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Summary: In a statement on Treaty Body Reform to the Fifth Inter-Committee Meeting, the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child is calling on OHCHR to withdraw the proposal for a unified treaty body and adopt an approach that would enhance the protection of rights holders.
The NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child has given a statement during the 5th Inter-Committee Meeting, an annual meeting of chairpersons and members of each of the seven human rights treaty bodies. These annual meetings provide a forum for members of the human rights treaty bodies to discuss their work and consider ways to enhance the effectiveness of the treaty body system as a whole. At the 5th meeting on 20th June 2006, the Inter-Committee Meeting consulted with NGOs on the issue of treaty body reform and the High-Commissioner for Human Rights' proposal for a unified standing treaty body. The NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a network of more than 70 NGOs which facilitates the promotion, implementation and monitoring of the Convention, addressed the 5th Inter-Committee meeting to convey their views on efforts to reform the treaty body system. As mentioned in previous communications to the High Commissioner, the NGO Group's primary concern is to ensure that the protection of children as rights holders is enhanced through the reform of the treaty bodies. However, they believe that OHCHR has made no attempt at justifying this with the recent proposal for a unified standing treaty body. On the contrary, the creation of a unified body may result in a loss of focus on children and their rights and that consolidation may have a negative impact on the vibrant national process that has contributed to building momentum and visibility around children’s rights issues. Indeed, the creation of a unified reporting and monitoring system might entail: According to the NGO Group, the High Commissioner's paper, rather than addressing the above-mentioned concerns, simply states that “measures would be taken” to prevent the loss of specialised expertise and to ensure that the process engages those sectors of government and civil society working in the specific rights. Nowhere does the paper make any suggestions as to what these measures might be. Further information
The NGO Group's statement suggests that, although there is much to be done to improve the current system, if treaty bodies adopted the best practices of other treaty bodies, substantial progress could be made in improving the system. They suggest the establishment of working groups specific issues, composed of Committee members, States parties and NGOs in order to seek consensus on harmonising working methods.
pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/NGOgroup_2006_interCommittee_statement_final.doc