September 13: The first stakeholders meeting on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was held yesterday in the capital.

The chairperson of the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) Lyonpo Thakur Singh Powdyel chaired the session Government officials, representatives from the non-governmental sectors and students gathered yesterday to discuss the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Issues including children’s right to education and basic health services and the hardships of children from poor backgrounds were discussed in the session.

Students also enquired about the legal provisions regarding Child Rights. The day’s discussion also focused on child labour. The second periodic report on the convention of Rights of the Child was also presented. The education Minister Lyonpo Thakur Singh Powdyel chaired the meeting.

Dr. Rinchen Chophel, the executive director of the National Commission for Women and Children said the Commission is jointly working with the Ministry of labour and Human Resources to monitor and implement measures to address the problem of Child labour. He also added that there was also a need to get a clear and accurate picture of the issue through surveys and studies.

Bhutan was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. After ratification of the convention on the rights of the child, an initial report is prepared by the government on the situation of the children in the country and submitted to the Child Rights Committee in Geneva.

Following this, the government submits a periodic report to the committee on the status of children after five years. Bhutan is going to submit its second period CRC report in Geneva on September 22.