With reference to para. 3 of the State party report please explain the meaning of the following statement: "The legal structure regulating the situation of children in Guatemala is based on the doctrine of the irregular situation, whereas the Convention on the Rights of the Child is based on the United Nations doctrine of comprehensive protection; this creates a conflict of law".

In light of the information contained in para. 508 of HRI/CORE/1/Add.47 and para 10 of the State party report please provide clarification as to whether the Convention may be invoked before the courts and the status of the Convention in the event of conflict with national legislation.

What is the present status of the Draft code on childhood and adolescence mentioned in para. 10 of the report?

Please comment on the progress made in adopting the new legal codes or amendments to previous laws referred to in paras.12, 13, 16, 17 and 18 of the report.

In view of the statement contained in para. 29 of the report, please provide further information on the measures taken to ensure the implementation of "PLADES" and "PLANUT" (para. 31), including through the allocation of the necessary financial resources. (See also paras. 64-65).

Please provide further information on the effectiveness of the work of the Children's Ombudsman and the Office of the Human Rights Procurator for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.

In view of the variety of mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of the Convention, as mentioned in the report, how is the Government ensuring, in reality, effective cooperation and coordination within the present institutional framework for the fullest realisation of programmes and policies designed to ensure respect for the rights of the child? (Paras. 36-71 of the report).

With reference to the information contained in para. 82 of the report, what is the present status of the plans for the establishment of offices for the protection and promotion of the rights of the child in the country's eight regions?

Please provide further information on the effectiveness of present mechanisms for the collection of statistical data. What efforts are being made to collect disaggregated data for groups of children on aspects relating to the Convention? In addition, please indicate the progress made in implementing the project on a social indicators system mentioned in para. 94 (e) as well as the proposed "National system for monitoring compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child" project mentioned in para. 94 (g) of the report. Has a framework for cooperation and coordination for the development of these different projects between the various institutions been established, and if so, has any assessment been made as to its effective functioning?

Please provide information on present and future possibilities for international cooperation. In what areas, in particular, does the Government consider that technical cooperation for the implementation of the Convention would be useful?

Is the Government in need of technical assistance with respect to the development of the proposed training programmes to educate professionals about the Convention on the Rights of the Child? With respect to the implementation of these programmes, is the Government initially targeting the trainers of professional groups? (Paras. 74 and 80 68, 74, 76-77, 80, 84, 86-87 and 91). In addition, please provide further information on the measures taken to train professionals about the Convention, in particular, personnel in detention centres, security personnel, government officials, judges and lawyers about the Convention. (Reference to, inter alia, paras. 68 and 76-77)

Please provide clarification as to whether the Convention and the State party report have been translated into the main Mayan languages? In addition, please provide information on the appropriate and active means used to widely disseminate the principles and provisions of the Convention, particularly in the various Mayan languages.

Does the Government intend to review its legislation concerning the different minimum ages for marriage for boys and girls, in light of the provisions of the Convention, in particular those of its article 2? (Para. 98 of the report).

Please provide clarification as to whether a minimum age for the completion of compulsory education exists. (Para. 99).

Please indicate to what extent the provisions of article 2 are covered in present or proposed national legislation with regard to all possible grounds for discrimination spelled out in that article. (Paras. 10-11 and 106 of the report).

What procedures have been established to monitor tendencies of discrimination against girl children, children belonging to indigenous groups and children working or living on the streets. Are they effective? In addition, what further measures, including through affirmative action, are considered necessary to prevent and combat discrimination against girls and indigenous children based on traditional attitudes, practices and prejudices? (Paras. 107 and 109).

With reference to para. 68 of the report please provide information on the reasons why the creation of a specific department for children's affairs is still awaiting legal approval, especially in view of the statement that it is "through this Minors Department that the best interests of the child must be taken into account and prevail in police and court procedures".

Please indicate the measures taken to sensitize and mobilize public opinion concerning the need to register births and to provide and train adequate registry personnel.

With respect to the implementation of article 8 of the Convention, please indicate the steps taken to protect the identity of a child, to prevent cases of the illegal deprivation of elements of a child's identity as well as to provide appropriate assistance and protection in such cases with a view to, inter alia, ensuring the re-establishment of a child's identity.

Please provide more information on the channels available, including membership of associations, through which children may make their views known and have them taken into account. (Para. 137 of the State report). In addition, please indicate how the issue of "the reluctance of enterprises to admit discussion sessions planned by the Unit for the Protection of Child Workers" is being addressed. (para. 138 of the report)

With reference to para. 146 of the report please provide clarification as to the meaning of "anti-social acts".

Please provide clarification as to the age at which children may seek redress in the courts if their rights have been infringed? Please provide further information on the outcome of the criminal proceedings "initiated in 188 cases involving a total of 282 accused persons" mentioned in para. 153 of the report). What further measures are considered necessary to prevent and combat the ill-treatment of children, especially in the case of violations allegedly committed by the National Police? Please provide further information on the role of the Office of the Human Rights Procurator in this respect.(See also paras. 147, 150-152 and 154-155 of the report).

Please provide further information on the measures being taken to prevent the ill-treatment, abuse or even torture and killing of children living or working in the streets of the main cities of the country.(Para.150 of the report)

Please supply information on the legal status of children born out of wedlock.

With reference to para. 148 of the report, please indicate the progress achieved in improving the treatment provided to juveniles. Please provide clarification as to the meaning of the following term: establishing the "critical path"; and "irregular behaviour", mentioned in paras. 148 and 60, respectively.

Please indicate the measures taken to prevent and punish corruption and trafficking, and to ensure the effective protection of children, in the case of adoption, especially inter-country adoption. Please indicate whether the State is planning to ratify the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. (Paras. 12 and 175-176 of the report).

What facts have been obtained about the abuse of children within the family? Has research been undertaken into the problem of ill-treatment and sexual abuse, including rape, of children, and into the social factors which influence such violations? In addition, please indicate whether the information and awareness raising campaigns mentioned in paras. 78, 150, 177 and 182 of the report have been effective in preventing the ill-treatment of children within the family and have helped to strengthen the system for protecting children.

Please provide more information on the measures being considered for the prevention of disability. Has the distribution of vitamin and mineral supplements or the production of iodised salt been undertaken on a wide scale? (Paras. 227-228 and 240 of the report).

What concrete steps have been taken to reduce the number of avoidable deaths from diarrhoea as well as to improve the immunization coverage of preventable diseases? (Paras. 185, 212, 217, 241 and 244 of the report).

Please provide clarification as to the extent to which health posts and health centres are operating in the country, particularly in the rural areas and poorer areas in general. (Paras. 236-238, 242-243 and 246 of the report).

What are the steps being taken by the Government to ensure that there is an equitable distribution of medicines, medical equipment and health personnel to all health units in rural and poorer urban areas, especially in areas populated by indigenous children? What role is international cooperation playing in this regard?(Paras. 243-245 of the report).

Please provide further information on the measures being considered to overcome the constraints to providing adequate reproductive health education, mentioned in paras. 214 and 215 of the report.

Please describe the measures taken to promote health information and education among the general population especially with regard to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. (Para. 218 of the report).

Please indicate what measures are considered necessary to develop a national nutritional strategy and to guarantee nutritional security, including as regards the methods for improving the production and distribution of basic and nutritious food, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups of children. (See paras. 187, 190 and 194-211 of the report).

In view of the poverty affecting the country, what measures have been taken to protect and support the family, particularly those headed by women?

Please indicate what further measures have been taken to ensure that the language of instruction is not an obstacle to access to the various levels of education and therefore not a factor of discrimination. (See, inter alia, 270-271 of the report).

Please indicate what measures are being taken to reach the goal of making primary education available and free for all children, especially children belonging to an indigenous group and children from the poor segments of society. (See paras. 260 and 270-271 of the report.)

Has any evaluation been undertaken of the results achieved as regards the implementation of the national education strategy, which followed the approval of the new Education Act on 9 January 1991? (Para. 272 of the report).

In view of the information contained in para. 261 of the report, is the Government considering allocating further resources to the 1992-2000 literacy programme?

Please provide information disaggregated by gender and rural/urban areas on the level of school enrolment. What are the concrete measures being taken to facilitate school attendance of children and to prevent them from engaging in employment activities? (Paras. 264-265 of the report).

With respect to the information contained in para. 261 of the report, please provide clarification as to whether education about the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been incorporated into school curricula. (See also para. 108 of the report).

With reference to para. 284 of the report, please provide clarification as to the strategies formulated and implemented to deal with the problems of displaced persons.

Please provide further information on the provisions of the military and social service bill which offer alternative military service supplemented by voluntary social service, especially in light of the statement contained in para. 15 of the report that the Minister of Defence has been instructed "not to undertake any further recruitment until this legislation has been promulgated and to accept for military service in the meantime only persons aged 18 or over who volunteer for military service and meet the legal requirements". Please provide clarification as to whether the new bill provides for the acceptance of children under the age of 18 for military service. (See also para. 14 of the report).

Has any research been undertaken as to the effects of war on children? Are any further measures planned or being taken in that respect?

In the light of the provisions of article 37 (a) of the Convention in particular, please provide further information on the prohibition of capital punishment or life imprisonment without the possibility of release for offences committed by children under the age of 18 years.

With reference to para. 297 of the report, please provide clarification as to how the Government has estimated that in 1996 the number of adolescents unnecessarily detained will decline by 20%.

Please provide clarification as to the meaning of the statement, in para. 295 (b) (ii) of the report, that girls at "social risk" are being held in correction centres. What measures are in place to ensure that the provisions of 37 (b) and (d) are respected for children in correction centres and re-education centres? (Para. 295 of the report).

Please provide further information on the availability of education and health facilities and the adequacy of the training provided to the personnel assisting in the recovery, reintegration and rehabilitation of children in institutions, centres and other places of detention.

Please provide further information, in the light of article 37 in particular, on the: use of arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time; the prohibition of the unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of liberty; and the possibility to have 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.(Para. 297 of the report).

Please provide more precise details on the provisions of the draft code on childhood and adolescence which reflect the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant international instruments relating to juvenile justice. (Paras. 10, 303-304 of the report).

Please provide further information on the effectiveness of the system for the protection of working children, including those working in the informal sector. Please indicate to what extent information is being successfully disseminated, including through the media, to make the community, parents and employers aware of the risks inherent in the premature employment of minors. (Paras. 83-85, 103-104, 253-4, 306 and 321 of the report).

With reference to the information contained in paras. 79, 103, 126, 138 and 318 of the report, how often have children requested the services of the Unit for Protection of Child Workers? What action has been taken and what remedies have been offered by the Unit to child workers who are experiencing difficulties in their labour relations? (See also para. 323 of the report).

What progress has been made in the establishment of trauma centres and shelters to assist in the protection and recovery of child victims of sexual abuse and substance abuse? (Paras. 171, 182, 259 and 295 of the report).

Please provide further information on specific measures taken to prevent and combat: the sale and use of drugs by children; child prostitution; as well as the sale, trafficking and abduction of children. (See paras. 192, 257-259 and 294-295 of the report).