This record is subject to correction.Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.Any corrections to the records of the public meetings of the Committee at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.GE.06-42071 (E) 170506 180506 UNITED NATIONS

CRC

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Distr.

GENERAL

CRC/C/SR.1121

18 May 2006

Original: ENGLISH

COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Forty-second session

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 1121st MEETING

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva,

on Monday, 15 May 2006, at 10 a.m.

Chairperson: Mr. DOEK

CONTENTS

OPENING OF THE SESSION

STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS

The meeting was called to order at 10.05 a.m.

OPENING OF THE SESSION

1.The CHAIRPERSON declared open the forty-second session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

2.Ms. CONNORS (Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations) announced that Ms. Maja Andrijasevic-Boko had formally assumed her position as Secretary of the Committee on 1 March 2006.

3.A key development in the area of human rights protection had been the recent establishment of the 47-member Human Rights Council, which would replace the Commission on Human Rights. The Council would convene three times a year in Geneva; its first meeting was scheduled for 19 June 2006. Special sessions could be convened with the agreement of one third of member States. The Council would retain the Commission’s system of independent special procedures and establish a new system of universal human rights reviews of member States. Informal consultations on the future of the new body were currently being held in Lausanne; updated information was available on the United Nations General Assembly web site.

4.Following extensive consultations with treaty bodies and other actors, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had finalized her concept paper for a unified standing treaty body, which had been circulated to all treaty bodies for comments. On 5 and 6 April, the first brainstorming meeting had taken place with member States and NGOs. Some NGOs had submitted their views on the reform proposal in writing. Reform options would be discussed at the fifth inter-committee meeting and the eighteenth meeting of chairpersons of treaty bodies in June 2006, and the Government of Liechtenstein had offered to host a meeting of representatives of regional groups, treaty bodies, United Nations agencies, NGOs, national human rights institutions and the Inter-Parliamentary Union: in July 2006. At an intergovernmental consultation of States parties would be convened in December 2006.

5.Efforts to strengthen the human rights treaty reporting system initiated pursuant to the Secretary-General’s 2002 report entitled “Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for further change” (A/57/387) were continuing. The High Commissioner’s Plan of Action emphasized the need to finalize and implement the harmonized reporting guidelines; the inter‑committee technical working group on the harmonized reporting guidelines had already met in December 2005 and February 2006. On 8 and 9 June 2006, a meeting would be held to discuss treaty bodies’ approach to reservations entered by States parties to specific provisions of the conventions.

6.The Office of the High Commissioner was continuing its efforts to raise awareness of the human rights treaty body system among NGOs, national human rights institutions and the media through the technical cooperation activities of its 40 country and regional field offices, which promoted ratification of the treaties and encouraged States parties to submit reports. The Office also assisted national actors in making best use of the treaty monitoring process. A regional workshop on follow-up to treaty body recommendations for Africa had been held in Nairobi from 22 to 24 February 2006. On that occasion, Rwanda’s follow-up to the Committee’s concluding observations had been used to exemplify implementation practices. A judicial colloquium on the domestic application of international human rights standards had been held in Nairobi from 27 February to 1 March 2006. The participating judges and justices had noted that the growing number of judgements referring to United Nations human rights conventions and to the jurisprudence of human rights treaty bodies demonstrated that national judiciaries were becoming increasingly aware of international norms.

7.Discussions were taking place at various levels to identify efficient ways for following up the recommendations of the Secretary-General’s study on violence against children. A one-day high-level meeting would be held in Geneva in late May 2006 to discuss final recommendations and strategies for promoting implementation. A follow-up meeting to the Middle East and North Africa regional consultation had been held in Cairo from 25 to 28 March 2006. In particular, she wished to commend the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, Ms. Khattab, for her instrumental role in the process. Participants in the meeting had agreed to conduct follow-up activities at the national, regional and international levels to implement the regional obligations under the Cairo Declaration and the recommendations of the regional consultation to end violence against children.

8.Ms. KHATTAB requested clarification about the circumstances under which States parties could opt for a technical review.

9.The CHAIRPERSON said that the possibility of a technical review was open to all States parties. States parties with a history of armed conflict, or those that had been involved in conflict at the time the review was requested, would be strongly encouraged to meet with the Committee. In the absence of such situations or any other visible impediments to the implementation of the Optional Protocol, a technical review was a feasible option.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA (item 1 of the provisional agenda) (CRC/C/42/1)

10.The agenda was adopted.

ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS (agenda item 2)

11.Ms. ANDRIJASEVIC-BOKO (Secretary of the Committee) said that 107 States had ratified both optional protocols to the Convention. The Committee had received 21 reports under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and 17 reports under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Since its previous session, the Committee had received the second periodic report from Maldives and the third periodic report from Honduras under the Convention. Norway, Sweden, Kyrgyzstan and Qatar had submitted reports under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and Kyrgyzstan, the Sudan

and Ukraine had submitted reports under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. For the current session, written replies had been received from 14 States parties.

12.Ms. KHATTAB expressed her appreciation for the support provided by the Office of the High Commissioner in the Middle East and North Africa regional consultation on the study on violence against children and its follow-up meeting. The participation of the independent expert for the study on violence against children, the Secretary of Committee and concerned United Nations agencies had demonstrated to the countries of the region that the issue received attention at the highest level.

The meeting rose at 10.40 a.m.