In light of the Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights which, inter alia, encouraged States to consider reviewing any reservations to international instruments with a view to withdrawing them, please indicate whether the Government is considering the possibility of withdrawing its reservations and declarations to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

With respect to the information contained in para. 7 of the report, have any further measures been taken to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known to adults and children alike, in all Länder and at the local levels?

Is the Convention and other publications about the Convention available in languages spoken by the larger refugee and immigration groups, including in forms accessible to children?

What measures exist to train professionals working with and for children, including teachers, social workers, judges, administrators and personnel working in institutions, about the provisions and principles of the Convention?

Please indicate the mechanisms in place at the Federal, Länder and local levels to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Convention and whether indicators are used to assist in this task. Please provide information on the ways in which non-governmental organizations and private organizations are involved in implementing the rights of the child.

Please provide information on whether the Government is considering the possibility of establishing a national institution, such as a Federal Commissioner for children's rights, with a view to further promoting and protecting the rights of the child?

Please provide further details of the policy in place in relation to the implementation of article 4 of the Convention with regard to the allocation "to the maximum extent of (...) available resources" for the rights of the child. In this connection, please provide clarification as to the mechanisms which exist to ensure that Länder and municipalities are guided by this principle in their policy decision making?

In view of the information contained in part II of the report please indicate the progress made as regards the law reform envisaged with respect to the abolition of statutory curatorship of the Youth Welfare Office and the law of counsel, the amendment of section 1631 of the Civil Code as well as the granting to children born out of wedlock of equal treatment under the law of inheritance. In addition, please provide further information on the progress being achieved as regards the efforts being undertaken to harmonize the standards and structural framework for the provision of services, particularly youth social and support services, in the new Länder with those of the old Länder.

The Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Summit for Social Development required, inter alia, the striving for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7% of GNP for overall official development assistance, as soon as possible, as well as the agreeing on a mutual commitment between interested developed and developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20% of ODA and 20% of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes. In view of this, please provide more details of present or planned Government policy with respect to development cooperation and assistance and the mobilization of financial resources to developing countries.

Please provide information on the minimum age for medical counselling without parental consent and the minimum legal age for sexual consent.

In view of the serious nature of the manifestations of xenophobia, racism and racial discrimination which have occurred in Germany, please provide further information on the measures being taken to protect children of minorities/refugee children/asylum seeking children/children of migrant workers from being affected by such acts.

Please provide clarification as to how the principle of non-discrimination is interpreted in relation to the rights of refugee and asylum-seeking children and their enjoyment of the rights guaranteed under the Convention, including with regard to health and family reunification?

Please provide further details of the ways in which "the best interests of the child" are taken into consideration in judicial and administrative procedures, including within the asylum process and the administration of juvenile justice system. In addition, please elaborate further on the application of the rights of the child, in particular the principle of the best interests of the child, within family life.

Please provide more information on the procedures which exist for children to lodge complaints concerning the abuse of their rights.

What concrete steps have been taken to protect children, including those who are victims of abuse, from harmful exposure in the mass media?

Please provide more information on:

-the occurrence and treatment of HIV infection among children as well as measures to prevent AIDS;

- the occurrence and treatment of ecological diseases among children.

In view of the recent adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 49/184 proclaiming the United Nations Decade of Human Rights Education, has the Government considered the possibility of using this opportunity to adapt school curricula to include education about the Convention?

What measures have been undertaken to ensure that asylum-seeking children, especially those above the age of 15, are provided with child specific care? In addition, what measures are taken to avoid asylum seeking children being kept in custody while awaiting deportation? In this connection, what rules, regulations or guidelines exist to ensure that detention is used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, as provided for in article 37(b) of the Convention? What mechanisms exist to monitor such detention.

With reference to the contents of paras. 181 and 182 of the report, please provide further information regarding the possible need for a comprehensive re-examination and revision of the entire law on juvenile delinquency.

Please provide detailed information on the number and age of children deprived of their liberty as well as the reasons for and the length of their deprivation of liberty.

Please provide further information on the implementation of article 40, para. 4 of the Convention, particularly as regards the programmes developed as an alternative to imprisonment for children and the functioning of such programmes and the measures taken to ensure, in the light of article 39 of the Convention, the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of children who have committed an offence. In this connection, please provide further clarification as to the meaning of the term "re-education of juveniles" which is mentioned in paras. 99 and 103 of the report.

With reference to paras. 187-189 of the report, please provide further information on the proposed reform of the "execution of sentences" passed by youth courts and of the "execution of pre-trial detention" of juveniles as well as the reasons which led to the need for this reform.

Please provide information on the results of any evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures taken to combat the sexual exploitation of foreign children by Germans abroad (paras. 174-176 of the report).