2. What concrete measures have been taken to make the report widely available to the public at large?

3. What further steps are planned for creating more widespread awareness among adults and children about the principles and provisions of the Convention?

4. To what extent have school curricula been adjusted to give room for education about the Convention? What measures have been taken to provide special training on the Convention to professional groups, and in particular judges, policemen and tutelary staff?

5. Please describe the national institution or institutions which have been set up, if any, to promote the rights of the child and monitor their observance. To what extent and in what ways are these institutions related to Colombian non-governmental organizations?

6. What is the status of the Convention in relation to national law? Can the provisions of the Convention be invoked in court?

7. What are the main achievements that the legal apparatus can claim with regard to the observance of the rights of the child?

8. What is the role of the Procurator for the Rights of the Child at the Office of the Ombudsman?

9. What are the main achievements that can be claimed by the Inter-Agency Committee for the Defence, Protection and Promotion of the Human Rights of Children and Young People during this period?

10. How are the Servicios de Protección y Reeducación al Menor Infractor y Contraventor evaluated? What problems have been encountered?

11. Please provide information on measures taken to establish mechanisms for collecting statistical data and other necessary information about the status of children as a basis for designing programmes for the rights of the child and indicate whether there is a need for technical assistance in this area.

12. What overall plans exist at present to implement the provisions of the Convention at the local level? Please describe steps taken to implement article 4 in regard to the allocation "to the maximum extent of (...) available resources" for the rights of the child. Please indicate what proportion of the national budget is allocated to social priorities for children in official budgets, both central and local; and what indicators or target figures are used in this context.

13. To what extent does international cooperation go to enhancing the implementation of the Convention? What share of international assistance is devoted to programmes which benefit children?

2. Can the concept of "minor", as used in the Minors' Code, be reconciled with article 1 of the Convention? What differences are there between a minor and a child? Why is the terminology not consistent with the text of the Convention?

3. Please provide information on the legal minimum age established for criminal responsibility, for medical or legal counselling without parental consent, for sexual consent, for marriage, for enlistment in the armed forces and for imprisonment.

4. Please comment on the comparison between the minimum age for admission to work and the age for finishing compulsory education.

5. Please indicate whether in these various respects boys are treated differently from girls and, if so, for what reason.

6. What assessment can be made of the operation of the law in ensuring compliance with the Convention? When offences occur, who receives the complaints, and who acts to enforce the law?

7. How is the work of the Defensores de Familia organized at the national level? What are their achievements and difficulties?

1. Please indicate to what extent the provisions of article 2 are covered in Colombian legislation with regard to all possible grounds for discrimination spelled out in that article.

2. Please indicate specific and concrete measures taken to combat discrimination against girls, rural children, children belonging to minorities or indigenous communities, refugee children, asylum-seeking children and disabled children, including measures to eliminate and prevent discriminatory attitudes and prejudices.

3. What efforts are being made to collect data broken down by groups of children on aspects relating to the Convention? Has any office been set up to compile and follow up cases of exploitation and discrimination in respect of children?

Best interests of the child (art. 3 of the Convention)

4. Please indicate in what way the "best interests of the child" are taken into consideration in legislation as well as in judicial, administrative and other proceedings, including those concerned with the enforcement of the Convention.

The right to life, survival and development (art. 6 of the Convention)

5. Please indicate steps taken to create an environment conducive to ensuring "to the maximum extent possible" the survival and development of the child. What is being done to promote a "life culture" in a society marked by violence and death?

Respect for the views of the child (art. 12 of the Convention)

6. What concrete measures have been taken to sensitize public opinion and educate personnel working with children to the need to encourage children's participatory rights?

7. Please indicate the way in which the principle of respect for the views of the child is reflected in all matters affecting the child, particularly in judicial and administrative proceedings.

2. What steps are being taken to encourage the publication, dissemination and availability to all children of children's literature?

3. How are children protected from violence and harmful influences in the mass media?

4. What concrete steps have been taken, for example in case of sexual abuse or of exposure to harmful influences in the mass media?

5. What concrete steps have been taken to investigate cases of ill-treatment of children and to prevent its occurrence? Have any complaints been lodged regarding corporal punishment in the family, the schools or tutelary institutions? What is the percentage?

