Committee on the Rights of the Child

Day of General Discussion

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified international human rights instrument, with 193 States Parties.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the body of independent experts responsible for reviewing progress made by States parties in implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, decided during its 43 rd session , to devote its annual Day of General Discussion (DGD) on 21 September 2007 to the subject: "Resources for the Rights of the Child - Responsibility of States", Investments for the Implementation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Children and International Cooperation (CRC art.4).

The purpose of the Days of General Discussion is to foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of the Convention as they relate to specific articles or topics. After the discussion the Committee adopts recommendations, taking into account the issues raised. Representatives of Governments, United Nations human rights mechanisms, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions as well as individual children and experts are welcome to take part.

Article 4 is an essential article of the Convention and its implementation is an integral part of the implementation of the whole Convention . The 2007 Day of General Discussion aims to elaborate in more detail some of the issues raised by the second part of article 4 which require further discussion and consideration and notably the State party's obligations with regard to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.

As the theme of this Day of General Discussion is broad, the Committee proposes that participants to this meeting be divided into two working groups based on the two following areas in order to focus discussions (please see the outline for more details on the two working groups and their respective sub-themes) :

•  Working Group 1: 'available resources' and their allocation to children

•  Working Group 2: the use of resources to the 'maximum extent'

The Committee holds a day of general discussion each year. Past themes are listed below. Click on the title to view the recommendations: