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

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its sixty-second session and adopted its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports presented by Guyana, United States, Malta, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niue, Philippines and Slovakia under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two Optional Protocols.

The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations will be available on the Committee’s webpage at the following link next week.

During the session, Guyana presented its combined second to fourth periodic report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Malta and Guinea presented their second periodic reports under the Convention, and Niue presented its initial report under the Convention. The United States presented its second periodic report under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Burkina Faso and Slovakia presented their initial reports under the two Optional Protocols, and the Philippines presented its initial report under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The Committee also adopted four General Comments during the session on the right of the child to have his/her interests assessed and taken as a primary consideration; the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health; the rights of the child on state obligations regarding the impact of business enterprises on children’s rights; and the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities. In addition, the Committee adopted the rules of procedures for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.

The Committee is a body of independent experts formed in 1991 to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its State parties. The Convention gives a comprehensive collection of children's rights the force of international law. The Committee also monitors implementation of two Optional Protocols to the Convention: the first on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the second on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. A third Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 19 December 2011. It will allow individual children to submit complaints about specific violations of their human rights under the Convention and its first two Optional Protocols. The Protocol opened for signature on 28 February 2012 and will enter into force upon ratification by 10 United Nations Member States.

The next session of the Committee will take place from 27 May to 14 June to review the reports of Armenia, Rwanda and Uzbekistan under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The Committee will also review the periodic reports of Guinea-Bissau, Slovenia and Israel under the Convention.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CRC13/011E