2010 election results for the Committee on the Rights of the Child
New York, 27 December 2010 - On 21 December 2010, 180 of the 193 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) attended their 13th Meeting at the United Nations in New York to elect nine members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in accordance with article 43(2) of the Convention.
Five members of the Committee ran for re-election, namely: Mr. Filali (Algeria) and Mr. Kotrane (Tunisia) for a third term, as well as Ms. Aidoo (Ghana), Ms. Herczog (Hungary) and Mr. Puras (Lithuania) for a second term. Mr. Citarella (Italy), Ms. El-Ashmawy (Egypt), Mr. Krappmann (Germany) and Ms. Ortiz (Paraguay) did not run for re-election.
Prior to the electoral process, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, Georgia and the United Arab Emirates withdrew their candidates, which resulted in a list of 20 candidates eligible for election.
Although NGOs can not directly nominate or elect members of the Committee, NGOs in certain countries lobbied their government to nominate a candidate that meets key criteria including: demonstrated expertise in human/child rights, independence and impartiality, the ability to devote sufficient time to the work of the Committee, equitable gender and geographic distribution, a variety of professional backgrounds, experience working with civil society, awareness and sensitive to cultural differences and fluency in one of the Committee’s working languages.
All nine members were elected during the first round of secret balloting, having received the required majority of 91 votes and the highest number of votes. Three of the five incumbent members of the Committee were re-elected. The results were:
Mr. Madi, Egypt (new member)) 118 votes
Ms. Al-Shehail, Saudi Arabia (new member) 111 votes
Ms. Sandberg, Norway (new member) 110
Ms. Aidoo, Ghana (current member) 102 votes
Mr. Gastaud, Monaco (new member) 100 votes
Ms. Herczog, Hungary (current member) 98 votes
Mr. Kotrane, Tunisia (current member) 97 votes
Ms. Wijemanne, Sri Lanka (new member) 97 votes
Mr. Cardona Llorens, Spain (new member) 95 votes
Committee members who were not up for re-election and remain on the Committee until February 2013, are: Ms. Al-Asmar (Syrian Arab Republic), Mr. Guran (Slovakia), Mr. Koompraphant (Thailand) Ms. Lee (Republic of Korea), Ms. Mauras Perez (Chile), Mr. Pollar (Uganda), Ms. Varmah (Mauritius), Villarán de la Puente (Peru) and Mr. Zermatten (Switzerland).
The new regional breakdown of the 18 members, based on the UN regional groups, is five members from Africa, four from the Western European and others group (WEOG), five from Asia, two from Latin America and Caribbean States (GRULAC) and two from Eastern Europe.
Within these regions: from Africa, two are from Northern Africa and three from sub-Saharan Africa. WEOG members include two members from Northern Europe and two from Southern Europe. Asian members include two from the Middle East, two from South Asia and one from East Asia. The two members from GRULAC are both from South America. This further breakdown shows that although all regions are represented, Latin America and the Caribbean are under-represented.
The professional expertise and current positions of the six new members (in vote order) is as follows: Mr. Madi (Egypt) is the Assistant Foreign Minister and Director of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps Department and is a career diplomat. Ms. Al-Shehail (Saudi Arabia) is a diplomat at the Saudi Arabian Mission to the UN in New York and previously worked at the Office of the Under-Secretary for Multi-lateral Relations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a focus on family and human rights. Ms. Sandberg (Norway) is Professor at the Department of Public and International Law (University of Oslo) and Project Leader of the research project “Children’s rights: The significance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in administrative and court practice”. Mr. Gastaud (Monaco) is a Legal Adviser for legal and international affairs to the Department of External Relations and a Member of the World Association of Children's Friends. Ms. Wijemanne (Sri Lanka) is a Consultant to the office of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation and Ministry of Justice and Advisor to the National Child Protection Authority. Finally, Mr. Cardona Llorens (Spain) is a Professor of Public International Law and International Relations at the University of Valencia and has conducted extensive research on human rights. For more information on the expertise of the new Committee members, please refer to their CVs on http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/elections13th.htm.
A short summary of the background information of all the Committee members will be available in early March on the NGO Group website (www.childrightsnet.org).
Source: NGO Group for CRC
