1. Please provide clarification about whether the full text of the Convention has been published in the Official Gazette. (Para. 3 of the report). With reference to the information contained in paras. 6, 15, 21, 35, 224 and 227 of the report, has a study been undertaken to review national legislation and its compatibility with the provisions and principles of the Convention? In addition, please provide further information on the consideration being given to amending existing laws and adopting draft laws to ensure the incorporation of all the provisions of the Convention into national legislation, including the draft Constitution. (Paras. 18-19, 21 and 23 of the report).

2. Please provide clarification as to the effectiveness of the coordination between the different mechanisms in place at the central government level for implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the National Plan of Action developed as a follow up to the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children adopted by the World Summit for children in 1990. Please also indicate the effectiveness of present mechanisms in monitoring the implementation of the Convention and whether consideration has been given to the possibility of establishing other institutions, such as an ombudsman for children. (See, inter alia, paras. 25, 28-30, 33, 229 and 231 of the report).

3. Please provide additional information on any further measures planned to strengthen the structures established at the different governmental levels, especially the regional and woreda governmental levels, for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

4. Please provide further information on the steps planned to encourage greater support and assistance from international organizations, non-governmental organizations and civil society in contributing to the monitoring and implementation of the Convention. (Paras. 17, 24, 28, 34, 236 and 239 of the report).

5. Please provide further information on the measures planned to develop mechanisms for the determination of appropriate indicators as well as the collection of disaggregated statistical data and other information on the status of children as bases for designing programmes to implement the Convention. Please indicate the extent to which further technical assistance is needed in this regard.(Paras. 30, 162 and 237 of the report).

6. During the present period of decentralisation and economic and social development as mentioned in paras. 13-14, 96 (b), 127, 130 and 234 of the report, please provide further details of the measures being taken, in particular, to address any regional disparities in the provision of services and infrastructure as well as to strengthen the capacity of the woreda government, including through the availability of sufficiently and adequately trained personnel at this governmental level, for the effective implementation of the Convention.

7. In view of the information contained in the report that only a very low percentage of the national budget is devoted to social expenditures such as health and education, please provide more details of the measures being taken to implement the policies and strategies mentioned in paras. 22-23 and 238 of the report. To what extent is international assistance received by the State party allocated to the implementation of programmes for children?

8. In view of the information contained in para. 228 of the report that one of the main problems hampering the implementation of the Convention is the lack of awareness regarding the Convention on the Rights of the Child, please indicate whether any evaluation has been undertaken as to the effectiveness of the measures taken to publicise the Convention, including in sensitising legislators and decision makers to its principles and provisions? (See also paras. 31-34 and 238 (e) of the report).

9. Please provide clarification as to the capacity of existing programmes to train sufficient personnel such as doctors, lawyers, health personnel, social workers, teachers and law enforcement officials for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, is there any systematic and regular evaluation undertaken as to the effectiveness of training programmes about the Convention which have been and are being provided to personnel working with or for children. To what extent is education about the Convention on the Rights of the Child incorporated into the curricula of higher educational establishments?

10. Does the Government intend to review its legislation concerning the different minimum legal ages for marriage for boys and girls, in light of the provisions of article 2 of the Convention? (Para. 38 of the report).

11. Please provide clarification about the extent to which the provisions of article 2 of the Convention are covered by national legislation.

12. What affirmative action is being taken at the central and regional levels to ensure that the children belonging to minorities are not discriminated against in the enjoyment of their rights? In this connection, please provide further indications of how the Government's policy on decentralization is affecting the implementation of the principles and provisions of the Convention as it relates to children belonging to minorities.

13. Has an evaluation been undertaken of the manner in which the principle of the "best interests of the child" as provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child are taken into account? (Paras. 56, 75 and 76 of the report).

Civil rights and freedoms (Arts. 7-8, 13-17 and 37 (a) of the Convention)

14. Please indicate the measures taken to ensure that all children are registered after birth. How is registration ensured particularly in rural areas? Is there any system provided for displaced persons (para. 167 of the report)? Please indicate the measures taken or envisaged to sensitize and mobilize public opinion concerning the need to register births and to provide and train adequate registry personnel.

15. What specific measures are being taken to prevent children, including those working or living on the street from being ill-treated, including by law enforcement officials?

16. Does the Government intend to review its legislation, by which the penalty of corporal punishment may be imposed on a juvenile offenders, in light of the provisions of the article 37 (a) of the Convention? (Para. 214 of the report).

17. With regard to the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, please provide information on in particular,

a) whether the Penal Code prohibits torture;

b) whether there have been cases of children being tortured;

c) In cases of torture, what remedies are available;

d) whether campaigns against torture are conducted; and

e) whether those found responsible for acts of torture are punished. as detailed in para. 207 of the report.

18. Please provide information on the steps the Government considers would be necessary to meet the challenge of implementing an effective family education campaign to raise widespread awareness of the issues of equal parental responsibilities, the harmful consequences of female genital mutilation, early age marriages and teenage pregnancies as well as prevention of the abandonment of children.

19. Please explain the meaning of the application to the child "of light bodily punishment" as an educational measure as referred to in para. 75 of the report. What measures, if any, are envisaged to strengthen the system for preventing and protecting children from ill treatment, abuse or neglect within the family? Can children lodge complaints in cases of their ill-treatment? (Paras 174 and 227 of the report.)

