Month: February 2022

The report from Panama shows that much remains to be done before the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is implemented. One problem is that many adults see children as violent, so society needs to be protected from them, not as rights holders. In addition, resettlement of indigenous populations has occurred without considering whether it is in the best interest of the children. Indigenous children additionally often do not have access to culturally sensitive health services in their language. Often there is no basic sanitation or clean drinking water in areas where indigenous people live.

The Committee recommends to raise awareness on the harmful effects of the practice of cohabitation between girls and older men, and especially of early pregnancies and their repercussions, on the physical and mental health and well-being of girls. It also recommends to investigate the possible existence of female genital mutilation in its indigenous population in the border area with the Colombian coast and — if the findings prove the existence of this practice on the territory of the State party — take the necessary measures to end the practice.

Concerning reproductive health, the Committee recommends to adopt a comprehensive gender-sensitive communication strategy on sexual and reproductive health targeting adolescents, parents and society at large, and provide free, confidential, adolescent-responsive and non-discriminatory information on sexuality and reproduction, both online and in person, paying special attention to preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. The State party should further decriminalize abortion in all cases, ensure that girls have access to safe abortion and post-abortion services, and review legislation to safeguard the best interests of pregnant girls and ensure that their views are always heard and are given due consideration in abortion-related decisions.

The Committee recommends that the State party reinforce measures to develop inclusive education, including by allocating adequate financial resources for their implementation, increasing the number of trained and assigned specialized teachers and professionals in inclusive classes in rural and indigenous areas, and ensuring that inclusive education is given priority over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes. It also recommends that Panama strengthen efforts to grant all children with disabilities access to adequate housing, guaranteeing physical safety, adequate space, protection against threats to health and against structural hazards, including cold, damp, heat and pollution, and accessibility.
Panama should also take immediate measures to ensure that children with disabilities throughout the country have access to appropriate health care, including to early detection and intervention programmes and to social services. In addition, the State party should undertake awareness-raising campaigns aimed at government officials, the public and families to combat stigmatization of and prejudice against children with disabilities, and promote a positive image of such children as well as develop family support mechanisms to enable families to help children with disabilities to exercise their rights, including mechanisms addressing women in detention who are responsible for children with disabilities.

To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party reinforce measures to guarantee access to quality health care in regions and communities with the lowest coverage in order to redress the sharp inequalities in health standards, including by ensuring that indigenous children have access to culturally sensitive health services in their language. It also recommends to strengthen efforts to provide prenatal and postnatal care to address the high rates of mortality of infants and children aged 5 years and younger, and the still high maternal mortality rates. Panama should also take specific measures to disseminate information on and guarantee access to special services for children affected by the Zika infection in all regions of the country, and to avoid discrimination against them as well as regularly monitor and assess the effectiveness of policies and programmes on child food security and nutrition, including school meal programmes and initiatives promoting access to safe drinking water, and promote initiatives targeting indigenous peoples.

The Committee recommends that the State party take measures to prevent evictions and displacement of indigenous families and children, ensure that the policies, projects and practices on development and governance of land, including those which may entail relocation, are in line with relevant international standards and provide redress to those families and children evicted or displaced from their lands, including those affected by construction of the Barro Blanco Dam on the Tabasará River. It also recommends to establish a clear regulatory framework for electric, mining, agro-industrial, tourism and other investment projects, banks and companies operating in the State party, as well as for Panamanian companies operating abroad, to ensure that their activities do not negatively affect children’s rights or endanger environmental and other standards.

The Committee expresses serious concern at the absence of measures taken by the State party to reinstate the provision that forbids the extension of pretrial detention.
To improve the situation, the Committee urges the State party to bring its juvenile justice system fully into line with the Convention and other relevant standards. In particular, the Committee strongly recommends that the State party reintroduce the provision that forbids the extension of pretrial detention without exceptions and guarantee children in conflict with the law access to qualified and independent legal aid from an early stage and throughout the legal proceedings.

The Committee recommends that the State party re-establish the authorization to form student groups in order to grant adolescents the right to peaceful assembly.

Concluding observations on the fifth and sixth periodic reports released on 28 February 2018. More information about education in Panama: https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com

The Committee reiterates its observation (CRC/C/15/Add.205, para. 5) that the State party, as a consequence of events that occurred in 1974 and that resulted in the occupation of part of the territory of Cyprus, is not in a position to exercise control over all of its territory and consequently cannot ensure the application of the Convention in areas not under its control.

The report from Cyprus provides little information on health status and discrimination against certain groups. On the positive side, there is free education at almost all levels and the establishment of a youth parliament.

The Committee welcomes the State party’s Ministry of Education and Culture establishing a mechanism for identification and support of children with learning difficulties, emotional and other problems. However, it is concerned that the State party has no definition of inclusive education incorporated into its law. It is further concerned that there are insufficient measures to ensure that mainstream schools are accessible to all children with disabilities.
Therefore, the Committee recommends that the State party establish a clear legislative definition of inclusive education. It further recommends that the State party adopt measures, including reasonable accommodation in all schools, to ensure that children with disabilities are able to exercise their right to education, and provide for their inclusion in the mainstream education system.

