Committee on the Rights of the Child Opens One Hundredth Session

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning opened its one hundredth session, which is being held in Geneva from 12 to 30 January, during which the Committee will review reports on the efforts of Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Spain and Uganda to adhere to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the efforts of Pakistan to adhere to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

In an opening statement, Mahamane Cisse-Gouro, Director of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Representative of the Secretary-General, said it was an honour to open the hundredth session of the Committee, which was an important milestone in the Committee's history. He said the Committee was meeting at a very difficult moment for children's rights. Around the world, children were increasingly affected by violations of international humanitarian law and growing challenges to their fundamental rights. At the same time, global support was shrinking.

The consequences were alarming, Mr. Cisse-Gouro said. The United Nations Children's Fund estimated that 4.5 million children under the age of five could lose their lives due to the rollback of essential services. Millions of children were facing growing risks from conflict, climate change, poverty, inequalities and hunger. The Office of the High Commissioner called on governments, donors, and all partners to urgently renew their commitment to protecting children's rights.

Mr. Cisse-Gouro said the Committee's work had never been more important, yet treaty bodies were facing unprecedented constraints. In 2025, more than 30 per cent of meeting time was lost, resulting in the cancellation of State party reviews as well as pre-sessional working groups. He expressed sincere appreciation for the Committee's achievements during this difficult period. Committee members' dedication had ensured that the Committee's work could continue into 2026.Mr. Cisse-Gouro concluded by wishing the Committee a successful session.

Sophie Kiladze, Committee Chair, in her opening remarks, said today was a truly remarkable occasion: the jubilee one hundredth session of the Committee. Over 35 years of its existence, the Committee had reviewed hundreds of reports submitted by States parties and issued thousands of recommendations, adopted 26 general comments, held numerous days of general discussion, issued many statements, conducted inquiries, adopted individual decisions and convened a vast number of events promoting the child as a rights holder. She said the Committee's work had led to tangible outcomes for millions of children worldwide: saving lives; protecting children from violence and other forms of harm; advancing equality and inclusion for the most vulnerable; and improving access to justice, education, health care, sanitation, and adequate standards of living.

However, Ms. Kiladze said that despite the Committee's efforts, the suffering of millions of children remained beyond imagination. Across all regions, without exception, there were grave violations of the rights enshrined in the Convention and its Optional Protocols. She also raised concerns about the financial challenges affecting the Committee and the wider United Nations system, which had led to the cancellation of the Committee's third session in September 2025. She called on the international community to collectively find ways to ensure that the Committee could continue its essential work.

Before adopting the session's agenda, the Committee also heard statements from representatives of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; the United Nations Children's Fund; Child Rights Connect; and the Secretary of the Committee.

Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, and webcasts of the public meetings can be found here. The programme of work of the Committee's one hundredth session and other documents related to the session can be found here.

The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. this afternoon to consider the sixth and seventh combined periodic report of Maldives (CRC/C/MDV/6-7).

Opening Statements

MAHAMANE CISSE-GOURO, Director of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Representative of the Secretary-General, said it was an honour to open the hundredth session of the Committee, which was an important milestone in the Committee's history. This session was originally scheduled for September 2025 but was regrettably postponed due to the United Nations liquidity crisis. Mr. Cisse-Gouro said he was therefore pleased that the Committee was able to convene now, albeit in a reduced format, to continue its essential work.

The Committee was meeting at a very difficult moment for human rights, and especially for children's rights. Around the world, children were increasingly affected by violations of international humanitarian law and growing challenges to their fundamental rights. At the same time, global support was shrinking. In 2025, severe reductions in global aid led to hospital closures, shortages of emergency supplies, and the suspension of immunisation campaigns.

