Summary Records - CRC - Burkina Faso

Distr.

GENERAL

CRC/C/SR.136
12 April 1994

Original: ENGLISH

Summary record of the 136th meeting : Burkina Faso. 12/04/94.

CRC/C/SR.136. (Summary Record)

Convention Abbreviation: CRC

COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Sixth session

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 136th MEETING

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva,
on Thursday, 7 April 1994, at 3 p.m.

Chairperson: Miss MASON

CONTENTS

Consideration of reports of States parties (continued)

Burkina Faso (continued)

This record is subject to correction.

Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Official Records Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

Any corrections to the records of the meetings of the Committee at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.

The meeting was called to order at 3.15 p.m.

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS OF STATES PARTIES (agenda item 4) (continued)

Burkina Faso (continued) (CRC/C/3/Add.19; CRC/C.6/WP.5)

1. Mr. OUEDRAOGO (Burkina Faso), replying to questions raised by members of the Committee, said that while the age of majority for criminal matters was 18, children aged 13 or over could be imprisoned because his country lacked the funds to establish remand centres. Act No. 19-61 AN provided for a special criminal regime for offenders between the age of 13 and 18, who were imprisoned only as a last resort. It should be noted that there was a social services department in the two largest towns in Burkina Faso which sought to help children in conflict with the law. The Ministry of Justice was at the present time seeking to provide such services in other areas.

2. With regard to the matter of mutual consent to marriage, as soon as the request for marriage was submitted to the registry office, the Code on the Individual and the Family provided for the persons concerned to be interviewed by an official with a view to determining whether they genuinely consented to the marriage.

3. While the Convention set the age of majority at 18, his Government considered that the country did not have a sufficient economic structure to enable children to accept such a responsibility before the age of 20.

4. With regard to issue No. 7 of the list of issues (CRC/C.6/WP.5), the Code on the Individual and the Family set the age of majority at 20 and measures were being taken to ensure that the provision was respected. Furthermore, children were absolutely forbidden to work in mines or quarries and could not be recruited in the army before the age of 20.

5. With respect to issue No. 8 of the list, there was a disparity between the minimum age of marriage for boys and girls and his Government intended to review its legislation in that area. In that connection, he said that the disparity resulted from the cultural concepts prevailing in his country. At the present time, however, the reality was changing and his Government would gradually be able to eliminate the disparity.

6. Referring to issue No. 9, he said that no text stipulated minimum ages for legal and medical counselling without parental consent or sexual consent. However, there were procedures under which a child under 12 years of age could not give her consent and a person could be prosecuted for rape.

7. With regard to issue No. 10, he said that his Government was in the process of re-examining the national legislation in the light of the principle of non-discrimination. With respect to issue No. 11, he referred to the statement he had made at the previous meeting concerning the shortcomings that existed in respect of a data-collection system.

8. On issue No. 12, no legal measure existed to protect the girl child against the harmful effects of traditional practices or customs. However, measures were being envisaged and new texts were being prepared.

9. Mr. HAMMARBERG said that only about 29 per cent of the population of Burkina Faso were enrolled in schools and that girls accounted for only one third of that figure. That meant that it would take a long time to rectify the situation. He stressed the need to invest in primary education and to ensure that women were able to attend school.

10. With regard to the question of health, he noted that the fertility rate, i.e. the average number of children born to a woman, was 7.2 per cent, which was rather high if consideration was given to the fact that the average in Africa was 6.5 and the world average was 3.4. The fact that women bore so many children made it difficult for them to improve their situation in society. The fact that it was difficult for couples and women in particular to obtain contraceptives also complicated the situation.

11. He drew attention to the statement by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography that in Burkina Faso the situation of children remained serious and that there had been several instances of forced marriages. He would welcome comments on that general situation where there seemed to be a need for a comprehensive systematic strategy by the Government to rectify major structural problems and to meet the interest shown outside the country to help to improve the situation of equality between the genders.

12. Mr. KOLOSOV, noting that the minimum age for employment for girls was 14, asked whether there were any plans in Burkina Faso to ratify the relevant International Labour Organisation conventions and to raise the age to 15.

13. He would also like to know whether any time-limit had been set for parents to register their newborn children and whether there were any children who had not been registered. It would also be interesting to know whether a person's ancestry gave rise to any discrimination in practice.

14. Mr. MOMBESHORA said that the question relating to medical counselling also sought to determine whether a girl of 15 years of age could consult a doctor without being accompanied by her parents.

15. Mrs. SANTOS PAIS said, with regard to the question of criminal liability that she would welcome clarification concerning the reason for referring, on the one hand, to criminal liability and, on the other, to responsibility. The report recognized that children could be imprisoned.

16. With regard to the statement that there were no funds to establish a remand centre, she thought that an effort should be made to adopt a non-institutional solution such as family placement, which would not be very expensive. In that connection, she noted the important role played by the family in all African societies. Furthermore, consideration could be given to introducing vocational programmes in schools.

17. She was concerned at the absence of an age at which children could have access to legal counselling. That absence could be interpreted to mean that the practice was prohibited or that the child could request legal assistance. She would welcome clarification in that regard.

18. The initial report (CRC/C/3/Add.19) recognized the continued existence of discrimination in schooling with regard to girls. She would like to know what measures were being taken to change that situation. According to paragraph 85 of the initial report, children born of incestuous relations were rejected by society, which meant that the principle of non-discrimination based on birth was endangered in practice.

19. Mrs. EUFEMIO, referring to the section in the initial report on employment, said that the order referred to in paragraph 10 should also stipulate the need for ensuring full employment of adults.

20. With regard to the matter of criminal liability, she stressed the need for the establishment of special procedures for young offenders.

21. Referring to paragraph 17 of the initial report, she said that she would welcome information on the results of the efforts made by the public services and social partners to make the people concerned aware of the problem of children born out of wedlock, children of mentally ill mothers, and children without a mother or of unmarried mothers.

22. She would also like to know what steps were being taken to ensure the privacy of children within the family.

23. Mr. ZINA (Burkina Faso) said that the family planning authorities were at the present time focusing on the question of population growth, the high fertility rate and poor performance of family planning projects. Efforts were being made to decentralize family planning centres and to publicize family planning methods. Steps were also being taken to make it easier for the public at large to obtain contraceptives and condoms.

24. Rural areas posed the most acute problem; conditions of hygiene were often poor, which restricted the types of contraceptives suitable for use. However, oral and injectable contraceptives were available at health centres. Geographical access to such centres was often a problem as they could be some distance from a woman's home. Psycho-social barriers also militated against contraceptive use, such as the social stigma of being seen at a health centre where contraceptives were known to be dispensed and objections to contraception from the men of the family in a male-dominated society. Nevertheless, there was a real and strong demand among women for access to methods for spacing births, as was evident from questions they asked at awareness-creating sessions held in villages on various aspects of health and development. A set of programmes had been developed with Burkina Faso's partners, including the World Bank, to overcome such barriers and to decentralize access to contraceptives. In addition, the Ministry of Education ran a programme to provide education on population matters in schools.

25. Burkina Faso was well aware of the need to reduce the present 2.6 per cent rate of population growth and was not satisfied with its 8 per cent rate of contraceptive coverage, although that was an improvement on the 2 per cent figure prevalent 3 to 4 years previously. The goal of the national plan for family planning was to achieve 60 per cent contraception coverage by the year 2005; a number of organizational measures were already in operation to help to achieve it.

26. Mr. NIGNAN (Burkina Faso) said the report acknowledged that girls were disadvantaged with respect to education. To remedy that a national plan covering the period to the year 2000 had been drawn up and adopted by the Council of Ministers to promote education for girls by means of positive discrimination in their favour to enable them to attain and even surpass the levels attained by boys. The cost of implementing the plan would, however, be very high; in the present period of financial restraint it was not certain whether Burkina Faso could manage to carry it out without a contribution from its bilateral and multilateral partners.

27. Mr. ZINA (Burkina Faso) said that, as mentioned in the additional report, there was no minimum age for access to health and legal services. What happened in practice was that if a schoolchild came to a health centre he was given treatment if his problem was a minor one, but that if his condition was serious he could not be treated until contact had been made with a parent or other person responsible for the child, who could authorize treatment.

28. Mr. OUEDRAOGO (Burkina Faso) said that registration of births was regulated by articles 106 and 111 of the Code on the Individual and the Family. Upon the birth of a child, the clinic concerned gave the parents a form for registration of the birth in the relevant commune, following which a birth certificate was established. On expiry of the two-month period allowed for that procedure, parents would have to go through the courts to register the birth and have a birth certificate established, during which they would have to satisfy the court of their inability to register the birth at the proper time. The Penal Code provided for action to be taken against any person attending a birth who failed to report it by a certain time.

29. To reply to Mr. Kolosov's question on discrimination on grounds of ancestry, there was in principle no discrimination in Burkina Faso on the basis of social standing or family in the case of access to education or to employment in the public service or any other area under State management.

30. As Mrs. Santos Pais had pointed out, there was a disparity between the age of majority and the age of criminal responsibility. It arose not from deliberate government policy but as a result of conflict between the texts of the legal instruments involved. The relevant authorities would take note of the point.

31. With regard to measures to eliminate forced marriage, forced polygamy and recurrent pregnancy, the Government was compelled to steer a course between the desirable and the feasible. It was at present at the stage of evaluating and studying the deficiencies which existed in the country, deficiencies it had frankly acknowledged in its report, in order to determine how best to eliminate them. It welcomed any suggestions that would assist it in its task.

32. He regretted that time constraints had meant that the additional report was available to the Committee only in French. Furthermore, the restricted time available for discussion meant that verbal replies could not cover a subject in any great detail. There were, however, many texts, such as the recently adopted Code on the individual and the Family, the Labour Code, the Constitution and the National Plan of Action that gave fuller information on various areas of protection of the rights of the child and could be made available to the Committee to assist in its task.

33. Mr. NIGNAN (Burkina Faso), replying to Mrs. Eufemio, said that the civil rights of children were protected by the Code on the individual and the Family. Children born out of wedlock enjoyed the same rights, including rights of inheritance, as those born within marriage. The mass media were freely accessible to children. In addition, special children's programmes, including educational and cultural programmes, were regularly broadcast on radio and television.

34. The CHAIRPERSON said that throughout the report it was made plain that parents had the right to make decisions for their children. In paragraph 19 of the initial report it was stated that the child's views could not take precedence. Parents had the right to decide on a child's instruction, vocational and political training, religion and so on despite the fact that the civil rights and freedoms of the child were ostensibly guaranteed by the Constitution, and by the Convention, which Burkina Faso had ratified. Parents' rights thus appeared to be in conflict with the right of the child to have its views taken into account. That was of particular concern to the Committee in view of the fact that in Burkina Faso parental authority continued to prevail even after the child had been emancipated or removed from the jurisdiction of its parents.

35. She asked what measures were in place to protect the privacy of the child from the media in cases of sexual abuse, although acknowledging that sexual abuse of children did not appear to be a problem to which society gave much prominence, since the occurrence of such abuse within families was rarely reported to the authorities. Was corporal punishment an accepted mode of correction for children and was it applied in schools and institutions? Were there any procedures through which children could bring complaints of ill-treatment against their parents or the authorities? What means of intervention were available to the authorities when cases of ill-treatment were brought to their attention?

36. Although it was clear that registration of births was straightforward when the birth occurred in a medical facility, she would like to know whether difficulties were encountered in rural areas in view of distances that might have to be travelled to register the birth. What were the consequences of failing to register a birth within the proper period? What were the rights of the child with respect to contact with parents in cases of separation and divorce?

37. Mrs. SANTOS PAIS said that from the replies given it was clear that the problem did not reside in the law but rather in the disparity between law and practice. That explained the Committee's wish for information on traditional and customary practices. She was concerned at the perpetuation of such practices as were responsible for forced marriage or for rejection of children born as a result of incest. Cases of ill-treatment of children occurring within families where both parents were living together generally did not come before the courts. There was also no recognition of a child's right to a private life, since precedence was given to the family. According to the replies given, a child living under the family roof was subject to parental authority irrespective of age. In such circumstances, she asked whether there was any way for a child to make his ill-treatment known outside the family circle and any way for the authorities to become aware of serious cases of child abuse. She noted that children were not mentioned among the persons entitled to bring cases of abuse before the courts. Did that mean they could not do so? If a child was not permitted to make his hopes, wishes or disappointments known out of strict regard for the privacy of family life a cycle of abuse could continue to be perpetuated. It had been claimed that setting the age of majority at 20 years gave children in Burkina Faso greater protection than that provided by the Convention, but it could also be true to say that the submission of the child to parental authority regardless of age was not fully in accord with article 5 of the Convention. Although it was admittedly difficult in law to determine the right balance between parental authority and the rights of the child, she urged Burkina Faso to give some thought to the problem.

