Month: February 2022

In Austria, the criteria for removing and placing children in alternative care settings are not harmonized, and unnecessary surgical interventions are performed on intersex children. The committee also clearly states that the Austrian climate protection regulations are not sufficient to guarantee the child's right to the highest attainable standard of health.

The Committee recommends to Austria to continue to take preventive and protection measures to address female genital mutilation, including the provision of social, psychological, medical and rehabilitative services and training of relevant professionals and awareness-raising programmes. It also recommends to abolish the law that bans young girls from wearing headscarves in primary schools, classing them as ideological or religious clothing, because it may lead to girls’ exclusion from mainstream education.

Data is missing for children with disabilities in alternative care and there is no comprehensive plan for the deinstitutionalization of children with disabilities. Schools, playgrounds and other public spaces are not accessible and children with disabilities are rather seen as an object than as right holders. Comprehensive measures for inclusive education are not implemented. The Committee recommends to ensure that children with disabilities have effective access to public services and spaces and improve the physical accessibility of all public and private buildings, spaces and means of transport in all Länder.

The committee recommends to the state party to strengthen measures to address obesity in children and actions to promote a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity. Also, they recommend to ensure the availability of qualified and specialized health staff in all Länder, particularly paediatricians in rural areas.

The Committee is concerned about the prevalence of psychological health conditions, such as those related to anxiety, depression, self-injury and attention deficit and eating disorders. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to continue to increase the availability and accessibility of child and adolescent mental health services and programmes.

Children’s rights to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and an adequate standard of living is not compatible with Austria's insufficient climate mitigation politics.

Instead of 0.7 per cent of gross national income Austria only uses 0.29 per cent for official development assistance.

The Committee is concerned that the number of children in detention has increased. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends that Austria starts working towards a time limit of 30 days for children in pretrial detention and ensure that the circumstances under which such a time limit can exceptionally be extended is clearly defined in law.

Children born out of wedlock to Austrian parents do not receive Austrian citizenship retroactive.

Argentina's report is very extensive and covers many points. Unfortunately, there are also several paragraphs on different forms of violence. Argentina still has a lot to do in terms of violence to better protect its children. Poverty in Argentina is very high and many children suffer from it.

The Committee is noting with concern the barriers that adolescents continue to face in their access to sexual and reproductive health-care services and education, the high incidence of teenage pregnancy and the elevated risks of maternal mortality among adolescent mothers, and the insufficient access to modern methods of contraception and family planning. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to ensure that sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum, and that it is developed with the involvement of adolescent girls and boys, with special attention paid to preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. It also recommends to ensure access to safe abortion and post-abortion care services for adolescent girls, ensuring that their views are always heard and given due consideration as part of the decision-making process.

Argentina should ensure equal access to good-quality inclusive education in mainstream schools for children with disabilities, and prioritize inclusive education over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes. Additionally, Argentina should intensify efforts to put an end to discrimination against children with disabilities, and ensure that they are covered by health insurance schemes and receive the services and benefits, such as pensions and housing, to which they are entitled.

While noting the overall decrease in child mortality, the Committee is seriously concerned that the rate of infant mortality remains high in some provinces owing to a lack of adequate health care, including prenatal care for uninsured pregnant women, poverty and inadequate nutrition. The Committee is also concerned about the increased number of cases of suicide and self-inflicted injuries, particularly among children in detention.

The Committee recommends to establish mental health services and programmes for children, ensuring outpatient services for psychosocial care and rehabilitation in rural and urban areas, with a particular focus on suicide prevention.

The Committee is concerned about the well-documented harmful effects of open-pit mining activities and the use of agrochemicals for the environment and the health of children living in areas where mining and soya bean production are carried out. It recommends that the State party strengthen implementation of legislative and other measures to protect the physical and mental health of children, particularly indigenous children, from environmental harm caused by third parties, and ensure that the impact of mining and agrochemicals on underlying determinants of health, such as food, safe drinking water and sanitation, is minimized and that the entities responsible are held accountable and victims afforded effective remedies.

The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to eliminate child labour in practice by establishing multisectoral programmes at the local and regional levels to combat child labour.

The Committee is particularly concerned of overcrowding, poor nutrition, inadequate bedding and sanitation facilities, combined with lack of education and training opportunities, which can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of children. To improve the situation, Argentina must urgently address detention facilities across all provinces, and ensure that they are compliant with international standards and that independent monitoring is in place and ensure the provision of free, qualified and independent legal aid to children in conflict with the law at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings.

