Author: Jette Nietzard

The Committee notes the continuing effects of the 2015 earthquake, which hinders the implementation of the rights enshrined in the Convention, and recommends that the State party continue its efforts related thereto.

The Nepal report mentions many negative points, such as the forced isolation of girls and women during their menstruation and the high rate of gender discrimination. On the positive side, however, there is free education and the recognition of a third gender.

The Committee is deeply concerned about reports of the forced isolation of menstruating women and girls (Chaupadi), which is particularly harmful in rural areas, exposing girls to heightened risk of sexual violence and health hazards.

The Committee welcomes the upgrading of health facilities across the State party to provide adolescent-friendly clinics with confidential counselling and services related to reproductive health issues. However, the Committee remains concerned about the high rate of early pregnancy, the low rate of practice of birth control and the resulting vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and poor awareness of safe abortion practices.
To improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents and ensure that meaningful sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum and targeted at adolescent girls and boys, with special attention to preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human-rights-based approach to disability, set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of all children with disabilities and prioritize the development of inclusive education and ensure that it is given priority over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes and, in so doing, train and assign specialized teachers and professionals in integrated classes providing individual support and all due attention to children with learning difficulties. Also, Nepal should undertake awareness-raising campaigns to combat the stigmatization of and prejudice against children with disabilities and promote a positive image of such children as well as to take immediate measures to ensure that children with disabilities have access to public buildings and health care, including early detection and intervention programmes. The Committee further recommends to prioritize the collection of data on children with disabilities and develop an efficient system for diagnosing disability, in order to implement appropriate policies and programmes 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 expeditiously allocate additional human, technical and financial resources for improving access to and the quality of health services, particularly in rural areas. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State Party take measures to reduce neonatal mortality rates, including by preventing infectious diseases, ensuring care for new-borns during the neonatal period and allocating adequate resources to provide emergency services and resuscitations in rural areas. The Committee also recommends to ensure the full involvement of all relevant ministries concerned in the effective implementation of the 2013-2017 multisectoral nutrition plan for addressing chronic malnutrition among children, and consider establishing a programme for the non-discriminatory provision of food and nutritional supplements for children at risk of malnutrition, with a particular focus on young infants, up to 2 years of age.

The Committee is concerned about the short- and long-term impacts of the 2015 earthquake on children’s mental health. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of mental health support for children who have been victims of violence or trauma. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to provide mental health-care services to children, including those affected by the 2015 earthquake and/or violence or trauma.

The Committee welcomes the efforts of the State party to find lasting solutions for children displaced by the 2015 earthquake. However, it is deeply concerned about the impact of the earthquake on children’s rights and about the high number of displaced children living in IDP camps or informal settlements without adequate access to food, safe drinking water, sanitation, health care and education.
The Committee recommends that the State party expeditiously strengthen its efforts to provide adequate housing for internally displaced children and their families living in internally displaced person camps or informal settlements and ensure that they have access to sufficient food, clean drinking water, sanitation, health care and education. Nepal should also take immediate measures to prevent all forms of violence against displaced children, including by ensuring that women and girls have access to separate lockable latrines and safe houses, as well as by increasing police controls and providing functioning illumination in internally displaced person camps and informal settlements.

The Committee is concerned about the prevalence of child labour in the State party. There are reportedly over 600,000 children involved in the worst forms of child labour. The Committee is also concerned about the continuity of practices that are forbidden by law, such as Kamalari.

The Committee is deeply concerned about reports of widespread acts of torture and ill-treatment of children in detention facilities and in residential homes.

The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that detained children below 18 years of age are always separated from adults, and that deprivation of liberty is used only as a last resort, for the shortest appropriate time and under appropriate conditions. Furthermore, Nepal should expedite the construction of separate facilities (child correctional centres) and separate cells in detention facilities for persons below the age of 18 to ensure that such facilities exist in all districts.
Nepal should also improve procedures of arrest and conditions of detention and establish special units within the police for the handling of cases of children in conflict with the law and ensure that persons under 18 years of age are not held accountable, detained or prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws. The Committee further recommends to ensure that all persons under 18 years of age who are alleged as, or have been accused of, breaking the law are fully guaranteed the right to a fair trial.

The Committee recommends that the State party take measures to ensure that all children are registered at birth, including children born to refugees and asylum seekers.

The Committee remains deeply concerned at the continuing prevalence of the caste system and its related traditional practices such as dowry; bonded labour, including Kamalari, Kamaiya, Haliya and Haruwa-Charuwa; and sexual exploitation, such as Badi.

Concluding observations on the third to fifth periodic reports released on 8 July 2016.
More information about education:
Early Childhood Education and Development in Nepal

The report from Niger shows that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has not been satisfactorily implemented. While noting positive developments such as the establishment of a youth parliament and school governments, poor living conditions are still very common. Girls are subjected to slavery; education is inadequate and child mortality is one of the highest in the world.

The Committee urges the State party to take active measures to put an end to female genital mutilation, which is still practiced in the region of Tillabéri, and ensure that girls who are victims or at risk of becoming victims of such harmful practices have access to fully operational helplines and related services.

The Committee further recommends to 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 paid to preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. It also recommends to develop and implement a policy to protect the rights of pregnant teenagers and adolescent mothers and their children and combat discrimination against them.

