Lists of Issues - CRC - Guinea-Bissau

List of issues : Guinea-Bissau. 08/02/2002.

CRC/C/Q/GUIB/1. (List of Issues)

Convention Abbreviation: CRC
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
30th Session
Pre-sessional Working Group
4th – 8th February 2002

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of
the initial report of Guinea Bissau (CRC/C/3/Add.63)

Part I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before the 5th April 2002.

A. Data and statistics

1. Please provide disaggregated data (by gender, age, minority groups, urban or rural areas) covering the years 1998, 1999 and 2000 on the number and percentage (of the total national population) of children under 18 living in the State party.

2. In light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide additional information and disaggregated data (by age and gender) on the amount and proportion of the national budget, devoted to children at central and local levels, preferably in the last 3 years (1999-2001) with regard to:
a) Education (including pre-primary, primary and secondary education).
b) Health care (including different types of health services, including primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care and other health care services for children).
c) Children with disabilities.
d) Support to families and the protection of children who are in need of alternative care including the support of care institutions.
e) Juvenile justice.
f) Please also indicate the percentages of these allocations derived from international sources.

2. Please provide disaggregated data (by gender, age, minority groups, urban or rural areas) covering the years 1998, 1999 and 2000 on the:
a) Rates of infant and child mortality.
b) Proportion of children with low birth weight.
c) Proportion of children affected by malnutrition.
d) Number of children with disabilities.
e) The number of children with disabilities who require assistance and who are taken care of at home, and the number living in institutions.
f) Number of orphans and abandoned children living in institutions.
g) Number of children in domestic and intercountry adoption programmes.
h) Number of children infected, or affected, by HIV/AIDS.

3. Please provide disaggregated data (by age, gender and types of crimes reported), on the:
a) Number of reports of crimes committed against children received by police and courts per year in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
b) Number and percentage of reports which have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up.

4. Please provide disaggregated data (including by gender, age, and urban/rural areas) for the years 1998, 1999 and 2000 in percentages of the relevant age group on the:
a) Rate of literacy below and over 18 years.
b) Enrollment, in percentages, of children in primary schools.
c) Enrollment, in percentages, of children in secondary schools.
d) Percentage of enrolled children completing primary and secondary schools.
e) Number and percentage of drop-outs.
f) Average ratio of teachers per children in classrooms, with an indication of any significant regional or rural/urban disparities.
g) Number of children with disabilities integrated into regular schools.
h) Number of special schools, and places available, for children with disabilities and in need of special education facilities.

5. Please provide disaggregated statistical data including by gender, age, minority groups and region, on adolescent health, including with regard to the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, female genital mutilation and drug abuse covering the years 1998, 1999 and 2000.

6. Please provide appropriate disaggregated data (including by gender, age, minority groups and type of crime) on children in conflict with the law for the last three years (1998-2000), including:
a) The number of children who have allegedly committed a crime reported to the police.
b) Where applicable, the numbers of children held in pre-trial detention and the average duration of such detention.
c) The number of children sentenced by Courts.
d) The nature of sanctions (fines, detention, community service, other).
e) The number of suspended sentences.
f) Where the sanction is deprivation of liberty, please further specify the period of detention and the type (juvenile, adult or other) of detention facility in which children are held.
g) The percentage of recidivism cases.
h) The number of reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of children that occurred during their arrest and detention.

7. Please provide disaggregated data (by gender, age, urban or rural areas) covering the years 1998, 1999 and 2000 on the numbers of children living in the street.

B. General Measures of Implementation

1. Please provide information on the content and objectives of the law on Child and Woman's Protection, approved by Parliament in 1997, and the extent to which the law's provisions have been implemented and are respected. Please also provide an assessment of the compatibility of customary law practices in the State party with the provisions of the Convention and of measures taken to address any conflicts identified.

2. Please give information on the content of any child rights policy or national plan of action. Please also explain how such policies are developed. Furthermore, please also explain how the Convention's implementation is coordinated across the action of different relevant ministries, including at national and local levels. Is there a single body with overall responsibility for co-ordination? If so, what is its mandate and budget?

3. Given the severe and widespread poverty among the population, and continuing serious economic difficulties facing the country as a whole, please provide information on policies and measures to reduce poverty indicating how, and to what extent, children benefit from these initiatives. Please indicate, in addition, specific efforts that have been made to ensure that respect for children's rights is not adversely affected by efforts to strengthen the economy.

4. Please provide information on mechanisms for monitoring of the Convention's implementation in the State party.

5. Please describe any efforts that may be underway to strengthen data collection mechanisms and procedures.

Part II

Please provide the Committee with copies of the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all official languages of the State party as well as in other languages or dialects, when available. If possible, please submit these texts in electronic form.

Part III

Under this section, the State party is to briefly (3 pages maximum) up-date the information provided in its report with regard to:

- New bills or enacted legislation
- New institutions
- Newly implemented policies
- Newly implemented programmes and projects and their scope

Part IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues that the Committee may take up during the dialogue with the State party. They do not require written answers.

1. The State party's strategy to significantly strengthen the Convention's overall implementation with particular attention to the general principles.
2. Efforts to provide training and information on the Convention and on human rights in general.
3. The definition of the child, with particular regard to the age of marriage of girls and of recruitment to armed forces.
4. Discrimination, with particular regard to gender and against children with disabilities.
5. Birth registration.
6. Corporal punishment.
7. Domestic violence.
8. Alternative care mechanisms, procedures and facilities.
9. Progress made in strengthening access to and the quality of health services.
10. Respect for the rights of children with disabilities, including availability of health and education services, assistance with transport, access to buildings, discrimination.
11. HIV/AIDS, including efforts to support children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS.
12. Education, including with regard to the quality of education, enrolment in primary and secondary schools, the access of girls to education..
13. Family reunification and resettlement for present and former refugee and internally displaced children.
14. Children in armed conflict, progress in rehabilitating children affected by the armed conflict.
15. Economic exploitation of children.
16. Substance abuse.
17. Street children.
18. Juvenile justice.