1. With regard to information provided in paragraphs 8, 13 and 14 of the report, please outline the activities undertaken by the South African Law Commission to facilitate a review of domestic legislation and the harmonisation of customary law as it relates to the Convention. Please also describe the role of customary law in South Africa and highlight the inconsistencies with the Convention. Please outline the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the adoption and implementation of the legislation listed as pending in paragraph 10 of the report.

2. Please provide additional information on the relationship between the National Programme of Action Steering Committee, the National Children's Rights Committee, the Inter-Ministerial Core Group, and the South African Human Rights Commission. Additionally, please also outline the activities undertaken by these agencies and institutions to facilitate the coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of child rights programmes, policies and legislation, including at the provincial and community levels. Further, please provide information on the level of resources (including financial, human and/or technical) allocated for the functioning of these agencies.

3. Please indicate whether the South African Human Rights Commission handles complaints of children whose rights have been violated and if so, please provide examples of its work in this regard. Additionally, please describe the measures taken and/or foreseen to increase awareness, particularly among children, about the availability and use of this complaints mechanism.

4. Please indicate whether indicators have been developed and disaggregated data collected on the status of children, especially the most vulnerable groups. Further, please describe the extent to which these indicators and data are used in the formulation of policies and programmes for the effective implementation of the Convention.

5. In light of article 4 of the Convention, please specify the percentage of the national budget allocated to children's programmes, including in the health, education and social welfare sectors, and indicate whether there is an intention to increase the allocation to ?the maximum extent of ...available resources?. In light of information provided in paragraph 21 of the report, please also provide additional information on the extent to which international cooperation is used for children=s programmes. Please also provide an update on the >South African Children=s Budget= study launched in relation to the ?First Call for Children and indicate whether any of the recommendations from this study have been implemented.

6. Please provide additional information on the measures taken and/or envisaged to ensure that the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are disseminated at all levels of society, particularly within the school system and in rural communities. Further, please indicate whether training on the principles and provisions of the Convention has been provided for professionals working with and for children, including teachers, judges, lawyers, law enforcement officials, health personnel, and social workers.

7. Please describe the measures taken and/or foreseen to raise the legal minimum age for criminal responsibility. Further, please indicate whether the State party envisages increasing the legal minimum ages for marriage and sexual consent of girls to the equivalent of that for boys. In light of information provided in paragraphs 51-52 of the report, concerning the definition of the child, please provide information on the measures taken to ensure consistency between domestic law and common law and with the Convention.

8. Please provide further information on specific measures taken and/or envisaged to ensure that the principles of non-discrimination (article 2), the best interests of the child (article 3), the right to life, survival and development (article 6), and respect for the views of the child (article 12) are reflected in legislation and customary law as well as actions taken by social welfare institutions, courts of law and administrative authorities. Please also provide some examples of implementation of these principles by courts as well as administrative or other bodies.

9. In light of the principle of non-discrimination (article 2), please provide additional information on the policies and programmes implemented and/or foreseen to ensure non-discrimination of girls, children with disabilities, children born out of wedlock, children working and/or living on the streets, children living in institutions and refugee children. In this regard, please also provide additional information on the measures taken and/or foreseen to redress the legacy of apartheid, particularly as regards the protection of children against all forms of discrimination.

10. Please describe the ways in which the principle of respect for the views of the child is reflected in practice within the family, in schools as well as in other institutions, and generally within society. Further, please outline the measures taken and/or foreseen to sensitize public opinion, including in traditional communities, on the participatory rights of children and to further encourage children to exercise their right to freely express their views, in light of article 12 of the Convention.

11. Please describe the measures taken and/or foreseen to encourage and facilitate the registration of all children at birth, particularly those living in remote rural communities, in light of article 7 of the Convention.

12. In light of article 17 of the Convention, please indicate whether steps have been taken to ensure that all children are allowed adequate access to information. In this regard, please provide information on the number, distribution and quality of libraries for children throughout the State party. Further, please provide additional information on the challenges faced by the Press Ombudsperson in introducing alternative measures to protect children from harmful information, including violence and pornography and explain whether he/she is mandated to deal with television programmes and video productions. In this connection, please also provide additional information on the measures taken to implement the Film and Publications Act (1196).

13. In light of article 37 (a) of the Convention, please provide information on the measures implemented and/or foreseen to prevent and prohibit acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of children. Further, in light of article 39 of the Convention, please also provide information on the treatment of children victim of such maltreatment and outline the measures taken and/or foreseen to promote and ensure their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration. Additionally, please indicate whether complaint procedures are easily accessible to children who have been tortured or abused and to their representatives.

