Negotiations on the new Human Rights Council concluded on 16 March with the adoption of draft Resolution A/60/L.48.
The Commission on Human Rights will conclude its 60 years of work in a three hour session this coming Monday afternoon, 27 March 2006.
Nothing will be decided on the modalities of the first session of the Human Rights Council untill the Bureau is elected on 9th May this year.
For updated information, visit our CHR news page
Or visit www.reformtheun.org
Sixty-second session of the CHR
Relevant Resolutions adopted at the Commission on Human Rights will be available here, including:
- Omnibus Resolution on the Rights of the Child
- Resolution on the Abduction of Children in Africa
- Resolution on the Right to Education
- Resolution on the Question of the Death Penalty
- Resolution on the Right to Food
- Resolution on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Resolution on the Elimination of Violence Against Women
- All Resolutions
Information and News Coverage
- CRIN will be reporting from the Commission on Human rights. Sign up to the special CHR CRINMAIL and get our daily updates 'Children Have Rights Too'.
- Press releases will be issued by the CHR on a daily basis and will be made available on the OHCHR website.
- News and Civil Society Perspectives [html]
- Documentation for the 62nd session is available on the OHCHR website.
- Download a Factsheet about the Special Procedures of the Commission or see more on the thematic and country mandates
NGO Participation at the Commission on Human Rights
The subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child brings together NGOs willing to promote the rights of the child at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). The subgroup aims to ensure that the CHR addresses the specific rights and situations of children worldwide by advocating the resolutions and by hosting a special interest group called the Children's Human Rights Caucus that serves as focal point for a range of participants to meet on children's issues.
Information sharing: The subgroup ensures daily information in French, Spanish and English on children's issues at the CHR through e-mail and reports here.
Morning briefings: The Caucus organises morning briefings 9 a.m to 10 am in room E-3025. All participants at the CHR are warmly welcome to discuss issues brought up in the light of the CHR 62nd session with invited Special Rapporteurs and Experts, Government delegations, the Human rights Committee members, members of expert panels, UNICEF, UNHCR, OHCHR secretariat, regional human and children’s rights organisations.
Side events: The Commission attracts some of the foremost human rights advocates from around the world. As usual at the CHR, the Caucus members will facilitate, co-organize, participate and report from child rights and child rights linked side events. The side events are, if not otherwise mentioned, carried out during lunch hours 1- 3 pm.
How can NGOs participate?
Accredited NGOs can participate directly in the Commission on Human Rights by making written statements, sent in advance to its secretariat, and oral statements addressing the Commission under the relevant items of its agenda. Yet, most NGO work consists of preparatory work, advocacy, information and substantive input prior and in parallel to the sessions, through direct contacts with member States, organisation of thematic panels, production of alternative information and follow-up of negotiations at the international and national levels. In that process, NGOs operate both individually and as organised groups.
Detailed information for NGOs that wish to participate to the 62nd session is available on the OHCHR website, this link includes guidelines for participants, maps, etc.
A new information sharing platform has been set up for NGOs: download information in [English - French - Spanish]. The deadline for application has been extended to 28 February.
Documents and Reports
- Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of the abduction of children in Africa - Advanced edited version E/CN.4/2006/65
- Status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child - Report of the Secretary-General, submitted for the 62nd session of the Commission on Human Rights, in accordance with paragraph 40 (b) of Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/44. E/CN.4/2006/64 - Advance edited version, only available in English for the moment.
- Report from J-M Petit, Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography on child pornography [word].
- Progress report by the Secretary-General on the question of violence against children - E/CN.4/2006/63
- Annual report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children (Ms. Sigma Huda) - E/CN.4/2006/62
- Report of the United Nations Development Fund for Women on the Elimination of Violence against Women [E/CN.4/2006/60]
- Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Mr. Manfred Nowak - E/CN.4/2006/6
- Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the right to development - E/CN.4/2006/24
- All documentation is available at the following link and will be updated as reports are made available.
Item 13: Rights of the Child
This year's resolution on the rights of the child will be drafted by Uruguay for the Latin American group (GRULAC) and co-sponsored by the EU.
- Omnibus Resolution on the Rights of the Child adopted by the Commission
- Draft Alternative NGO Resolution on item 13
- See last year's Omnibus Resolution on the Rights of the Child [E/CN.4/2005/L.96] at the 61st Session of the CHR.
- Read the General Assembly Resolution on child rights of 11 Januray 2006 [A/RES/60/231]
Background to the omnibus resolution on the rights of the child
There are numerous occasions when the rights of the child are addressed at the meeting. They are dealt with as a specific item of discussion and an "omnibus resolution" on the rights of the child is adopted every year. This resolution began as a combination of separate resolutions. Previously a number of resolutions on specific issues affecting children were introduced by the country most concerned about the issue. These included children living and working on the street, sexual exploitation of children and children affected by armed conflict. Concerned about the "proliferation" of resolutions pertaining to children, in 1994 the Commission decided to bring together all the issues in an omnibus resolution. It was initially intended that the omnibus resolution would not only consolidate the many resolutions on children's rights but also would be rationalised and shortened. Although there have been ome attempts to streamline the resolution, at the same time the resolution has continued to grow through the inclusion of new issues. This growth has often occurred on an ad hoc basis rather than in response to a clear, coherent overarching structure and purpose. The resolution adopted by consensus at the 58th session was co-sponsored by 104 countries and, although still very long, contains strong language, including many of the issues that NGOs have pushed for, such as the appointment of an independent expert to carry out the study on violence against children, the fact that the 'Convention on the Rights of the Child [..] and other relevant human rights instruments must constitute the standard in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child', a call to 'abolish by law as soon as possible the death penalty for those under 18 at the time of the commission of the offence'.
