List of issues : Nicaragua. 26/02/98.
CRC/C/Q/NIC/2. (List of Issues)

Convention Abbreviation: CRC
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Twenty-First session
Pre-sessional Working Group
1-5 February 1998


IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

List of issues to be taken up in connection with
the consideration of the second periodic report of Nicaragua (CRC/C/65/Add.4)
General measures of implementation
Arts. 4, 42, and 44)


1. In view of the damage caused by hurricane Mitch in the State party, please provide further information on the way this natural catastrophe has affected the provision of basic services for children (for example, health, housing, alternative care and education). Please also specify what measures are being taken for the protection, care, including psychological rehabilitation, of children affected by this natural disaster. Furthermore, in light of the State party's obligations under article 4 of the Convention, please indicate what measures are being taken for the inclusion of the child rights component in international cooperation programmes available for the reconstruction efforts in the State party.

2. Please provide further information on the plans to facilitate the implementation of the Children and Adolescents Code, which was enacted in November 1998.

3. In light of information provided in the report (para. 76), please indicate further measures undertaken or envisaged to fully harmonize domestic legislation (e.g., Penal Code, draft Family Code-Proyecto de Código de Familia) with the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

4. In view of the limited statistical data on children provided in the periodic report and regarding the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add.36, para.28), please indicate what difficulties were encountered in the collection and use of data and indicators for the design of policies and programmes for the effective implementation of the Convention. Please provide further information on the recommendations and implementation of the project on children's indicators carried out in cooperation with Childwatch International.

5. Please indicate progress achieved in the implementation of the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 27) concerning the need to strengthen the budget, mandate and coordinating role of the National Council for the Promotion and Defence of Children's Rights, especially in view of the new responsibilities assigned to this institution by the Children and Adolescents Code (1998). Please also indicate how coordination is achieved between the local and central levels, especially with regard to the information provided in the report(paras. 89-91).

6. With regard to the information provided in the report (paras. 116-122) on the establishment of a programme of Mayors Friends and Defenders of Children (Alcaldes Defensores de los Niños), please explain the relationship between these offices and the National Commission for the Promotion and Defence for Children and the Ministry of the Family. Furthermore, please indicate plans for the establishment of the Office of an Ombudsperson for Children's Rights at the national level (see Committee's recommendation CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 29).

7. In light of the State party's obligations under article 4 of the Convention, please indicate progress achieved in the implementation of the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 32) encouraging the State party to include a child's rights component in the projects and programmes to be developed within the framework of the last "Consultative Group" for Nicaragua. Please further indicate whether the State party has considered establishing poverty alleviation programmes in order to ensure that sufficient budgetary allocations are provided to social services for children and that particular attention is paid to the protection of children belonging to vulnerable groups.

8. With regard to the indigenous and minority populations living in the State party's Atlantic region, please indicate whether the State party has envisaged to translate the Convention into their languages (e.g., Miskito) and to disseminate the Convention among the English speaking population.

9. Please indicate progress achieved in the implementation of the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 30) on the need to conduct training on the principles and provisions of the Convention for professionals working with and for children.

Definition of the child
(Art. 1)

10. Please indicate progress achieved to address the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, paras. 14 and 26) regarding the need to harmonize the age at which compulsory education ends with the minimum legal age for access to work by raising the first one.

11. Please indicate progress achieved to address the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, paras. 13 and 26) regarding the need to raise the minimum legal age for marriage and to establish equal minimum age requirements for boys and girls.

General principles
(Arts. 2, 3, 6, and 12)

12. Please indicate progress achieved in implementing the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add.24, para. 31) regarding the need to prevent and combat discrimination against the most disadvantaged groups of children, such as children belonging to indigenous communities or minority groups, the girl child, children with disabilities, children born out of wedlock, children who are living and/or working on the streets, children victim of any form of abuse or exploitation and children living in remote areas.

13. Please provide further information regarding the implementation of the principles of "best interests of the child" (article 3) and "respect for the views of the child" (article 12), as guaranteed by domestic legislation (e.g., Children and Adolescent Code). Please also provide some examples of implementation of these principles by courts and/or administrative bodies.

14. In light of the information provided in the report (paras. 159-160) on the creation of "school governments" and the Committee's recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 33) concerning the need to improve children's participatory rights, please provide further information on concrete measures taken to sensitize all members of society, including within the family, at school and other institutions, about the participatory rights of children.

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

15. With regard to information provided in the report (paras. 175-176) and in light of the Committee's concern (see CRC/C/15/Add.36, para. 16), please indicate progress and impact of the national campaigns to ensure that birth registration procedures are widely known and used by the population at large.

16. Please indicate progress achieved regarding the implementation of the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add.36, para. 34) concerning the need
to protect the child's right to privacy and to have access to adequate information as enshrined by articles 16 and 17 of the Convention.