While welcoming the State party’s National Drug Strategy 2009–2012 to monitor the improvement of the actions by its services and organizations involved in countering drug use, the Committee remains concerned at the high rate of children consuming alcohol, tobacco, drugs and other harmful substances.
The Committee recommends that the State party systematically collect comprehensive information on the consumption of alcohol and tobacco among children, and take the necessary measures for the effective enforcement of the prohibition of the sale of such products to children.

The Committee is concerned that the monitoring and protection of children employed as domestic workers remains inadequate, with no legislation requiring the compulsory registration of child domestic workers and the current labour inspectorate not having the mandate to carry out inspections on the working and living conditions of children in such employment.
To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to ensure adequate safeguards for children employed as domestic workers, including mandatory registration of such employment and the empowerment of labour inspectorates to carry out spot checks on the working and living conditions of children in such employment.

The Committee recommends that the State party establish a juvenile justice system, including juvenile courts that have adequate human, technical and financial resources and adopt a holistic and preventive approach to addressing the problem of juvenile offenders and its underlying social factors, with a view to supporting children
at risk at an early stage. Cyprus should also ensure that children, including those between the ages of 14 and 18 years, are not subject to the adult justice system, regardless of the nature of the offence committed.

The Committee welcomes the State party’s abolition of so-called “artiste” visas for the entertainment sector. However, the Committee is concerned that significant problems persist with trafficking in human beings, including children, in particular trafficking of women for sexual exploitation mainly in bars, nightclubs and so-called cabarets. Therefore, the Committee urges the State party to raise the awareness of the public, strengthen early detection and prevention mechanisms and ensure full protection for all children victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, including in the family and outside.

The implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is failing in Azerbaijan due, among other things, to a high child mortality rate. In addition, the observance of children's privacy and the granting of the right to expression and religion are not being implemented far enough.

The Committee recommends to intensify efforts to provide adolescents with education on sex and reproductive health and improve the accessibility of contraception.

The Committee urges the State party to undertake awareness-raising campaigns on eliminating discrimination against children with disabilities, and consider enacting legislation explicitly prohibiting such discrimination as well as to establish a clear legislative definition of disability, including for learning, cognitive and mental disabilities, with the aim of accurately identifying children with disabilities to effectively address their needs in a non-discriminatory manner. Azerbaijan should also prohibit the relinquishment of new-born infants and/or children to State care on the sole basis that they have a disability, to complement this prohibition with the strengthening of support measures for parents to care for their children with disabilities, and, where such placement in care is considered, to ensure that it is done with full regard to the principle of the best interests of the child.

The Committee urges the State party to allocate all necessary human, technical and financial resources to expeditiously improve the availability and quality of primary health care. In doing so, the State party is further urged to ensure that such health-care services are equitably accessible, particularly to children living in rural areas and socio-economically challenged situations. The Committee also recommends that the State party undertake a comprehensive study on the specific causes of child mortality, taking its findings into consideration when implementing measures to reduce and prevent such mortality.

The Committee recommends that the State party take legislative and institutional measures to ensure that the business sector in the country respect child rights, including by providing a legislative framework that requires companies domiciled in Azerbaijan to pay particular attention to respecting child rights, particularly those companies involved in the extractive and cotton-producing industries. Azerbaijan should, inter alia, also adopt measures to help business enterprises prevent and mitigate adverse human rights impacts in their operations in the country and abroad, whether by their supply chains or associates.

The Committee recommends that the State party consider enacting a law on juvenile justice through an open consultative process which includes civil society and fully addresses the resource and technical needs for its operation; and, until a juvenile justice system is established, ensure the training of all its legal, penitentiary and law enforcement professionals on the Convention. The Committee further recommends to consider establishing a specialized police service for children, particularly with regard to training on child-sensitive investigations and interrogations. Azerbaijan should also ensure that all persons under the age of 18 in custody, particularly females, are separated from adults and it should also take urgent steps to substantially improve the conditions of detention of persons under the age of 18, and bring them into full conformity with international standards.

The Committee urges the State party to expeditiously further strengthen its mechanisms to transparently monitor corruption at all levels and sectors, and improve the awareness of and accessibility to safe channels for reporting it. The Committee recommends that in the context of corruption in the areas of birth registration, health care and education, the State party consider measures for ensuring that information on its anti-corruption hotline is clearly visible at places where persons may seek such services. The Committee also recommends that the State party consider further strengthening its enforcement laws and mechanisms with a view to ensuring the prompt punishment of perpetrators of corruption with commensurate sanctions.

In the Czech Republic, especially Roma children are exposed to discrimination that must be abolished. There is also much to be done in the area of mental health, as suicide is the most common cause of death among young adults. The legal situation with regard to reproductive rights can be rated as good.

