Lists of Issues - CRC - Cameroon - CRC/C/Q/CAME/1 (2001)

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CRC/C/Q/CAME/1
8 June 2001

Original: ENGLISH

List of Issues : Cameroon. 08/06/2001.

CRC/C/Q/CAME/1. (List of Issues)

COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Twenty-eighth Session
Pre-sessional Working Group
11-15 June 2001

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

List of Issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the initial report of Cameroon (CRC/C/28/Add. 16)

Part I

Under this section, the State Party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if available (before 1 August 2001):

A. Data and statistics

1. In light of article 4 on the implementation of the Convention and with reference to the information provided in paragraphs 18, 101, 168 and in table 10 of the report, please provide additional information and disaggregated data (by age, sex, ethnic group, and region) on the amount and proportion in percentage of national budget, allocated to children at central, local levels, preferably during the last 3 years (1999-2001), evaluating also the order of priority given to these policies within the comprehensive budget, to:

a) education (different types of education, i.e. primary and secondary education);
b) health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care and other health care services for children, including social insurance);
c) children with disabilities;
d) the protection of children who are in need of alternative care including the support of care institutions.

2. Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age, minority groups or ethnic origin, regions, urban or rural areas) covering the period 1999-2001 on the:

a) number and proportion of children with disabilities;
b) number of children with disabilities either taken care at home or living in institutions;
c) number of children with disabilities being enrolled in regular education and how many benefit from the special education system. In addition please indicate the number of schools and teachers involved in the inclusive policy with regard to children with disabilities.

3. Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age, minority groups or ethnic origin, regions, urban or rural areas) covering the period 1999-2001 on the:

a) rates of literacy, below and over 18 years;
b) enrolment in percentage of children in primary schools;
c) enrolment in percentage of children in secondary schools;
d) percentage of children completing primary and secondary education;
e) number and percentage of drop-outs;
f) ratio teacher per children and number of children per class;
g) number of children in boarding schools;
h) number and location of boarding schools;
i) number of children who attend pre-school education.

4. Please provide disaggregated statistical data on adolescent health, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, early and arranged marriages, drug and alcohol abuse, violence and physical abuse, suicide and mental health concerns.

5. Please provide the following statistical data of children (disaggregated by sex, age, type of crime, type of sanction) for the last three years (1999-2001):
a) number of minors who allegedly committed a crime reported to the police;
b) number of minors who were sentenced by Courts to sanctions; the nature of sanctions (community service; detention; other types of sanctions);
c) the number of juveniles detained and imprisoned, the location of their detention or imprisonment (e.g. police station, jail or other place) and the lengths of their detention or imprisonment, including pre-trial detention.
d) number of suspended sentences;
e) percentage of recidivism cases;

6. Please provide disaggregated statistical data on the number of juvenile courts and juvenile magistrates, and information on their location in the country.

7. With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by sex, age, urban/rural areas) per year between 1999 and 2001 on the number of children:

a) involved in sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography, sale and trafficking and the number of those children who were provided access with rehabilitation treatments;
b) involved in substance abuse and the number of those children who received rehabilitation treatments;
c) living in the streets and the number of them receiving rehabilitation treatment;
d) involved in child labour (formal or informal sectors, and domestic work);
e) seeking asylum and provided with refugee status.

B. General Measures of Implementation

1. Please outline the measures taken to address the inconsistencies between statutory law and the Convention. Please provide information on the status of customary law and identify any inconsistencies between customary law and the Convention and how it combines with the mixed system of civil and common law. Please provide also information on the cases where the Convention has been invoked in courts. In addition, please also indicate the role and authority of customary courts.

2. Please outline the measures taken to establish a co-ordinating mechanism to facilitate the implementation of the Convention. Please also outline the interaction among the various National Plans of Action or strategies regarding children. Further, please provide additional information on the programmes and activities of NGOs working with and for children.

3. Please provide information on the activities of the National Committee on Human Rights and Freedom and how it contributes to the implementation and monitoring of the rights of the child. Please indicate whether children can submit individual complaints to the National Committee on Human Rights.

4. Please outline the measures taken to introduce a more systematic and sustainable approach to training, education and awareness raising on the principles and provisions of the Convention, particularly among professional groups, including magistrates and others in the justice system, teachers, social workers, police and military personnel, community leaders and parents. Additionally, please outline the measures taken to incorporate the Convention into the school curriculum.