There are also reports of violence perpetrated by federal and provincial security forces in police custody, often in cases involving children and adolescents in socially marginalized situations, and the disproportionate use of force against children and adolescents by the security forces, including in schools, together with the justification of such measures.

The Committee is concerned that the financial crisis has had a negative impact on the social protection systems in the State party, resulting in insufficient coverage and delays in the processing of benefit allowances for children and their families, particularly at the provincial level.
In terms of birth registration, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen measures to promote universal and timely birth registration, free of charge, and to increase resources to civil registries and improve coordination with health services. It also recommends that measures be intensified to ensure access to registry offices or mobile units, particularly for those living in remote and rural areas, and indigenous communities.

Concluding observations on the fifth and sixth periodic reports released on 1 October 2018. More information about education in Argentina: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/educacion/gestioneducativa/educacioninicial and
https://www.argentina.gob.ar/educacion/gestioneducativa/educacionsecundaria

Child poverty is widespread and access to drinking water and sanitation for children is limited. The data collected on the situation of children is not sufficiently disaggregated and consolidated. In the area of health, in particular, Peru still has a long way to go to implement the child's right to the highest attainable standard of health.

The Committee recommends to design and implement a comprehensive strategy, including awareness-raising programmes and educational campaigns, to eliminate patriarchal attitudes and gender stereotypes that discriminate against girls and explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

More than 90 per cent of children with disabilities do not possess a disability certificate and approximately 54 per cent of children with disabilities do not know how to read or write. The Committee is also concerned that legislative and policy measures are not implemented effectively in practice.
To improve the situation for disabled children, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to implement an inclusive education system for all children at all levels and ensure that children with disabilities throughout the State party have effective and free access to health and rehabilitation services, including early detection and intervention programmes.

The Committee welcomes the significant progress made by the State party in reducing child mortality and chronic malnutrition, but is concerned at disparities in progress between urban and rural areas and regarding indigenous children and children living in poverty. Despite the improvements, the Committee recommends that the State party continue to strengthen its efforts to address child mortality and malnutrition, focusing primarily on children living in poverty, children living in rural and remote areas and indigenous children. Therefore, Peru should ensure equal access to quality health services for all children, including children living in rural and remote areas, and effectively implement its strategies aimed at reducing maternal mortality throughout the country, including by strengthening the quality of prenatal care and the responsive capacity of health services.

Concerning adolescent health, the Committee recommends to the State party to address the high number of adolescent pregnancies by strengthening access to age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights for girls and boys in all areas of the State party, including out-of-school children, and decriminalize abortion in all circumstances. Also, Peru should address the incidence of drug use by children and adolescents by, inter alia, providing children and adolescents with accurate and objective information, as well as life skills education on preventing substance abuse, including with respect to tobacco and alcohol, and develop accessible and youth-friendly drug dependence treatment and harm reduction services.

The State Party should ensure quality access to mental health services with a view to eliminating the prevalence of suicide and depression among adolescents.

The Committee expresses concern at the impact of mining and hydroelectric projects on the living conditions of children and their families in the regions concerned, such as the La Oroya, Cerro de Pasco and Cajamarca areas, and with respect to the health hazards and environmental degradation, in particular the contamination of drinking water, arising from such projects. It is also concerned that environmental impact assessments are not always carried out prior to granting licences to companies. The Committee recommends to ensure effective implementation by companies, especially those involved in mining and hydroelectric projects, of international and national environment and health standards, and effective monitoring of the implementation of those standards.

While noting the measures taken by the State party to address child labour, including awareness-raising and training activities, the Committee is seriously concerned that the minimum age for admission to employment remains at 14 and the prevalence of child labour remains extensive, in particular in rural areas, with a high percentage of children involved in the worst forms of child labour as well as in illicit activities, in particular illegal coca cultivation and drug trafficking. All measures by the State party remained insufficient and there are no comprehensive studies about the dimension of child labour. Therefore, the Committee urges the State party to increase the minimum age for admission to employment to 15, and for hazardous and abusive work to the age of 18. Peru should also take sufficient measures to investigate and improve the situation.

The Committee urges the State Party to promote diversion and alternative measures to detention, increase the number of specialized juvenile courts and ensure the provision of qualified and independent legal aid to children in conflict with the law at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings.

The Committee is concerned that some children continue to face difficulties in gaining access to birth registration and identity documents.

The Committee is also concerned at reports that only about 50 per cent of children infected with HIV receive antiretroviral treatment. It is also concerned at the increasing rate of infections among indigenous children and the limited provision of appropriate health-care services for HIV-infected pregnant women.