The Committee urges the State party to organize the collection of data on children with disabilities and set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities. Also, Niger should develop an efficient system for diagnosing disability, which is necessary for putting in place appropriate policies and programmes and a specific budget for children with disabilities as well as strengthen its measures on inclusive education and ensure that inclusive education is given priority over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes. Further, the Committee urges the State party to take immediate measures to ensure that all children with disabilities have access to health care, including early detection and intervention programmes, and quality orthopaedic equipment, especially in rural areas. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to provide specialized training, including on sign language, to teachers and professionals, and assign specialized teachers and professionals to integrated classes in which individual support and all due attention are provided to children with learning difficulties.

The Committee remains concerned about the insufficient vaccination of children and regional disparities in vaccination coverage and a high level of acute and chronic malnutrition. It is further concerned about a decrease in budget allocations and underfunding of the health sector as well as the high costs of and out-of-pocket expenditure required for health-care services.

To guarantee every child the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party prioritize measures to improve access to and the quality of health-care and nutrition services, including through allocating sufficient financial resources to the health sector and ensuring the availability of qualified health-care staff. Also, Niger should create more vaccination centres, ensure that all children in the State party are fully vaccinated, reduce disparities in vaccination coverage among regions and provide all centres with the necessary human resources, equipment and vaccines.

Concerning adolescent health, the Committee recommends that Niger undertake a comprehensive study to assess the nature and extent of adolescent health problems, with the full participation of adolescents.

The Committee recommends that the State party implement comprehensive policies and strategies throughout the country aimed at preventing mental health problems among adolescents and children and at providing for the treatment and recovery of adolescents and children with mental health problems, with the participation of families and communities.

While noting the significant impacts of climate change on the State party in the form of, inter alia, deforestation, desertification and limited water and food resources, the Committee recommends that the State party take measures to strengthen policies and programmes to address the issues of climate change and disaster risk management, including through replanting trees, regenerating land and increasing solar energy. It also recommends that such policies and programmes include measures to protect the right of children to housing, sanitation, food, water and health and ensure the full and meaningful participation of communities at risk, including children, at both the national and regional levels.

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.
In particular, it recommends that the State party establish a clear regulatory framework for the industries, especially mining industries, operating in the State party to ensure that their activities do not negatively affect human rights or endanger environmental and other standards, especially those relating to children’s rights. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure effective implementation by companies, especially industrial companies, of international and national environmental and health standards and effective monitoring of the implementation of those standards, appropriately sanction and provide remedies when violations occur, and ensure that appropriate international certification is sought.
Niger should also require companies to undertake assessments of and consultations on the environmental, health-related and human rights impacts of their business activities and their plans to address such impacts, and to fully and publicly disclose those assessments, consultations and plans.

The Committee is concerned about insufficient legal representation of children and the low quality of existing legal representation and inadequate training of the staff in the justice system. The Committee is further concerned about the absence of effective, reliable and up-to-date data on children in conflict with the law as well as the lack of coordination among social services, the justice sector and other relevant agencies. Further, the Committee is, among other things, concerned about the lack of designated areas in police stations to detain children, in particular girls, separately from adults, and at the prolonged periods of pretrial detention of children suspected of involvement in armed groups.

To improve the situation, the Committee urges the State party to 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 legal proceedings and to ensure, in cases where detention is unavoidable, that children are not detained together with adults and that detention conditions comply with international standards, including with regard to access to education and health services. In addition to that, Niger should improve coordination among the justice sector, social services and other relevant services and provide services for the reintegration of children released from prisons.

The Committee is deeply concerned about reports of the continuing practice of descent-based slavery of children, whereby children are treated as the property of their master and can be rented out, loaned, given as a gift or inherited by their masters’ children. It is also concerned that the prosecution of slavery cases is limited, penalties are mild and customary laws that coexist with national laws are discriminatory against people of slave descent.
Therefore, the Committee strongly urges the State party to take all the measures necessary to eradicate all forms of slavery within the State party and, in particular, to ensure that perpetrators of such practices are systematically prosecuted in courts in accordance with the law. The Committee calls upon the State party to adopt a national plan of action to combat slavery, including effective measures to free victims of traditional slavery practices and provide children with rehabilitation, psychological recovery services and assistance for reintegrating into their families, as well as awareness-raising campaigns on the provisions of the law against slavery.

Kazakhstan’s report shows that much has been done in recent years to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, for example regarding free education. Many areas of the report are also covered with valid information, so that a good overview of the implementation is given. Points that need to be worked on in the near future include the fact that many children still live in poverty and that vulnerable groups have less access to education and health care.

The Committee is concerned about the continuing practice of “bride kidnapping” in rural areas, which can involve the ill-treatment and the marriage of young girls against their consent. Therefore, the Committee recommends to fully eradicate the harmful practice of “bride kidnapping”.

The Committee is also concerned about the persistently high number of teenage pregnancies, which remains a problem in the State party, as well as about the high rate of abortions among teenage girls. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health information and facilities, in particular in rural areas.

Therefore, 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. It furthermore recommends that the State party establish centres and clinics in rural areas where children could seek confidential counselling on sexual and reproductive health.

