CRC
UNITED
NATIONS
Convention on the
Rights of the Child
Distr.
GENERAL
CRC/GC/2002/2
15 November 2002
Original: ENGLISH
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Thirty-second session
13-31 January 2003
GENERAL COMMENT No. 2 (2002)
The role of independent national human rights institutions in the
promotion and protection of the rights of the child
1.
Article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges States parties to
“undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation
of the rights recognized in the present Convention”. Independent national human rights
institutions (NHRIs) are an important mechanism to promote and ensure the implementation of
the Convention, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child considers the establishment of
such bodies to fall within the commitment made by States parties upon ratification to ensure the
implementation of the Convention and advance the universal realization of children’s rights. In
this regard, the Committee has welcomed the establishment of NHRIs and children’s
ombudspersons/children’s commissioners and similar independent bodies for the promotion and
monitoring of the implementation of the Convention in a number of States parties.
2.
The Committee issues this general comment in order to encourage States parties to
establish an independent institution for the promotion and monitoring of implementation of the
Convention and to support them in this regard by elaborating the essential elements of such
institutions and the activities which should be carried out by them. Where such institutions have
already been established, the Committee calls upon States to review their status and effectiveness
for promoting and protecting children’s rights, as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of
the Child and other relevant international instruments.
3.
The World Conference on Human Rights, held in 1993, in the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action reaffirmed “… the important and constructive role played by national
institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights”, and encouraged “… the
establishment and strengthening of national institutions”. The General Assembly and the
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