1. Please indicate whether any study has been undertaken to review national legislation and its compatibility with the provisions and principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

2. Please indicate the measures adopted to bring legislation and practice into line with the Convention. Please list any new legal codes (or amendments to previous laws) which have been adopted in the spirit of the Convention.

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

4. Have mechanisms been developed for the determination of appropriate indicators and the collection of disaggregated data concerning the status of children, in order to design policies and programmes for the implementation of the Convention? How effective are these mechanisms? Is international assistance needed in this regard?

5. Please provide further information on existing coordination, with regard to child policies, between the Central Government and the District assemblies and other local authorities (para. 13 of the report).

6. With regard to information provided in para. 26 of the report, please provide details on the implementation of the district development plans in relation to the monitoring process of the Convention.

7. In the light of the different mechanisms intervening in the field of welfare policies for children, please indicate in what way these mechanisms relate to non-governmental organizations in the country, at the national, provincial and local level and how popular participation is ensured.

8. With regard to information provided in para. 9 of the report, please give more detailed information on the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights and Administration of Justice in relation to children including, if possible, examples of child related cases tackled by this Commission.

9. With regard to information provided in para. 12 of the report, please describe 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", and indicate what guarantees exist to ensure that local authorities are also guided by this principle in their policy decision making. How are children with special needs protected against the adverse effects of reductions in budgetary allocations?

10. What criteria were employed in carrying out decentralization at the financial level, and with what results?

11. What measures have been taken to train professional groups such as, inter alia, social workers, educators, teachers, doctors, judges, lawyers, law enforcement personnel as well as government officials and decision makers about the principles and provisions of the Convention?

12. What steps are taken to encourage the participation of civil society in promoting and protecting of the rights of the child?

13. To what extent is international cooperation designed to foster the implementation of the Convention? What proportion of international aid is allocated to programmes for children?

14. With regard to information provided in para. 27 of the report, please give more details on recent developments concerning the possibility for the Law Reform Commission to give its view concerning the age of majority.

15. Please explain how the legislation relating to the minimum age for the prohibition of harmful work is being applied in practice. What mechanisms exist to supervise compliance with this law and what penalties are imposed for any violations of the law?

16. With regard to information provided in para. 37, please provide further information on the notion of "sufficient maturity" in relation to the age of criminal responsibility.

17. At what age can a child give testimony in court? At what age may a child seek redress in the courts if his/her rights have been violated?

18. With regard to information provided in para. 35 of the report, please specify what measures are the authorities undertaking to combat both early betrothal and early marriage of girls in traditional communities. Has the Government launched any sensitization campaign on this issue?

19. What measures have been taken by the authorities to reduce disparities between rural and urban areas, especially with regard to access to health, education and social services?

20. With regard to information provided in para. 40 of the report, please specify whether the article on prohibition of discrimination in the 1992 Constitution includes and explicit prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of disability.

21. What measures have been taken to ensure the use of disaggregated indicators on the basis of age, gender, ethnic or social origin, rural and urban groups?

22. What particular steps have been taken to promote the rights of girls and combat discrimination against them?

23. Please provide additional information on the ways in which the principles of the "best interests of the child" and "respect for the views of the child" are taken into consideration in legislation as well as in judicial, administrative and other proceedings.

24. With regard to information provided in para. 46 of the report, please specify in what way the Government is trying to implement article 12 of the Convention. Are the authorities planning to organize information and sensitization campaigns in this respect? What are the concrete measures taken to further sensitize public opinion to the need to encourage children's participatory rights?

25. With regard to information provided in para. 53 of the report, please indicate measures taken or envisaged to ensure that all children are registered at birth, including sanctions in case of non-registration or late registration. What specific measures have been taken to encourage the population to register births in rural areas and to mobilize public opinion in this regard?

26. With regard to information provided in paras. 58 and 59 of the report, please specify what measures are taken or envisaged to protect children from broadcasts of violent programmes, video films, and information that might have dangerous or harmful effects on them.

27. Please provide information on the occurrence of ill-treatment of children. Have specific programmes for the prevention of ill-treatment of children been developed at the central and local levels?

28. Please specify if corporal punishment is allowed in schools. What specific legal provisions exist to protect children from being ill-treated in boarding institutions? Do monitoring mechanisms function for the consideration of such violations? Are there complaints procedures which can be used by children themselves against such abuses? Have any cases of ill-treatment of children been submitted to the national courts?

29. 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 marriages and teenage pregnancies as well as prevention of the abandonment of children.

30. What systems and procedures exits for the monitoring of institutions for alternative care?

31. Have programmes been adopted to prevent and reduce the abandonment of children, including at birth, and, if so, are such programmes adequate?