The Committee notes the efforts of the State party to create a “barrier-free” environment for children with disabilities. However, the Committee is concerned that there remain challenges with regard to pedagogical and psychological assistance provided in schools to implement inclusive education and that large numbers of children with disabilities are still not enrolled in mainstream schools or kindergartens. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned about the lack of rehabilitation programmes for children with psychosocial disabilities.
To improve the situation, the Committee urges the State party to ensure that all children with disabilities are enrolled in preschools and schools. It also recommends that the State party adopt a human rights-based approach to disability, set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities and continue to develop and prioritize inclusive education over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes. It specifically recommends that the State party train and assign specialized teachers and professionals in inclusive classes to provide individualized support and all due attention to children with special educational needs, as well as rehabilitation programmes for children with psychosocial disabilities.

The Committee welcomes the positive developments in health, including the significant reduction of maternal, infant and child mortality rates. It is, however, concerned about unequal access to quality health services throughout the country, with the majority of the rural and marginalized population having limited access to specialized care. Also, the Committee is concerned about undernourishment of children seeming to persist in some regions of the country as well as regional disparities in distribution of hospital beds, doctors and nurses. The Committee is further concerned about reports of the mass infection of children with hepatitis C in the children’s hospitals in the cities of Astana and Almaty.
To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party provide equal access to quality health-care services, including specialized care, hospital facilities, qualified doctors and nurses and all equipment necessary throughout the country both in urban and rural areas. The Committee also recommends that the State party take measures to address the undernourishment of children in regions where that is identified as a problem. Furthermore, it recommends that the State party continue improving sanitary standards and procedures in all its hospitals and institutions regarding blood transfusion and prevent any potential negligence by their staff.

The Committee notes the considerable efforts of the State party in combating suicide, which have led to a decrease in the number of suicides. However, it remains concerned that suicide is still the leading cause of adolescent mortality in the country.
To improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to prevent suicides and suicidal behaviour among its adolescents and adopt mental health programmes and other measures, such as making available specifically trained schools counsellors, to address the specific needs of adolescents who are prone to suicidal behaviour.

The Committee is concerned about the negative impact of the pollution of the Aral Sea and the environmental pollution of the former nuclear test site of Semipalatinsk on the health of children living in neighbouring areas. While noting the State party’s efforts to dispose of waste, the Committee remains concerned about air pollution and the accumulation of waste, as well as the contamination of soil and water by industrial waste, agricultural pollutants and chemicals.
The Committee urges the State party to take further steps to address environmental hazards that affect the health of children living in close proximity to the Aral Sea and Semipalatinsk, and to strengthen its efforts to address environmental issues concerning waste disposal and the use of pollutants and chemicals. The Committee further calls on the State party to allocate more resources in this regard and to strictly enforce its environmental legislation.

The Committee notes the State party’s explanation that business enterprises are legally accountable for violations of children’s rights under civil, administrative and criminal procedures and that the State party is preparing to ratify relevant international treaties. Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned that the State party lacks regulations for business activities, including regulations on corporate social responsibility and codes of conduct on respecting human rights and environmental standards, in particular in their extracting activities. 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. Kazakhstan should also require companies to carry out assessments, consultations and full public disclosure of the environmental, health-related and human rights impact of their business activities and their plans to address such impact.

The Committee is concerned about the reports that incidents of torture and ill- treatment of children in police custody and care institutions still occur.
Therefore, the Committee urges the State party to launch prompt and effective investigations into all reports of torture and other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment, in particular in police custody and care institutions. The Committee recommends that the State party take all measures necessary to prosecute and punish the perpetrators and provide victims of such violations with appropriate physical and psychological rehabilitation.

The Committee also urges the State party to adopt a comprehensive law that will regulate all aspects of the juvenile justice system and ensure that all cases involving children in conflict with the law are dealt with by the juvenile justice system. Further, Kazakhstan should ensure that all children in the justice system are provided with psychological counselling and social assistance, where necessary, as well as provide regular training on children’s rights to all professionals dealing with children in the justice system, in particular judges, prosecutors and police officers. In addition, the Committee urges the State party to 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 and, in cases where detention is unavoidable, ensure that the children are able to have a frequent contact with their families, and that detention conditions are compliant with international standards.

The Committee is still concerned that, despite some improvements, significant numbers of children in the State party continue to live in poverty, in particular children who live in rural areas, large households, young families, single-parent families, families with persons with disabilities and migrant families. The Committee recommends that the State party take additional measures to combat poverty, in particular by identifying and addressing root causes and increasing its social welfare and child support allocations to families with children in need.

Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report released on 30 October 2015. More information about education in Kazakhstan: https://www.gov.kz

The report from Tajikistan shows that much has been done in recent years to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, for example regarding free education. Many areas of the report are also covered with valid information, so that a good overview of the implementation is given. In the near future, however, work still needs to be done to address the fact that many children live in a stressed food security situation and the health system suffers from a lack of knowledge among health workers and poor infrastructure.

While welcoming the lowering of the age for parental consent from 18 to 16 for adolescents to freely access information on reproductive health and confidential quality services, and guaranteeing adolescents access to sexual education in educational institutions, the Committee is concerned that the law is not enforced and that, particularly, access to contraception remains difficult for adolescent girls. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the State party reinforce its Youth-Friendly Health Services program, ensuring that it promotes access to information and services for girls and boys to reduce adolescent pregnancies and increases access to contraceptives, particularly in rural areas.

