COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Fifty-second session
SUMMARY RECORD (PARTIAL)** OF THE 1453rd MEETING
Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva,
on Friday, 2 October 2009, at 3 p.m.
Chairperson: Ms. LEE
CONTENTS
CLOSURE OF THE SESSION
The public part of the meeting was called to order at 5.35 p.m.
CLOSURE OF THE SESSION
The CHAIRPERSON said that, at its fifty-second session, the Committee had considered five periodic reports (of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines and Qatar) submitted under article 44 of the Convention, and the initial reports of Poland and Turkey submitted under article 8 of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and of Poland and Yemen submitted under article 12 of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Committee also adopted a tentative programme of work for its fifty-third session.
The Committee had attended its first meeting with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. It had also been present at the open-ended core group of States for the communications procedures to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and would take part in the related open-ended working group that would take place from 14-18 December 2009.
The Committee would devote 8 and 9 October 2009 to the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the Convention.
Mr. KRAPPMANN said that many of the Committee’s members had been involved in the preparation of the twentieth anniversary of the Convention, which would bring together States parties, specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), activists for children’s rights and children from all regions of the world.
The NGO Group for the Convention had organized a meeting with a large group of children. The focus of the meeting had been the report on a survey that explored the role of children in the State party reporting process, and their experiences with Committee members - many of the children having had the opportunity to meet with the Committee in pre‑sessional meetings. The overwhelming majority of children reported that they believed that their opinions had been taken into account, but also mentioned difficulties that limited their involvement in children’s rights work. The Committee had assured the children that it strongly supported their role in monitoring the implementation of the Convention, noting that reports such as the above‑mentioned would further promote their role.
In the week ahead, the members of the Committee would prepare for its two forthcoming sessions in 2010 and would attend the Dignity, Development and Dialogue Conference.
The CHAIRPERSON declared closed the fifty-second session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The meeting rose at 5.40 p.m.