14. Please provide information on the measures taken and/or foreseen to assist parents, especially single mothers and poor parents, in their child rearing responsibilities. Additionally, please provide information, including statistical data, on the occurrence of divorces, separations and deprivation of parental responsibilities.

15. With reference to information provided in paragraphs 333-334, and in light of article 27 of the Convention, please describe the measures taken or envisaged to correct the deficiencies with the current processes for the recovery of maintenance for the child.

16. Please provide information, including statistical data, on the occurrence of domestic and intercountry adoption as well as the practice of traditional informal adoption. With reference to information provided in paragraph 355 of the report, concerning the deficiencies of the Child Care Act as regards intercountry adoptions, please highlight the measures envisaged to improve the situation in this regard. Further, please provide additional information on the legal and administrative processes that govern the foster parenting programme and describe the process of recruitment and evaluation of foster parents. In light of paragraph 343 of the report, please also provide further information on measures taken to ensure regular assessment and monitoring of children placed in alternative care.

17. Please provide additional information, including statistical data, on the situation of domestic violence, especially sexual abuse against children and violence against women. Additionally, please outline the programmes implemented and/or foreseen to prevent these practices and to rehabilitate child victims in this regard.

18. Please provide additional information on the use of corporal punishment in families, schools, care institutions and juvenile correctional facilities, and outline the measures taken to encourage the use of alternative forms of discipline and to monitor performance in this regard.

19. Please indicate whether measures have been taken or are envisaged to implement specific domestic legislation to ensure and protect the rights of children with disabilities. In light of information provide in paragraph 240, please provide additional information on the measures taken to integrate children with disabilities into the public school system and to provide adequate support structures for them . Additionally, please highlight any additional activities undertaken to facilitate an increase in public awareness regarding the rights of children with disabilities.

20. Please provide additional information and statistical data, on adolescent health, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); HIV/AIDS; teenage pregnancies and teenage mothers; abortions; illicit drugs, alcohol and other substance abuse; violence; suicide and other adolescent mental health concerns. Please describe the policies and programmes implemented and/or foreseen to prevent these problems and to provide appropriate counselling, treatment and care for adolescents faced with these concerns.

21. In light of article 24.3 of the Convention, please provide additional information on the traditional practice of male circumcision and outline the programmes undertaken and/or envisaged to eliminate this practice and promote awareness of its harmful effects on boys.

22. Please provide additional information and disaggregated statistical data on the situation of education, including enrollment and drop out rates at both the primary and secondary levels and highlight the measures taken to address these concerns. Additionally, with reference to information provided in paragraphs 407-410 of the report, please provide an update on the implementation of ?Curriculum 2005". In particular, please highlight the measures taken under this, or any other, programme to correct the disparities in access to education and to improve the overall literacy rate. Please also identify any additional concrete measures taken to ensure that the access to education is not limited by the ability or inability of parents to pay.

23. Please indicate whether an independent complaints procedure has been established within the school system for students whose rights have been violated. Further, please provide an update on the proposal to incorporate human rights, including the rights of the child, into the school curricula. Additionally, please indicate whether there is a concern with respect to violence in school.

24. Please provide additional information, including statistical data, on asylum-seeking, unaccompanied, refugee and stateless children and outline the measures undertaken by the State to protect the rights of these children, particularly as regards education, health and other social services.

25. Please provide additional information on the measures taken to facilitate the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of children involved in and affected by political violence, during the apartheid era.

26. Please provide information, in 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;

(b) 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.

27. Please provide further information on the situation of children in detention, in particular on the following:

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

the conditions of children in detention, including the measures taken to ensure the periodic review and monitoring of their placement;

whether there are external complaint procedures to deal with issues such as ill-treatment which are independent from the authorities of detention and correction institutions. How effective are these procedures?

educational, health and social services facilities;

services for the recovery and rehabilitation of children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law and their effectiveness;

the measures taken to ensure the separation of children from adults;

the measures taken to ensure that legal aid is provided;

the measures taken and/or foreseen to ensure that juvenile judges are assigned in all regions of the State party.

28. Please provide information on the measures taken and/or envisaged by the State party to prevent child labour and eradicate the economic exploitation of children. Additionally, please indicate whether the State Party envisages becoming a party to ILO Convention No. 138 concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (1973) and ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999).

29. Please provide additional information and statistical data on the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, including the exploitative use of children in prostitution and pornography as well as the sale and trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation. Additionally, please highlight the measures taken and/or foreseen to prevent and combat these concerns.

30. In light of article 30 of the Convention, please provide information on the situation of children belonging to minority groups, including the Khoi-Khoi and San, particularly their access to education, health and other social services. Further, please outline the measures taken and/or envisaged by the State party to ensure that the rights of these children are guaranteed, particularly those rights concerning culture, language and access to information.