The Committee is seriously concerned about the insufficient protection of children with disabilities from discrimination, particularly the shortage of reliable data, which hinders the delivery and evaluation of services for children with disabilities. Furthermore, the Committee is seriously concerned about the continued limited physical accessibility of public institutions, transportation, housing and education. There is also limited availability of State-funded early detection and diagnosis of disability and rehabilitation services, insufficient social welfare allowance and services provided to children with disabilities with high needs and their families that do not sufficiently encourage, and provide support for families to keep their children at home, resulting in a disproportionate number of children with disabilities continuing to live in institutions. The Committee is further concerned about the absence of a comprehensive approach to the needs of children with disabilities and their families, and particularly to the needs of adolescent girls with disabilities.

While welcoming the health sector reform undertaken by the State party and the significant reduction in the child and infant mortality rate, the Committee is nevertheless concerned that health service delivery is weakened by the poor infrastructure and equipment with hospital buildings frequently lacking water, sanitation and electricity. Also, the knowledge and skills of health workers are poor, noting that the rate of neonatal mortality is linked to the poor quality of care at births. The Committee is further concerned that early infant deaths are mostly preventable, are exacerbated in rural areas and are underreported. Additionally, the Committee is concerned that the routine immunization system is weakened by gaps in surveillance, coverage monitoring and reporting, vaccine stock management and sustainable immunization financing.
To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that Tajikistan promptly take the necessary measures to increase the budget allocated to the health care system with a view to ensuring adequate access to primary health care services to all children, with particular attention to children in rural areas and from low-income families.

In view of the shortage of qualified mental health service providers to meet the psychosocial needs of children and adolescents in the State party, the Committee recommends that the State party increase the number of available psychological counselling services and social workers in schools and communities and ensure that all professionals working with children are adequately trained to identify and address early suicidal tendencies and mental health problems.

Noting the increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters experienced in the State party due to climate change and the resulting human and property losses as well as damages to the socio-economic and cultural infrastructure, the Committee urges the State party to adopt a child-focused approach to coping with and adapting to climate change. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to include children in the development of its National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (2016-2030), with special attention to children with disabilities and girls, taking note of target 13.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals on promoting mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management.

While welcoming the adoption of the new Labour Code in 2016, which defines the minimum age for employment as 15 years and contains provisions protecting the rights of children aged 15 to 18 years in the workplace, the Committee is seriously concerned that reportedly approximately a quarter of all children aged between 5 and 17 from families facing social and economic hardships are engaged in economic activity. The Committee urges the State party to reinforce the capacity of the ministerial Child Labour Monitoring Unit and the local level child monitoring committees established to identify children engaged in the worst forms of child labour and ensure their removal, rehabilitation and reintegration through the provision of appropriate social services, paying particular attention to the increasing number of children engaged in the informal sector, including in unpaid household services.

The Committee is, among other things, seriously concerned that there is a limited understanding about the effective prevention of children coming into conflict with the law, especially when children commit status offences, with an inappropriate emphasis on ‘crackdowns`.
Also, children are deprived of their liberty at the Special School, Special Vocational School and Boys Colony in Dushanbe, on the basis that their parents could not care for them. The Committee is further concerned that the capacity-building of judges, prosecutors and the police on child rights and juvenile justice is ad hoc and lacks sustainable funding and that there is an absence of non-judicial measures applied to children in conflict with the law.

The Committee is concerned that a significant proportion of the rural population, including children, live in a stressed food security situation, have inadequate food consumption, and that many citizens do not have enough money to buy basic food products.

Concluding observations on the third to fifth periodic report released on 29 September 2017.
More information about education in Tajikistan: https://mfa.tj and Early education in Tajikistan

The report from Sierra leone shows clearly that the Ebola outbreak has after-effects that hinder the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The report is also very short and thus does not allow for a detailed assessment of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in many areas, such as child labour. One positive aspect is the attempt to make basic and secondary education free of charge.

Despite the huge success of the Government’s efforts to include practitioners of female genital mutilation in the fight against submitting children to female genital mutilation, the Committee is seriously concerned that female genital mutilation is still practised and is not prohibited in law for children. Therefore, the Committee urges the State party to continue its fight with the assistance of former female practitioners of female genital mutilation to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation on children nationwide. Also, Sierra Leone should accelerate efforts and programmes to sensitize and assist practitioners of female genital mutilation to find alternative sources of income and encourage them to abandon the practice.

The Committee is seriously concerned at the high number of teenage pregnancies, the high number of unsafe and illegal abortions and the lack of adolescent-sensitive and confidential counselling services, including contraceptive services, and post-rape services. It is also concerned about the difficulties adolescents, especially boys, encounter in trying to access reproductive health care and information, including on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and the stigmatization and discrimination of teenage pregnancy.

The Committee is seriously concerned at the insufficient measures in place to ensure that children with disabilities fully enjoy their rights, in particular with reference to health and education, and the inadequate number of specialized teachers and the limited number of school facilities and materials adapted to children with disabilities, as well as services and infrastructure available in order to ensure that education is truly inclusive. There is also a lack of comprehensive data on children with disabilities.
To improve the situation, the Committee urges the State party to, inter alia, set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities and ensure sufficient funding for the National Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities, in particular to support children with disabilities. The Committee also urges Sierra Leone to support communities, local councils and NGO partners to build capacity for family and community-based care and support for children with disabilities and to ensure that children with disabilities have access to inclusive early childhood care and education, early development programmes, health care and other services, and ensure that such services receive adequate human, technical and financial resources.

