Lists of Issues - CRC - Ukraine - CRC/C/Q/UKR/2 (2002)

List of issues : Ukraine. 14/06/2002.

CRC/C/Q/UKR/2. (List of Issues)

Convention Abbreviation: CRC
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
30th Session
Pre-sessional Working Group
10-14 June 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 second periodic report of the Ukraine (CRC/C/70/Add.11)

Part I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if available, before 9 August 2002:

A. Data and statistics

1. Please provide disaggregated data (by gender, age, minority groups, urban or rural areas) covering the years 2000 and 2001 on the:
a) number and proportion of children under 18 living in the State party;
b) number and proportion of children belonging to minority groups, including the Roma;
c) rates of children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster;
d) rates of children with HIV/AIDS;
e) refugee children;
f) children with disabilities.

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 national budget, devoted to children at central and local level, preferably in the last 3 years (1999-2001), to:
a) national youth programmes, such as the National Family Planning Programme and the National Programme " Children of Ukraine";
b) education (including allocations for primary and secondary education, salaries, preservation of school buildings, etc.);
c) health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care and other health care services for children);
d) children with disabilities;
e) the protection of children who are in need of alternative care including the support of care institutions;
f) programmes and activities for the prevention of and the protection from child abuse; child sexual exploitation, trafficking and child labour;
g) juvenile justice.

3. With reference to children deprived of a family environment and separated from parents, please provide disaggregated data (by age and gender) for the last three years on the number of children placed with foster families, placed in institutions and adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions. Please also indicate the number of institutions and foster families available to these children.

1. Please provide disaggregated data (by age, gender and types of violations reported), on the:
a) number of reports on violations against children received by police and courts per year in 1999, 2000 and 2001;
b) number and percentage of reports which have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up.

2. 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):
a) number who have allegedly committed a crime reported to the police;
b) nature of sanctions (fines, detention, community service, other);
c) number of suspended sentences;
d) where the sanction is deprivation of liberty, please further specify the period of detention;
e) minors kept in pre-trail detention and the average length of their

detention;

f) number of reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of children occurred during their

arrest and detention.
4. With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by gender, age, urban/rural areas) per year between 1999 and 2001 on the number of children involved in sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking; the number of children involved in sexual exploitation who received rehabilitation treatments;

B. General Measures of Implementation

1. The Committee would appreciate receiving information on recommendations contained in the Committee's previous concluding observations (CRC/C/15/Add.42, 27 November 1995, paras.17-32) which are not yet implemented, in particular the ones related to the adequacy of the measures to provide assistance to vulnerable families (para.26), measures taken to establish a permanent and independent complaint and monitoring mechanism for child rights (para. 21) and measures taken to address the situation of children in institutions (para. 27).

2. Please indicate whether the Convention has been invoked directly in courts, and if it has, please provide examples of such cases.

3. Please provide additional information on the mandate of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Supreme Council of Ukraine with regards to monitoring the implementation of the Convention and receiving individual complaints made by children, as well as updated information on progress achieved in the creation of a Commissioner for the Rights of the Child. Please also provide information on the role, in practice, of Juvenile affairs services in the event of infringement of the rights of a child. (para. 16),

4. Please provide additional information on the provisions of the new law on Protection of the Child passed by Parliament in May 2001, and the new Criminal Code of 2001, affecting children. Furthermore, please provide information on the status of discussions about setting up a specific juvenile justice courts as stipulated under the 1995 Act "On juvenile affairs agencies and services and on special juvenile institutions".

5. Please provide further information about the content, the priorities, the implementation, coordination and the evaluation of the results so far (including measures taken and budget allocated), of the National Programme "Children of Ukraine" and on the new plan "Additional Activities Aimed at Implementing the National Programme "Children of Ukraine" for the period until year 2005".

6. Please provide additional information on the Inter-Departmental Commission and the Ministry for Family and Youth Affairs (para. 18), in particular on their mandates, composition, financial resources, coordination with municipalities, and their role, in practice, of monitoring the implementation of the National Programme "Children of Ukraine" and the Convention as a whole. Please also include a definition of the term 'Youth' as referred to by these bodies.

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, States parties are invited, whenever appropriate, to briefly (3 pages maximum) up-date the information provided in their report with regard to:

- new bills or enacted legislation
- new institutions
- newly implemented policies
- newly implemented programmes and projects

Part IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues that the Committee intends to take-up during the dialogue with the State party. THEY DO NOT REQUIRE WRITTEN RESPONSES. This list is not exhaustive (and does not contain issues already covered in Part I) as other issues might be raised in the course of the dialogue.

The dialogue with the State party might include issues such as:

1. The implementation in practice (e.g. in decisions by administrative bodies, in developing national and local policies on children's issues) of the principles of non-discrimination (art.2), the best interests of the child (art.3), the right to life, survival and development (art. 6) and the right of the child to be heard and have his or her views taken into consideration (art.12).

2. The situation of abuse and neglect, including sexual abuse within the family, and domestic violence. Strategies developed to prevent child abuse and mechanisms established to assist both the victims and perpetrators of abuse. Further, the use of corporal punishment in families, schools, care and other institutions and whether alternative disciplinary measures have been developed and promoted to combat this practice.

3. With respect to article 20 of the Convention concerning children deprived of a family environment, issues such as the deinstitutionalisation of children, mechanisms to review placement of children and monitoring of the conditions in institutions, as well as measures to improve conditions there.

4. The problem of the breakdown of families and measures undertaken, within a comprehensive family policy, undertaken to prevent it. The criteria for granting various social benefits at central and local level to families with children, including the number of concerned children and families. The standard of living of children within the country and the minimum standard necessary to secure the child's development in relation to the Reform for Prosperity Program.

5. With respect to children with disabilities, issues such as the allocation of resources, adequate access to services, public awareness campaigns to combat negative attitudes, support for families, steps for inclusion in regular schools and integration into society.

6. In light of article 24 concerning health, issues such as the allocation of resources; access to services, particularly for vulnerable groups and children in rural areas; adolescent mental and physical health; sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS prevention; environmental pollution, the social security system and the aftermath of Chernobyl.

7. With respect to education, issues such as measures to increase enrolment in pre-school, primary and secondary education; address regional disparities; and increase allocation of resources to school infrastructure and teacher training. Furthermore, measures taken to remove gender discrimination in the national curriculum and to include human rights and children's rights education in it.

8. With respect to the juvenile justice system, issues such as the independence and expertise of professionals working with juveniles, complaints procedures to deal with issues such as ill-treatment and violations of children's rights, social reintegration programmes for children and education services for children in detention.

9. Measures taken to implement policies on alcohol and drug abuse.

10. Measures taken to implement policies and programmes to prevent and combat child labour.

11. The scope of the social phenomenon of sexual exploitation and trafficking of children as well as measures taken to prevent and combat it.

12. The situation of Roma children with regard to education and health, and their standard of living.