COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD CONCLUDES SEVENTY-SEVENTH SESSION

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its seventy-seventh session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Guatemala, Marshall Islands, Palau, Panama, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Spain and Sri Lanka.

The concluding observations and recommendations on the reports will be made available on the session’s webpage on Thursday, 8 February.

Renate Winter, Committee Chairperson, in her concluding remarks, summarized the activities of the Committee during the seventy-seventh session, which was held from 15 January to 2 February 2018.

Ms. Winter reminded that as of 2 February, there were 196 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; 167 States had ratified the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and 174 States had ratified the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. During the session, the Committee had reviewed the reports of eight countries, out of which three countries via video conference from the regional office of UNICEF in Fiji. The Committee had also reviewed three cases received in relation to the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, one of which it had deemed a violation, one inadmissible and one which had been discontinued.

In the context of the treaty body strengthening process and the United Nations General Assembly resolution 68/268, the Committee had continued its work to enhance its working methods, including the simplified reporting procedure. It had also started revising General Comment No. 10 on children’s rights in juvenile justice, Ms. Winter said.

Turning to the day of general discussion, Ms. Winter stated that the Committee had begun preparations for the discussion to be held in September 2018 entitled “Protecting and empowering children human rights defenders.” As for cooperation with other United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and other competent bodies, Ms. Winter expressed gratitude to many partners, including United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions and children for their valuable support.

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

Meeting summaries of all public meetings held during the seventy-seventh session can be found here.

The Committee will hold its seventy-eighth session at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 14 May to 1 June 2018 when it will review the reports of Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Lesotho, Montenegro, Norway and the Russian Federation.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CRC18/012F