To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to reduce the maternal and under-5 mortality rates, especially by focusing on preventive measures and treatment, improved nutrition and sanitary conditions and the management of preventable diseases, such as cholera and malaria. Also, Sierra Leone should strengthen its efforts to allocate appropriate human, technical and financial resources to health care for mothers and children and provide adequate human and financial resources for special services for child Ebola survivors. In addition to that, it should strengthen its efforts to improve access to basic health-care services with trained health workers for children and pregnant women, especially in rural areas.

The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to ensure that accessible mental health and counselling services are available in the country and are sensitive to the needs of children and adolescents. It also recommends that orphans and child survivors of Ebola are provided with psychosocial counselling and support for reintegration into communities without any stigma or discrimination.

The Committee recommends to cooperate with the widest range of stakeholders, in particular through its community-based structures such as village development committees and child welfare committees, including children, community and traditional leaders and all sectors of society, to promote social and cultural change and create an enabling environment that promotes equality among children.

The Committee urges the State party to operationalize the age assessment guidelines and make sure that all the relevant stakeholders working with children receive training and copies of the guidelines. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to step up efforts to establish family courts across the country. Also, Sierra Leone should ensure that pretrial detention is used as a last resort only and for the shortest possible period of time, not exceeding six months, and that it is reviewed on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing it, and in cases where detention is not avoidable, Sierra Leone should ensure that children are not detained together with adults and that detention conditions are compliant with international standards, including with regard to access to education and health services. The Committee also urges to 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 recommends that the State party continue its efforts to register all children, especially those in rural areas, and ensure the integration of birth registration into the general civil registration reform programme.

The Committee also recommends to take immediate measures to combat corruption and strengthen institutional capacities to effectively detect and investigate cases of corruption and prosecute the perpetrators, including by putting in place the Public Expenditure Tracking Survey system in order to avoid diverting resources from the implementation of the Convention.

Concluding observations on the third to fifth periodic reports released on 1 November 2016.More information about education in Sierra Leone: https://www.thesierraleonetelegraph.com and https://mbsse.gov.sl and
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The report from Cameroon shows that much remains to be done to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. For example, the low budget allocations to the health sector and the structural discrimination and displacement of indigenous people need to be improved. School attendance should not suffer due to excessive costs or the oppression of girls. Violence also plays a major role, on the one hand due to the wars and conflicts in neighbouring countries, and on the other hand due to violent acts emanating from terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram and from the state police itself.

The Committee expresses grave concern that sexual violence is prevalent, including against very young children, that over 22 per cent of girls aged 15-19 have experienced sexual violence, notably within the context of child marriage, and that consequently the high rate of HIV/AIDS of this group persists. In addition to that, state legislation does not provide full protection for all victims of violence, including sexual violence, or guarantee their compensation or rehabilitation.
The Committee recommends to the State party to implement its national strategic plan for adolescent and youth health, ensuring it encompasses a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health component, which includes delivering sexual and reproductive health education as part of the mandatory school curriculum targeted at adolescent girls and boys, with special attention paid to preventing adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and to raising awareness of and fostering responsible parenthood and sexual behaviour, with particular attention to boys and men. In addition to that, adolescent girls’ access to reproductive health care and related services need to be improved.

The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach to disability and specifically recommends that it take immediate measures to ensure that children with disabilities have access to health care, including early detection and intervention programmes.
Cameroon should also immediately release any children institutionalized on the basis of their disability and ensure they receive community-based support and undertake awareness-raising campaigns aimed at the families of children with disabilities, teachers and society to combat the stigmatization of and prejudice against children with disabilities. Cameroon should also improve water management by undertaking an inventory of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, investing in the capacity-building of water point management committees and updating the legislative framework on water management to address institutional issues.

Low budget allocations to the health sector result in poor infrastructure, equipment, quality of services, and lack of qualified personnel, and contribute to high maternal and neonatal mortality rates and child malnutrition. To guarantee the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that Cameroon ensure a sufficient number of accessible health centres and hospitals equipped with adequate human, technical and financial resources throughout the country and increase investment in seasonal malaria prevention including by delivering awareness-raising programmes on the utilization of mosquito nets and ensure sanctions against health workers who demand payment of informal fees for the disbursement of free malaria treatment.

Concerning adolescent health, the Committee recommends to address the incidence of drug abuse by children and adolescents, in particular Tramadol, by, inter alia, providing children and adolescents with accurate and objective information and education on life skills for the prevention of substance abuse, including tobacco and alcohol, and develop accessible and youth-friendly drug dependency treatment and harm reduction services.

The Committee is deeply concerned that the activities of companies, particularly transnational corporations in the extractive and agribusiness sectors, in the State party may lead to forced displacement and resettlement of indigenous communities and other minority groups, pollution of water resources and food, and environmental degradation to the detriment of children. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned about the lack of a regulatory framework in this regard.
To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to establish a regulatory framework to deal with the impact of the business sector on children’s rights to ensure that their activities do not negatively affect human rights or endanger environmental or other standards, especially those relating to children’s rights.