Although corporal punishment is prohibited, violence against children remains a serious problem in Uruguay. Furthermore, the Committee notes with concern the information on the lack or poor condition of playgrounds, parks and other public spaces available for recreational, cultural and sports activities for children. It is of further concern that 20 % of children continue to live in poverty, despite the fact that Uruguay has invested many resources to improve the situation of children.

While welcoming the measures adopted to address the high rates of teenage pregnancy and to provide support to teenage mothers, the Committee remains concerned about the insufficient accessibility of sexual and reproductive health services and education. The Committee is also concerned about information that pregnant teenagers who have decided to terminate their pregnancies do not receive adequate support and counselling.

The Committee is concerned that the State party has not adopted a comprehensive policy on the inclusive education and participation in society of children with disabilities. The Committee regrets that discrimination against children with disabilities remains widespread in the State party. To improve the situation, the Committee specifically recommends to 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. Also, Uruguay should adopt a human rights-based policy that addresses the barriers that hinder the full and effective participation in society of children with disabilities on an equal basis with other children.

The Committee is concerned about the large number of children suffering from nutritional disorders, such as chronic malnutrition, anaemia and obesity. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to ensure access to high-quality health services by all children, particularly children living in the most disadvantaged and remote areas of the country, and encourages the State party to develop policies and programmes to address chronic malnutrition and anaemia.

Concerning adolescent health, the Committee is concerned that, while tobacco, alcohol and drug consumption are widespread among adolescents, programmes and services for those affected by substance abuse remain limited. The Committee recommends that the State party address the prevalence of substance abuse, including tobacco and alcohol abuse, provide children and adolescents with objective information in this respect, and develop accessible and youth-friendly drug dependence treatment and harm reduction services.

The State party has improved access to antiretroviral treatment and has adopted a national strategy for the prevention of HIV/AIDS vertical transmission. The committee is concerned, however, about the lack of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention strategy addressed towards children and adolescents.

The Committee notes the lack of information on the current situation with regard to the use of methylphenidate for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or attention deficit disorder (ADD). Therefore, the Committee recommends that the State party undertake a study to evaluate the situation of children diagnosed with ADHD or ADD, and the prescription of psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate.

The Committee is concerned about children being economically exploited, particularly in street vending, garbage collection and recycling, the construction sector, domestic work, and in the agriculture and forestry sectors. The Committee is also concerned at the large number of children involved in hazardous work in agriculture and fishing, using dangerous tools, carrying heavy loads, applying harmful pesticides, herding livestock and working long hours. To end exploitative and hazardous forms of child labour, Uruguay should strengthen its efforts to provide reliable information on the number of children who carry out economic activities and take measures to prevent children under the minimum age from working in all sectors.

The Committee is seriously concerned about allegations of ill-treatment and torture in police stations of adolescents suspected of having committed crimes and of children in street situations as well as reports of excessive use of force and collective punishments in detention facilities, children and adolescents being locked up in their cells for up to 22 hours per day and about the administration of anti-anxiety medication to juvenile detainees as a means of restraint. In addition to that, there is information about overcrowding and extremely poor conditions in detention centres for children and adolescents. To improve the situation, the Committee urges Uruguay to establish an independent complaints mechanism accessible to all children deprived of their liberty and ensure that conditions of detention in penitentiaries comply with the minimum international sanitary and hygienic standards.

The Committee notes with concern the lack of systematic training on the Convention among all professional groups working with and for children. In particular, the Committee is deeply concerned about the lack of training on the content of the Convention among judges, which on several occasions has led to interpretations of the State party’s legislation that are in contradiction with the Convention and its Optional Protocols.
The Committee is also concerned about the inadequacy of prison facilities for children living in prisons with their mothers and about the non-application of article 8 of Act 17.897 on probation, which allows for women who would otherwise be in detention to be placed under house arrest during the last trimester of pregnancy and the first three months of breastfeeding.

Concluding observations on the third to fifth periodic reports released on 5 March 2015. More information about education in Uruguay: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/

In Suriname, inclusion of people with disabilities and of minorities and marginalized groups is not working well enough. They go to school less, often have poorer health care and are discriminated against. Among other things, the report also deals with the effects of climate change on children in Suriname.

The Committee is seriously concerned about the high rate of child sexual abuse and exploitation in the State party, including incest, especially against girls. It urges Suriname to undertake legal and policy reform to increase the availability of sexual and reproductive health information and services, including confidential and youth-friendly health services throughout the country, and ensure the availability of contraceptive services to adolescents, without the need for parental consent, and free health care for pregnant adolescents up to the age of 18 years, through the national health insurance system.

