COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD CLOSES SEVENTY-NINTH SESSION

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its seventy-ninth session, after adopting concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Mauritania, El Salvador, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Niger, Benin, and Saudi Arabia, which it reviewed during the session.

Renate Winter, Committee Chairperson, in her concluding remarks, summarized the Committee’s activities during the session, which was held from 17 September to 5 October 2018.

Since the beginning of the session, the Chair said, South Sudan had ratified the Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, bringing the number of States parties to 168 and 175, respectively. Ecuador had ratified, and San Marino acceded to, the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, which now had 41 States parties.

The Committee had considered nine reports: four under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of El Salvador, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mauritania, and Niger; three under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, of Niger, Benin, and Saudi Arabia; and two under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, of Benin and Saudi Arabia. The Committee then adopted the concluding observations on the nine reports which the Chair said would be available on the Committee’s webpage on Thursday, 11 October.

The Committee had also reviewed two communications, on Spain and on Belgium, finding a violation in both. With regard to inquiry cases under article 13, with reference to case 2015/1, the Committee had decided not to designate members to conduct an inquiry under article 13, paragraph 2, of the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure. It had also continued, in the context of the outcome of the treaty-body strengthening process, the work on its working methods, including the simplified reporting procedure, and with regard to the 2020 review of the treaty body system, and had continued with the revision of General Comment 10 of 2007 on children’s rights in juvenile justice.

On 28 September, the Committee had held a day of general discussion on “protecting and empowering children as human rights defenders”, the Chair recalled, and thanked the Child Advisory Team, Child Rights Connect, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for supporting the participation of children in this day, enabling the Committee to “talk about children with the children”.

Bernard Gastaud, Committee Rapporteur, informed on the Experts’ intersessional activities, and the Committee then adopted the report of the session.

All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summaries of all public meetings held during the seventy-ninth session can be found here, and meeting webcasts here.

The eightieth session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child will take place from 14 January to 1 February 2019 at the Palais Wilson in Geneva. The programme of the session will be available soon.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CRC18/030E