The Committee is concerned about arbitrary detention of children by police and the informal fees demanded for their release, including informal fees for legal aid lawyers and insufficiency and inadequacy of hygienic and serviced detention facilities for children and the lack of any systematic separation from adults of children in detention.
To improve the situation, the Committee urges Cameroon to expeditiously establish specialized juvenile court facilities and procedures as well as providing qualified and independent legal aid and assistance to children in conflict with the law at an early stage of and throughout legal proceedings. Also, in cases where detention is unavoidable, the State party should ensure that children are systematically separated from adults and that detention conditions are compliant with international standards, including access to education and health services.

The Committee is concerned that children born out of wedlock must fulfil additional conditions to acquire Cameroonian nationality and that the acquisition of nationality may be denied to children with disabilities.

Angola's report makes clear that the country still has much to do before the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is implemented. Child mortality is high, partly because vaccination coverage has not been achieved. Too few children receive primary and secondary education, and many work in dangerous conditions.

The Committee recommends that Angola strengthen its adolescent reproductive health programme and awareness-raising campaigns, including life skills education, to foster responsible parenthood and sexual behaviour, paying particular attention to boys. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party continue to ensure access to contraceptives for adolescents under the age of 18 years and ensure access to comprehensive, quality, age-appropriate HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health services, confidential counselling and support for pregnant adolescent girls.

The Committee recommends that the State party pursue and strengthen its programmes and services for all children with disabilities aimed at enhancing their social inclusion, and ensure in particular their access to health and social services, inclusive education and vocational training so that they can participate actively in the community. The State party should also continue building the capacity, including through training, of all professionals working with children with disabilities, including teachers, social workers, medical personnel and paramedics.

The Committee is concerned about the higher risk of death before age five for children born in poor households, in rural areas, or to mothers without basic education. It is also concerned about the high maternal mortality rate correlated to poor neonatal health and the low rate of full immunization coverage of children, which stands at just 31 per cent. To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends to extend access to primary health care to all provinces and make all efforts to achieve the goal of full immunization coverage for children. It further recommends to step up the provision of malaria prevention and treatment in affected areas, including by strengthening the epidemiological monitoring system at the provincial and municipal levels.

Concerning drug and substance abuse, the Committee recommends to strengthen Angola’s measures to address drug abuse by children and adolescents by, inter alia, continuing to provide children and adolescents with accurate and objective information and life skills education on preventing substance abuse, including tobacco and alcohol, and developing accessible and youth-friendly drug dependence treatment and harm-reduction services.

The Committee recommends to Angola to ensure that all children have access to mental health services and counselling.

The Committee recommends that the State party monitor and ensure the effective implementation by companies (whether private or State owned) of international and national environmental and health standards, apply appropriate sanctions, provide remedies for any violations found and ensure that companies seek the appropriate international certification.

The Committee is concerned that child labour is still highly prevalent in Angola, especially in rural areas.
The Committee recommends to establish and implement regulations to ensure that the business sector complies with international and national human rights, labour, environmental and other standards, particularly with regard to children’s rights. Also, Angola should establish a clear regulatory framework for the industries operating in the State party, in particular the oil, gas, diamond, fishing and farming industries, to ensure that their activities do not negatively affect children’s rights or endanger environmental and other standards.

The Committee urges the State party to bring its juvenile justice system fully into line with the Convention and other relevant standards. To achieve that, the Committee recommends to expedite trials involving children to reduce the pretrial detention periods. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure that children are not detained together with adults and that detention conditions are compliant with international standards, including with regard to the provision of a safe, child-sensitive environment, regular contact with family members and access to food, health services and education, including vocational training.

Birth registration rates remain low, with a considerable divide between urban and rural areas, which represents an obstacle to preschool and school enrolment and a root cause of child labour.

Concluding observations on the fifth to seventh periodic reports released on 27 June 2018.
Universal Periodic Review - Angola - Right to Education

The report on Zimbabwe highlights several important issues, including high levels of child and family poverty leading to malnutrition, which causes deaths. Another problem is the health care situation, for example that young people need their parents' consent to obtain contraceptives. The Committee also notes with great concern that corruption remains pervasive in the State party.

The Committee is seriously concerned about the situation of girls, in particular adolescent girls, who suffer marginalization and gender stereotyping, which compromise their educational opportunities, and who are more vulnerable to sexual violence, abuse and HIV/AIDS. Zimbabwe also has high rates of sexual violence, early pregnancies and child marriage and a restrictive abortion law.
Therefore, the Committee urges the State party to ensure that sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum and that it targets adolescent girls and boys, with special attention to improving the knowledge of and the availability of reproductive health-care services with a view to reducing teenage pregnancies and preventing HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.

The Committee is concerned that in the majority of cases, disability in children is due to preventable causes. It is further concerned that throughout the country, children with disabilities, especially those with intellectual or psychosocial impairments, are subjected to greater abuse, violence, stigma and exclusion, particularly in rural areas. In addition to that, access to inclusive education and well-trained teachers is limited and infrastructure in public places is not suitable for children with disabilities.

To improve the situation for children with disabilities, the Committee urges Zimbabwe to adopt measures to eliminate the stigmatization and exclusion of children with disabilities and prohibit such discrimination. Also, Zimbabwe should set up comprehensive measures to develop inclusive education for children with disabilities and ensure that inclusive education is given priority over the placement of children in special schools and classes.

The Committee notes with serious concern the high rates of maternal, neonatal and child mortality, as well as of stunting and malnutrition among children under the age of 5 years, with much higher rates in rural areas. It is also gravely concerned about the significant number of deaths of children under 5 years of age owing to poor hygiene, inadequate sanitation and lack of clean drinking water.