17. With regard to the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 35) and information provided in the report (para. 172), please indicate whether the State party has considered undertaking research on the issue of child abuse. Have any cases of ill-treatment, including cases involving law enforcement personnel, been submitted to domestic courts? Please further indicate the measures taken for the rehabilitation of victims and to provide them adequate access to the judicial system. Additionally, in light of articles 3, 6, 12, 19 and 28.2 of the Convention, please indicate if the State Party has envisaged the development of alternative disciplinary measures to prohibit and combat the use of corporal punishment within the family, at school and in other institutions. Furthermore, please indicate if the State party has considered ratifying the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Family environment and alternative care
(Arts. 5, 18 para. 1 and 2, 9, 10, 27 para. 4,
20, 21, 11, 19, 39 and 25)

18. Please provide information on existing plans for the enactment of a Family Code and specify how this legislation will reflect the principles and provisions of the Convention.

19. In light of the information provided in the report (paras. 193-195) regarding programmes on foster care, institutions for children at risk and for abandoned children, please provide further information on the progress achieved to address the Committee's concern (see CRC/C/15/Add.36, para. 18) regarding the need to undertake adequate measures to ensure monitoring of institutions for children deprived of a family environment.

20. With regard to the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 36), please indicate whether the State party is considering to accede to the Hague Convention of 1993 on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions.

21. In light of information provided in the report (para. 206) regarding statistics on child abuse, please provide further information on the implementation of the new Law on Domestic Violence (1996). Please indicate whether this law has included the placement and reception of children's complaints in cases of physical or sexual abuse; and if so how these complaints are being handled by the authorities. Please further indicate whether physical, psychological and social rehabilitation is provided to the children victims of such abuses,

Basic health and welfare
(Arts. 6, para. 2; 23, 24, 26, and 18, para. 3, and 27 paras. 1-3)

22. With regard to the Committee's recommendations (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, paras. 37), please indicate further measures have been taken and/or envisaged to improve the health status of children, especially in relation to the lack of access to clean water and sanitation and to the limited access to health services in rural areas. Please provide further information on measures taken to combat the incidence of malnutrition and other illnesses (e.g., gastro-intestinal infections) affecting the child's right to survival (art.6).

23. Please indicate what progress has been made to implement the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, paras. 35 and 37) concerning the need to improve educational programmes on reproductive health, drug and substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), mental health problems, including suicide. Additionally, please provide further information on preventive policies and programmes and on the provision of care and counseling services for persons under the age of 18 infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

24. In addition to the information on children with disabilities provided by the State party's initial report (see CRC/C/3/Add. 25, paras. 210-217), please provide further information on inclusion policies and on the situation of children with disabilities living outside special institutions. Please also indicate how these children can access education, vocational training, health care services, leisure and activities aimed at promoting their social inclusion.

25. In view of the information provided in the report (paras. 226-227) and the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/Add. 36, para. 35) concerning the situation of children living and/or working on the streets, please provide further information on progress achieved in the implementation of the "Plan of Action for the Rescue of Street Children".

Education, leisure and cultural activities
(Arts. 28, 29, and 31)

26. Please indicate progress achieved regarding the implementation of the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 38) concerning the reduction of illiteracy, school drop out and repetition rates as well as to improving the quality of school infrastructure, especially in rural and remote areas.

27. In light of article 29 of the Convention and in the context of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, please indicate measures taken by the State party to implement the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add.36, para. 38) regarding the need to include human rights education, especially the rights of the child, in the school curricula.

Special protection measures
(Arts. 22, 30, and 32-40 of the Convention)

28. Please provide information on the measures taken and/or envisaged to protect children from land mines, especially since hurricane Mitch has affected the State party.

29. With regard to the Committee's recommendation on the juvenile justice system (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 39) and in view of the recent enactment of the Children and Adolescents Code, please provide further information on the treatment of children aged between 15 and 18 who are in conflict with the law. Please provide further information on the plans to increase the number of specialized tribunals and judges for children. Furthermore, concerning the situation of children deprived of their liberty, please indicate progress achieved in relation to the following issues of concern:- children detained with adults.

30. In view of information provided in the report (paras. 234- 256) regarding measures taken by the State party for the implementation of the Committee's recommendation (see CRC/C/15/Add. 36, para. 40) concerning child labour, especially the need to strengthen labour inspectorates. Please provide further information on the achievements of the technical cooperation programme undertaken with the International Labour Organization/IPEC in this area.

31. Please provide information on the incidence of drug and substance abuse among youth. Please also provide information on measures, including legal, educational and rehabilitation programmes, taken and/or envisaged to combat this social phenomenon.

32. Please provide further information on the existing legal framework and policy to prevent and combat sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking of children. Has the State party envisaged adopting a comprehensive plan of action taking into account the recommendations of the 1996 Stockholm World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children?

33. In light of article 30 of the Convention and in addition to the information provided in the report on the "intercultural bilingual educational programme" (paras. 231-232), please indicate further measures undertaken, including within the framework of the United Nations Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004), to promote and protect the rights of children belonging to indigenous populations.



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