Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixty-first session

Summary record (partial)* of the 1754th meeting**

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Friday, 5 October 2012, at 10 a.m.

Chairperson:Mr. Zermatten

Contents

Adoption of the report of the Committee on its sixty-first session

Closure of the session

The discussion covered in the summary record began at 12.20 p .m.

Adoption of the report of the Committee on its sixty-first session (CRC/C/61/3)

The Chairperson said that, at its sixty-first session, the Committee had considered the periodic reports of Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Liberia and Namibia submitted under article 44 of the Convention, the initial reports of Albania and Canada submitted under article 12 of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the initial report of Albania submitted under article 8 of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

The concluding observations on the reports of State s parties that the Committee had considered were adopted.

Ms. Aidoo (Rapporteur) said that during the session the Committee had reviewed the draft rules of procedure on the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, worked on five general comments, concerning the best interests of the child, the right to rest, leisure, play and participation, child rights and the business sector, the right to health and, in conjunction with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, harmful practices, and held a well-attended day of general discussion on the rights of children in the context of migration. The Committee had also met with specialists from the University of British Columbia to discuss a framework for monitoring general comment No. 7 on implementing child rights in early childhood.

Since the previous session, the Chairperson had attended several meetings on behalf of the Committee, including the annual meeting of Chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies held in Addis Ababa in June 2012 and a meeting organized by the Council of Europe on monitoring children’s rights, held in Strasbourg in July 2012. She, herself, had represented the Committee and given a keynote address at a regional consultation on child rights and the business sector in Nairobi in August 2012. Other members had also represented the Committee at various international meetings on issues ranging from children in armed conflict to juvenile justice.

The report on the sixty-first session was adopted.

Closure of the session

The Chairperson declared closed the sixty-first session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The meeting rose at 12.40 p.m.