COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD OPENS SIXTEENTH SESSION

Press Release
HR/4338

COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD OPENS SIXTEENTH SESSION

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 22 September (UN Information Service) -- The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the expert panel in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, opened its sixteenth session this morning by adopting its agenda items and programme of work.

Opening the meeting, Ralph Zacklin, Acting Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the recent proposals for structural reforms entitled "Renewing the United Nations: A Programme of Reform", issued on 16 July by the Secretary-General, would have a considerable impact on the human rights programme in the years ahead.

Following the Plan of Action of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to strengthen support for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the support team had started its work to ensure a substantive contribution to the reporting process and its follow-up, Mr. Zacklin added.

The support team, which is made up of four persons with extensive experiences in human rights and international legal affairs, would assist the Committee in preparing and following up on the examination of reports by governments. The Committee, which is composed of 10 independent human rights experts, welcomed the support team.

Mr. Zacklin told the Committee that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan had appointed Olara Otunnu (Uganda) as his Special Representative on the impact of armed conflict on children. During Mr. Otunnu's three-year mandate, he would assess progress achieved, steps taken and difficulties encountered in alleviating the plight of children affected by armed conflict around the world.

During its three-week session, the Committee will discuss the promotion and protection of children's rights in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Australia, Uganda, Czech Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Togo. It will also devote a day of general discussion to the plight of the estimated

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100 million children with disabilities. United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations and individual experts have been invited to participate in the discussion. The issue of cooperation with other United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and other competent bodies will also be discussed.

The countries scheduled to come before the Committee at this session are among the 191 that have ratified or acceded to the Convention, with the Cook Islands being the latest to join.

At its next open meeting, the Committee will take up a report from the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic on how the Convention is implemented in that country.

Statement by Acting Deputy Human Rights Commissioner

RALPH ZACKLIN, Acting Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, in his opening statement, said that the recent proposals for structural reforms, entitled "Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform", issued on 16 July by the Secretary-General, would have a considerable impact on the human rights programme in the years ahead. In the proposals, the Secretary-General had underlined that human rights were integral to the promotion of peace, security, economic prosperity and social equity. Therefore, human rights should cut across each of the four substantive fields of the work of the programme of the Secretariat: peace and security, economic and social affairs, development cooperation and humanitarian affairs.

The Secretary-General had also confirmed that actions designed to strengthen substantive and technical support to human rights legislative bodies, treaty bodies and special procedures would be given the highest priority, Mr. Zacklin continued. He told the panel that the Office of the High Commissioner and the Centre for Human Rights had been consolidated into a single unit as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mr. Zacklin told the Committee that the Secretary-General had appointed Olara Otunnu from Uganda for three years as his Special Representative with the mandate to assess progress achieved, steps taken and difficulties encountered in alleviating the plight of children affected by armed conflict. Mr. Otunnu would report annually on his findings to the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.

Turning to some developments of more direct relevance to the Committee, Mr. Zacklin was pleased to report that the ratification of the Convention last June by the Cook Islands was a further step towards the goal of universal ratification, with an impressive total of 191 States parties. As to the Plan of Action of the High Commissioner to strengthen support for the implementation of the Convention, it had now reached its operational phase. The support team had started its work, which ensured a substantive contribution to the reporting process and its follow-up.

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