COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Twenty-fifth session
Pre-sessional Working Group
5-9 June 2000
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 Tajikistan
(CRC/C/28/Add.14)
GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
(arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6)
1. (i) Please indicate the status of the Convention within the domestic legal framework, and provide examples, if any, of when the provisions of the Convention have been invoked in courts, especially courts of first instance.
(ii) Please indicate the status of the draft Rights of the Child Act.
(iii) Please indicate developments in the review of the 1964 Marriage and Family Code.
2. Please indicate which central State structure is responsible for:
(a) intersectoral coordination and cooperation of policies and programmes affecting children at and between central, and local levels of government;
(b) monitoring the implementation of the Convention at central and local levels; and
(c) receiving and addressing complaints of violations of child rights.
3. Please provide information on:
(a) developments to establish a National Council for Children, its envisaged role, and composition; and
(b) consideration to re-establish the system of local government child protection officers, which was discontinued in 1996.
4. Please describe:
(a) the role played by civil society, including children's associations and advocacy groups, in the preparation of the report;
(b) what efforts have been made to involve civil society throughout all stages of the implementation of the Convention, including in policy-making, and in areas with respect to civil rights and freedoms, ill-treatment, and juvenile justice.
5. Please indicate:
(a) whether the State Statistical Agency systematically collects disaggregated data of the under-18 population relating to the rights contained in the Convention, including children belonging to vulnerable groups, and what challenges it may be facing in this regard; and
(b) how this information is used to design policies and programmes affecting this population.
6. In accordance with article 42 of the Convention, please indicate what measures are being taken by the State party in a systematic and targeted manner to:
(a) raise the awareness about the principles and provisions of the Convention (e.g. among legislators, central and local government officials, community-based organizations, religious leaders, the mass media, and the public-at-large, including children themselves), including in the Tajik language; and
(b) train professional groups working with and for children about the Convention, particularly at the local level, and to develop professional capacity within local government to implement the Convention.
7. In light of article 4 of the Convention regarding the implementation to the "maximum extent of ... available resources" of economic, social and cultural rights of children, please indicate:
(a) what assessment has been conducted of the impact of budgetary allocations on the implementation of child rights;
(b) the progress and outcomes to study the impact of fiscal and legal reforms on children since the development of the Comprehensive Development Framework project;
(c) strategies developed to ensure the sustainability of health and education programmes currently funded by external donors.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
(arts. 2, 3, 6 and 12)
8. In light of article 2 of the Convention, concerning non-discrimination,
(i) Please indicate what measures have been taken by the State to:
(a) combat traditional attitudes and practices, such as early and forced marriages in rural areas, which may prevent girls from enjoying the rights contained in the Convention; and provide education on gender issues in schools;
(b) ensure that at the local level that children without propiska, or residence registration (e.g. refugees, non-citizens, migrants, and internally displaced persons) enjoy all the rights in the Convention, particularly health, education and other social services; and
(c) reduce disparities in the enjoyment of rights due to economic, social and geographic factors, such as between rural and urban areas.
(ii) Please provide information on the progress of implementation of the National Plan of Action on Increasing the Status and Role of Women from 1998-2005, which was established in 1998.
9. With respect to article 12 of the Convention, concerning the right to express views, please:
(a) indicate what steps are being taken by the State party to promote and facilitate within the family, the school, care institutions, and the courts respect for the views of children, and their participation in all matters affecting them; and
(b) provide examples of how these views are taken into consideration.
CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
(arts. 7, 8, 13-17, and 37 (a))
10. In light of article 7 of the Convention, concerning birth registration, please indicate what measures have been taken by the State to:
(a) ensure the timely registration of children born in rural areas, including promoting awareness of the necessity to register births, and facilitating registration by establishing, for example mobile registration units, and registration units in health facilities and/or schools; and
(b) what measures are in place to ensure that poor households that cannot afford to pay registration fees, can still register.
FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
(arts. 5, 18, paras. 1 and 2, 9-11, 27, para. 4, 20-21, 19 and 39 and 25)
11. In accordance with articles 19 and 39 of the Convention, concerning ill-treatment of children and rehabilitation, please indicate:
(a) what legal provisions exist to protect children from being ill-treated in homes, schools, care institutions, detention facilities, and by the police;
(b) what mechanisms exist for children to file complaints, and for mandatory reporting (e.g. by teachers and police), investigating, prosecuting and monitoring cases of child abuse;
(c) what programmes have been established for the psychological and physical recovery as well as social reintegration of child victims of abuse and violence;
(d) what steps are being taken by the State party to prevent ill-treatment of children and to raise awareness of its negative consequences, and to overcome sociocultural barriers which inhibit victims seeking assistance; and
(e) what studies have been undertaken concerning the extent and factors underlying abuse, including sexual abuse, and how has this information been used as a basis to design policies to address this phenomenon.
12. With respect to article 20 of the Convention, concerning alternative care,
(i) Please provide recent information (i.e. population disaggregated by age, sex, and including children with disabilities) on:
(a) children in alternative care institutions (e.g. children's homes); and
(b) children in foster care.
