Day of General Discussion 2007: Resources for the Rights of the Child - responsibility of States


**NGO Submissions now available below**

News from the Day of General Discussion

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has decided to devote its next Day of General Discussion (DGD) to the subject "Resources for the Rights of the Child - Responsibility of States", Investments for the Implementation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Children and International Cooperation (CRC article 4). The meeting will take place at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, 21 September 2007 from 10:00-18:00.

The purpose of the Days of General Discussion is to foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of the Convention as they relate to specific articles or topics. After the discussion the Committee adopts recommendations, taking into account the issues raised. Representatives of Governments, United Nations human rights mechanisms, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions as well as individual children and experts are welcome to take part.

Article 4 is an essential article of the Convention and its implementation is an integral part of the implementation of the whole Convention . The 2007 Day of General Discussion aims to elaborate in more detail some of the issues raised by the second part of article 4 which require further discussion and consideration and notably the State Party's obligations with regard to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.

As the theme of this Day of General Discussion is broad, participants will be divided into two working groups based on the two following areas in order to focus discussions (please see the outline for more details on the two working groups and their respective sub-themes) :

  • Working Group 1: ‘available resources' and their allocation to children
  • Working Group 2: the use of resources to the ‘maximum extent'

The meeting is open to representatives of non-governmental organisations, children and their organisations/networks, UN programmes and agencies, governments and other interested individuals, experts and organisations. An outline of the issues to be discussed is available here http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/discussion/outline-2007.doc.

NGO contributions
NGOs and children are invited to submit written contributions on the themes mentioned above to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as soon as possible. The Committee requests that written contributions be limited to a maximum of seven pages. Although documents may be submitted in English, French or Spanish, they will not be translated into the other languages. Oral contributions from NGOs are also welcome during the day itself but should be limited to interventions in the debate rather than formal statements. Guidelines and additional information will be available shortly on the OHCHR website at http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/discussion/guidelines-2007.doc.

Please note the deadline for written contributions (29 June 2007) has now passed. NGO submissions to the 2007 Day of General Discussion have been posted below

Registration
As the meeting is open to the public, written invitations will not be issued by the United Nations or the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child . For security reasons and due to limited space, attendance at the meeting requires advance registration. Please note that there is no funding available for travel expenses either from the United Nations or the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child and no assistance can be given for visas, travel or accommodation arrangements.

Registration deadline: 1 August 2007. To register, please complete the registration form before this date. Registration forms are at http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/discussion/registration-2007.doc


More information

For registration and to submit written contributions, please contact:
Secretariat, Committee on the Rights of the Child
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Email: [email protected] If you have any questions regarding NGO contributions, please contact Lisa Myers:
NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Email: [email protected]

Other information

**SUBMISSIONS**

NGO Submissions

Individual submissions

Countries

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.