COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD OPENS FORTY-SEVENTH SESSION

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning opened its forty-seventh session during which it will review the promotion and protection of children's rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Timor-Leste and the Dominican Republic. The Committee will also consider the situation in Timor-Leste, Kuwait and Chile with regard to the promotion and protection of children's rights under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and will review efforts made by Timor-Leste, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait and Chile with regard to their implementation of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Committee swore in new Committee Member Alya Ahmed Bin Saif Al-Thani of Qatar, who will complete the term of the former Expert Ghalia Mohd Bin Hamad Al-Thani, and adopted its agenda. It then heard an address by Ibrahim Salama, Chief of the Treaties and Council Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In opening remarks, Mr. Salama encouraged the Committee to pursue activities related to treaty-body reform, including the adoption and implementation of guidelines for a treaty-specific report. He also outlined activities undertaken by the General Assembly related to children, including the adoption, in December 2007, of a new Declaration on Children at the closing of the World Fit for Children + 5 special session in New York. That short but powerful declaration called for the pursuit of a common vision to ensure the well-being of all children with a collective sense of urgency. In the third paragraph of the Declaration an explicit reference was made to the importance of the fulfilment of the obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols in that regard.

Committee Chairperson Yanghee Lee announced at the end of the morning meeting that Georgia had said it was unable to send a delegation to present its report, which had been scheduled for consideration on Tuesday, 15 January. The Committee would therefore meet in closed session tomorrow.


When the Committee next reconvenes in public, on Wednesday, 16 January at 10 a.m., it is scheduled to take up the initial report of Timor-Leste (CRC/C/TLS/1).


Statement

IBRAHIM SALAMA, Chief of the Treaties and Council Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), began by drawing attention to developments in the area of reform of the human rights treaty body system since he last addressed the Committee, in September 2007. OHCHR was currently planning to convene an organizational session of the Inter-Committee Meeting in the first quarter of 2008 to highlight areas requiring harmonization. It was also a matter of pleasure that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had now transferred to Geneva, with its fortieth session opening in the Palais des Nations today.

Mr. Salama recalled that, since the last Inter-Committee Meeting and meeting of the Chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies, all the Permanent Missions to the United Nations Office at Geneva had been informed that the approved harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific documents, should be used by States parties when submitting a report to any human rights treaties body. Noting progress made by other treaty bodies in adopting revised reporting guidelines, he then encouraged the Committee on the Rights of the Child to consider developing and adopting a Committee-specific document.

Turning to the activities of the Human Rights Council, the Council had completed its institution-building task during the first part of its sixth session (10-28 September 2007), and had resumed its sixth session between 10 and 14 December 2007. In terms of the Universal Periodic Review, Mr. Salama said that the Committee might wish to reflect on how its input could be included in the documentation of the review of an individual State. At its September session, the Council had selected the countries to be considered by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review during its first cycle (2008-2011).

Mr. Salama then outlined the activities undertaken by the General Assembly related to children. In December 2007, more than 140 Government delegations adopted a new Declaration on Children at the closing of the World Fit for Children + 5 special session in New York. The short but powerful declaration called for the pursuit of a common vision to ensure the well-being of all children with a collective sense of urgency. In the third paragraph of the Declaration an explicit reference was made to the importance of the fulfilment of the obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols in that regard. Committee Chairperson Yanghee Lee had represented the Committee at that important event, and would provide more information to the Committee.

In addition, a 10–year strategic review report by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for children and armed conflict and the United Nations Children's Fund had been presented to the General Assembly, highlighting the changing and devastating impact of conflicts on children and measured progress made since the landmark Graça Machel report in 1996. "The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children" noted that, while advances had been made in protecting children from war crimes, including recruitment by armed forces and groups and sexual violence – including the adoption of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict – dozens of conflicts around the world were still depriving children of their childhood.

Mr. Salama also briefed the Committee on progress since the presentation of the United Nations Study on Violence against Children. The report on the first year of follow-up to the study had been presented by the Independent Expert for the Study, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, to the Third Committee of the General Assembly on 19 October 2007. According to the report, the Study had succeeded in globally raising awareness of the problem and in providing a structured framework for action and measures, which were being taken by States, international organizations and civil society entities to implement each of the 12 overarching recommendations. However, the report had also underlined that reactive and fragmented efforts, insufficiently funded and focusing narrowly on symptoms and consequences of violence, remained a threat to sustainability and long-term success of efforts to help children. The need to invest more on prevention, training, recovery and social reintegration services, as well as to strengthen data collection systems on violence against children, were highlighted as priorities in the progress report. Among others, the report reiterated the recommendation that a Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children be established

On 27 November 2007, the Third Committee of the General Assembly had approved the resolution on the rights of the child (A/RES/62/141), which included a focus on the elimination of violence against children. The resolution requested the United Nations system and other partners to ensure follow-up and dissemination of the United Nations Study on Violence against Children, and reflected the Study's recommendations. The resolution also requested the Secretary-General to appoint a Special Representative on violence against children to act as a high-profile and independent global advocate and to promote the prevention of all forms of violence against children in all regions, while avoiding duplication.

Turning to Committee specific issues, Mr. Salama said since its last session, Burundi, Gabon and Iran, had become a party to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and Angola and Vanuatu had become party to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. That brought the total number of States parties to the Optional Protocols to 124 and 119, respectively.

In conclusion, Mr. Salama welcomed Alya Ahmed Bin Saif Al-Thani to the Committee and wished her all the best.


For use of the information media; not an official record

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