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[GENEVA, 18 December 2009] - The Working Group meeting ended on Friday with the adoption of the Chair's report. Mr Stefanek concluded that it was clear from the two days that children lack remedies when their rights are violated and that 'many considered a communications procedure would constitute added value'. It was hoped that by the end of the meeting there would be consensus that the mandate of the Working Group should be changed. Mr Stefanek had initially planned to propose a recommendations in his report, but changed his mind and decided to leave this decision to the Human Rights Council at its March session. The representative of Argentina said they would have prefered discussing whether or not it was appropriate to elaborate a communications procedure with governments and civil society present. He said "it would have been important to express our opinions on the mandate of the Working Group. We would have liked to have findings and recommendations so that the Human Rights Council can take a decision". A number of African States spoke to highlight the existing complaints mechanism under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The representative of Nigeria who spoke on behalf of the African Group said they were open to continue to engage in the current process. Senegal reiterated the comment made by Nigeria and said that "African political will has been expressed through the creation of this mechanism". The NGO representative referred to the strong and unanimous support for moving on to the elaboration of the necessary Optional Protocol from the invited experts, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF, the Office of the High Commissioner, the European Network of Children’s Ombudspeople and civil society, including a submission from children. "Many States indicated their commitment to this goal. We heard no State voicing opposition to the proposal for a communications procedure for the CRC", she said. "We believe that the mandate of this Working Group has been fulfilled. We strongly hope that the Human Rights Council at its next session will provide a mandate ... to elaborate an appropriate Optional Protocol. We recognise that remaining technical issues will be debated and resolved in the normal way during elaboration. In fact delegations have already made constructive and detailed suggestions for achieving an appropriate procedure for children" she continued. Read the full statement The representative of the International Commission of Jurists said the Working Group had been able to achieve its mandate in time, at least in terms of what can be discussed without drafting. He said: "it seems clear that most participants concur that the establishment of a communications procedure is both necessary and practicable". He quoted General Assembly Resolution 60/147 which defines States' obligations to "Provide those who claim to be victims of a human rights or humanitarian law violation with equal and effective access to justice". He referred to Mr Schmidt's presentation and the fact that there was no serious resource issue. He said "it was difficult to conceive what could be achieved through continued abstract discussions". Ms Yanghee Lee, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, said the Committee firmly believed that this procedure would add to the Convention and assist States at national level to better promote and protect children's rights.She ended by saying that when the drafting mandate is granted, the Committee would assist States in the entire process. The Chair explained that he was "guided by the spirit of consensus" when deciding not to include recommendations in his final report. He said he had the deep conviction that the Working Group would continue its work but that it was now up to the Human Rights Council to decide on the future mandate. He said he would continue informal discussions between now and the HRC session in March, as suggested by the NGOs. Government delegates have 15 days to comment on the draft report before it can be published. Read more Full details available here