The consequences were alarming. The United Nations Children's Fund estimated that 4.5 million children under the age of five could lose their lives due to the rollback of essential services. By the end of 2026, another six million could be forced out of school. Malnutrition was worsening this crisis: in 2024, 150 million young children were stunted and 42.8 million suffered from wasting, undermining their ability to grow, learn and survive. Millions of children were facing growing risks from conflict, climate change, poverty, inequalities and hunger. The Office of the High Commissioner called on governments, donors, and all partners to urgently renew their commitment to protecting children's rights, restore essential services and stand up for the United Nations Charter and international law.

In the coming months, the High Commissioner would launch the Global Alliance for Human Rights, a large-scale, long-term initiative which would bring together governments, civil society, youth, artists, scientists, businesses, philanthropic organizations, and the entire United Nations system to defend human rights, inspire collective action and strengthen the global human rights ecosystem. The Office was counting on the Committee's support for this transformative initiative.

The Committee's work had never been more important, yet treaty bodies were facing unprecedented constraints. In 2025, more than 30 per cent of meeting time was lost, resulting in the cancellation of State party reviews as well as pre-sessional working groups, and, coupled with a decrease in State party reports received in 2025, had serious consequences for the functioning of the treaty body system. This year, the resource situation was expected to remain extremely challenging, with further cuts in resources, resulting in less meeting time, deliverables and impact.

The High Commissioner had consistently warned that, if this trend continued, the system risked reaching a breaking point. He had called for innovative ideas and solutions, including in connection with the UN80 Initiative. This challenge was addressed as an issue of high importance at the Chairpersons' informal meeting in early December 2025 and would be a topic for their formal annual meeting in June 2026. The Office was doing its utmost to support the Committee and other treaty bodies, including by highlighting the direct impact that resource limitations have on human rights protection on the ground.

Mr. Cisse-Gouro expressed sincere appreciation for the Committee's achievements during this difficult period. Its commitment, as demonstrated by the important work undertaken online between September and December, was greatly appreciated. Thanks to its efforts, eight lists of issues and five lists of issues prior to reporting were adopted. This was critical: without those approvals, the Committee would not have been able to schedule new countries for the coming sessions. Members' dedication had ensured that the Committee's work could continue into 2026 despite the challenges being faced.

Mr. Cisse-Gouro announced that the first session of the Human Rights Council's open-ended intergovernmental working group mandated to explore a possible Optional Protocol to the Convention on the rights to early childhood education, free pre-primary education and free secondary educationwas held from 1 to 3 September 2025 in Geneva, and that this working group would submit its progress report to the Council in its sixty-second session in 2026. He also said that the Council's annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child would take place on 9 March 2026, during its sixty-first session, and would focus on the theme of the High Commissioner's report on children's rights in armed conflict. In conclusion, Mr. Cisse-Gouro wished the Committee every success during the session.

SOPHIE KILADZE, Committee Chair, said today was a truly remarkable occasion: the jubilee one hundredth session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Over 35 years of its existence, the Committee had held 100 sessions, reviewed hundreds of reports submitted by States parties under the Convention and its Optional Protocols and issued thousands of recommendations. It had adopted 26 general comments, held numerous days of general discussion, issued many statements, conducted inquiries, adopted individual decisions and convened a vast number of events promoting the child as a rights holder.

Over more than three decades, the Committee's authoritative guidance and monitoring had contributed to significant and systemic change. Many States Parties had undertaken child-centred legal, policy, and institutional reforms, not only in response to concluding observations, but also through the implementation of decisions under the individual communications procedure and findings from inquiries. This collective work has led to tangible outcomes for millions of children worldwide: saving lives; protecting children from violence and other forms of harm; advancing equality and inclusion for the most vulnerable; and improving access to justice, education, health care, sanitation, and adequate standards of living. Together, Committee members had helped ensure that children were heard and that their views were given due weight in decision-making. They had contributed to changing mindsets toward recognising children as full rights holders.

