Committee on the Rights of the Child
Sixty-fourth session
Summary record of the 1845th meeting*
Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Friday, 4 October 2013, at 3 p.m.
Chairperson:Ms. Sandberg
Contents
Adoption of the Committee’s report on its sixty-fourth session
Closure of the session
The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m.
Adoption of the Committee’s report on its sixty-fourth session (CRC/C/64/3)
1.The Chairperson, reading from the draft report on the Committee’s sixty-fourth session, said that, as of 4 October 2013, there had been 193 States parties to the Convention, 152 to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and 165 to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, which had been approved by the General Assembly on 19 December 2011, had been signed by 43 States and ratified by 8 and would enter into force three months after the deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification or accession.
2.As of 15 September 2013, the Committee had received 593 reports under article 44 of the Convention, 100 initial reports and 1 second periodic report under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and 86 initial reports and 1 second periodic report under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
3.Representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) had attended the Committee’s sixty-fourth session, as had representatives of Plan International, Child Rights Connect and SOS Children’s Villages International.
4.All the Committee members had been present, except Ms. Al-Shehail. During the session, the Committee had considered seven reports under the Convention (China, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Sao Tome and Principe and Tuvalu); two initial reports under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (China and Paraguay); and two initial reports under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (Paraguay and the Republic of Moldova). The Committee had adopted concluding observations on each of the reports; they could be found online at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/.
5.The Committee had continued its work on the draft joint general comment on harmful traditional practices, which was being prepared in tandem with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. It had also continued its discussions on methods of work, at its 1825th and 1844th meetings.
6.The Committee would be devoting a day of general discussion to the media, social networks and children’s rights at its the sixty-seventh session in September 2014, and another to access to justice and effective remedies to child rights violations at its seventy-third session in September 2016.
7.The Committee’s next session would be held from 13 to 31 January 2014.
8.Ms. Herczog (Rapporteur) said that, as usual, several Committee members had taken part in expert meetings, conferences and consultations both before and during the session. The Committee had attended a retreat on 21 September with representatives of NGOs in the Child Rights Connect network to discuss involving children in the Committee’s activities. On 18 September, the Committee had also met with Ms. Heymann of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), who presented the findings of her project to collect data on the world’s children. On 30 September, several Committee members had participated in the events organized to mark the adoption of general comment No. 17 on article 31 of the Convention (CRC/C/GC/17). Members had also met with representatives of the DotKid foundation to discuss online safety and with representatives of Plan International to examine disaster and climate change risk management. Mr. Gastaud had attended the 17th annual conference of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC), held in Brussels. Lastly, prior to the session, she herself had travelled to Rwanda to consult with members of a local association regarding the placement of children in open facilities.
9.The Chairperson said that she took it that the Committee wished to adopt the report on its sixty-fourth session.
10.It was so decided.
Closure of the session
11.The Chairperson declared closed the sixty-fourth session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and thanked all those who had contributed to its success.
The meeting rose at 3.30 p.m.