To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends to the State party to facilitate access to free maternal and child health services, reduce the incidence of maternal, child and infant mortality and prevent and combat malnutrition through the sufficient allocation of resources to critical nutrition interventions and access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

The Committee is concerned about the destitution faced by displaced children and their families as a result of the flooding at the Tokwe Murkosi dam and the forced resettlement operations, in particular, the reported severe malnutrition and disease, incidences of abuse and sexual violence committed against children and disruption of education.
The Committee urges the State party to expedite redress to the families displaced owing to the flooding of the Tokwe Murkosi dam and the forced resettlement operations, including the provision of prompt and adequate compensation and the ability to return to their land, while ensuring their access to appropriate and quality educational, health-care and recreational facilities and restoration of lost birth certificates.

The Committee is concerned about the persistence of child labour, including hazardous labour, in the State party due to weak enforcement of existing legislation and policies. The Committee is further concerned about reports of exploitation of children, particularly from low-income households, in the agriculture, forestry/hunting and fishing sectors, including low payment and long working hours.

The Committee urges Zimbabwe to ensure the implementation of the minimum age of employment, including through the use of appropriately trained labour inspectors and the application of high penalties, as provided for in legislation with regard to those who exploit children. Also, Zimbabwe should take measures to address the socioeconomic factors contributing to child labour and scale up the implementation of social welfare programmes to prevent children engaging in economic activities.

The Committee is, among other things, concerned about the lack of a clear legal prohibition of life imprisonment without the possibility of release and the indeterminate sentencing of children and the recourse to whipping as a disciplinary measure for boys. To improve the situation, the Committee urges the State party to 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 as a primary consideration and also increase the number of adequately trained professionals working in the juvenile justice system.

The Committee notes that the severe economic decline prevailing in the country has impacted the delivery of all services to children, and that this situation is compounded by pervasive corruption, which continues to divert resources that could enhance the implementation of the rights of children. It further acknowledges that the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the State party continues to have a negative impact on the situation of children.
The Committee is concerned about reports that children born on the territory of the State party to parents of indeterminate nationality have been denied the right to have their birth registered and to acquire Zimbabwean nationality, which has impeded their access to health care, education and other social services. It further notes the absence of legislative provisions to guarantee that children born stateless in the State party acquire a nationality.

Concluding observations on the second periodic report released on 7 March 2016. More information about education: Education Act

Gabon's report shows clearly that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has not yet been implemented far enough.
The Committee observes with great concern that education is associated with costs and that girls in particular leave school early. They are also often exposed to sexual violence, which is also perpetrated in schools. In addition, children with disabilities and pygmies are discriminated against.

The Committee is deeply concerned about cases of sexual abuse of children in the home, including incest, and in schools and public spaces. It is also concerned about the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators and the reticence of survivors to file or proceed with formal complaints for fear of reprisals.
Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that adolescents have limited access to contraception, and at the high rate of adolescent pregnancy. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to 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 is seriously concerned about the insufficient resources allocated to support children with disabilities and their families, including access to health care and social services, and that the few available structures exist only in the capital. The Committee is also concerned about the persistent prejudice against children with disabilities by their families and communities, which leads to isolation and ill-treatment.
The Committee urges the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach to disability and set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities, including to set up comprehensive measures to develop inclusive education and ensure that it is given priority over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes, and invest in the development of the professional skills of children with disabilities. Further, the Committee urges the State party to combat the root causes for the abandonment of boys and girls with disabilities and provide adequate community-based services and assistance to parents and families.

To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends to the State party to develop and implement a community health policy to promote community participation and tailor health care to local needs, and in particular develop, with the full and effective participation of pygmies, mandatory cultural sensitivity training for all health-care workers. Additionally, the Committee recommends that the State party increase the allocation of resources to the health sector, with a view to them attaining 15 per cent of the national budget.

The Committee welcomes the positive steps taken to address deforestation, but remains concerned about the State party’s policy to increase mono-cropping and that the land laws do not reflect the nomadic lifestyle of pygmy communities, including children, who rely on the forests for their livelihood.

The Committee is concerned about the high number of working children, in particular in sand quarries and restaurants (gargottes) and on taxis and buses, and the poor identification of abuses and sanction of perpetrators by law enforcement authorities. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of an action plan to remove children from illegal work. The Committee recommends to take the measures necessary to enforce the Labour Code, including at the provincial level, regarding the minimum age for employment, by raising awareness of this phenomenon, and strengthen law enforcement activities to identify abuses and sanction perpetrators, with a particular focus on activities related to sand quarries, restaurants, taxis and buses.

The Committee welcomes Act No. 39/2010 creating a dedicated court system for children, recognizing children in conflict with the law as victims, giving priority to re- education and reintegration, considering deprivation of liberty as a measure of last resort, assigning a role to social workers during judicial proceedings and providing legal assistance to children. The Committee is, however, concerned about the ineffective implementation of the law, in particular that the dedicated juvenile justice system is not yet fully in place, juvenile courts are not separated from adult courts, law enforcement officials still lack knowledge about children’s rights, alternatives to detention do not exist and social workers do not systematically visit children in detention. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to Gabon to create separate courts and a body of law enforcement officials specialized in the rights of the child and international standards in the administration of justice for children, and ensure that social workers regularly visit children in detention.