Ms. Kiladze expressed heartfelt appreciation to each current and former member of the Committee, as well as to the Committee's Secretariat and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, for their tireless dedication and hard work over the years. She also expressed sincere thanks to States Parties for their cooperation in constructive dialogues and follow-up; to international and regional organisations, civil society and grassroots organisations, academia, business actors, experts and children around the world, whose rights were the Committee's duty, and whose dignity and well-being remained at the heart of everything the Committee did.

Despite collective efforts and firm commitments, the suffering of millions of children remained beyond imagination. Across all regions, without exception, there were grave violations of the rights enshrined in the Convention and its Optional Protocols. Children were being killed and maimed in armed conflicts; subjected to the worst forms of abuse, exploitation, and discrimination; exposed to new and evolving harms in the digital environment, including those linked to artificial intelligence; and disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and climate change.

The Committee, like the wider United Nations system, was not immune to these challenges. The cancellation of its third session in September 2025, ongoing uncertainties affecting Committee members and the Secretariat, and increasing resource constraints sent clear warning signals. Every cancelled session of the Committee meant postponing reforms for millions of children worldwide and shrinking the civic space. The international community needed to collectively find ways to ensure that the Committee could continue its essential work and provide consistent, effective guidance to States parties without disruption. Ms. Kiladze said she believed that if the Committee, together with its partners, remained steadfast and united, then its two hundredth session, many years from now, would be a true celebration: a moment when children everywhere could live free from fear, enjoy their rights fully, and grow up in dignity, equality and peace.

During the session, in addition to holding eight country reviews, the Committee would continue discussions on how to enhance cooperation with relevant bodies to strengthen promotion and protection of the rights of the child, as well as continue discussions concerning its future work. It would also consider any communication and information received under the Optional Protocol on the communications procedure; and continue its work on a new general comment on children's right to access justice and effective remedy, among other matters. The Committee would hold its seventeenth informal meeting with States at the Palais des Nations on Thursday, 29 January at 3 p.m.

ALLEGRA FRANCHETTI, Secretary of the Committee, said that four reports had been received since the last session, from Belarus, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, and Sierra Leone, bringing the total number of reports pending consideration to 59. The total number of ratifications of the Convention remained at 196, while 60 periodic reports were overdue. No States had ratified any Optional Protocols since the last session, and no new reports had been received under any Optional Protocols. Some 37 initial reports were overdue under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and 47 initial reports were overdue under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Statements by United Nations Bodies, State and Civil Society Representatives

African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child congratulated the Committee on the historic milestone of one hundred sessions. Its achievements were a testament to its indispensable role in advancing the promotion and protection of human rights. However, this moment of celebration unfolded against a deeply troubling backdrop for children. Armed conflicts were exposing children to killing, maiming and family separation. Meanwhile, other threats such as climate change were harming children's right to food, water, health and a healthy environment. Poverty, inequality, pandemics, forced migration, and digital harms further compounded these vulnerabilities. The weakening of international cooperation, shrinking civic space, erosion of trust in multilateral institutions and growing geopolitical fragmentation were also having direct and profound consequences for the protection of children's rights.

The African Committee strongly believed that international cooperation was essential for protecting children's rights. In this regard, it had formed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Committee, which strengthened the two Committees' collective ability to ensure more coherent, context-responsive, and effective protection of children's rights, particularly for children in Africa. There had been important progress in Africa in recent years, with the expansion of child protection legislation, improved access to education and health services and improved birth registration. Strengthened cooperation with the United Nations Committee was both timely and necessary. Children needed to be placed firmly in the centre of global response to today's crises. The international community needed to resist fragmentation and reaffirm multilateralism.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had been some time since the Office's last exchange, a testimony of the current complex global political and financial context, with human rights and child rights facing unprecedented challenges. The speaker presented recent and upcoming developments in the Human Rights Council related to children's rights, including a new Council resolution on the rights of the child on children and armed conflict, which was expected to be adopted in March this year; the presentation at the upcoming sixty-first session of the Council of the triennial resolution on birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law; the implementation of Council resolution 56/6 on Child Safety in the Digital Environment and the submission of a report under this resolution by the Office at the Council's sixty-fourth session; and a study by the Office on the impact of mental health challenges on the enjoyment of human rights by young people, which would be presented at the sixty-third session of the Council in September 2026.

