Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixty-fifth session

Summary record (partial)* of the 1846th meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Monday, 13 January 2014, at 10 a.m.

Chairperson:Ms. Sandberg

Contents

Opening of the session

Statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Adoption of the agenda

Submission of reports by States parties

The meeting was called to order at 10.15 a.m.

Opening of the session

1.The Chairperson declared open the sixty-fifth session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

2.Ms. Pillay (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) said that 2014 would mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was the most widely ratified of all the human rights treaties since it was only three States short of universal ratification. In a statement in 2000 on the Global Partnership for Children, Nelson Mandela had described the Convention as a “living document”; it was her view that, 14 years later, the challenge of implementing the rights embodied in the Convention remained. The role of the Committee in that regard was key since it was a force for change on the ground, through its dialogues with States parties and its crafting of focused relevant and implementable recommendations.

3.The twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention offered an opportunity to make the public, and children in particular, more aware of the Convention and its three Optional Protocols, especially through social media. In that connection, she welcomed the decision to devote the 2014 day of general discussion to the topic of “Media, social networks and the rights of the child”.

4.She announced that Costa Rica intended to deposit its instrument of ratification of the Optional Protocol on a communication procedure on 14 January 2014, at which point 10 States parties would have ratified the Protocol, which would enter into force in April 2014. She encouraged States parties to ratify the Protocol in order to allow children access to the Committee once all domestic remedies had been exhausted. She hoped that the existence of that Protocol would encourage States parties to redouble their efforts to ensure that their national systems provided robust protection of children’s rights, including the right to a remedy.

5.In line with the decision by the General Assembly to extend the intergovernmental process on treaty body strengthening until February 2014, the Secretary-General had prepared a comprehensive and detailed cost assessment of the various elements proposed. The assessment was currently the subject of an initial round of consultations that were expected to reach an outcome by mid-February 2014. She was encouraged to see the importance that the General Assembly was attaching to issues such as additional meeting time and staff for the committees, capacity-building for reporting, webcasting, videoconferencing and accessibility. She hoped that the General Assembly would be able to reach a comprehensive agreement in February and that it would grant additional budget resources to the treaty bodies so that they could discharge their mandate fully.

6.As a follow-up to the proceedings of the Human Rights Council, a report was currently being drafted on the round table held in Singapore on 10 and 11 December 2013 on children working or living on the street, in which Mr. Gastaud had participated. Furthermore, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was preparing a report on the right to birth registration and, with the World Health Organization, was developing guidelines on the prevention of child mortality under the age of 5. In June 2014, OHCHR would be submitting a report to the twenty-sixth session of the Council on child, early and forced marriage, and a multimedia exhibition on that theme would be held in Geneva in March 2014 in the context of the campaign entitled “Too young to wed”. The next annual day of discussion in the Council (13 March 2014) would be devoted to children’s access to justice.

7.Referring to the catastrophic situation of children caught up in armed conflict, particularly in Syria, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, she said that all members of the international human rights system had the opportunity and the responsibility to take steps, be it to document violations, assist victims or bring clarity to the international obligations at stake.

Adoption of the agenda

8.The agenda (CRC/C/65/1) was adopted.

Submission of reports by States parties

9.Ms. Franchetti (Secretary of the Committee) said that 10 State party reports had been received by the secretariat since the Committee’s preceding session, bringing the number of reports pending consideration to 98. Brunei Darussalam, Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Timor-Leste had submitted their second and third periodic reports under the Convention; Iraq had submitted its second to fourth reports; Sierra Leone and Slovakia their third to fifth reports; the Netherlands its fourth report; and Peru its fourth and fifth reports. Nauru and Tonga were the only States parties not to have submitted their initial reports under the Convention. Since the preceding session, the Russian Federation and Saint Lucia had ratified the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, bringing the total number of ratifications to 164. The number of ratifications of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict remained unchanged at 152. The initial report of Latvia under that Protocol had been received. In addition, since the previous session, 3 States had signed the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, bringing the total number of signatory States to 45, and 3 further States (Montenegro, Portugal and Slovakia) had ratified it, bringing the total number of ratifications to 9.

Consideration of reports of States parties

10.The Chairperson read out the timetable for consideration of the 13 periodic reports listed on page 3 of the agenda.

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

11.The Chairperson said that a group of young Germans would be present at the consideration of Germany’s third and fourth periodic reports on 27 and 28 January.

Methods of work of the Committee and treaty-body strengthening

12.The Chairperson said that the Committee would continue discussion of the general guidelines regarding the form and contents of periodic reports to be submitted by States parties under article 44, paragraph 1 (b), of the Convention (CRC/C/58).

Day of general discussion

13.The Chairperson said that the day of general discussion would be held during the sixty-seventh session, on 12 September 2014, at the Palais des Nations, Geneva; the theme of the discussion would be: “Media, social networks and the rights of the child”.

General comments

14.The Chairperson said that the Committee would, inter alia, continue its work on the draft joint general comment on harmful traditional practices which was being developed with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Future sessions

15.The Chairperson announced that the sixty-sixth session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child would be held in Geneva from 26 May to 13 June 2014.

The discussion covered in the summary record ended at 10.40 a.m.