6. Is corporal punishment allowed in schools or other institutions for children? What specific legal provisions exist to protect children from being ill-treated. What kind of guarantee is there of the right of boys or girls to complain of any abuse sustained by them?

2. Is parental education provided for? Are family counselling services available? What are the main changes that the Colombian family has undergone as a social nucleus, in relation to the child?

3. What is the percentage growth of one-parent families in the country? What is the responsibility of the State with regard to abandoned children? How is that responsibility discharged? Is the community aware of the role of the Defensor de Familia? In what cases is he approached? How could the discharge of his functions be evaluated? Can the percentage of children deprived of a family environment be indicated? What are the main causes?

4. What are the procedures to regulate the care of children of divorced parents? What procedures exist to ensure that children are not deprived of their maintenance?

5. What specific measures are being taken to safeguard the right of the child of divorced parents to be in contact with both father and mother?

6. Please supply information on the measures taken to compel parents to fulfil their obligations, for example to provide maintenance for the child, especially in the case of a father who does not live with the child. What are the obligations of the State in this respect?

7. Have any cases of maltreatment of children within the family been reported? What legislative steps have been taken to protect children against such physical abuse and maltreatment, referred to in article 19 of the Convention? Are any studies being made on the problem of maltreatment and sexual abuse of children, including the social factors which influence these offences? What procedures exist for intervention by the authorities in cases in which a child is in need of protection against serious maltreatment within the family? Can children submit complaints for physical abuse or negligent treatment?

8. Please indicate your policy with respect to the choice between institutional care and care in foster homes or similar arrangements.

9. Please indicate what institutions exist for other types of care of children, the number of children receiving such care and the procedures for monitoring the conditions in such institutions.

10. Have programmes been adopted to prevent or reduce the abandonment of children and, if so, are such programmes adequate?

11. Are there any training programmes for social workers in the field of the rights of the child?

12. What is the percentage of adoptions carried out? Is there any specific legislation dealing with adoption? What requirements must be fulfilled in order to adopt?

13. Please describe the procedures for national and intercountry adoption, including monitoring and supervision. What measures are taken to ensure that parents giving up their children for adoption are allowed sufficient opportunity to weigh the consequences and possible alternatives? At what age can the child itself have a say in the adoption decision?

14. What is the general policy and general attitude in society regarding the care of disabled children? What concrete programmes and activities in favour of such children are being carried out?

15. Reference is made to 227 protection and rehabilitation institutions throughout the country. Who make up these institutions? What kind of training/education is provided in them? Do they have a specialized staff? How would you rate the performance of the family magistrates (323) and Defensores de Familia (376) distributed over each of the 26 ICBF regions throughout the country? Are the legal provisions to safeguard minors placed in special protection centres on various grounds properly observed? What is the greatest difficulty encountered?

2. Please provide information on the following:

Measures taken to ensure that no child is deprived of the right of access to child-care services and in particular to improve access to child care for girls, including in rural areas and in underprivileged urban areas;

The health-care network in general and the network of primary health care in particular;

Measures taken to collect statistical and other data on child health and nutrition;

The present level of malnutrition among children and measures planned to reduce it;

Family planning measures taken and the beneficiaries of such measures;

Measures taken to reduce the perinatal mortality rate;

Measures taken to provide prenatal and post-natal care to mothers;

The percentage of births attended by specialized health personnel;

The nature and context of the most common diseases;

The incidence and treatment of HIV infection among children and parents as well as the measures taken to prevent AIDS.

3. How do the Community Welfare Homes, the Children's Homes and the Family Education for Child Development Programme function without interfering with one another and what is their impact on the population? With what budget do they function? Are there any other institutions (programmes) covering child problems with the emphasis on health (Comprehensive Care Programme for the Under-Sevens; Expanded Programme of Immunization; National Plan to Promote, Protect and Support Breast-feeding; Epidemiological, Food and Nutrition Monitoring System (SISVAN); Maternal and Perinatal Care Programme; Programme of Comprehensive Care for Adolescents). How can their activities be assessed in relation to the requirements of Colombian children?

4. Please provide information on the situation of disabled children, including access to education, training, health-care services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities.