The Committee is concerned about the high number of children still without access to birth certificates, in particular children in remote areas, pygmy children and children in vulnerable situations, such as children in street situations, child victims of trafficking and child refugees, and that this is partly due to the poor enforcement of the measures adopted.

Concluding observations on the second periodic report released on 8 July 2016. More information about education: Preschool in Gabon

The report from the Gambia shows that, among other things, much remains to be done in the area of child labour. Further, efforts must be made in ending discrimination against girls and female genital mutilation. On the other hand, progress has been made in the education system, for example through the introduction of free education, including at secondary level.

The Committee is deeply concerned about the high prevalence of female genital mutilation that still exists in the country, as well as the absence in the legislation of explicit criminalization of the practice. To improve the situation, the Committee urges the State party to adopt legal provisions fully criminalizing the practice of female genital mutilation and to provide physical and psychological recovery programmes for victims of female genital mutilation, and establish reporting and complaints mechanisms accessible to girls who have been victims, or fear becoming victims, of the practice.

The Committee is further concerned about the lack of integration into school curricula of reproductive health education, the lack of sufficient youth centres which provide youth-friendly reproductive information and services, and the low knowledge of HIV transmission and prevention among the population. Additionally, the Committee is concerned about the legal provisions considering abortion as an offence except to save the life of a pregnant woman, which result in the likelihood of pregnant girls and women who are affected by HIV/AIDS seeking risky illegal abortions.

The Committee is concerned about the high level of discrimination against, and stigmatization of, children with disabilities as well as the lack of adequately prepared and equipped schools to receive children with disabilities, in particular in rural areas. Also, the Committee is concerned about the inadequate provision of infrastructure and personnel for access of children with disabilities to health care. Therefore, the Committee urges the State party to further encourage the inclusion of children with disabilities in society and in the mainstream educational system, including by making schools more accessible. Also, the Gambia should strengthen awareness-raising programmes, including campaigns, for the community at large, aimed at combating the high level of discrimination against, and stigmatization of, children with disabilities.

To guarantee the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to the health sector and are used effectively. The Committee as well recommends that the State party develop and implement comprehensive policies and programmes for improving the health situation of children and facilitating greater and equal access to high-quality primary health services for mothers and children in all areas of the country. The Gambia should also take all effective measures to increase the number of trained medical and other health personnel, and facilitate cooperation between trained medical personnel and traditional healers, especially midwives. Also, the Committee recommends that the State party improve access to maternal care services by improving health infrastructure and increasing the availability and accessibility of emergency obstetric and neonatal care and skilled birth attendants at lower- and district-level health facilities. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen efforts to address malnutrition and diseases of children, including by strengthening educational programmes, campaigns to inform parents about basic child health and nutrition, hygiene and environmental sanitation and reproductive health, and by providing sufficient drugs, including rapid diagnostic tests and malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoeal rehydration drugs. Gambia should further strengthen its efforts to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

The Committee welcomes the measures taken by the State party to protect children from violations of their rights arising from tourism activities and the establishment of community child protection committees across the country and of adolescent neighbourhood watch groups in communities around the Tourism Development Area. Furthermore, the Committee welcomes the development of a manual for training on and the eradication of child labour and sexual exploitation in the tourism industry and the introduction of the Tourism Code of Conduct to hotels, motels and restaurants within the Tourism Development Area. However, the Committee is concerned about the persistent violations of children’s rights arising from tourism activities.
To further improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party examine and adapt its legislative framework (civil, criminal and administrative) to ensure the legal accountability of business enterprises and their subsidiaries operating in the State party ́s territory, especially in the tourism industry, and establish monitoring mechanisms for the investigation and redress of children’s rights violations, with a view to improving accountability and transparency. The State Party should further strengthen its awareness-raising programmes, including campaigns, in the tourism industry and among the public at large on the prevention of child sex tourism and strengthen its international cooperation against child sex tourism through multilateral, regional and bilateral arrangements for its prevention and elimination.

The Committee welcomes the establishment of five children’s courts throughout the country, alternative measures to detention, the raising of the age of criminal responsibility, and the abolition of the use of corporal punishment in the juvenile justice system. However, it is concerned about the establishment of only three equipped children’s courts out of the five courts provided for in the Children’s Act, the lack of separate detention facilities for boys and girls and the lack, in most police stations, of separate pre-detention facilities for children and adults. It is also concerned about the limited use of legal aid due to the insufficient human resources allocated to the National Agency for Legal Aid and the low level of awareness among the population of the existence of legal aid, especially in civil cases. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned about the need for continuing and strengthening the training of the police, magistrates and social workers on the provisions of the Children’s Act and on international standards regarding the administration of the juvenile justice system.
To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to expeditiously establish specialized juvenile court facilities in each of the five regions of the country, and provide them with adequate human, technical and financial resources. Also, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure that specialized judges receive appropriate education and training and, in cases where detention is unavoidable, ensure that children are not detained together with adults, and that girls are separated from boys. Gambia should also ensure that children in detention maintain regular contact with their families.

The Committee is concerned about the discrimination against children born out of wedlock, who cannot inherit from the estate of their fathers as the “personal law” does not recognize their inheritance rights.

Concluding observations on the second and third periodic reports released on 20 February 2015. More information about education: Constitution of Gambia