38. Mr. KOLOSOV said that although the Convention on the Rights of the Child did not establish a minimum age for employment, other international instruments in the human rights fields did so, notably the conventions and recommendations of the International Labour Organisation, which had set it at 15 years. To put his earlier question in perhaps a clearer way, he asked whether Burkina Faso had any plans to adjust its national legislation accordingly.

39. With regard to registration of births, he noted that there were approximately 60 ethnic groups living within the territory of Burkina Faso, a number of languages were spoken there in addition to the official language of French, and the rate of illiteracy was high. That would lead one to suppose that many people would not be fully aware of the need to register the birth of a child. The Committee's concern was that unregistered children were not protected by national legislation or international law. Was there a high proportion of unregistered children in the country and if so what measures did the Government have in mind to deal with it?

40. His concern with the traditional practice of naming children as a personification of some earlier ancestor was that it could lead to discrimination within families as a result of the differing social status of those forebears. The problem was not one of law but of custom, which exerted a very great influence in everyday life.

41. Mr. HAMMARBERG, welcoming the frankness with which the report had acknowledged that there was a high level of domestic violence in the country, said that wife beating and abuse of children were often connected. Furthermore, the stress caused to a child in witnessing ill-treatment of its mother was also a violation of its rights. In a male-dominated society such as appeared to exist in Burkina Faso, one way of encouraging beneficial change would be for leading personalities in the country, such as political leaders, publicly to make known their abhorrence of the use of violence within the home and their refusal to have recourse to it. A signal of that kind given by respected leaders could be very influential in changing entrenched traditional attitudes, in a way that legal provisions could not do. The Committee considered article 19 of the Convention, on the topic of domestic violence, of great importance in ensuring the protection of children from ill-treatment; its provisions were intended to prompt those in authority in each country to find the most effective way in their own societies to break cycles of violence that were often perpetuated from generation to generation under the cover of tradition and custom.

42. The CHAIRPERSON, referring to the adoption and placement of children as mentioned in paragraphs 44, 46 and 50 of the report, asked whether there was a monitoring system, particularly in the light of the reply to Issue No. 23 relating to customary adoption. She would also like to know whether social workers were available, and how they were trained, particularly in regard to follow-up action relating to placement.

43. Mrs. SANTOS PAIS wondered how the practice of international adoption was dealt with in domestic legislation, especially in the light of the Convention. In that connection, she understood that Burkina Faso was thinking of ratifying the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption.

44. Mr. KOLOSOV, referring to the matters of parental guidance and parental responsibilities mentioned respectively in paragraphs 38 and 39 of the initial report, said it seemed that a child might in some cases be regarded as the property of the family. It must surely be hard for young persons to accept that, up to the age of perhaps 20 years, they were the property of someone else.

45. Mr. OUEDRAOGO (Burkina Faso) said that it was difficult, with regard to his country, to speak of the private life of a child, which implied a concept alien to the national culture. Likewise, there would be a failure to appreciate any need for a child to be able to exercise legal rights; parents or other adults would be expected to take any necessary legal steps on the child's behalf. There was no specific legislation to be invoked in the case of corporal punishment, although children were, of course, covered by the general laws which dealt with matters such as assault and bodily harm. With regard to such questions, the situation reflected the reality of traditional attitudes rather than what the authorities desired. Indeed, the latter were constantly striving to promote changes in attitude and improve national legislation in line with international texts. Although the relevant national laws were perhaps not fully compatible with the Convention, they at least enabled parents to take action in the courts on behalf of children.

46. With regard to registration in rural areas, measures had been taken to provide a decentralized service, especially in view of the number of persons who frequently crossed and recrossed national frontiers and required documents for that purpose. There was currently one agent for every 20 to 30 villages, who could register births or submit details to the nearest territorial office. Thus, it was possible for a child to have identity papers. With regard to children's rights in cases of separation, the tradition had always been that the parents were morally obliged to allow a child to move freely from one to the other. That tradition was recognized in the relevant legislation, which had been drafted prior to the Convention but was more or less in accordance with its provisions. With regard to the minimum age of employment, he had noted the proposal made by Mr. Kolosov that it should be raised from 14 to 15 years.

