Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixty- eight session

12–30 January 2015

Item 1 of the provisional agenda

Adoption of the agenda

Provisional agenda and annotations

Note by the Secretary-General *

1.The sixty-eighth session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child will be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 12 to 30 January 2015. The first meeting of the session will be convened on Monday, 12 January at 10 a.m. From Monday, 12 January (afternoon) to Tuesday, 27 January, the Committee will meet in dual chambers.

2.In accordance with rule 6 of the rules of procedure and in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, the Secretary-General has prepared the attached provisional agenda for the sixty-eighth session. Annotations to the provisional agenda are also attached.

3.Pursuant to rule 39 of the rules of procedure, the meetings of the Committee shall be public, unless otherwise decided by the Committee.

4.The attention of States parties is drawn in particular to the annotations to item 4, which list the reports that will be before the Committee at its sixty-eighth session.

5.A pre-sessional working group, established in accordance with rule 67 of the rules of procedure, met at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 16 to 20 June 2014 .

Provisional agenda

Adoption of the agenda.

2.Organizational matters.

3.Submission of reports by States parties.

4.Consideration of reports of States parties.

5.Cooperation with other United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and other competent bodies.

6.Methods of work of the Committee and treaty-body strengthening.

7.Days of general discussion.

8.General comments.

9.Future sessions.

10.Other matters.

Annotations to the provisional agenda

1.Adoption of the agenda

In accordance with rule 9 of the rules of procedure, the Committee on the Rights of the Child may revise the agenda and may, as appropriate, add, defer or delete items. Only urgent or important items may be added to the agenda.

2.Organizational matters

Under this item, the Committee will consider its programme of work for the session, as well as any other matters concerning the performance of its functions under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

3.Submission of reports by States parties

Reports received

In addition to the reports which are scheduled for consideration by the Committee at its sixty-eighth session (see the timetable for consideration of reports under item 4 below) and reports included in the provisional agenda for the sixty-seventh session (CRC/C/67/1), the Secretary-General has received the following reports under the Convention and its Optional Protocols.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

State party	Due in	Symbol
Antigua and Barbuda	2009	CRC/C/ATG/2-4
Bhutan	2012	CRC/C/BTN/3-5

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

State party	Due in	Symbol
New Zealand	2013	CRC/C/OPSC/NZL/1

Overdue reports

Under rule 71 of the rules of procedure, the Secretary-General is required to notify the Committee at each session of all cases of non-submission of reports. The full list of initial and periodic reports due under the Convention and the initial and periodic reports due under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) and the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC) can be found in the document on the status of submission of reports (CRC/C/68/2). That document also indicates exceptional measures taken by the Committee in respect of States parties encountering problems in complying with the strict time frame for submission of reports established under article 44, paragraph 1, of the Convention, or the consideration of whose reports has been delayed.

4.Consideration of reports of States parties

A tentative timetable for the consideration of reports at the sixty-eighth session, prepared by the Secretary-General in consultation with the Chair and subject to approval by the Committee, is given below.

Tentative timetable for consideration of reports of States parties

Date	Time	Agenda item	Chamber A	Chamber B
Monday, 12 January 2015	3 p.m.	4	Cambodia OPSC	Dominican Republic CRC
Tuesday, 13 January 2015	10 a.m.	4	Cambodia OPAC	Dominican Republic CRC (continued)
	3 p.m.	4	Turkmenistan CRC	Sweden CRC
Wednesday, 14 January 2015	10 a.m.	4	Turkmenistan CRC (continued)	Sweden CRC (continued)
	3 p.m.	4	Turkmenistan OPAC/OPSC	Mauritius CRC
Thursday, 15 January 2015	10 a.m.	4	Gambia CRC	Mauritius CRC (continued)
	3 p.m.	4	Gambia CRC (continued)	United Republic of Tanzania CRC
Friday, 16 January 2015	10 a.m.	4		United Republic of Tanzania CRC (continued)
Monday, 19 January 2015	3 p.m.	4	Jamaica CRC	Uruguay CRC
Tuesday, 20 January 2015	10 a.m.	4	Jamaica CRC (continued)	Uruguay CRC (continued)
	3 p.m.	4	Colombia CRC	Uruguay OPAC/OPSC
Wednesday, 21 January 2015	10 a.m.	4	Colombia CRC (continued)	Iraq CRC
	3 p.m.	4	Switzerland CRC	Iraq CRC (continued)
Thursday, 22 January 2015	10 a.m.	4	Switzerland CRC (continued)	Iraq OPAC/OPSC
	3 p.m.	4	Switzerland OPSC

In accordance with rule 72 of the rules of procedure, representatives of the States parties shall be invited to attend the meetings of the Committee when their reports are examined. The representatives should be able to answer questions put to them by the Committee and make statements on reports already submitted by their States, and may also submit further information.

In accordance with rule 72 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the Secretary-General has notified the States parties concerned of the opening date, duration and venue of the sixty-eighth session of the Committee and the meetings at which their respective reports will be examined, and has invited them to send representatives to attend those meetings of the Committee.

5.Cooperation with other United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and other competent bodies

Under this item, the Committee will pursue its discussion on how its cooperation with various relevant bodies could be further strengthened to enhance the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.

6.Methods of work of the Committee and treaty-body strengthening

Under this item, the Committee will pursue its discussion concerning the organization of its future work, as well as the procedure to be followed in the consideration of reports of States parties and their follow-up. In particular, the Committee will continue its discussion on issues related to its methods of work, especially those concerning the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure. The Committee will also continue its discussion on the work of its focal group on the treaty-body strengthening process. With respect to the latter, the Committee will have at its disposal the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the strengthening of the human rights treaty bodies (A/66/860) and General Assembly resolution 68/268 of 9 April 2014 on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system.

7.Days of general discussion

Under this item, the Committee will adopt the recommendations of the day of general discussion on “Digital media and children’s rights”, held during the sixty-seventh session at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on 12September2014. As the Committee decided at its sixty-second session to hold a day of general discussion every two years,it will also begin to look at possible themes for the 2016 day of general discussion.

8.General comments

Under this item, the Committee will continue work on three general comments on: public spending to realize children’s rights; adolescents; and children in street situations, respectively.The Committee will continue its consideration of possible topics for future general comments.

9.Future sessions

Under this item, the Committee will be informed of any developments relating to the schedule of its future sessions.

10.Other matters

Under this item, members will discuss any other matters relating to the work of the Committee as considered necessary.