32. What measures, policies and programmes has the Government implemented to address the situation of children belonging to the following groups:

a) abused or neglected children taken into protective custody;

b) children of one-parent families;

c) children placed in foster care; and

d) children placed in institutional care?

34. With regard to information provided in para. 73 of the report, please provide additional information and description of the national and intercountry procedures for adoption, including monitoring and supervision. Please also indicate if the State Party is considering the ratification of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions.

35. With regard to information provided in para. 73 of the report, please explain the measures taken or envisaged by the authorities to prevent and combat any abuses of children's rights in the framework of customary adoption. Has the Government undertaken any comprehensive study on the abuse of girl children working as domestic servants?

36. Is research undertaken into the problem of ill-treatment and sexual abuse of children, including into social factors which influence such violations? What legislative measures have been adopted or envisaged to protect the child against abuse and maltreatment within the family, as laid down in art. 19 of the Convention?

37. With regard to information provided in para. 75 of the report, please provide additional information on the Government's policy for the protection of children living and/or working on the streets. Has any evaluation programme been established to evaluate the impact of this policy?

38. Please provide additional information on:

a) the situation of disabled children with respect to the promotion of their dignity, self reliance and active participation in the community, as well as their effective access to training, health care and rehabilitation services and preparation for employment;

b) the existence of training programmes for those who are responsible for the care of the disabled;

c) the practical measures taken to prevent and eliminate discriminatory attitudes against the disabled.

39. With regard to information provided in para. 77 of the report, please indicate measures taken or envisaged to guarantee poor children adequate access to health care. Please also specify how the Government ensures that there is an equitable distribution of medicines, medical equipment and professional personnel to all health units in rural and poorer urban areas.

40. With regard to information provided in para. 61 of the report, please provide additional information on the implementation of the legal provisions of the Criminal Code that prohibit the practice of female genital mutilation. What other concrete measures have been adopted by the Government to combat this harmful practice?

41. What concrete measures have been undertaken or are envisaged to combat malnutrition of children? Is international cooperation needed in this regard?

42. Please indicate the specific measures being taken to reduce the high level of illiteracy among females.

43. What measures are being taken to ensure regular school attendance and reduce the school drop-out rates, particularly for girl students?

44. Please indicate whether children may be taught in indigenous languages.

45. What is being done to facilitate school attendance for children in remote parts of the country, where families are scattered over vast areas?

46. With regard to information provided in paras. 130 and 134 of the report, please explain in detail the role of "industrial schools" and the exact reason why in this type of facility a juvenile is automatically detained for three years.

47. Does the Government have any plan for amending the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1960 which limits the age of the child at 17 years old, while the 1992 Constitution defines the child as any human being under 18 years old?

48. Please provide further information, in the light of articles 37, 40 and 39 of the Convention, in particular on:

a) the use of arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time including for children aged between 17 and 18 years old;

b) the possibility to have a prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as for challenging the legality of the deprivation of liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and of having a prompt decision thereon;

c) special education for judges for cases involving children;

d) the right of the child alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the child's sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child's respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child's age and the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society;

e) alternative measures to institutional care made available to deal with such children in a manner appropriate to their well-being; and

f) the establishment of laws and procedures specifically applicable to children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law, in the light of article 40, para. 3 of the Convention.

51. Please provide further information on the treatment of juvenile offenders, in particular on the following;

a) the measures taken to ensure contact between the child and his/her family;

b) how the conditions of children in detention are monitored;

c) whether there are complaint procedures available to deal with issues such as ill-treatment;

d) educational facilities;

e) services for the recovery and rehabilitation of offenders and their effectiveness.

52. In the light of article 25 of the Convention, is it possible to have periodic review of the placement decision?

53. In para. 31 of the report, it is stated that "[T]here is little consensus in attitudes and practice over what constitutes abuse in terms of labour". Please specify the position of the Government regarding child labour and explain how the authorities are trying to implement a policy that is compatible with the principles and provisions of the Convention.

54. Please indicate whether programmes for vocational training or special education are implemented for children living and/or working on the streets.

55. Please specify if any research has been undertaken to improve the knowledge on sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, including prostitution, pornography and incest. What measure have been undertaken or are envisaged to prevent and combat those types of sexual exploitation?

56. With regard to information provided in para. 141 of the report, please explain the position of the Government vis-à-vis the recommendation by the Law Commission Report to pass legislation to combat the Trokosi practice. Has a law prohibiting this traditional practice been recently drafted and adopted ? If not, please specify the existing obstacles to undertake this legal reform. What other concrete measures are the authorities taking to eliminate this practice?