20. Please provide information as to any changes in the number of women heads of families due to widowhood or divorce. What is the social status of women divorced or separated from their husbands and the children of such women? In addition, what specific measures are in place to support single parent families.

21. What systems and procedures exist for the monitoring of institutions for alternative care? (Paras. 80, 169 and 179.) In addition, please indicate the measures being taken to ensure the implementation of the provisions of article 25 of the Convention, relating to the periodic review of the treatment provided to the child and all other circumstances relevant to his or her placement for children in alternative care institutions.

22. Please indicate what measures are envisaged to ensure the implementation of a legal framework for the effective protection of children in cases of intercountry adoption. In light of the information contained in para. 187 of the report, please indicate further measures taken to monitor and supervise adoptions as a means to, inter alia, prevent and punish corruption and trafficking in the case of adoption. Please indicate whether the State is planning to become a party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoptions.

23. Please provide further information on the strategies being considered for the prevention of disability among children, especially through identification of the causes of disability, through the development of educational and public information campaigns to prevent disability as well as through the development of community based rehabilitation. What is the role being played by international cooperation in this regard? (Paras. 119 (b), 179, 231 and 236 of the report)

24. In view of the information contained in paras. 94-111 of the report dealing with strategies and goals for strengthening the primary health care system, please indicate how the financing of these planned improvements to the health delivery services is going to be assured. In addition, how is the government currently and for the future proposing to ensure an equitable distribution of medicines, medical equipment and professional personnel to all health units in rural and poorer urban areas, especially in view of the information contained in para. 101 of the report that maternal and child health care services are only available to a limited percentage of the population?

25. In view of the information contained in paras. 92 and 100-101 of the report please indicate the progress achieved and required to reduce the high maternal mortality rate? In addition, please provide information on any further actions considered necessary to raise the level of family planning coverage and for the wide-scale introduction of modern contraceptive methods, especially in rural and remote areas.

26. Please indicate the measures taken to promote information and education on AIDS/HIV and STD among the general population and special groups with high risk behaviour. In addition, with reference to paras. 162 and 163 of the report please provide information on the present situation for children with HIV infection and the plans to support children orphaned because of AIDS. What plans are being developed to combat HIV virus and AIDS?

27. With respect to the serious problem of malnutrition affecting the health of children and mothers, in particular, please indicate whether any evaluation has been undertaken as to the effectiveness of the implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Strategy and the National Population policy, especially in providing concerted and integrated action to address the problem of malnutrition. (Para. 113 of the report). In addition, please provide more information on the measures taken to introduce further schemes to encourage greater participation by the community and others in development programmes and for the expansion of income generating projects.

29. Please indicate whether corporal punishment is permitted in schools and what concrete steps are taken to ensure that school discipline is implemented in a manner consistent with the provisions of article 28.2 of the Convention.

30. In light of the aims of education outlined in para. 119 of the report as well as in view of the adoption of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, please indicate whether the Government has taken steps to incorporate education about the Convention on the Rights of the Child into school curricula. (Paras. 33 and 34 (i) of the report).

32. What special and concrete measures have been taken for the implementation of article 39 of the Convention especially with respect to treatment and rehabilitation programmes for children affected by armed conflict and displacement (para. 184 (a) of the report)?

33. In view of the information contained in para. 40 of the report has the Government considered the possibility of raising the age of criminal responsibility?

34. Please provide clarification as to the measures in place to ensure the separation of children from adult offenders in places of detention.

35. Please provide clarification as to the measures in place to ensure in practice the implementation of the provisions of articles 37 (a) and (b) of the Convention, including in ensuring that neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without the possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below 18 years of age, that no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily and that the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time.

36. In view of the information contained in paras. 41 (a), 207 and 209 of the report which details the provisions of national legislation in place for the deprivation of liberty of a child, especially on the grounds of mental ill-health or disability, please provide further information on the measures in place for the protection of such children in light of the provisions and principles of the Convention.

37. Please provide further information on the actual situation of children in corrective or curative institutions, remand homes and prison and how the conditions of detention in such establishments are effectively supervised and monitored. What complaints procedures are available in these institutions in case of the ill-treatment of children deprived of their liberty?

38. Please provide clarification as to the measures in place, in light of article 25 of the Convention, to ensure a review of the treatment provided to the child and all other circumstances relevant to his or her placement in any institution in which the child may be deprived of his/her liberty.

39. Please indicate the measures taken to promote the child's reintegration and assuming a constructive role in society in cases where the child is alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law. (Art. 40, para. 1 of the Convention).

40. Please supply information on the ratification and implementation of ILO Conventions relating to children and whether technical assistance would be useful in that regard. (Paras. 37 and 217-221 of the report).

41. In light of the information contained in paras. 34 (e)-(f) and 237 of the report, please indicate the concrete measures envisaged for preventing and combating the use of children in the informal labour sector, especially to prevent the exploitation and abuse of children working as domestics, including through the development of awareness raising campaigns for families and the public in general.

42. What progress has been achieved so far in undertaking research on the social factors and reasons for the physical or sexual abuse and exploitation of children? (Para. 237 of the report). In addition, please provide further information on the measures, including those of a legislative nature, being taken to prevent and combat the sexual exploitation of and the sale or trafficking in children.

43. Please provide further information on the existence of concrete measures to combat children being drawn into activities such as begging and drug trafficking as referred to in para. 220 of the report.