Committee Elections
Every two years, the term of half the Committee members ends and elections take place in New York, generally in June.
Child Rights Connect advocates for quality, independence and diversity of the Committee membership. We contact States and children’s rights defenders to encourage the nomination and election of the most suitably qualified experts, based on the official criteria provided by the CRC, the GA Resolution on treaty body strengthening and the Addis Ababa Guidelines on the independence and impartiality of treaty body members. We also promote transparency by providing the nominees with the opportunity to respond to a public questionnaire where they can demonstrate how their experience and expertise is an added value for the Committee.
As a member of TB-Net, Child Rights Connect works to make the elections of the Committee on the Rights of the Child as well as of other treaty bodies more open and transparent. For this purpose, you can find all the complementary questionnaires and videos of the candidates in the TB Elections website.
You can also the Summary Report TB-Net & Amnesty International Event on Treaty Body Election. The Report summarizes a roundtable working meeting under the Chatham house rule held on the 15th November 2018, with the aim to discuss amongst States and other key stakeholders including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and NGOs, the current nominations and elections processes for Treaty Body membership, and proposals for improvements which aim to enhance the quality, independence and diversity of Treaty Body membership.
2024 elections
On 28 February 2025, the term of nine Committee members – see below – will expire:
- Mr. Rinchen CHOPHEL, (Vice Chair and Rapporteur) Bhutan, English
- Ms. Sopio KILADZE, (Vice Chair) Georgia, English
- Mr. Benyam Dawit MEZMUR, Ethiopia, English
- Ms. Mikiko OTANI, Japan, English
- Mr. Luis Ernesto PEDERNERA REYNA, (Vice Chair) Uruguay, English
- Ms. Ann Marie SKELTON, (Chair) South Africa, English
- Ms. Velina TODOROVA, Bulgaria, English
- Mr. Benoit VAN KEIRSBILCK, Belgium, English | Français
- Ms. Ratou Jean ZARA, Chad, English | Français
On 23th of May 2024, nine new members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child were elected in New York to replace members whose terms are expiring on 28 February 2025 (alphabetical order):
- Rinchen CHOPHEL, Bhutan, English, re-elected
- Timothy P.T. EKESA, Kenya, English, first term
- Mariana IANACHEVICI, Republic of Moldova, English| Español | Français, first term
- Sopio KILADZE, Georgia, current member, English, re-elected
- Cephas LUMINA, Zambia, English| Français | Español, re-elected
- Juliana SCERRI FERRANTE, Malta, English, first term
- Zeinebou Taleb MOUSSA, Mauritania, Français, first term
- Benoit VAN KEIRSBILCK, Belgium, current member, English| Français, re-elected
- Benyam Dawit MEZMUR, Ethiopia, current member, العربية| English | Français | Español, re-elected
From 1st March 2025 onwards, the new membership of the Committee will consist of 11 women and 7 men, who come from the following regions: 3 from Latin America and the Caribbean; 8 from Africa; 1 from Asia-Pacific; 2 from Eastern Europe and 4 from Western Europe and other States.
CRC elections webpage – Webcast
For each election for the CRC Committee, as part of the TB-Net and to enhance the visibility of the process, Child Rights Connect (CRCcnt) invites all the candidates to respond to the TB-Net/CRCcnt questionnaire and to produce a video, introducing themselves and explaining their interest on becoming CRC Committee members.
This is the material sent to candidates:
- TB-Net / CRCcnt’s questionnaire: English – Spanish – French
- Guidelines on video responses to joint TB-Net questionnaire for TB elections: English – Spanish – French
You can find below their filled biographies, questionnaires and videos. CRCcnt will keep updating this webpage as it receives additional responses and videos!
Provisional list of candidates (as far as we are aware) as of 15.04.2024:
- Rinchen CHOPHEL, Bhutan, current member, English
- Timothy P.T. EKESA, Kenya, English | Questionnaire |
- Mariana IANACHEVICI, Republic of Moldova, English| Español | Français | Questionnaire
- Sopio KILADZE, Georgia, current member, English
- Lina KJOSTAROVA-UNKOVSKA, North Macedonia, English | Questionnaire
- Cephas LUMINA, Zambia, English| Français | Español
- Juliana SCERRI FERRANTE, Malta, English|
- Zeinebou Taleb MOUSSA, Mauritania, Français | Questionnaire EN – FR – SP|
-
Benoit VAN KEIRSBILCK, Belgium, current member, English| Français | Questionnaire EN – FR – SP |
- Norah Amilcar JEAN FRANÇOIS, Haiti, Français
- Ratou ZARA, Chad, current member, العربية| English | Español | Français | Questionnaire |
- Benyam Dawit MEZMUR, Ethiopia, current member, العربية| English | Français | Español
- Sansan Kpièmiité YOUL, Burkina Faso, Français | Questionnaire |
- Fiona Atupele MWALE, Malawi, English | Questionnaire |
- Diénèba DIAKITE TRAORE, Mali, Français | Questionnaire EN – FR |
- Andrew Madugu ALI, Nigeria, English
- Joseph NDAYISENGA, Burundi, English | Français
- Sêmèdé Chrystelle Cédrine ADONON, Benin, English | Español | Français | Questionnaire
The candidates are 10 women and 8 men, who come from the following regions: 1 from Asia-Pacific; 3 from Eastern Europe; 2 from Western European and other States; 11 from Africa; 1 from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Check the candidates’ profiles on the CRC elections webpage.
The current membership of the Committee consists of 12 women and 6 men, who come from the following regions: 4 from Latin America and the Caribbean; 6 from Africa; 3 from Asia-Pacific; 2 from Eastern Europe and 3 from Western Europe and other States.