The Committee welcomes the right of girls above 16 years of age to abort without the consent of a legal guardian. To further improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party implement comprehensive adolescent sex and reproductive health education at school, with a focus on the promotion of human rights, gender equality, respect and contraceptive use and the prevention of adolescent pregnancy, high-risk sexual behaviour and sexual and intimate partner violence. It also recommends to ensure that the notification of legal guardians in case of abortion is done with prior and informed consent of the girl concerned and is consistent with her right to privacy.

The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach to disability, to set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities and to improve the coordination and interconnection between the social, health-care and legal protection authorities charged with caring for children with disabilities and train staff to initiate appropriate care options and enable timely referrals. The Committee further urges Czechia to strengthen support for the parents of children with disabilities, to meet the demand in urban, rural and remote areas, reduce regional disparities and ensure the right of those children to grow up in their family environment, including by increasing the availability of early care, home nursing and relief services, creating a network of community and outpatient health-care services, training and ensuring an adequate number of specialist personnel, providing timely and adequate socioeconomic support to all children with disabilities, regardless of their age and type of disability, and improving outreach to parents about the services available.

To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party evaluate the child and adolescent health strategy currently in force and formulate, with the participation of children, a subsequent strategy and an action plan with a dedicated budget and a monitoring mechanism. It further recommends to adopt legislation on the provision of school health services and ensure their coordination as well as ensure that all children, regardless of their age and nationality, have the right to have their parent or legal guardian stay with them during hospitalization and medical procedures, including by reviewing legislation, policies and programmes.

The Committee notes that suicide is the second leading cause of mortality among those 15 to 24 years of age. Therefore, the Committee recommends that Czechia continue allocating adequate resources to prevent suicide among children and address its root causes and take advantage of the mental health care reform and the development of the mental health action plan to establish measurable and time-bound indicators and a mechanism to assess and monitor the quality of services for children, ensure respect for the rights and dignity of children in psychiatric hospitals, develop community services, including for early intervention and for the provision of continuous support to children with severe mental health problems, encourage children to seek mental health services and ensure that they can do so without stigma. Czechia should also prepare guidance for the transition from child to adult mental health services, for children requiring continuing care and collect and analyse disaggregated data on the availability of mental health services for children.

While noting a high level of air pollution, in particular due to the carbon-intensive economy, the Committee recommends that Czechia conduct an assessment of the impact of air pollution on children’s health and regulate the maximum concentrations of air pollutant emissions, establish monitoring mechanisms and introduce deterrent sanctions for non-compliance as well as strengthen awareness-raising of environmental health and climate change among children.

The Committee encourages the State party to meet the internationally agreed target of 0.7 per cent of its gross national income allocated for official development assistance and to prioritize children’s rights in its international cooperation agreements.
Also, the Committee recommends that Czechia establish and implement regulations to ensure that the business sector, including the tourism industry, complies with international human rights and children’s rights standards, including by reviewing the national action plan for business and human rights and relevant legislation as well as ensure the effective monitoring of such regulations and appropriately sanction and provide remedies when violations occur.

The Committee urges the State party to align its child justice system fully with the Convention and other relevant standards and in particular to strengthen the prevention of crime among children, paying particular attention to girls. The Committee further urges the State Party to ensure that children under 15 years of age are not treated as offenders, benefit from high-quality, free and independent legal aid, access to their case files, evidence and the right to appeal and are never placed in closed institutions for young offenders.
The Committee also recommends to ensure that detention is used as a measure of last resort, for the shortest possible period of time and is reviewed on a regular basis and when detention is unavoidable, ensure that children in conflict with the law are not detained together with adults or with other children in institutional care.

The Committee urges the State party to implement targeted policy measures to address the causes of poverty and improve living conditions among Roma families and ensure that they have access to public health insurance and adequate housing support. The Committee further urges the State Party to ensure that Roma children have access to high-quality education, including preschool education, and that they remain in and complete school, develop a school desegregation plan, promote diversity in schooling, reduce the number of Roma children in special education and establish safeguards against misplacement. Czechia should also identify, investigate and effectively address all cases of exploitation, abuse and hate crime in relation to Roma children, hold accountable those responsible and intensify awareness-raising efforts to prevent such violations.

Concluding observations on the fifth and sixth periodic reports released on 22 October 2021. More information about education in Czech Republic:
https://www.mzv.cz

Fiji is already making efforts to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in, for example, by reducing mortality rates. But children need to be more vocal on climate change issues, for example, and there is a need for more inclusive schools and fewer teenage pregnancies.

While acknowledging the measures taken to inform children about sexual and reproductive health, the Committee is very concerned about the high rate of teenage pregnancies.
To improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents and ensure that sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum and targeted at adolescent girls and boys, with special attention given to preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach to disability, and specifically recommends that it ensure that all children with disabilities receive adequate financial support, and increase budget allocation to ensure the equal access of children with disabilities to adequate social and health services, placing particular focus on children in remote areas. Also, Fiji should raise awareness about the risk of violence and sexual exploitation faced by children with disabilities, and take all necessary measures to increase the protection of children with disabilities within communities, the home and institutional settings. The Committee further recommends to ensure that the development of inclusive education is given priority over special schooling, that teachers are trained accordingly, and that full access to secondary education is provided to children with disabilities. In addition, the Committee recommends to undertake greater efforts to make available all the professional specialists necessary, in particular in remote areas, and increase the allocation of human, technical and financial resources in that regard.