The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach to disability and to devise a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities. In addition to that, the Committee urges to take all the measures necessary to ensure that children with disabilities are fully integrated into all areas of social life, including schools, sports and leisure activities, and that facilities and other public areas are accessible for children with disabilities.

The Committee recommends that the State party continue to strengthen efforts to ensure adequate provision of prenatal and postnatal care and address the high rates of mortality of infants and children aged 5 years and younger, and the still high maternal mortality rates. They should also develop policies and programmes to strengthen the capacity of families and the community to provide care and support for children living with HIV/AIDS, and continue activities aimed at reducing stigma and discrimination relating to HIV/AIDS.

Concerning adolescent health, the Committee urges the State party to continue to take measures to address alcohol, drug and tobacco use among adolescents, including through awareness-raising programmes and campaigns, strengthen the regulation of alcohol and tobacco sales and the enforcement of such laws among vendors who sell such products to children, and expand programmes on alcohol and drug prevention, intervention and rehabilitation for adolescents.

The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen both the quality and availability of mental health services and programmes for children and, in particular, take measures to increase the number of specialists on children’s mental health and ensure adequate psychosocial care and rehabilitation facilities and outpatient services specifically for children. Suriname also needs to take urgent action to strengthen efforts to prevent suicide among children and adolescents, including by increasing available psychological counselling services and social workers in schools and communities.

The Committee recommends that the State party develop strategies, including awareness-raising, to reduce the vulnerabilities and risks for children owing to climate change, in particular children in situations of poverty, including Amerindian and Maroon communities. The Committee also recommends that the State party mainstream child-specific and child-sensitive risk and vulnerability reduction strategies into its national plan on climate change and disaster preparedness and emergency management and strengthen its social safety nets and social protection framework so as to more effectively mitigate the multiple social, economic and environmental impacts of climate change.

The Committee is seriously concerned about the persistence of child labour in the State party, in the agricultural, fishing, timber and mining sectors and domestic work, and in particular about boys from Maroon communities in the interior areas who are disproportionately represented in the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee recommends to adopt a holistic and preventative approach to addressing the problem of children in conflict with the law and the underlying social factors, with a view to supporting children at risk at an early stage, including by expanding intervention programmes, vocational training and other outreach activities. Also, in cases where detention is unavoidable, the Committee recommends that the State party take measures to provide adequate facilities for children in conflict with the law, and ensure that children are not detained together with adults, that boys and girls are held separately, that children are never held in solitary confinement, and that detention conditions are compliant with international standards, including with regard to access to education and health services, with particular focus on the Santa Boma prison.

The Committee recommends that the State party carry out awareness-raising programmes and campaigns on the importance of registering the birth of all children, including children born to migrant workers in both regular and irregular situations.

Further, the Committee is concerned about the lack of shelters for child victims and information on investigations in cases of sexual abuse, including the outcomes of such trials and redress and compensation offered to victims. Therefore, the Committee urges Suriname to establish mechanisms, procedures and guidelines to ensure mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse and exploitation, ensure that acts of sexual abuse and exploitation are effectively investigated and that perpetrators are brought to justice, with focus on the interior areas of the State party.

The report on the Dominican Republic is long, particularly due to the length of the chapter on violence. The country's problems with sex tourism and many pregnancies, especially among minors, are striking as well. In addition, there is poor supply of clean drinking water, which causes the death of many mothers and babies and leads to the spread of cholera. Furthermore, discrimination of Haitians is prevalent.

The Committee is concerned about persistent discrimination against and gender stereotyping of women and girls, often perpetuated in the media and in campaigns for promoting tourism, which contribute to the high prevalence of gender-based violence, particularly against girls of Haitian origin.

To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to the State party to strengthen its efforts to prevent violence, in particular feminicide, against mothers and caregivers, investigate all cases, prosecute the alleged perpetrators, punish the convicted and adequately compensate and rehabilitate the victims.
Also, the State party should review the legislation to set a minimum age for sexual consent in accordance with international standards and ensure that the definition of crimes relating to sexual exploitation and abuse complies with the Convention and its Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and that sanctions are commensurate with the gravity of the offences.

The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach to disability, set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities and ensure that inclusive education is given priority over education in specialized institutions and guarantee social-protection programmes, including subsidies for families with children with disabilities living in poverty, and free access to treatment and rehabilitation programmes.

