UN expert panel opens session to examine children's rights in 10 countries

A United Nations expert panel today opened its latest session to examine the promotion and protection of children's rights in 10 countries.

During its current three-week session, the Geneva-based Committee on the Rights of the Child will look at first-ever reports from Mauritania, Kenya, Oman, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Gambia, Cameroon and Cape Verde on their efforts to promote children's rights. Paraguay and Portugal will be presenting their second reports.

The 10-member Committee was formed in 1991 to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by or acceded to 191 countries, making it one of the most widely-accepted human rights treaties ever. Only Somalia and the United States have not ratified it.