PART II

Please provide copies of the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all official languages of the State party as well as in other languages or dialects, when available. If possible, please submit these texts in electronic form.

Part III

Under this section, States parties are invited, whenever appropriate, to briefly (3 pages maximum) up-date the information provided in their report with regard to:

- new bills or enacted legislation
- new institutions
- newly implemented policies
- newly implemented programmes

Part IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues that the Committee intends to take up during the dialogue with the State party - THEY DO NOT REQUIRE WRITTEN RESPONSES. This list is not exhaustive as other issues may be raised in the course of the dialogue.

The dialogue with the with the State party might include issues such as:

1. General principles of the Convention:

a) the practical implementation of the general principles by social welfare institutions, courts of law and administrative authorities;
b) sensitisation of the public about the general principles, including those living in traditional communities;
c) promotion of the participatory rights of children - the practical implementation of the rights of children to freely express their views, including within the school environment and in institutions;
d) Policies and programmes to ensure non-discrimination against children, especially children with disabilities, children living in and/or working in the street, girls, children from economically disadvantaged families, children living in rural communities, indigenous groups, and other vulnerable groups.

2. Measures taken to address the effects of poverty on children.

3. Legal minimum ages for criminal responsibility; marriage and sexual consent, including under customary law, and upper age limit for compulsory education.

4. Birth registration. Measures to increase the rate of birth registration.

5. Forced and early marriage. Measures to prevent and prohibit such marriages.

6. Children deprived of a family environment; alternative care; and adoptions:

a) procedures which leads to the separations from parents
b) financial and human resource allocations;
c) adequacy of alternative care facilities, including training for professionals;
d) domestic and intercountry adoptions – policies, administrative procedures, and review of placements; and
e) foster care;
f) the current situation of the draft family code and the implications on custody, maintenance, adoption, etc.

7. The legal enforcement of maintenance orders - awareness raising and assistance programmes.

8. Child abuse:

a) measures to prevent and combat domestic violence, ill treatment and abuse of children, including child sexual abuse and exploitation;
b) mechanisms to facilitate timely reporting of ill-treatment and abuse of children; and
c) measures to prohibit and eliminate the very widespread use of corporal punishment in schools and in institutions as well as in homes.

9. Basic health and welfare:

a) preventive and rehabilitative policies, programmes and services to address adolescent health concerns, including mental health issues;
b) measures to curb the rates of infant and under-5 mortality rates;
c) nutrition;
d) HIV/AIDS: programmes and policies for children infected and affected, including orphans;
e) female genital mutilation: preventive programs to end this practice;
f) social security: measures to improve the system.

10. Education:

a) Measures to make primary education free;
b) accessibility, especially in rural communities;
c) efforts to increase participation of girls, especially in the North, Far North and Adamawa;
d) dropout and repetition rates;
e) discipline at schools;
f) aims of education;
g) human rights education;
h) sexual abuses of students by teachers;

11. Measures to prevent and combat economic exploitation, including child labour, domestic work, and forced child labour. Measures to protect vulnerable children, especially those living and/or working in the streets. Consideration to ratify ILO Conventions n°138 and n°182.

12. Measures to prevent and combat the use of children in commercial sexual exploitation. Rehabilitative programmes and services for children. Measures to prevent the criminalisation of child victims of sexual abuse.

13. Measures to prevent and combat sale, trafficking, slavery and abduction of children. Inter-country co-operation agreements and programmes.

14. Asylum seeking and refugee children. Measures taken for refugee children, including their access to education and health services, as well as assistance provided to these children and their families.

15. The situation of Pygmy children and children belonging to ethnic minorities.

16. The juvenile justice system (children in conflict with the law) with particular attention to the following topics:

a) Plan to establish a juvenile justice system;
b) deprivation of liberty as a measure of last resort, length of pre-trial detention and alternatives to imprisonment;
c) conditions of detention and the separation of children from the adult detainees;
d) length of criminal proceedings;
e) practical provision of legal aid;
f) protection of privacy;
g) continued contact between the child and his/her family;
h) effective monitoring of facilities;
i) complaints procedures to deal with issues such as ill-treatment and violations of children's rights;
j) education, health, food and social services for children in detention;
k) programmes to ensure the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of children; and
l) special protection for all children below the age of 18 years.