47. On the subject of physical violence against women in the family, clear signals had been given, by successive Heads of State of Burkina Faso, that such acts were reprehensible, and efforts were constantly being made to enhance respect for women. For example, on one occasion a Man's Day had been proclaimed, on which men only went to market - an activity normally confined to women in many African countries. It had initially created a considerable stir, but it was hoped that the event, and other actions on similar lines, although possibly of a temporary nature, might prompt a rethinking of traditional attitudes. In that regard, the latest initiative by the Head of State was the announcement that he would preside over the Follow-up and Evaluation Committee for the Nation Plan of Action.

48. With regard to the adoption, placement and monitoring of children, a social worker service did exist. The service was recognized as a priority requirement which needed to be enhanced, and the Ministry of Social Action and the Family had called for the stepping up of recruitment for that purpose. In Ouagadougou and other main towns, social services were always available at the courts. With regard to legal and customary adoption, it had been a traditional practice for former colonialists to adopt children for purposes of protection and education, and no problems had been caused thereby. Since, however, a growing commercial element was to be seen in recent years, appropriate measures were being envisaged, such as ratification of the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption, and the promulgation of kitis (decrees), including those mentioned in paragraph 48 of the report and a further text, relating to adoption, which could be made available to the Committee.

49. In his country there was no question of a child being regarded as the property of its parents while under their roof; the relationship was a family tie, with no question of subjection. He himself had lived in his parents' home until his fortieth year, in complete freedom. The fact was that, particularly in rural communities, which accounted for some 85 per cent of the population, many of the old traditions remained, including that of the extended family consisting of a husband, possibly four or five wives and numerous children.

50. In general, the report and his delegation's replies to the Committee reflected the reality of the country's social and cultural conditions. That did not mean that the authorities were not anxious to effect improvements; they took note of the concerns and criticisms voiced and were aware that the legislative and other measures adopted hitherto, while reflecting some progress, might not be fully satisfactory. The shortcomings were recognized, and improvements were constantly being sought.

51. Mrs. SANTOS PAIS said that she greatly appreciated the information provided about social and cultural conditions in Burkina Faso. One aspect which still disquieted her was the idea that a child who complained about the treatment it received might be regarded as "cursed" by society. In that regard, it was important, in striving to implement the Convention's provisions, to promote the true spirit of that instrument to the effect that it was not a question of seeking "child power" but of showing that upholding the rights of the child strengthened the rights of the entire family, and that, with regard to parenthood, the emphasis should not be on authority but responsibility. She welcomed the fact that it had been possible to involve the customary authorities not only in the Follow-up and Evaluation Committee for the National Plan of Action but in the National Committee to Combat Female Circumcision. It was important, in general, to ensure that children knew that their rights were recognized, and to promote awareness everywhere of that recognition.

52. She was pleased to note the progress being made in measures to govern adoption procedures. In that connection, the primary aim must be to serve the child without a family, not the household without children. The Convention envisaged a number of safeguards in that respect, particularly in article 21; it was especially important that the child's own views, particularly if it preferred to remain with its natural family, must at all times be heard.

53. Mr. HAMMARBERG agreed that it was wrong to interpret the assertion of children's rights as a conflict with those of parents; the rights of the child and of the family went hand in hand. But the notion of the family alone as the guarantor of children's rights was not enough; in his country, there had been cases of children beaten to death by persons deemed their guardians. Although the effect of some political gestures such as a men's market day might be transient, there were occasions when an action, for example a statement by a prominent figure such as a religious leader, could have a lasting impact. Therefore, an announcement by a Head of State could have important consequences. Likewise, action such as that promoted by Amnesty International's campaign against torture could be highly effective; a result of that campaign had been the posting in full view, in places such as police stations and prisons, of texts setting forth the rights of detainees, thus ensuring that officials and others were constantly reminded of them. Gestures and actions must, of course, be carefully chosen.

54. Mr. OUEDRAOGO (Burkina Faso) said that the problem was basically one of perception. He had described the current view of society, not the view which the Government wished to promote. The approach suggested by members of the Committee was in fact complementary to the Government's approach. He was confident that the situation could and would be improved, even though there might be problems in some matters. The Committee's comments were much appreciated and would benefit the children of Burkina Faso.

55. Mr. MOMBESHORA said that the explanations given by the delegation of Burkina Faso confirmed his own findings on the question of tradition in southern and eastern Africa, and in parts of the north, where experience had shown that in advocating bold decisions to quicken the process of change, the importance attached by society to traditional values should not be underestimated.