The Committee is concerned about the high rate of maternal mortality, 80% of which was preventable, and persistent chronic child malnutrition. Another problem is the poor water quality leading to maternal and neonatal deaths and the increased risk of cholera becoming an epidemic.

To ensure the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends to continue implementing measures to eliminate the incidence of cholera and take all necessary measures to ensure that adequate safe water and sanitation are available, especially in hospitals.

Concerning adolescent health, the Committee is concerned about its low level of implementation as a result of insufficient resources and coordination and the influence of religious leaders and recommends to ensure the effective implementation of the National Sexual Education Programme for girls and boys, giving special attention to preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

The Committee recommends to the Dominican Republic to monitor the implementation of the agreement with the tourist industry on the prevention of child sex tourism and strengthen international cooperation for prevention and prosecution in relation to child sex tourism.

Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to review its legislation in order to prohibit the employment of children under 15 years of age and ensure that all hazardous forms of labour, including domestic work, are prohibited for children under 18 years of age. Also, the State party should increase the coverage and quality of education and provide vocational training programmes to ensure that all children are enrolled and are protected from the harmful effects of child labour.

The Committee is concerned about the large number of children sentenced to prison and subjected to prolonged pretrial detention. It is further concerned about the inefficient functioning of the juvenile justice system, the insufficient juvenile courts and lack of adequate procedures, the lack of alternative measures to detention and reports of children being detained together with adults.

To improve the situation, the Committee urges the Dominican Republic to establish sufficient juvenile courts, adopt relevant procedures, allocate adequate resources to the juvenile justice system and provide qualified and independent legal aid to children accused of a criminal offence at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings.

The Committee is concerned that in 2012 one fifth of children under 5 years of age, mostly from families living in poverty, had no birth certificate.

Concluding observations on the third to fifth periodic reports released on 6 March 2015. More information about education in Dominican Republic: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org

Switzerland is one of the richest countries and therefore invests a lot in child-related projects. However, not all children benefit equally, but money is rather put in projects for Swiss children without special needs. While a free school system and low costs for health services support Swiss children, for children with disabilities, and refugee or sans-papiers children, there is a lot that could be fixed with more money going into the tackling of the problems, for example better early childhood education for children with disabilities or better accommodation for asylum-seeking children.

About 22.000 girls are living in the State party who are affected or threatened by genital mutilation. Therefore, the Committee recommends to continue and strengthen preventive and protective measures to address female genital mutilation, including training of relevant professionals, awareness-raising programmes and the prosecution of perpetrators of these acts.

The Committee is concerned about the inadequate inclusion of those children in mainstream education in all cantons, and the insufficient human and financial resources allocated to ensure the adequate functioning of the system of inclusive education in practice. They recommend to strengthen the efforts to ensure State-wide inclusive education without discrimination. They further recommend to ensure that children with disabilities have access to early childhood education and care, early development programmes and inclusive vocational training opportunities in all cantons, and also address the specific needs of children with autism spectrum disorders in all cantons, and in particular ensure that they are fully integrated into all areas of social life.

While welcoming the reduced health insurance premiums for children by at least 50 per cent for families with low or medium incomes, the Committee is concerned that problems of overweight children and obesity among children are increasing, and advertising of food high in fat, sugar and salt on children’s television programmes is excessive.

To prevent suicides, the Committee recommends that the State party expedite the adoption of the national action plan on the prevention of suicide, which should take into account the specific needs of children and adolescents, and ensure its effective implementation.

The Committee is concerned about the excessive diagnosis of ADHD and other behavioural specificities, and recommends to carry out research on non-drug approaches.

The Committee is concerned that the State party solely relies on voluntary self-regulation of businesses and does not provide a regulatory framework. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to establish a clear regulatory framework for industries operating in the State party, to ensure that their activities do not negatively affect human rights or endanger environmental, labour and other standards, especially those relating to children’s rights. They should also be legally accountable for violations of children’s rights and human rights.

The Committee recommends to strengthen its efforts to ensure that the right of the child to be heard applies to all judicial and administrative proceedings affecting children and that due weight is given to their views.

The Committee recommends that the State party collect data and undertake a study on the situation of children with a parent in prison in the State party, with a view to ensuring personal relations between children and the parent.

To achieve juvenile justice, the Committee recommends to ensure that children have access to free legal or other appropriate assistance and expedite the process of establishing adequate detention facilities in order to ensure that children are not detained with adults.

Switzerland is one of the wealthiest economies in the world and invests sizeable amounts of resources in child-related programmes. Unfortunately, the Convention is not very well known among children, parents and the public at large.

The Committee is concerned that children born in the State party, who would otherwise be stateless, are not guaranteed the right to acquire Swiss nationality.

The report from Sri Lanka shows that a lot still needs to be done to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The situation is particularly difficult for girls, who do not have the same rights as boys and are exposed to a lot of (sexualized) violence. Another problem is that NGOs and child rights defenders cannot carry out their functions properly. Also, more information about children's rights must be spread to raise awareness in public and among professionals such as teachers or judges.

The Committee recommends to take large-scale awareness-raising measures, including inter alia through mandatory segments in the school curriculum, to remove the strong stigma and fear of acts of reprisal that deter girls who are victims and witnesses from reporting violence and to change persisting patriarchal attitudes and eliminate discriminatory stereotypes that are a major root cause of sexual and gender-based violence and that perpetuate the associated culture of impunity.

Sri Lanka should further increase the number of safe houses for women and child victims, placing a specific focus on ensuring provision of shelter for internally displaced women and girls and provide regular substantive training for relevant groups of professionals on the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act and on standardized, gender- and child-sensitive procedures for dealing with victims and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. The State party should also ensure that complaints can be made and that all support is available in all languages to victims of gender-based violence.

The Committee recommends to ban, as currently under discussion, female “circumcision” for girls, a form of genital mutilation practised by the Dawoodi Bohra community, and to carry out awareness-raising activities, including campaigns, on the patriarchal nature of this practice and its negative effects on health. It also recommends to ensure access to safe and confidential abortion without stigmatization and post-abortion care services for adolescent girls, making sure that their views are always heard and given due consideration.

The Committee recommends that the State party adopt a human rights-based approach to disability and set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities in all public policies and programmes as well as undertake awareness-raising campaigns aimed at government officials, the public and families to combat the stigmatization of and prejudice against children with disabilities, promote a positive image of such children and ensure that they are not portrayed as objects of charity, but as rights-holders. Sri Lanka should further collect disaggregated data on children with disabilities of all ages and improve early intervention services and in addition guarantee the right to education for all children with disabilities and promote and strengthen inclusive education.

While noting with appreciation the provision of free health care to all citizens, the Committee recommends that the State party address the regional disparities in terms of health care, increase the number of health personnel, particularly in rural and remote areas, and educate specialists in fields where capacity is currently lacking, especially in mental, sexual and reproductive health services. It further recommends to combat high out-of-pocket health expenses, high prices of medicines and expensive private medical care, with a view to ensuring that each child has equal access to quality public health care.
The committee also recommends to the state party to strengthen their efforts to address the relatively high rates of consumption of tobacco and alcohol among adolescents, by strictly prohibiting the advertising and sale of all forms of those substances to children and by raising awareness at school in that regard.

The Committee recommends to strengthen Sri Lankas efforts to prevent adolescent suicides. The state party should address mental health problems and suicidal tendencies, and carry out campaigns to raise awareness on the issue.

The Committee urges the State party to significantly reduce the very high use of agrochemicals, which are harmful to the health of children, and to establish an effective monitoring system in this regard.

Noting with concern the continuing negative impact of private domestic and foreign business and industries on children, the Committee urges the State party to establish a clear regulatory framework for domestic and foreign businesses, ensuring that they are legally accountable and that their activities do not negatively affect human rights or contravene environmental and other standards, especially those relating to children’s rights. It further recommends to undertake awareness-raising campaigns on the prevention of child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. To improve the situation, the Committee also recommends to strengthen training for the police on investigative and computer evidence-gathering techniques to identify perpetrators of child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism and chat room paedophiles and ensure that perpetrators of child sexual exploitation are brought to justice.

The Committee urges the State party to further strengthen and implement existing legislation, with a view to ensuring that all hazardous or abusive forms of labour are prohibited for children under 18 years of age, and adopt specific measures to address the situation of child domestic workers. In addition, it urges the State party to increase efforts to ensure that perpetrators of exploitation of child labour and perpetrators of trafficking in children for the purposes of labour exploitation are brought to justice.

The Committee recommends to set the age of criminal responsibility to an internationally acceptable level and provide free, qualified and independent legal aid to all children. Sri Lanka should also adopt a comprehensive policy for juvenile justice, based on restorative practices and guided by the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken into account as a primary consideration as well as expeditiously establish specialized juvenile court facilities and procedures, with adequate human, technical and financial resources, appoint specialized judges for children and ensure that they receive appropriate training. When detention is unavoidable and for transportation to and from court, the Committee recommends to ensure that children are not detained together with adults and that detention conditions comply with international standards, including concerning education and health services.

The Committee encourages the State party to continue to intensify its landmine-awareness programmes and demining activities and its assistance to and rehabilitation services for child landmine victims.

There is little to get excited about in Qatar's concluding observations. There is much gender-based discrimination and violence is used as a punishment for under 18-year-olds. No statement is made about the health system, but adolescent health is discussed.

The Committee recognizes that the State party has initiated steps to expand education for girls, improve their safety and protect them against violence, but remains deeply concerned that they continue to be subject to multiple gender-based discrimination from the earliest stages of life, and throughout childhood and adolescence due to the persistence of adverse and traditional attitudes and norms, and that no systematic efforts have been undertaken, including with religious leaders, opinion makers, and the mass media, to combat and change discriminatory attitudes and practices. The Committee urges the State party to establish a comprehensive domestic violence protection system and adopt specific legislation to criminalize all forms of violence against women and girls, including domestic violence and marital rape, with no exceptions and within a clear time frame.

The Committee recommends that the State party continue to promote a human rights-based approach to disability, paying particular attention to girls with disabilities and children with disabilities living outside of the city, and continue to collect disaggregated 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, Qatar should strengthen its measures to ensure that children with disabilities have access to health care, including early detection and intervention programmes.
The Committee further recommends to allocate resources from segregated educational settings towards quality, inclusive education with the provision of reasonable accommodation and individual support, accessible environments and curricula, for all students with disabilities in mainstream schools. It further recommends to establish mandatory in-service training of all teachers and staff in education facilities on quality, inclusive education as well as train and assign specialized teachers and professionals to work in inclusive classes, providing individual support and assistance to children with learning difficulties.

To guarantee every child the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party decriminalize abortion in all circumstances and ensure access to safe abortion and post-abortion care services for adolescent girls, making sure that their views are always heard and given due consideration as a part of the decision-making process. Qatar should also adopt a comprehensive policy on sexual and reproductive health for adolescents and ensure that sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum, targets adolescent girls and boys and focuses in particular on the prevention of early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. The Committee further recommends to address the incidence of drug use by children and adolescents by, inter alia, providing children and adolescents with accurate and objective information as well as life skills education on preventing substance abuse, including tobacco and alcohol abuse, and develop accessible and youth-friendly drug-dependence treatment and harm-reduction services. Additionally, it recommends that the State Party strengthen its efforts to combat child obesity by regulating the marketing of unhealthy food, especially when such marketing targets children, and regulate the availability of such food in schools and other places.

The Committee recommends to develop community-based mental-health services and strengthen preventive work in schools, the home and care centres.

The Committee urges the State party to ensure the effective implementation of legislation prohibiting the recruitment of children as domestic workers and to take measures to ensure that those who exploit children as domestic workers are held accountable.

The Committee notes the information provided by the State party on the ongoing review of its juvenile justice system. However, it remains deeply concerned that sentences of life imprisonment, hard labour and flogging may be handed down for a number of offences committed by children over 16 years of age and that no children’s court has been established.
The Committee urges the State party to bring its juvenile justice system fully into line with the Convention and other relevant standards. In particular, it urges the State party to repeal all domestic legal provisions providing for life imprisonment, hard labour and flogging for offences committed by persons under the age of 18 years and establish a children’s court. Also, Qatar should ensure the provision of qualified and independent legal counsel to children in conflict with the law at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings. In cases where detention is unavoidable, Qatar should ensure that children are held separately from adults and that detention conditions are in line with international standards, including with regard to access to education and health services.

The Committee is concerned about the impact of the situation of migrant workers, in particular female domestic workers, on the right of their children in their home countries to a family environment, particularly the fact that the sponsorship system imposed on those workers results in slavery-like working conditions, and that the confiscation of their passports and de facto restrictions on their freedom of movement limit their ability to return to their home countries, thus depriving their children of a family environment.

Concluding observations on the third and fourth periodic reports released on 22 June 2017.
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The Committee recognizes the particularly severe effects of the ongoing armed conflict, political instability and presence of armed groups – some defined as terrorist groups – and the rise of religious extremism in the State party, which lead to grave violations of children’s rights by all parties to the conflict and constitute a serious obstacle to the implementation of the rights enshrined in the Convention. The Committee reminds the State party of the continuity of international human rights obligations and that the rights under the Convention apply to all children at all times, and that the State party bears the primary responsibility to protect children and should therefore take immediate measures to prevent further violence against them. The Committee notes the difficulty in ensuring children’s rights in territories where the State party does not exercise effective control, including the occupied Syrian Golan. The Committee reminds the State party that during any reconstruction efforts it has the obligation to guarantee all rights in the Convention to all children throughout the territory without discrimination, independently of where they live, and to promote a culture of tolerance, peace and reconciliation among all communities.

The report from Syria is dominated by the war in the country. This leads to bombed hospitals and therefore few health services as well as much violence and children killed by weapons.

The Committee urges the State party to ensure that allegations of crimes related to gender-based violence, such as the imposition of religious dress codes, with girls as young as 10 punished with lashings if failing to abide, the denial of freedom of movement of girls without a male relative, the stoning of girls on charges of adultery, and forced marriage of girls to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant fighters, are independently and thoroughly investigated, and that perpetrators are brought to justice and victims provided with remedies. The State party should provide, on a regular basis, substantive training for judges, lawyers, prosecutors, the police and other relevant professional groups on standardized, gender- and child-sensitive procedures for dealing with those victims.

The Committee is concerned about the impact of the armed conflict on children with disabilities, including with regard to their access to health services and education. The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach to disability, set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities and organize the collection of data on children with disabilities and develop an efficient system for diagnosing disability, and strengthen referral mechanisms and case management processes.
Syria should also support and encourage family-based care for children with disabilities, accelerate their deinstitutionalization process, and encourage foster care for children who cannot stay with their families as well as develop appropriate policies and programmes for children with disabilities, with their participation, paying attention to children whose disabilities are a result of the armed conflict. Also, Syria needs to ensure that children with disabilities have access to health care and medical rehabilitation services, including early detection, psychosocial support and access to orthopaedic devices.

The Committee is deeply concerned about the devastating impact of the armed conflict on health services, and condemns the attacks carried out against health facilities and medical staff. Therefore, the Committee urges the State party to take prompt measures to halt attacks against medical facilities and personnel by all parties to the conflict, and investigate, prosecute and sanction those responsible for illegal attacks under international humanitarian and human rights law. Also, increase the budgetary allocations to health, giving due priority to health infrastructure and restoration of services; and scale up its efforts for the reconstruction, rehabilitation and equipment of health facilities for children as well as strengthen its efforts to ensure access to health services for all children without discrimination, paying attention to areas again under State control and those under the control of non-State armed groups, and refrain from removing health items and medicine from convoys to besieged areas. The Committee further recommends to strengthen its efforts to ensure the provision of vaccines and medicine to contain outbreaks of preventable diseases such as typhoid, acute diarrhoea and cholera and take the measures necessary to combat child malnutrition.

The Committee notes the steps taken by the State party to provide mental health services to children in its health centres, but is deeply concerned about children suffering from various mental health illnesses as a consequence of the armed conflict and of torture and ill-treatment, sexual violence and abuse, child marriage, gender-based violence, displacement, recruitment by parties to the conflict and use in hostilities. The Committee urges the State party to strengthen its efforts to provide mental health services to children at primary and secondary care level throughout the territory, without discrimination and paying particular attention to children living in areas retaken by the State or previously under siege. Syria also needs to prioritize access to counselling and therapy for children over the use of medication as well as encourage and facilitate access to mental-health services for children in areas controlled by non-State armed groups.

Concerned about the damage to the environment generated and exacerbated by weapons-related contamination, damage to critical infrastructure, including water treatment facilities and sewage systems, and the breakdown of environmental services in the context of the armed conflict and its immediate and long-term risks to children’s health, and the long-term environmental consequences, the Committee recommends that the State party devise and implement a system of response and assistance to enhance protection of the population, especially children, and the environment.

The Committee is concerned about the increased number of children involved in child labour, including in hazardous and vulnerable conditions, noting such involvement as a negative mechanism for coping with the hardships caused by the armed conflict, and recommends that the State party adopt the draft national action plan to combat the worst forms of child labour and strengthen its efforts to effectively implement the memorandum of understanding it signed with the International Labour Organization in that regard.

The Committee recommends that the State party raise the legal age of criminal responsibility; ensure that children in detention are separated from adults; investigate all cases of ill-treatment and abuse and punish the perpetrators; provide legal aid to children in conflict with the law; and ensure that children have access to a confidential, safe and child-sensitive mechanism for complaints related to their deprivation of liberty.

The Committee is deeply concerned about the extensive and consistent reports of cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of children detained by government forces and non-State armed groups, and regrets the lack of information on measures taken by the State party.

Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report released on 6 March 2019. The Committee encourages the State party to consider withdrawing its general reservation to the Convention, including its reservation regarding article 14. More information about education in Syria: https://wenr.wes.org