The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the body of 18 Independent experts that monitors State implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This monitoring process relies on each State’s willingness to submit timely reports and reviews to the Committee. SI UN Representative, Berthe De Vos, blogs about the alarmingly low levels of State party input at this year’s CRC.

“The 89^th session was supposed to start on January 17^th but was postponed until January 31^st, 2022. Despite the delay, Chairperson Otani opened the session with the regrets that, except for the reviews of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Madagascar, all countries’ reviews have been postponed. One extra week will be added in May and in September to review all postponed reports of January.

Click HERE to read my summary of the reviews presented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Madagascar.

The session was opened in the presence of Mr. Nowosad, Chief, Group in Focus Section HRC and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Representative of Secretary-General, without public due to the pandemic regulations. Mr. Nowosad mentioned the negative impact on the increased delays of reports and reviews of Member States, as well as the growing challenges and threats in the lives of children around the globe. He emphasised that regular monitoring by the experts of the CRC is crucial during this whole process.

The growing numbers of children affected by violence, poverty, hunger etc. led to this sad expression from UNICEF: “This is a lost decade for children, leaving the SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) an impossible dream”.

UNICEF recommended challenging the obstacles against the rights of children by working in close collaboration with intergovernmental partners.

2022 marks the 20^th anniversary of the OPAC (Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict) and the OPSC (Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography). Until today, only 172 member states ratified the Convention.  On February 12^th, 2022, a joint statement of the CRC and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and armed conflict was launched, calling the Member States to ratify OPAC and to commit to ending and preventing the recruitment of children in their armed forces and to criminalise the recruitment and use of children.

On March 9^th, 2022, the Council on Rights of the Child will organise a full day about migration, armed conflict and contra-terrorism measures in the world of the child. This report will be represented at the 49^th session of the HRC.

More info about  the CRC 89th session can be found HERE.”