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Summary: The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning opened its forty-first session by hearing an address by Maria Francisca Ize-Charrin, Chief of the Treaties and Commission Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It also adopted its agenda and programme of work.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning opened its forty-first session by hearing an address by Maria Francisca Ize-Charrin, Chief of the Treaties and Commission Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It also adopted its agenda and programme of work. In her opening address, Ms. Ize-Charrin said the role of the Committee in the process of reform and the implementation of the High Commissioner’s Plan of Action was essential, as the Committee had expertise and insight which the High Commissioner relied upon. Regarding the activities of the Committee, Ms. Ize-Charrin acknowledged its role, saying it had a very busy three weeks before it as it would consider 15 reports during the session, and continue to discuss general comments, and meet with States parties in an informal meeting. It would also interact with the many United Nations entities, non-governmental organizations and other partners who followed the Committee’s work. The double workload would require additional efforts on the part of all those involved. The two-chambers decision would be evaluated for the General Assembly’s sixty-first session in 2006, and the Chairman of the Committee had been invited to present an oral report at that same session. At the beginning of the meeting, Committee Chairperson Jacob Egbert Doek said it was the first time that the Committee would be meeting in two parallel bodies in order to eliminate the backlog the Committee was facing, and to be able to consider the reports under the two Optional Protocols. The Committee in full would discuss the concluding observations. During its three-week session, the Committee will consider reports from Switzerland, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Peru, Ghana, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia and Thailand on their efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., Chamber A is scheduled to take up the initial report of Switzerland on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/CHE/1). Chamber B is scheduled to take up the initial report of Bangladesh on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/BGD/1). Statement by Chief of Treaties and Commission Branch MARIA FRANCISCA IZE-CHARRIN, Chief of the Treaties and Commission Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said activities to implement the High Commissioner’s Plan of Action continued. The role of the Committee was essential, as it had expertise and insight which the High Commissioner relied upon. The on-going process of regularisation of posts had been extended until March 2006, and this had placed a significant burden on those who were working hard to finalise the recruitment process for a considerable number of posts. Final decisions would be taken once the processes for all the posts had been completed - and this also meant that the recruitment process for the post of Secretary of the Committee had still not been completed. On the Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children, the independent expert, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, had presented his progress report to the General Assembly, and was currently finalising his report to be presented to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-second session. Regarding the activities of the Committee, Ms. Ize-Charrin acknowledged its role, in particular that of Mr. Norberto Liwski, along with all the partners, in planning and carrying through a successful regional workshop on follow-up to concluding observations of the Committee, which took place in Buenos Aires, last November, and which showed how the Committee, with its United Nations and civil society partners, and the close cooperation and support of Government representatives, could further the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Committee had a very busy three weeks before it, and would consider 15 reports during the session, and continue to discuss general comments, and meet with States parties in an informal meeting. It would also interact with the many United Nations entities, non-governmental organizations and other partners who followed the Committee’s work. The session would be followed by a pre-sessional working group, during which preparation for the consideration of reports at the next session would begin. This workload would require additional efforts on the part of all those involved. The two-chambers decision would be evaluated for the General Assembly’s sixty-first session in 2006, and the Chairman of the Committee had been invited to present an oral report at that same session. Responding, Mr. Doek underscored the results of the support of the Office of the High Commissioner, saying that it was crucial and well appreciated by the Committee. The Committee would have a reflection after the session as to the success of the two-chambers approach. He also noted that the Committee should reach 100 per cent consideration of all initial reports submitted by States parties by the end of the year. CRC06002E