Lithuania

The report from Lithuania leaves many issues open for which the current situation of children's rights cannot be understood. In the named areas, it is noticeable that children should have more of a say and that there is a need for improved birth services.

The Committee is concerned about the lack of information on sexual and reproductive health and child-friendly services available to adolescents in the country, as well as the inaccessibility of contraception and confidential tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections.
The Committee recommends that the State party introduce sexual and reproductive health education into the school curriculum as a mandatory subject and provide adolescents with easy access to contraceptives and confidential tests and treatments.

The Committee urges the State party to ensure the conformity of its legislation, policies and practices, in order to effectively address the needs of children with disabilities in a non-discriminatory manner. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to implement its legal provisions on inclusive education by training teachers, providing schools with the necessary equipment and raising awareness among school staff, children and the general public on the rights of children with disabilities, especially those with mental disabilities. The Committee further recommends that the State party take prompt and effective measures to investigate all allegations of abuse and ill-treatment of children with mental disabilities, to prosecute and punish the perpetrators and to provide assistance for the recovery and rehabilitation of victims.

The Committee welcomes the Children’s Health Promotion Programme, but is concerned that the budget allocations to maternal and child health-care programmes are continuously decreasing, making such programmes less accessible. The Committee is also concerned that women who choose to deliver at home do not receive the assistance or care they need during the delivery and post-partum.
To improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party take measures to increase its budget allocations for maternal and child health programmes. The Committee also recommends that the State party ensure that women who choose to deliver at home receive proper maternal care by providing access to emergency obstetric care, trained care at delivery and post-partum care.

The Committee is concerned that the rates of suicides among adolescents remain high. Therefore, the Committee reiterates its previous recommendation that the State party increase its efforts to raise awareness about and prevent suicide among adolescents and continue to improve the quality and capacity of mental health services.

The Committee recommends that the State party establish a comprehensive juvenile justice system, including juvenile courts, on the basis of a comprehensive legal framework, as well as diversion measures to prevent children in conflict with the law from entering the formal justice system, and develop more alternatives to trial, sentencing and execution of punishment, such as community service and mediation between victim and offender in order to avoid stigmatization and for the effective reintegration of juvenile offenders. The Committee also recommends to ensure that all stakeholders who work with children in criminal proceedings are trained and informed about the specificities of the juvenile justice system, including judges and lawyers and that the legal assistance provided by public lawyers is of a high quality.

While noting that the right to be heard is included in a number of the State party’s laws, the Committee is concerned that there are gaps in the implementation of these laws and that the right of the child to express his or her opinion is often considered to be a mere formality.