The Committee welcomes the decrease of the under-5 mortality rate, the infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate.
The Committee regrets the geographic disparities regarding infant and under-5 mortality, with under-5 mortality being significantly higher in the Eastern and Northern Divisions, particularly due to the remoteness of villages and the lack of easily accessible health services.
To guarantee every child the to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to further reduce the under-5 and infant mortality rates, in particular by focusing on preventive measures and treatment, including immunization and improved nutrition and sanitary conditions, in particular in remote areas. It further recommends to enforce its efforts to improve prenatal care and further reduce maternal mortality, including by increasing the training of midwives and ensuring the generalization of specific actions to prevent post-partum bleeding and other major causes of maternal death. Additionally, Fiji should pay particular attention to the urban/rural divide and ensure that all children enjoy the same access and quality of health services, including in remote and rural areas, and take specific measures to reduce the disparity in service access.

The Committee urges the State party to undertake research on suicide risk factors among children, including the root causes of depression, and use the results of such research to develop a comprehensive system of services specifically addressed at children, including stress management services and mental health promotion and prevention activities, with a view to ensuring the effective prevention of suicidal behaviour. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to ensure that all children have equal access to social workers and psychological counselling services. In taking these measures, Fiji should place particular attention on children from Indo-Fijian communities.

The Committee welcomes the introduction of the National Climate Change Policy and the establishment of the National Climate Change Coordinating Committee, and further appreciates the increased efforts by the State party to provide forums where children are taught about climate change and measures to address climate change. However, the Committee notes with concern that insufficient measures are taken to enable children to have their voices heard and contribute to decisions made with regard to climate change. The Committee is highly concerned about the impact of climate change on children and their families, in particular those living in Fijian communities in coastal and low-lying areas, where climate change is resulting in the loss or salinization of land and fresh water resources, and reduced opportunities for agriculture and subsistence living. The Committee also draws attention to reports indicating that children face more acute risks from disasters and are more vulnerable to climate change than adults.

The Committee urges the State party to take every necessary measure to tackle the root causes of child labour while at the same time implementing and further strengthening its legal framework to eradicate child labour, including in the informal and private sectors. It also urges the State party to ensure that the involvement of children above age 15 in labour is based on genuine free choice and subject to adequate safeguards in accordance with the Convention and international standards. The Committee further recommends to employ and train sufficient labour inspectors, and to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of persons violating labour laws are carried out and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed in practice.
Additionally, Fiji should collect data on child labour and the incidence of hazardous child labour and working conditions, disaggregated by age, sex, geographical location and socioeconomic background, and to use that data to develop effective policies and strategies to prevent and eliminate all forms of child labour.

The Committee urges the State party to bring its juvenile justice system fully into line with the Convention. In particular, the Committee urges the State party to establish additional specialized juvenile court facilities and designate specialized judges for children, and ensure that those specialized judges receive appropriate education and training and ensure that no life sentences are imposed on children. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State Party to promote alternative measures to detention and ensure that detention is used as a last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, and that it is reviewed on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing it. Fiji should also ensure that detention conditions are compliant with international standards, including with regard to access to education and health services.

The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts in tackling birth registration and notes with appreciation that the new Constitution guarantees the right to birth registration and citizenship. However, the Committee regrets that birth registration is still not free and that late registration is penalized with a fee. The Committee is furthermore concerned about reports indicating a decline of birth registration in the past two years, in particular in remote islands.

Concluding observations on the second to fourth periodic reports released on 13 October 2014. More information about education in Fiji: https://www.rnz.co.nz

In Jordan, girls in particular do not have it easy, as they are continued to be killed in the name of so-called honour. Palestinian children also have great problems, they are not given the same rights as other refugees. In addition, the health system can be improved and poverty must be fought.

The Committee expresses its concern about the criminalization of abortion in all circumstances, a situation which leads adolescent girls to resort to unsafe clandestine abortion at the risk of their lives. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of information on the measures taken by the State party to improve adolescent health, including through sexual and reproductive health education.
Further, the Committee urges the State party to decriminalize abortion and review its legislation with a view to guaranteeing the best interests of pregnant teenagers, and to ensure that the views of the child are always heard and respected in abortion decisions. The Committee also recommends that the State party adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents and ensure that sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum and targeted at adolescent girls and boys, with emphasis on preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

The Committee urges the State party to adopt and promote the social and human rights-based approach to disability, which acknowledges that the disabling factors reside in the environmental and attitudinal barriers created by society, and that all children with disabilities are the subjects of their own rights and can become active participants and contributors to society. The State party should organize the collection of appropriate data on children with disabilities which are necessary for the development of policies and programmes for children with disabilities. Also, Jordan should set up a comprehensive policy to develop inclusive education and ensure that inclusive education is given priority over the placement of children in specialized institutions, paying particular attention to children with mental and multiple disabilities. In addition, the Committee urges to recruit sufficient numbers of specialized teachers and professionals to provide individual support in all schools, and ensure that all professionals are adequately trained so that all children with disabilities can enjoy effectively their right to good quality inclusive education. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State Party to take all necessary measures to ensure the inclusion of children with disabilities in leisure and cultural activities.