The Office commended the Committee's role in the development of the Joint Statement on Child Rights and Artificial Intelligence, which the Office would co-sign, and which would be officially launched on 19 January at the International Telecommunication Union Headquarters in Geneva. It also announced that it was coordinating consultations gathering children's voices across regions on their rights in the digital world, which would inform the partnership report "Our Digital World, Our Say". The Office was prioritising child participation in its work. It had launched a dedicated website for children on Human Rights Day, completed several child-friendly versions of its reports, and had also led development of a child and youth-friendly version of the Committee's general comment 25. It looked forward to working with the Committee at this time of complexities affecting the United Nations to promote and protect the rights of all children globally.

United Nations Children's Fund said 2025 was an exceptionally challenging year for the world's children, marked by an unprecedented convergence of crises, while a global pushback against child rights threatened decades of hard-won progress. Cuts in foreign aid had placed millions of lives at risk. In response to this evolving geopolitical and financial landscape, the United Nations Children's Fund had undertaken significant internal reforms in recent months, including a 25 per cent reduction in posts and relocation of certain posts to lower cost duty stations. These changes positioned the Fund to achieve the ambitious goals of its new Strategic Plan 2026-2029, which included saving 10 million child lives and supporting implementation of the Convention. To strengthen internal capacity, the Fund had developed and launched a new foundational course on children's rights that explored the transformative impact of the Convention.

Human rights mechanisms, including the Committee, played a critical role in guiding States and holding them accountable. The Fund was deeply concerned by the likely cancellation of both the February pre-session and the Committee's third session this year, and by the broader erosion of the United Nations human rights system. It reiterated its unwavering support to the Committee and stood ready to contribute in any way possible. In recent months, it had continued to support the development of general comment 27 on children's right to access to justice and to an effective remedy and had also finalised guidance on child participation in the reporting process for country offices and National Committees. Additionally, this year, the Fund would develop guidance on comprehensive national child rights strategies and coordination mechanisms, as outlined in general comment five, and would consolidate this guidance, along with other existing resources, into a single online hub for all materials on child rights governance. The Fund wished the Committee a productive session and looked forward to continued collaboration.

Child Rights Connect said that it expressed deep concern over recurrent cancellations of meetings by the Committee, alongside cancellations affecting other treaty bodies, which pointed to a clear crisis within the treaty body system. The cancellation of meetings, the late confirmation of sessions and pre-sessions, and the discontinuation of hybrid modalities severely undermined the Committee's ability to fulfil its core mandate, and restricted opportunities for civil society to participate meaningfully. This was especially alarming at a time when children worldwide were increasingly affected by a convergence of crises. Child Rights Connect warmly welcomed and appreciated the Committee's efforts in September to organise the cancelled May pre-session online. Child Rights Connect called for a minimum level of predictability in scheduling of the Committee's sessions and pre-sessions; securing of hybrid participation modalities; and maintenance of meetings between civil society and the Committee, including through an annual hybrid meeting with civil society. The organisation had recently developed joint messages to inform the UN80 Initiative, calling for the Secretary-General's Guidance Note on Child Rights Mainstreaming to serve as a central framework for reforms undertaken.

Child Rights Connect would start developing the child-friendly version of the Committee's general comment 27 on children's right to access to justice and to an effective remedy upon its adoption. It had organised a consultation between children in countries affected by armed conflict and the European Union to directly inform the drafting of a related Human Rights Council resolution on the rights of the child. The organisation continued to operate despite the unprecedent funding crisis affecting the child rights sector. It was committed to continue supporting the Committee and stood ready to join efforts to explore innovative ways of minimising the impact of the cancellation of Committee meetings and to effectively address the Committee's growing backlog.

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