the general comment soon after the conclusion of the session. In addition, Ms. Skelton concluded, the Committee would hold its sixteenth informal meeting with States on 30 January at 3 p.m.
ALLEGRA FRANCHETTI, Secretary of the Committee, said that two reports had been received since the last session from Malawi and Singapore, bringing the total number of reports pending consideration to 69. The total number of ratifications of the Convention remained at 196. All initial reports had been received, while 61 periodic reports were overdue. No States had ratified the Optional Protocols since the last session and no new reports had been received under any of them. Thirty-seven initial reports were overdue under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and 47 initial reports were overdue under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Statements by Representatives of United Nations Bodies and Civil Society
In the discussion, speakers thanked the members who were finalising their term at the end of the session for their tireless efforts to promote children’s rights and their invaluable contributions for the work of the Committee. Speakers presented campaigns and events promoting the Convention and its Optional Protocols, children’s access to justice, children’s participation, and addressing violations such as violence against children and pushbacks against children’s rights.
One speaker presented reports being preparing by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on violence against children and peace and tolerance for children, the latter of which focused on children in armed groups. The High Commissioner for Human Rights was also preparing a second report on child rights mainstreaming, which would focus on mainstreaming children’s and girls’ rights across United Nations entities. The speaker presented progress in strengthening the participation of children in the Human Rights Council, and in establishing a working group on risks to the safety of children in the digital environment.
Speakers noted with great concern that the past years had been characterised by blatant disregard for children’s rights. Last year was one of the worst years for children in conflict zones. More than one in six children now lived in conflict zones. This trend was expected to continue in the new year. In this context, the Committee had a great responsibility to, in collaboration with United Nations entities and civil society, strengthen child rights’ protections.
Speakers said they looked forward to the publication of the Committee’s upcoming general comment on children’s access to justice and pledged to help promote it. One speaker presented efforts to support the drafting of the Committee’s upcoming general comment, for which they had held 28 consultation meetings with children and adults. In 2025, the speaker said that they would support the development of a child-friendly version of the general comment.
One speaker expressed concern that the liquidity crisis had greatly inhibited the Committee’s work. They noted with concern that the Committee was still not able to hold virtual meetings with civil society. The financial crisis also extended to civil society, limiting its work and capacity. The Committee needed to call for the strengthening of civil society’s space and capacity, they said.
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