The 50th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child will take place 12 to 30 January at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Committee will examine reports from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Republic of Moldova, Netherlands and Republic of Chad on their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In addition, the Committee will review reports on the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (OPSC) from the Maldives and the Netherlands and reports on the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) for the Maldives, the Republic of Moldova and Tunisia.
A special CRC news page devoted to the activities of the Committee on the Rights of the Child has been set up on the CRIN website in partnership with the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The page provides summaries of the Committee sessions by country, UN press releases, NGO press releases, information about the Day of General Discussion, Decisions, General Comments and other activities of the Committee.
States Parties reports submitted by governments to the Committee on the Rights of the Child are available in English, French and Spanish on the website of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Word and PDF formats.
Alternative Reports submitted by NGOs to the Committee on the Rights of the Child are made available on the CRIN website in partnership with the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The reports can also be searched by country, Committee session or by organisation. Note that alternative reports are posted on the CRIN website as they are received.
Agenda
On the afternoon of Thursday, 29 January, the Committee will meet informally with States parties to discuss a number of matters, including the backlog of reports and forthcoming two-chamber working method, follow-up to concluding observations, harmonisation of working methods among treaty bodies, the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention and other matters.
The States parties presenting reports during this session have previously come before the Committee, which subsequently issued concluding observations on them. The Committee considered the initial report of Malawi on 24 January 2002, issuing its concluding observations in document CRC/C/15/Add.174; it took up the initial report of Chad on 24 and 25 May 1999, and published concluding observations in document CRC/C/15/Add.107; the Committee reviewed the second periodic report of the Netherlands and the initial report of Aruba, Netherlands, on 19 January 2004, and issued concluding observations in document CRC/C/15/Add.227; it separately examined the initial report of the Netherlands Antilles on 5 June 2002, and published concluding observations on the report in document CRC/C/15/Add.186; the initial report of the Republic of Moldova was taken up by the Committee on 27 September 2002, and the Committee's concluding observations on it are contained in document CRC/C/15/Add.192; on 28 May 2001, the Committee reviewed the initial report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, issuing concluding observations on it in document CRC/C/15/Add.153; it considered the second periodic report of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 1 June 2004, and made public its concluding observations on that report in document CRC/C/15/Add.239; on 28 and 29 May 1998 the Committee examined the initial report of Maldives, publishing its concluding observations on it in document CRC/C/15/Add.91; and the Committee considered the second periodic report of Tunisia on 28 May 2002, issuing its concluding observations on it in document CRC/C/15/Add.181.
Tentative Timetable for Consideration of Reports
Following is a tentative timetable for the consideration of reports from States parties to the Convention during this session:
Tuesday, 13 January
10 a.m. Malawi: second periodic report (CRC/C/MWI/2)
3 p.m. Malawi (continued)
Wednesday, 14 January
10 a.m. Chad: second periodic report (CRC/C/TCD/2)
3 p.m. Chad (continued)
Thursday, 15 January
10 a.m. Netherlands, Netherlands Aruba and Netherlands Antilles: third periodic report (CRC/NLD/3)
3 p.m. Netherlands (continued)
Friday, 16 January
10 a.m. Netherlands: OPSC Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
initial report (CRC/C/OPSC/NLD/1)
Tuesday, 20 January
10 a.m. Republic of Moldova: combined second and third periodic report (CRC/C/MDA/3)
3 p.m. Republic of Moldova (continued) and Republic of Moldova OPAC Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
initial report (CRC/C/OPSC/MDA/1)
Wednesday, 21 January
10 a.m. Democratic Republic of the Congo: second periodic report (CRC/C/COD/2)
3 p.m. Democratic Republic of the Congo(continued)
Friday, 23 January
10 a.m. Democratic People's Republic of Korea: combined third and fourth periodic report (CRC/C/PRK/4)
3 p.m. Democratic People's Republic of Korea (continued)
Monday, 26 January
10 a.m. Maldives: OPAC2 initial report (CRC/C/OPAC/MDV/1)
3 p.m. Maldives: OPSC1 initial report (CRC/C/OPSC/MDV/1)
Tuesday, 27 January
10 a.m. Tunisia: OPAC2 initial report (CRC/C/OPAC/TUN/1)
Friday, 30 January
12.30 p.m. Public closing of the session
More information, including links to documentation for the forty-ninth session of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is available at the OHCHR website at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs50.htm.
Further information