Committee on the Rights of the Child Closes Eighty-Eighth Session after Adopting Concluding Observations on the Reports of Czech Republic, Eswatini, Poland and Switzerland

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon closed its eighty-eighth session after adopting concluding observations on the reports of Czech Republic, Eswatini, Poland and Switzerland.

Mikiko Otani, Chairperson of the Committee, said the Committee had held 30 meetings during its eighty-eighth session, which started on 6 September. The Committee had formally adopted concluding observations on the reports of Czech Republic, Eswatini, Poland and Switzerland, which were reviewed during the session.

Also during the session, Ms. Otani said that the Committee had adopted decisions in six individual communications cases. They included five cases submitted against Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey, referring to the impact of climate change. The Committee had adopted a decision in one non-refoulement case against Switzerland. The Committee had postponed the consideration of two cases on the issue of administrative detention of children in the context of migration. The Committee had also discussed cases under article 13 of its Optional Protocol, which relates to an inquiry procedure for grave or systematic violations.

On 16 and 17 September, the Committee had held an online day of general discussion dedicated to the rights of children in alternative care. The Committee had also continued its work on a new general comment with a provisional working title of children’s rights and the environment, with a special focus on climate change. The concept note of that general comment was available on the Committee website. To reduce the backlog, the Committee would increase the number of States parties reviewed at the next session, she said.

Faith Marshall, Vice Chair and Rapporteur of the Committee, presented an overview of the various working groups of the Committee and their activities. The working group on children’s rights and the environment would focus on the development of the new general comment and had held several meetings to finalise the concept note. The Committee’s working group on its day of general discussion had produced a hybrid event, featuring children and young people with care experience in the sessions. Parallel working groups had permitted participants to explore a range of issues. The Committee would complete an outcome document and final report on its day of general discussion. Other working groups focused on other areas, such as the Committee’s social media accounts.

Ms. Marshall reviewed Committee Members’ engagement with various activities, noting their participation in academic events and other outside conferences and workshops on topics such as child early and forced marriage, climate change, and structural violence. Child trafficking, the rights of indigenous peoples, and children’s right to a healthy environment were other topics of engagement by Committee Experts.

The Committee then adopted its report on its eighty-eighth session.

All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage, where the concluding observations on the reports of the Czech Republic, Eswatini, Poland and Switzerland will be available on Thursday, September 30. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed at http://webtv.un.org/. The meetings coverage releases on the public meetings can be found here.

The eighty-ninth session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child is scheduled to take place from 17 January to 4 February 2022, at which time the Committee is scheduled to review the reports of Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, Greece, Kiribati, Madagascar, Netherlands and Somalia.

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