The Committee welcomes the significant progress made in reducing maternal and child mortality, as well as the recognition by the State party that further efforts are needed to reduce the under-5 mortality rate. The Committee is, however, seriously concerned about the alarming rates of malnutrition of children in the Za’atari camp and the malnutrition which continues to disproportionately affect children living in remote areas and belonging to the poorest segments of the population. It is also concerned about infectious diseases, which remain the leading causes of child morbidity, and that universal health insurance coverage of children has not yet been achieved.
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure equal access to good quality health services by all children, through the adoption of measures aimed at prioritizing children in the most disadvantaged and marginalized situations, and by addressing child malnutrition and infectious diseases. The State party should also take the necessary measures for all children to be properly covered by health insurance.

The Committee is concerned about the lack of information on the measures taken by the State party to improve adolescent health, including through the improvement of mental health youth services.

The Committee is concerned that thousands of children, mainly boys, are still working in the wholesale and retail trade and agriculture sectors and that child labour is widespread among Syrian refugees. Also, a number of girls engaged as domestic workers face harsh conditions and are highly exposed to physical and sexual abuse and the reinforcement of the child-labour unit has not resulted in increased convictions of those who exploit children.
To improve the situation, the Committee urges the State party to accelerate efforts to eliminate child labour. The State party should prioritize the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, in particular girls working as domestic workers. The State party should ensure that legal proceedings are engaged against those who exploit children economically.

The Committee expresses its concern about the information provided by the delegation that children under the age of 15 cannot lodge complaints of violations of their rights if they are not assisted by their parents or their guardians. The Committee is also concerned that mechanisms to support children in reporting their claims have yet to be established.
The Committee urges the State party to take all necessary measures to ensure children’s access to justice and effective remedy. The State party should, inter alia, develop safe, well-publicized, confidential and accessible reporting mechanisms for children, coupled with help-oriented services that offer public health and social support, and remove the condition that children must be assisted by their parents to make a complaint. The Committee also urges the State party to ensure that persons receiving children’s complaints are provided with clear guidance and training and that child-sensitive investigation procedures are established.

While welcoming the significant progress made by the State party in terms of human development, the Committee is concerned that children overwhelmingly bear the brunt of poverty in the State party and remain insufficiently covered by the National Aid Fund. The Committee is also concerned that progress made by the State party over the reporting period to combat poverty is challenged by the adoption of financial policies aimed at reducing the national budget deficit. The Committee is further concerned that, owing to their lack of status, many Palestinian families live in poverty in the State party without access to the National Aid Fund or to free basic services.

Concluding observations on the fourth and fifth periodic reports released on 8 July 2014. More information about education in Jordan: https://moe.gov.jo

India has many problems in implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child mortality rate is high and instead of fighting structural problems or initiating a mind shift in society, for example, children with disabilities are treated with medication and placed in special institutions instead of making society more inclusive.

The Committee is seriously concerned at the lack of access to sexual and reproductive information and services, including modern contraception methods, by adolescent girls and the consequently high rate of teenage pregnancies, widespread use of female sterilization and unsafe abortions in the State party. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to take measures to ensure that adolescent girls and boys have effective access to confidential sexual and reproductive health information and services, such as modern contraception and legal abortions for girls, in practice. In that context, the State party should guarantee that the views of pregnant teenagers are always heard and respected in abortion decisions.

The Committee is deeply concerned at the high rate of abandonment of children with disabilities by their parents. It is further concerned at the lack of coordination among relevant ministries in planning and implementing programmes for children with disabilities as well as at the State party’s approach to children with disabilities, which is mostly centred on institutional care and medical treatment.
The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach to disability and specifically recommends that it develop a national plan of action for children with disabilities which integrates all the provisions of the Convention as well as indicators to measure outcomes and ensure effective coordination among relevant ministries for its implementation. India should also allocate adequate human, technical and financial resources to support parents of children with disabilities with the aim of preventing the abandonment of children with disabilities and take adequate measures to ensure that children with disabilities fully enjoy their rights as enshrined in the Convention, including access to education, health care and social services.

