Committee on the Rights of the Child Closes Online Limited Eighty-Sixth Session

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon closed its online limited eighty-sixth session, which started on 18 January.

Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna, Chairperson of the Committee, said that this online session had been particularly difficult because of technical issues, as well as the loss of members of the secretariat. The Committee members had all worked very hard to deal with the situation in which they found themselves without receiving support in terms of working conditions and responses to their proposals. During the session, 24 meetings had been held and there was a quorum at each meeting. Due to time differences and connectivity issues, not all members were able to attend this session the entire time. The review of reports by States had been deferred, but the Committee had continued to work on lists of issues and lists of issues prior to reporting.

Concerning the Optional Protocol on individual communications, Mr. Pedernera Reyna said that the Committee had adopted 13 decisions, including finding violations in four decisions against Finland, Denmark and Spain. The Committee found one communication against France admissible, and closed seven individual communications. The Committee approved the update of its working methods on individual communications and discussed three investigations under article 13 of the Optional Protocol. The Committee continued to discuss its working methods and to work on its next day of general debate, dedicated to the rights of children and adolescents in situations of alternative care, which would be held on 17 September 2021. The Committee also adopted its new General Comment 25 on the rights of children in relation to the digital environment.

Velina Todorova, Rapporteur, also listed the work of the Committee on individual communications, the General Comment on the rights of children in relation to the digital environment, its working groups, as well as the activities of the various Committee Experts.

The Committee then adopted the report of the Committee on its online limited eighty-sixth session.

At the end of the meeting, the Chair and Committee members thanked the four members of the Committee for whom this was the last session for all their invaluable work: Amal Aldoseri, Renate Winter, Olga Khazova and Cephas Lumina.

The eighty-seventh session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child is scheduled to take place from 17 May to 4 June 2021.

CRC21.002E