| Committee
on the Rights of the Child |
| Proposal: Mechanism of Individual Complaint |
|
| The Committee on the Rights of the Child endorses the campaign for a complaints procedure. |
The Committee on the Rights of the Child has opted to support the campaign to establish a communication procedure under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The official announcement was made by Yanghee Lee, Chair of the Committee, during a side event of the eighth session of the Human Rights Council, June 2008. Such a procedure would provide children and their representatives with a channel for pursuing breaches of all the rights guaranteed by the CRC.
Source : CRIN |
| Students of the Master of Advanced Studies in Childrens' Rights (MCR) have carried out an in-depth analysis of the feasibility and the modalities of such a mechanism. |
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the body of independent
experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child by its State parties. It also monitors implementation of two optional
protocols to the Convention, on involvement of children in armed conflict
and on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee
on how the rights are being implemented. States must report initially two
years after acceding to the Convention and then every five years. The Committee
examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the
State party in the form of “concluding observations”.
UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child
IDE Director Mr Jean Zermatten has served as a Committee Member since
May 2005. He is currently the Committee's vice-president.
Three Committee Sessions take place annually at the Palais Wilson (UN High
Commissioner Headquarters) in Geneva.
The Committee’s working methods include assisting States in their
reporting tasks, follow-up to concluding observations, documentation distribution,
and interaction with specialized agencies and bodies of the United-Nations,
as well as non-governmental organizations.
| Days
of General Discussion |
According to article 75 its rules of Procedure, the Committee on the Rights
of the Child has decided to devote periodically a Day of General Discussion
to a specific article of the Convention, or a children's rights issue.
These Days are held regularly since 1992. The Committee deals with current
issues. The aim is to promote better understanding of the content and implications
of the Convention regarding specific issues. Debates are public. Representatives
of governments, UN human rights agencies, specialised UN bodies and institutions
and non-government organisations, as well as individual experts are invited
to participate.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child publishes its interpretation of
the content of human rights provisions, in the form of General
Comments on thematic issues. It also issues Recommendations
on particular issues or on its own working methods.
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