GlobalChild Platform

Article 44(6): Making reports widely available

  1. States Parties undertake to submit to the Committee, through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, reports on the measures they have adopted which give effect to the rights recognized herein and on the progress made on the enjoyment of those rights

(a) Within two years of the entry into force of the Convention for the State Party concerned;

(b) Thereafter every five years.

  1. Reports made under the present article shall indicate factors and difficulties, if any, affecting the degree of fulfilment of the obligations under the present Convention. Reports shall also contain sufficient information to provide the Committee with a comprehensive understanding of the implementation of the Convention in the country concerned.
  2. A State Party which has submitted a comprehensive initial report to the Committee need not, in its subsequent reports submitted in accordance with paragraph 1 (b) of the present article, repeat basic information previously provided.
  3. The Committee may request from States Parties further information relevant to the implementation of the Convention.
  4. The Committee shall submit to the General Assembly, through the Economic and Social Council, every two years, reports on its activities.
  5. States Parties shall make their reports widely available to the public in their own countries.

-UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Overview of Article 44(6)

The second important procedural provision in Part II of the Convention which should be particularly addressed in State Party reports is Article 44, which sets out the State Party reporting obligation itself, initially two years after ratification and every five years thereafter.

In its analysis of State Party Reports the Committee’s practice is to cluster Article 44, particularly its paragraph 44(6) and its requirement to make State Party Reports widely available, with Article 4 and 42 of the Convention as the key provisions outlining State Party Obligations in relation to General Measures of Implementation. General Comment no 5 sets out the principle requirements of State Parties in meeting these treaty obligations [1]. The principle thrust of Article 44 can be divided between two attributes of i) fostering implementation of all child rights and ii) Examining Progress in implementation efforts. In other words State Party reports are about good dissemination and education as well as accountability. Making the reports widely available is critical to the success of both these attributes of Article 44 and to the general goals of dissemination and training outlined in Articles 4 and 42, with which it is commonly linked. This requires ease of access to the State Party Reports, in all national languages. It also requires timely preparation and submission of reports with broad consultation and participation of children themselves and of civil society. It should require also a process to address any delays in reporting that may arise and a duty to make the recommendations from the Committee widely known as well.

Core attributes of Article 44(6)

The core attribute of Article 44(6) is:

  • Fostering implementation of all child rights
  • Examining Progress in Implementation efforts


Each of these attributes can be measured in terms of structural or process implementation or in terms of outcomes achieved through implementation as outlined in the table below. Some indicators, for instance the structural ones, may be common to all attributes. An attempt has been made to balance the use of objective and subjective data indicators as well as qualitative and quantitative ones.

Relevant provisions within the SDGs

No relevant SDG provisions have been identified for this article.

Potential sources of data for users of the indicators sets
  • Customized school-based surveys
  • Customized parents for health professionals, educators and childcare workers
  • Customized surveys for parents and general population
  • Human Rights Institutions
  • National child rights and wellness surveys
  • United Nations Treaty Bodies Database
  • Universal Human Rights Index

References used for the overview
  1. United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. (2003). General Comment No. 5: General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6) (CRC/GC/203/5).  Retrieved from the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights website: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4538834f11.html
References used to create indicators
  • Fundamental Rights Agency, European Union Agency For Fundamental Rights. (2010). Developing indicators for the protection, respect and promotion of the rights of the child in the European Union (Conference Edition). Retrieved from https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2012/developing-indicators-protection-respect-and-promotion-rights-child-european-union
  • Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. (2017). State of the child report, Special focus: Youth criminal justice (ISBN: 978-1-4605-1915-8). Retrieved from https://www.cyanb.ca/news-releases/child-rights-education-week-2017
  • United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2007). Implementation handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Fully rev. 3rd ed., pp.186). Geneva, Switzerland: UNICEF.
  • United Nations Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) (2012). Human Rights Indicators: A Guide to Measurement and Implementation (HR/PUB/12/5), (p.174).Retrieved from http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Human_rights_indicators_en.pdf

Glossary/key words

No keywords identified for this article.

Article 44(6) Indicator Tables

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