During the opening of the 82nd session, Child Rights Connect delivered a statement on behalf of its network. We drew the attention of the audience to different initiatives:

1. The publication of our comprehensive study on the global status of CRC reporting which outlines trends, gaps and challenges in relation to the  engagement of States parties, civil society and children in the CRC reporting cycle, as well as an overview of the evolution of the Committee’s working methods;

2. The outcome document of the follow-up meeting to the 2018 DGD on protecting and empowering children as human rights defenders, which is a roadmap for follow-up action and commitments to support implementation of the DGD recommendations at the local, national, regional and international levels;

3. The launch of our website dedicated to the 3rd optional protocol (OPIC) on 16 September, centralizing all existing information and resources on the OPIC to make them accessible to a wide audience, including children and including a database of Treaty Bodies’ jurisprudence concerning children (to be launched on 20 November);

4. Our joint call with the Special Representative on Violence Against Children for States to ratify the OPIC in the framework of the upcoming UN Treaty Event in New York and the 30th anniversary celebrations.

Statements were also made by the Representative of the Secretary General Mr. Orest Nowosad, Chief of the Groups in Focus Section of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanism Division, OHCHR, IOM, Unicef and ILO.

All the statements can be found online on the 82nd session webpage and you can watch the webcast of the opening on the UN web TV.