(ii) Please indicate what steps have been taken by the State party to:
(a) formulate and implement a comprehensive national policy of deinstitutionalization of children, including the promotion of alternative measures, such as community-based programmes to assist parents, and foster care in light of the enormous pressures on the limited capacity of institutional accommodation; and
(b) establish mechanisms to ensure regular periodic review of placement, and monitoring of the conditions in these institutions.
13. With respect to article 21 of the Convention, concerning adoption,
(i) Please provide recent disaggregated data on domestic and intercountry adoptions.
BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
(arts. 6, para. 2, 23, 24, 26 and 18, para. 3 and 27, paras. 1-3)
14. In light of article 23 of the Convention, concerning children with disabilities, please indicate what steps have been taken, and the progress made by the State party to:
(a) increase the allocation of resources (i.e. human and financial) to provide access to rehabilitation, inclusive education, and other services for children with disabilities;
(b) provide rehabilitation and support services for families; and
(c) undertake public education campaigns to combat negative societal attitudes towards children with disabilities.
15. Please provide information on the progress of implementation of: the State's Health Reform Programme (2000-2004); recent legislation to universalize salt iodation; and consideration of adoption of WHO standards on infant and child mortality.
16. Please indicate what:
(a) studies have been undertaken concerning the extent and factors underlying adolescent health problems, including mental and reproductive health, substance abuse, STDs and HIV/AIDS; and
(b) measures have been taken to provide access to child-friendly counselling, and undertake comprehensive health education within schools.
17. In light of article 24.2 (e) of the Convention, please indicate what measures have been taken to address threats to the health of children due to:
(a) problems involving waste collection, sanitation, and poor access to safe water; and
(b) dangerous environmental hazards resulting from inappropriate storage sites of, inter alia, radioactive, and toxic wastes.
18. In light of article 27 of the Convention, please provide information on:
(a) studies undertaken concerning the extent and underlying factors giving rise to children living and/or working on the streets; and
(b) examples of measures taken to address this issue.
EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
(arts. 28, 29 and 31)
19. In light of article 28 of the Convention, concerning education, please indicate the progress of implementation of the Education for All strategy. In light of the Tajik Year of Education and Youth 2000, please provide information on its aims, and activities planned.
SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
(arts. 22, 30, 32-40)
20. Noting the large numbers of Tajik returnees following the end of the civil war,
(i) Please indicate what:
(a) progress has been made to provide social support, and legal protection, including with respect to housing, to ensure returnees' full reintegration within society;
(b) legal status is accorded to non-national spouses of returning Tajik refugees;
(c) special procedures have been implemented to deal with unaccompanied children;
(d) legislative, administrative measures are applicable to family reunification, and steps taken to reunite children separated after the conflict;
(e) strategies to address the low enrolment, high drop-out and absenteeism rates of Tajik returnees;
(f) provision of secondary school, other than vocational training, to refugee children;
(ii) How is article 20 of the Law on the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens, relating to the citizenship of children born in Tajikistan, implemented?
21. Please indicate what programmes are being implemented for the psychological and physical recovery as well as social reintegration of children affected by the civil war.
22. In accordance with articles 37, 40, and 39, concerning juvenile justice,
(i) Please indicate:
(a) what review has been undertaken to ensure that all legislation relevant to offenders under 18 are in line with the Convention and other international standards;
(b) what review has been undertaken to assess the efficacy of the present system of juvenile justice; and
(c) the measures taken to ensure contact between the child and his/her family;
(d) the prevailing conditions in detention, and how they are monitored;
(e) information concerning the use of corporal punishment;
(f) whether there are independent complaint procedures to deal with issues such as ill-treatment, and how effective are these procedures;
(g) education, health and other social facilities; and
(h) services for the recovery and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders, and their effectiveness.
(ii) Please provide disaggregated data on juvenile offenders.
23. Please indicate what:
(a) legislative steps have been taken to ensure the labour law provides protection for children working in the informal sector, including family enterprises, agricultural activities and domestic labour;
(b) measures have been taken to pursue enforcement of child labour standards, including in the informal sector;
(c) studies have been undertaken concerning the nature and extent of child labour in the country; and
(d) consideration has been given to ratify ILO Convention No. 182 on Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
24. Please indicate what:
(a) strategies and measures have been adopted to address the impact of drug-trafficking upon children; and
(b) studies have the State party undertaken, and the measures adopted, to address substance abuse, including the use of alcohol and tobacco, among children.
25. Please indicate what:
(a) studies have the State party undertaken to understand the extent and underlying factors of commercial sexual exploitation of children;
(b) steps are being taken by the State party to raise awareness and undertake public education campaigns relating to commercial sexual exploitation of children;
(c) mechanisms are in place to provide for a mandatory system of reporting and monitoring of this phenomena; and
(d) steps have been taken to adopt a comprehensive Plan of Action as follow-up to the 1996 Stockholm World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.