Further reading
Rights of the child, Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/85, dated 27 April 2000 (E/CN.4/RES/2000/85) [html format ]
Rights of the child, Commission on Human Rights resolution 2001/75, dated 25 April 2001 (E/CN.4/RES/2001/75) [html format ]
Rights of the child, Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/92, (E/CN.4/RES/2002/92) [html format]
Rights of the child, Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/92, (E/CN.4/RES/2003/86) [html format]
Background information: The Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (CHR), composed of 53 States, meets each year in regular session in March and April for six weeks in Geneva. Over 3,000 delegates from member and observer States and from non-governmental organisations participate. During its regular annual session, the Commission adopts about a hundred resolutions, decisions and Chairperson's statements on matters of relevance to individuals in all regions and circumstances. It is assisted in this work by the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, a number of working groups and a network of individual experts, special representatives and rapporteurs mandated to report to it on specific issues.
The Commission can also meet exceptionally between its regular sessions in special session to deal with urgent and acute human rights situations in the most expeditious way. To date, the special sessions have been held in Geneva concerning the situation of human rights in the territories of the former Yugoslavia (13-14 August 1992 and 30 November-1 December 1992), in Rwanda (24-25 May 1994), in East Timor (23-27 September 1999), and grave and massive violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people by Israel (17-19 October 2000). One of the most important tasks entrusted to the Commission has been the elaboration of human rights standards. In 1948 it concluded work on the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then it has developed standards relating, inter alia, to the right to development, civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, the elimination of racial discrimination, torture, the rights of the child and the rights of human rights defenders. Human Rights standards have little value if they are not implemented. Consequently, the Commission devotes much of its time to examining issues of implementation. Some of its work is particularly sensitive, generating extensive debate and often disagreement. Its network of mechanisms - experts, representatives and rapporteurs - plays an important role in reporting to the Commission annually. Information received from Governments, non-governmental organisations and individuals is used in the preparation of these reports.
The main themes addressed by the Commission are: the right to self-determination; racism; the right to development; the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine; the question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world; economic, social and cultural rights; civil and political rights, including the questions of torture and detention, disappearances and summary executions, freedom of expression, the independence of the judiciary, impunity and religious intolerance; the human rights of women, children, migrant workers, minorities and displaced persons; indigenous issues; the promotion and protection of human rights, including the work of the Sub-Commission, treaty bodies and national institutions; and advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of human rights.
Further reading
The website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Links includes details of sessions, mechanisms, rules of procedure, documents, membership, bureau and news room, [ html ]
How to get involved?
Accredited NGOs can participate directly in the Commission on Human Rights by making written statements, sent in advance to its secretariat, and oral statements addressing the Commission under the relevant items of its agenda. Yet, most NGO work consists of preparatory work, advocacy, information and substantive input prior and in parallel to the sessions, through direct contacts with member States, organisation of thematic panels, production of alternative information and follow-up of negotiations at the international and national levels. In that process, NGOs operate both individually and as organised groups.
Individuals, groups/coalitions and NGOs that are not directly connected to international human rights work can also be involved. The UN Commission's resolution on the rights of the child can be used as a tool for advocating improvements in the lives of children. NGOs can approach the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant government departments regarding domestic issues highlighted in the omnibus resolution on the rights of the child, or under other resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights, in order to monitor the implementation of the recommendations made by the government. NGOs and others can also lobby their government to push for issues important to them - either globally or in a specific country -during the Commission. In a few countries shortly before the start of the Commission, human rights NGOs meet with their governments to discuss various items of the Commission agenda.
The resolution also serves as a valuable tool for informing the authorities and the wider public of commitments made at the international level and for making potential links with local and national developments. For instance, the UN study on Violence against Children mandated by the 58th session of the Commission on Human Rights is an opportunity for all to work on this issue at home and integrate the results back into the international study and its follow-up. For more information, visit the subgroup on violence [html format].
Persons, groups/coalitions and NGOs can convey their concerns and suggestions to NGOs present at the Commission by contacting the NGO Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights [html format]. In order to enhance the co-operation and efficiency of child rights NGOs at the Commission on Human Rights, this group was created to co-ordinate and prepare this work throughout the year. In addition, a Children's Human Rights Caucus is held by the Subgroup to ensure coordinated action on children's rights through daily meetings and permanent up-dates during the Commission. NGOs are very welcome to join these daily meetings. The caucus welcomes proposals and suggestions for presentations, child-related issues activities, events and campaigns to be developed. The exact dates and place of the Caucus during this year's Commission will be posted soon. There is also an email account for interested members and the wider child rights community to be informed about significant developments in the Commission. To join visit the CRIN website.
Contacts & links
For more information on the Commission on Human Rights, contact:
The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, OHCHR – UNOG,
8-14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.
Tel: +41 22 917 9000; Fax: +41 22 917 9016
Website: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/
For more information about the subgroup for the Commission on Human Rights, contact:
Simone Ek , Convenor
Save the Children Sweden
Email: simone.ek@rb.se
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