56. Mrs. EUFEMIO, referring to paragraph 42 of the initial report, asked whether, if the requirements described therein were met, the Government would meet the cost of maintenance and, in the affirmative, whether there were budgetary arrangements in hand to cover such expenditure. Were parents encouraged to cater for such an eventuality through insurance policies, for example, which might cover education and certain basic needs?

57. Mr. OUEDRAOGO said that the situation was exactly as described. Maintenance was not paid unless the funds could be mobilized. In the general country programme, however, a child meeting the criteria would probably receive a grant or some kind of State aid to help with studies, provided he had passed the necessary examinations.

58. The CHAIRPERSON invited the Committee to take up the issues included in the sections entitled "Basic health and welfare" and "Education, leisure and cultural activities" which read as follows:

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

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

59. Mr. MOMBESHORA wondered whether the low take-up rate for family planning was due to cultural or traditional resistance or to lack of knowledge of family planning issues. The low take-up rate elsewhere had largely been due to the attitude of the men who either did not understand what was involved, or simply refused to allow their wives to use family planning methods.

60. He also wondered whether traditional scarring, whatever its purpose, tattooing and female circumcision were carried out under clean medical conditions and if not, whether medical complications such as HIV, tetanus or the transmission of other disease were a common problem.

61. The immunization figures were lower than expected, with tuberculosis standing at only 60 per cent, a surprising figure since most children born in a health care facility tended to be vaccinated. Were the facilities not available or were people not yet accustomed to using antenatal facilities?

62. The CHAIRPERSON asked whether the authorities of Burkina Faso were satisfied with the calibre and level of the country's teachers and whether there were sufficient numbers to meet the country's needs. What teacher training facilities were available and what was the rate of attendance? Was anything done to enhance their competence? What was the teacher-pupil ratio? How serious a part of the curriculum was the teaching of human rights and fundamental freedoms?

63. Mr. ZINA (Burkina Faso), in reply to Mr. Mombeshora, said that contraceptive methods had not been widely available in the past due to the strictness of the colonial laws, the will to deal with the country's high population growth having only developed at the national level during the past 10 years. The latest figures available showed an 8 per cent take-up rate nationwide which, although modest, was a considerable improvement over the 2 per cent of 1989.

64. In the urban areas family planning services were provided by the State and by certain NGOs, and programmes were also being implemented at the national level in conjunction with bilateral and multilateral partners, offering information and advice through dialogue, audio-visual means and group training and discussions. Contraceptives were also made available at subsidized prices, well below the usual commercial rate. The low success rate was not, therefore, due to the services, which were easily accessible, but, as studies had shown, to resistance within the family, largely among the men. In the rural areas, where children traditionally represented wealth and were needed to work the land, the lack of rainfall and increasing unemployment, were beginning to make the women, in particular, realize that children also represented expense and that it would be wise to reduce the number of pregnancies. The difficulty lay in making modern contraceptive services, including the educational aspect, available to them, but efforts were being made by the public services with international cooperation, and should show some impact on the birth rate in the course of the next few years.

65. Vaccination was a priority area in the health service, and there had been regular intensive immunization programmes against all major diseases, although the current trend was to incorporate the programmes, including the mobile services, into the health system and in particular into the maternal and child health services to ensure greater accessibility and wider coverage. With the help of UNICEF and the NGOs there was every expectation that the targets set by the Dakar Summit would be met.

66. Mr. NIGNAN (Burkina Faso) said that the educational system was divided into primary, secondary and advanced levels in State and private schools, all offering general and technical education in French. There was also a level which catered for children unable to go from primary to secondary school and for those who had had no education whatsoever, providing instruction in the national languages. At primary level, there had been 1,519 teachers nationwide, according to 1989/1990 figures although over 1,800 had been needed and it had consequently been necessary to recruit untrained teachers who had completed military service and secondary education, to cope with the increasing attendance. At secondary level, it had been necessary to recruit graduates who had not had the additional benefit of teacher training. Regrettably the lack of training among teachers at both levels was having an impact on results.

67. Burkina Faso had one university with several faculties. There was a training school for pre-school teachers which had been operating for only two or three years; the national school for primary teacher training (ENEP) in Ouagadougou offered two-year courses for secondary school graduates, and two other teacher training schools would be opening shortly. Teaching in human rights, including the rights of the child, was to be introduced into the curricula of teacher-training schools to enable teachers to introduce the subject in the schools.

The meeting rose at 6 p.m.

�1996-2001
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland