Costa Rica

In the Costa Rica report, it becomes clear that the implementation of the child rights perspective in general legislation in insufficient. Costa Rica needs to allocate more financial, human and technical resources to the implementation of laws that uphold children's rights. Similarly, the overall societal approach to children's rights is paternalistic and adult-oriented, and children's rights are not prioritized. There is also a lack of child-friendly, compliant mechanisms in any official context. In addition, measures to prevent gang violence and drug trafficking must be implemented. In addition, 34 percent of children live in poverty and 12 percent even live in extreme poverty.

Persisting stereotypes against girls heighten the risks of sexual violence and exploitation, early pregnancies and the imposition of barriers in access to education and sexual and reproductive health. Patriarchal ideologies need to be removed in education and family. 15 percent of femicides registered between 2004 and 2014 affected adolescent girls. Abortion is criminalized.

Measures to identify violence and improve accessible health-care services need to be implemented for children with disabilities. In addition, the Committee recommends to ensure that legislation on children’s rights and gender-equality legislation and public policies are responsive to and include the rights of children with disabilities, and promote participation of children with disabilities in public decision-making. Also, Costa Rica should ensure that all cases of violence, including sexual violence, against children with disabilities, are systematically registered by the authorities, and provide children with adequate access to redress, including psychosocial counselling, and support services.

The Committee recommends to ensure access to health services by indigenous and Afro-descendent children living in rural and coastal areas. Also, Costa Rica should ensure sufficient budget allocation for universal coverage of health care, including by establishing and strengthening partnerships with local governments.

There are high rates of suicides among adolescents. The Committee recommends to strengthen the work and coverage of the interdisciplinary mental health teams working at the local level, and adopt a strategy focused on the prevention of suicide.

The Committee, noting with concern information about the worst forms of child labour, in particular of girls in domestic work and adolescent children in the informal sector, recommends that the State party strengthen its measures to identify and prevent child labour, through continuous labour inspections, mechanisms of complaint by children, and awareness-raising campaigns against domestic work of adolescent girls.

The Committee recommends to the state party to bring its child justice system fully into line with the Convention and raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years. Also, Costa Rica should discontinue preventive detention of children. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party take measures to ensure the identification of instances of ill-treatment of children by the police, and measures to improve infrastructure and conditions of detention in Zurquí and Ofelia Vicenzi juvenile centres need to be adopted.

Costa Rica's concluding observations are one of the few that include intersectional discrimination.