COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD OPENS FORTY-FIFTH SESSION

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning opened its forty-fifth session, adopting its agenda, swearing in new Members, and electing its Bureau. Kyung-Wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, also addressed the Committee.

Committee Expert Yanghee Lee was elected as Chairperson. The Vice-Chairpersons elected were Kamel Filali, Rosa Maria Ortiz, Awich Pollar and Jean Zermatten. Lothar Krappmann was elected as Rapporteur.
The Committee's new members, Agnes Akosua Aidoo, Luigi Citarella, Maria Herczog, and Dainius Puras made solemn declarations that they would perform their duties and exercise their powers as members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously.

In opening remarks, Kyung-Wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, highlighted that a special event on follow-up to recommendations of the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children had been held during the fourth regular session of the Human Rights Council, in March 2007. Along with Bacre Ndiaye, Director of the Human Rights Procedures Division, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Independent Expert on violence against children, and Moushira Khattab, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Ms. Kang had addressed those attending the event. The intention of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to support the Study's follow-up, including via the work of the Organization's special procedures and treaty bodies, had been made clear.

Ms. Kang informed members that since its last session Cuba, Egypt and Yemen had become parties to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and Comoros, Mauritania, Moldova and Sweden had become parties to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Additionally, it was expected that the long-awaited book containing the legislative history of the Convention on the Rights of the Child would be launched next month, on 11 June 2007, in the presence of the High Commissioner.

During its present session, the Committee would consider the periodic reports of Kazakhstan, Maldives, Slovakia, and Uruguay, as well as initial reports on the Convention's Optional Protocols from Bangladesh, Guatemala, Monaco, Norway, Sweden, Sudan and Ukraine. Ms. Kang said the Committee would also be meeting in closed session with non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, regional organizations and student groups on a diverse number of issues related to children's rights. The Committee would discuss treaty body reform issues, the Committee's General Days of Discussion and General Comments. It would also discuss the regional workshop on follow-up to the Committee's concluding observations that OHCHR was in the process of planning in cooperation with partners, to be held in Burkina Faso in November, and the possibility of holding a regional workshop in the Republic of Korea in the course of 2008. Also during this session, the Committee would be seeking new modalities for cooperation with the Council of Europe, and would meet informally with the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, on 7 June.

A Committee Expert then asked whether there was an action plan to implement the recommendations in the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children. Ms. Kang, and other representatives of OHCHR, outlined progress on follow-up and confirmed that OHCHR was finalizing a strategic plan in that regard.

When the Committee reconvenes in public on Tuesday, 22 May at 10 a.m., it is scheduled to take up the second periodic report of Slovakia (CRC/C/SVK/2) on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention.

Statements

KYUNG-WHA KANG, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, extended a warm welcome to the Committee's new members, and congratulated those members that had been re-elected. The fact that all five members standing for re-election had been successful demonstrated the confidence States parties had in the work that had been carried out by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and its Experts over the past years.

With respect to developments that had taken place since the Committee's January session, Ms. Kang drew attention to three new instruments had been adopted into the human rights treaty regime: the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, and the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance. A signing ceremony for the Convention on Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol had been held on 30 March 2007 in New York. At the moment, there were 85 signatories to the Convention and 45 signatories to its Optional Protocol. The Convention on Enforced Disappearance had been opened for signature in February 2007, and 59 States had signed so far.

Furthermore, Ms. Kang noted that the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, established under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, had held its first session in Geneva in February. The Subcommittee had elected its Bureau, and would soon begin its work, which involved monitoring, through visits, places where persons, including those under the age of 18, might be deprived of their liberty. Since the Committee's last session, Cambodia and New Zealand had become parties to the Optional Protocol and Nicaragua had become a signatory.

Ms. Kang highlighted that a special event on follow-up to recommendations of the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children had been held during the fourth regular session of the Human Rights Council, in March 2007. Along with Bacre Ndiaye, Director of the Human Rights Procedures Division, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Independent Expert on violence against children, and Moushira Khattab, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Ms. Kang had addressed those attending the event. The intention of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to support the Study's follow-up, including via the work of the Organization's special procedures and treaty bodies, had been made clear.

Turning to the reform of treaty bodies, Ms. Kang informed the Committee that last week, on 15 and 16 May, in Geneva, the International Law Commission had held a discussion on reservations to human rights treaties with UN experts in the field of human rights. Committee Expert Jean Zermatten had represented the Committee on the Rights of the Child at that meeting and would be able to provide an update during this session.

Also, as part of the follow-up to recommendations of the Fifth Inter-Committee Meeting and the Eighteenth Meeting of Chairpersons of Treaty Bodies, the Working Group on the harmonization of the working methods of the treaty bodies had met on 17 and 18 April 2007 in order to finalize its discussion on the High Commissioner's proposal for the creation of a unified standing treaty body, among other things. Committee Expert Kamel Filali had attended that meeting and would provide the Committee with more information during the course of the session.

Regarding developments in the area of children's rights, Ms. Kang informed members that since its last session Cuba, Egypt and Yemen had become parties to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and Comoros, Mauritania, Moldova and Sweden had become parties to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Additionally, Ms. Kang observed that it was expected that the long-awaited book containing the legislative history of the Convention on the Rights of the Child would be launched next month, on 11 June 2007, in the presence of the High Commissioner.

Turning to the work of the Committee during this session, Ms. Kang recalled that the Committee would consider the periodic reports of Kazakhstan, Maldives, Slovakia, and Uruguay, as well as initial reports on the Convention's Optional Protocols from Bangladesh, Guatemala, Monaco, Norway, Sweden, Sudan and Ukraine. It would also be meeting in closed session with non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, regional organizations and student groups on a diverse number of issues related to children's rights. The Committee would discuss treaty body reform issues, the Committee's General Days of Discussion and General Comments. It would also discuss the regional workshop on follow-up to the Committee's concluding observations that OHCHR was in the process of planning in cooperation with partners, to be held in Burkina Faso in November, and the possibility of holding a regional workshop in the Republic of Korea in the course of 2008, as well as other issues pertinent to the work of the Committee.

Also during this session, the Committee would be seeking new modalities for cooperation with the Council of Europe. In that context, Ms. Kang recalled that the Committee would meet informally with Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, on 7 June. The meeting would allow members to get an overview of the Council of Europe's new programme for the promotion of children's rights and the protection of children from violence, "Building a Europe for and with children", and the organization's goals and activities.

On a final note, Ms. Kang informed members that Ibrahim Salama had been appointed as the new Chief of the Treaty Bodies and Council Branch. He would be taking up his appointment in the coming months.

Following that statement, an Expert asked whether an action plan had been put in place to further the recommendations of the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children. In particular, if the Committee were to recommend to States to seek OHCHR's assistance in that regard, she wished to know how much OHCHR was committed to providing that assistance.

Ms. Kang replied that so far, OHCHR had been concentrating on getting the message out, through disseminating and translating the study. They were now in the process of helping the Independent Expert draft his first-year follow-up to the study to be presented to the General Assembly.

JANE CONNORS, Senior Human Rights Officer at OHCHR, said that OHCHR was finalizing a strategic plan for the implementation of the recommendations in the Secretary-General's Study. OHCHR was an active member of the inter-agency group that supported the Independent Expert. They were finalizing the recruitment of a mid-level staff person to assist Mr. Pinheiro to e nsure full-fledged follow-up. OHCHR was working very closely with the United Nations Children's Fund, which was much larger, and was trying to push targeted goals.

Ms. Connors recalled that Professor Pinheiro would be meeting with the Committee on 22 May to present his ideas on follow-up to the study and exchange views with the Committee in that regard.