The Committee notes the various policies and programmes in place in the State party to improve children’s health and their access to health services. However, it is deeply concerned about the persistence of disparities in the quality of and access to health services between urban and rural areas as well as the State party’s increasing reliance on the private sector to provide health services. It is also concerned about the high cost of health services for the population and the lack of regulation of the quality of services provided. The Committee is also concerned at the high neonatal mortality rates and the fact that these deaths represent 50 per cent of the 1.4 million children under 5 years who die annually in the State party as well as the high rate of maternal mortality and the fact that 55.3 per cent of women between 15 to 49 years have anaemia. India also has a high level of chronic malnutrition (stunting), wasting (acute malnutrition) and underweight among children, in particular children under 5 years. In addition, there is a low improvement in the immunization rate and only 21 per cent of children are fully vaccinated. Further, communicable diseases are prevalent among children, all of which are the leading causes of child morbidity and mortality, and there is an insufficient access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, in particular in rural areas, along with the widespread practice of open defecation and its negative impact on the health of children (around 88 per cent of diarrhoea deaths among children under 5 years are linked to these factors).

The Committee is concerned about the forced displacement of a large number of children and their families and the loss of their ancestral lands owing to manufacturing operations, in particular families and children living in the area of the POSCO steel plant and port facilities in the state of Odisha. It is also concerned at the lack of information about safeguards to guarantee compliance with the Convention and international human rights standards.
Therefore, the Committee recommends that the State party establish and implement regulations to ensure that the business sector complies with international and national human rights, labour, environment and other standards, particularly with regard to children’s rights. The Committee further recommends that the State party establish a clear regulatory framework for industries operating in the State party to ensure that their activities do not negatively affect human rights or jeopardize environmental and other standards, especially those relating to children’s rights.

The Committee urges the State party to bring its juvenile justice system fully into line with the Convention and provide the Juvenile Justice Boards with adequate human, technical and financial resources, designate specialized judges for children and ensure that such specialized judges receive appropriate education and training. Also, India should ensure the provision of qualified, independent, free or subsidized legal and other appropriate assistance to children in conflict with the law, at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings.
In cases where detention is necessary, India should ensure age-appropriate separation of children in Observation and Special Homes and ensure that children in conflict with the law are not detained together with children in need of protection or with adults, and that detention conditions are compliant with international standards, including with regard to access to education and health services.

The Committee expresses its concern at the generally low rate of birth registration as well as the disparities in birth registration rates across the State party and the insufficient awareness among the relevant authorities and the population about the importance of universal birth registration. The Committee is also concerned at the discordance between the birth registration rate and the issuance of birth certificates.

The Committee is concerned at the high percentage of people living below the poverty line, despite the gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the State party. It is concerned at the prevalence of poverty among children, in both urban and rural areas, as well as the large disparities in the standard of living among children, with children in disadvantaged and marginalized situations being particularly vulnerable.

Concluding observations on the third and fourth periodic reports released on 7 July 2014. The Committee deems the State party’s declaration on article 32 of the Convention to be unnecessary.

More information:
Education act India

Indonesia needs to improve its implementation of children's rights. Girls are subjected to female genital mutilation, there have been forced evictions of families who now have no adequate housing or access to sanitation. International standards regarding child labour are not respected and children with disabilities are discriminated against.

The Committee notes that female genital mutilation (FGM), including the practice of so-called female circumcision, is not explicitly prohibited. It is gravely concerned about the large number of girls who have been victims to female genital mutilation (FGM). Therefore, the Committee urges the State party to adopt legislation to fully prohibit FGM in all its forms and to provide physical and psychological recovery programmes for victims of FGM, as well as establish reporting and complaints mechanisms accessible to girls who have been victims, or fear becoming victims, of the practice.

The Committee urges the State party to amend its legislation to ensure that discrimination on the grounds of disability is expressly prohibited and ensure that all provisions resulting in de facto discrimination of persons with disabilities are repealed. Also, the Committee urges to conduct awareness-raising and educational campaigns aimed at eliminating all kinds of de facto discrimination, in particular attitudinal and environmental barriers, against children with disabilities, inform and sensitize the public about the rights and special needs of children with disabilities and ensure that children with disabilities are provided with adequate financial support and have full access to social and health services. Indonesia should further ensure that children with disabilities can fully exercise their right to education and take all necessary measures to provide for their inclusion in the mainstream school system as well as collect specific and disaggregated data on children with disabilities, so as to adapt policies and programmes to their needs.

To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee urges the State party to increase its health budget and expand access to primary health-care services across all provinces. It should ensure that those services are accessible and affordable for populations in both urban and rural areas, independent of their economic background. Indonesia should in particular ensure the provision of primary health-care services for all pregnant women, including access to antenatal care, safe delivery care, emergency obstetric care as well as postnatal care, as well as for children, focusing on interventions to reduce preventable and other diseases, particularly diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and undernutrition, and promote good feeding practices for infants and young children. The Committee also urges the State party to strengthen and expand access to preventive health care and therapeutic services for all pregnant women and children, particularly infants and children under the age of 5, including universal immunization services, oral rehydration therapy and treatment for acute respiratory infections.

The Committee urges the State party to make every effort to ensure that children who work do so in accordance with international standards. In particular, it urges the State party to ensure that no child is exposed to any hazardous conditions or the worst forms of child labour, and that the involvement of children in labour is based on genuine free choice, in accordance with international regulations, subject to reasonable time limits and does not in any way hamper their education.
The Committee also urges Indonesia to amend legislation to criminalize forced labour and regulate the work of children between 16 and 18 years of age, vigorously pursue the enforcement of all minimum-age standards, appoint sufficient labour inspectors and provide them with all the necessary resources, including child labour expertise, to monitor the implementation of labour standards at all levels, in all parts of the country and in every kind of informal work. Indonesia should also amend legislation to ensure that domestic workers can benefit from all existing labour rights and receive special protection, including free legal aid, with regard to the particular conditions and dangers that they are subject to, such as sexual harassment, as well as ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of persons violating labour laws and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed in practice.

The Committee is concerned at the large number of children sentenced to jail even for petty crimes, and that they are often detained with adults in poor conditions. The Committee is also concerned at the lack of social reintegration measures for children in conflict with the law.
To improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure that all professionals responsible for the implementation of the juvenile justice law receive the necessary training thereon and ensure allocation of all the appropriate human, technical and financial resources to allow effective implementation of the law.
Indonesia should also ensure that deprivation of liberty is used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest amount of time, children are not detained with adults and detention conditions are compliant with international standards, including with regard to access to nutrition, clean water and sanitation, education and health services.

The Committee is concerned about incidences of forced evictions of families, including children, without offering adequate reparation or alternative housing. Furthermore, the Committee deeply regrets that under the State party’s legislation, forced evictions may be carried out even if they lead to homelessness.
The Committee urges the State party to take all necessary legal measures to ensure that forced evictions are carried out only as a measure of last resort, always subject to adequate alternatives and that under no circumstance may evictions lead to homelessness.

The situation of internally migrated children in Kyrgyzstan is not good. Many do not have access to adequate housing or health care. Also of concern are the many children who work instead of going to school and many unwanted pregnancies among minors.

The Committee is concerned about the large numbers of unwanted pregnancies among adolescent girls owing to low awareness of contraception options among adolescents and a lack of access to contraceptives. The Committee is also concerned that schools do not provide classes on sexual and reproductive health.
Therefore, the Committee recommends that the State party adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents and ensure that age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum and targeted at adolescent girls and boys, with special attention given to preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. It also recommends that the State party provide adolescents with confidential services and easy access to contraceptives.

The Committee recommends that the State party take all the necessary measures to develop a policy on deinstitutionalization and prevent excessive institutionalization of children with disabilities by providing all the necessary support to families with children with disabilities and ensure sufficient alternative family and community-based care options for children with disabilities deprived of family environment. It also recommends to raise the awareness of the public, in particular children, about the rights of children with disabilities and take measures for their successful integration into society as well as to ensure that social benefits for families with children with disabilities are sufficient to cover the basic needs of such children. Kyrgyzstan should also provide inclusive education for children with disabilities by training teachers, providing schools with necessary equipment and raising the awareness of school personnel, children and the public in general of the rights of children with disabilities. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure prompt and effective investigation into cases of deaths of children with disabilities in care institutions and establish an independent monitoring of care institutions, in particular of the health-care services provided to children in such institutions.

The Committee is concerned that no programmes cover children above the age of 14 years. The Committee is also concerned about the increasing number of deaths of children in the first 24 hours of admission to hospital as a result of curable diseases, such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, and the high number of children who suffer from malnutrition.
The Committee recommends that the State party take measures to ensure that all children up to the age of 18 years are covered under the State party’s programmes for children and have access to health-care services free of charge. It recommends that the State party take measures to prevent deaths of children as a result of preventable and curable diseases, by educating parents and providing easy access to early medical intervention. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party take measures to ensure that no child in the country is undernourished and that all children have access to adequate and sufficient nutritious food.

The Committee is concerned about the large number of children, mostly without a birth certificate, working in hazardous conditions 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. It is particularly concerned that working children, especially those living in care institutions, are often subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The Committee urges the State party to remove from its legislation the requirement of 10 days’ notification prior to the visit of labour inspectors and to organize regular unannounced inspection of private and State employment sites and ensure that any person who may be below the age of 18 years is not subjected to hazardous working conditions. The Committee urges the State party to ensure regular visits and monitoring of care institutions to detect signs of forced labour and/or physical, emotional and sexual abuse and bring those responsible to justice.
Further, the Committee recommends that the State party establish a system of juvenile courts with specialized staff and with a restorative justice approach, avoid unlawful detention of children and ensure that legal safeguards are implemented for the detained children. Kyrgyzstan should also ensure independent court review of decisions on placements in the adaptation and rehabilitation centre for juveniles and Belovodsky Special Boarding School. Additionally, the Committee recommends to provide children placed in those institutions with freedom of movement, including the freedom to leave and return at their will, ensure that under no circumstances are children detained together with adults as well as make sure that detention of children is used as a last resort and allow regular visits from the families of children in detention.