5. Please provide information on the social security system and how children can benefit from it.

6. Please indicate to what extent the provisions of the Convention relating to the right to an adequate standard of living are being applied and provide specific information on the main measures adopted for this purpose.

7. What measures have been adopted to combat harmful traditional practices which affect child health?

8. Are there any plans to improve the educational and training system for health personnel?

2. Please provide statistical data in writing and other types of information broken down by sex and by rural and urban areas on the level of school enrolment. What is being done to facilitate school attendance in remote areas? What are the figures for school failures (dropping out, repeating, etc.)? What concrete measures are being taken to reverse this trend?

3. What is the real cost for a family of having a child in education at the different levels? What is being done to enable children from poor families to pursue their studies?

4. What is the cost per student in Colombian education? Is this amount really covered by the State? Is education free? What form does this take? Until what grade is education free?

5. What measures have been adopted to improve the quality of education and teaching? What plans are there to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of teachers in schools, to increase their knowledge and to provide adequate teaching materials? How many teacher-training institutions are there and how many persons graduate from these institutions each year?

6. Please indicate whether children may be taught in local, minority or indigenous languages. Is respect shown for ethnic affiliation in rural education programmes? Are there any specialized centres for the training of this type of teacher?

7. What concrete measures have been adopted to ensure the full application of article 28 (2), regarding the protection of the child's human dignity?

8. Please supply information on the incorporation of the subject of human rights and the rights of the child in official and non-academic education.

1. To what extent is the Government's policy towards refugee and displaced children consistent with the principles of non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, the right to life, survival and development and respect for the views of the child?

2. What is the minimum age for compulsory military service and for voluntary enlistment in the armed forces?

3. What concrete measures have been taken to implement article 39?

(b) Children in conflict with the law (arts. 40, 37 and 39 of the Convention)

4. Please provide detailed information on the system of administration of juvenile justice and on the situation under the Code and the relevant legislation of children in conflict with the law and, in particular, on the following questions:

The prohibition of capital punishment and incompressible life imprisonment;

The prohibition of unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of liberty;

The application of measures of detention, deprivation of liberty and imprisonment as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time;

The number of children deprived of their liberty and the reasons therefor;

The position of street urchins and children hired as killers vis-à-vis the police and the courts;

The possibility of securing prompt access to legal and other assistance and of challenging the lawfulness of the deprivation of liberty before a court or other competent authority;

Measures taken to implement article 40 of the Convention.

5. How are children dealt with when they have problems with the law? What institutions deal with them? How would you assess the performance of these institutions? Have there been any cases of kidnapping of children or by children? What is the percentage? How many cases have been solved? Have these traffickers been identified?

6. Please also provide further information on the treatment of young offenders and, in particular, on the following questions:

What types of institution exist for the custody of young offenders and what specific official rules are applicable therein for the treatment of these offenders? What opportunities are there for contact with families?

How are the conditions in such institutions monitored?

Are there any complaint procedures in cases of ill-treatment?

What education and health facilities are there in these institutions?

What measures are being taken to ensure the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of children in conflict with the law (art. 39)?

Do the staff of these institutions receive training about the provisions of the Convention and about international rules concerning the treatment of young offenders?

(c) Children in situations of exploitation (arts. 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 39 of the Convention)

7. Please supply information on the ratification and implementation of the ILO Conventions relating to children.

8. What is the minimum age for employment in work that can be harmful to the health or to the physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development of the child?

9. Please supply information on the regulations in force or contemplated by the Government relating to the hours and conditions of work of children and young persons.

10. Please supply information on penalties and sanctions to guarantee the effective implementation of article 32 of the Convention, including information on the system of monitoring, such as inspection, and on procedures to apply such sanctions, as well as data on the number of inspection visits made, breaches of the regulations and sanctions imposed.

11. Please supply information on the existence of concrete measures to combat the exploitation of children, including:

The sale and abuse of narcotic drugs;

Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, including prostitution;

Other forms of exploitation;

Selling, trafficking in and kidnapping children.

12. Please give information on the dramatic "elimination" of children in the streets of certain cities.

(d) Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous group (art. 30 of the Convention)

13. Please provide information on children belonging to minorities or to indigenous groups. What affirmative action is being taken to ensure that these children are not discriminated against in the enjoyment of their rights?