The Committee is extremely concerned about widespread torture and ill-treatment of children by the representatives of law enforcement in detention facilities and closed institutions, including solitary confinement being imposed on them for up to seven days. In particular, the Committee is concerned about the case of Nookat in 2008, where families, including children, were subjected to torture for their alleged membership in the Hizbut Tahrir religious group. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of complaint mechanisms and effective investigations into cases of torture and ill-treatment of children in detention facilities and closed institutions and during the investigation process.

The Committee is concerned about reports that children born to parents who do not possess valid identity documents, in particular Lyuli mothers or mothers without a residence permit, are denied birth registration. The Committee is also concerned by reports of excessive bureaucratic and illegal demands made in the process of restoring birth certificates.
The Committee urges the State party to ensure that all children born in its territory are registered and provided with standard birth certificates immediately without any undue barriers, irrespective of the availability of their parents’ identity documents or residence permits. The Committee also recommends that the State party simplify the procedure for birth registration and ensure that no illegal demands are made in the process of restoring birth certificates.

In Morocco, the poorer children have it much worse, their access to health and education is limited. Girls have to put their health at risk because abortions are criminalized. No information is released by Morocco on the situation of children in the occupied Western Sahara.

The Committee notes with concern that, while the incidence of HIV remains very low in the State party, less than two thirds of boys and only one third of girls are reported to be aware that condom use can prevent infection with HIV/AIDS. It is also seriously concerned that the criminalization of abortion leads to dozens of teenage girls every year undergoing illegal unsafe abortions, at the risk of their lives.

The Committee recommends that Morocco organize the collection of data on children with disabilities and develop an efficient system for diagnosing disability, which is necessary for putting in place appropriate policies and programmes for children with disabilities. Also, Morocco should set up comprehensive measures to develop inclusive education and ensure that inclusive education is given priority over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes. To this end, the Committee urges the State party to urgently remove children with disabilities who have been placed in centres de sauvegarde. It further recommends to take immediate measures to ensure that children with disabilities have access to health care, including early detection and intervention programmes, as well as train and assign specialized teachers and professionals in integrated classes providing individual support and all due attention to children with learning difficulties.

The Committee is concerned that maternal and infant mortality rates remain high and huge disparities in health status persist between children from urban areas
and those from rural areas, with children living in rural areas reportedly being at twice the risk of death as children living in urban areas. Also, the infant mortality risk is 2.5 times as high among children from the poorest quintile compared to those from the richest quintile and forty-two per cent of the children living in the Migrant Reception Centre are underweight, and many are reported to present serious or contagious medical pathologies.
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that sufficient resources are allocated for the health sector and are used effectively. It further recommends that the State party develop and implement comprehensive policies and programmes for improving the health situation of children and facilitating a greater and equal access to quality primary health services by mothers and children in all areas of the country in order to end the disparities in health-care access. Also, Morocco should take more effective measures to address maternal and infant mortality and the nutritional status of young children.

The Committee is concerned that, while tourism constitutes one of the main pillars of the State party’s economy, the State party has not yet adopted measures to protect children from violations of their rights arising from tourism activities.
The Committee recommends that the State party examine and adapt its legislative framework concerning legal accountability of business enterprises and their subsidiaries operating in or managed from the State party’s territory, especially in the tourism industry. It also recommends to establish monitoring mechanisms for the investigation and redress of violations of children’s rights, with a view to improving accountability and transparency. Morocco should further undertake awareness-raising campaigns with the tourism industry and the public at large on the prevention of child sex tourism and widely disseminate the charter of honour for tourism and the World Tourism Organization global code of ethics for tourism among travel agencies and in the tourism industry. Additionally, Morocco should strengthen its international cooperation against child sex tourism through multilateral, regional and bilateral arrangements for its prevention and elimination.

The Committee urges the State party to ensure that detention, including pretrial detention, is used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, even in cases of very severe crimes, and that it is reviewed on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing it. Also, Morocco should ensure that children in conflict with the law are provided with qualified and independent legal aid at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings, including in the case of flagrant offences. The Committee further urges Morocco to ensure capacity-building and specialization of all the justice actors, including judges, prison officers and lawyers, on the provisions of the Convention and develop properly funded social reintegration programmes for children in conflict with the law.

The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures, including affirmative action policies, to address the economic disparities affecting rural regions and urban suburbs and leading children to unequal enjoyment of their rights. The State party should assess the impact of its social protection programmes and review them to ensure that they are sustainable and accessible to children in the most vulnerable and disadvantaged situations, and should consider holding targeted consultations with families, children, and children’s rights civil society organizations on the issue of child poverty.

Concluding observations on the third and fourth periodic reports released on 14 October 2014.While welcoming the withdrawal of the State party’s reservation to article 14, paragraph 1, of the Convention, the Committee regrets that this reservation has been replaced by an interpretative declaration, which continues to affect the implementation of the rights guaranteed in this article. More information about education in morocco: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com