II. GENERAL COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

•          CERD General Recommendation XXX (Sixty-fifth session, 2004): Discrimination Against Non-Citizens, A/59/18 (2004) 93 at paras. 8 and 16.

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[The Committee recommends]...that the States parties to the Convention, as appropriate to their specific circumstances, adopt the following measures:

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8. Pay greater attention to the issue of multiple discrimination faced by non-citizens, in particular concerning the children and spouses of non-citizen workers, to refrain from applying different standards of treatment to female non-citizen spouses of citizens and male non-citizen spouses of citizens, to report on any such practices and to take all necessary steps to address them;

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16. Reduce statelessness, in particular statelessness among children, by, for example, encouraging their parents to apply for citizenship on their behalf and allowing both parents to transmit their citizenship to their children;

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•          ICESCR General Comment 15 (Twenty-ninth session, 2002): The Right to Water, E/2003/22 (2002) 120 at paras. 16(b) and 29.

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16. Whereas the right to water applies to everyone, States parties should give special attention to those individuals and groups who have traditionally faced difficulties in exercising this right, including women, children, minority groups, indigenous peoples, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, migrant workers, prisoners and detainees. In particular, States parties should take steps to ensure that:

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(b) Children are not prevented from enjoying their human rights due to the lack of adequate water in educational institutions and households or through the burden of collecting water. Provision of adequate water to educational institutions currently without adequate drinking water should be addressed as a matter of urgency;

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29. Ensuring that everyone has access to adequate sanitation is not only fundamental for human dignity and privacy, but is one of the principal mechanisms for protecting the quality of drinking water supplies and resources.t/ In accordance with the rights to adequate housing and health (see the Committee’s general comments no. 4 (1991) and no. 14 (2000), respectively) States parties have an obligation to progressively extend safe sanitation services, particularly to rural and deprived urban areas, taking into account the needs of women and children.

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Notes

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t/ Article 14, para. 2 (h), of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women stipulates that States parties shall ensure to women the right to “adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to […] sanitation”. Article 24, paragraph 2 (e) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires States parties to ensure that all segments of society are informed and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of the advantages of hygiene and environmental sanitation.

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•          ICESCR General Comment 16 (Thirty-fourth session, 2005): Article 3: The Equal Right of Men and Women to the Enjoyment of all Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, E/2006/22 (2005) 116 at para. 27.

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27. Article 10, paragraph 1, of the Covenant requires that States parties recognize that the widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, and that marriage must be entered into with the free consent of the intending spouses. Implementing article 3, in relation to article 10, requires States parties, inter alia, to provide victims of domestic violence, who are primarily female, with access to safe housing, remedies and redress for physical, mental and emotional damage; to ensure that men and women have an equal right to choose if, whom and when to marry - in particular, the legal age of marriage for men and women should be the same, and boys and girls should be protected equally from practices that promote child marriage, marriage by proxy, or coercion...

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•          CRC General Comment 1 (Twenty-sixth session, 2001): Article 29 (1): The Aims of Education, CRC/C/103 (2001) 150 at para. 10.

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10. Discrimination on the basis of any of the grounds listed in article 2 of the Convention, whether it is overt or hidden, offends the human dignity of the child and is capable of undermining or even destroying the capacity of the child to benefit from educational opportunities. While denying a child’s access to educational opportunities is primarily a matter which relates to article 28 of the Convention, there are many ways in which failure to comply with the principles contained in article 29 (1) can have a similar effect. To take an extreme example, gender discrimination can be reinforced by practices such as a curriculum which is inconsistent with the principles of gender equality, by arrangements which limit the benefits girls can obtain from the educational opportunities offered, and by unsafe or unfriendly environments which discourage girls’ participation. Discrimination against children with disabilities is also pervasive in many formal educational systems and in a great many informal educational settings, including in the home. 4/ Children with HIV/AIDS are also heavily discriminated against in both settings. 5/ All such discriminatory practices are in direct contradiction with the requirements in article 29 (1) (a) that education be directed to the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential.

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Notes

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4/ See General Comment No. 5 (1994) of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on persons with disabilities.

5/ See the recommendations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child after its day of general discussion in 1998 on children living in a world with HIV/AIDS (A/55/41, para. 1536).

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•          CERD General Recommendation XXIX (Sixty-first session, 2002): On Article 1, Paragraph 1, of the Convention (Descent), A/57/18 (2002) 111 at para. rr. For text of General Recommendation, see EQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION - RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.

•          CERD General recommendation XXXI (Sixty-seventh session, 2005): The Prevention of Racial Discrimination in the Administration and Functioning of the Criminal Justice System, A/60/18 (2005) 98 at preamble. For text of General Recommendation, see EQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION - RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.

•          ICCPR General Comment 17 (Thirty-fifth session, 1989): Article 24: Rights of the Child, A/44/40 (1989) 173. For text of General Comment, see CHILDREN’S RIGHTS - GENERAL.

•          ICESCR General Comment 4 (Sixth session, 1991): Article 11(1): The Right to Adequate Housing, E/1992/23 (1991) 114 at para. 8(e). For text of General Comment, see ADEQUATE OR DECENT STANDARD OF LIVING - FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER.

•          CRC General Comment 2 (Thirty-first session, 2002): The Role of Independent National Human Rights Institutions in the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child, A/59/41 (2004) 82 at paras. 5, 12 and 15. For text of General Comment, see CHILDREN’S RIGHTS - GENERAL.

•          CRC General Comment 3 (Thirty-second session, 2003): HIV/AIDS and the Rights of the Child, A/59/41 (2004) 89 at paras. 5-9, 11, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, 28, 30-33, 36, 37, 40(c)-(f) and 42. For text of General Comment, see CHILDREN’S RIGHTS - GENERAL.

•          CRC General Comment 4 (Thirty-third session, 2003): Adolescent Health and Development in the Context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, A/59/41 (2004) 102 at paras. 6, 29, 35 and 41(b). For text of General Comment, see CHILDREN’S RIGHTS - HEALTH.

•          CRC General Comment 5 (Thirty-fourth session, 2003): General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6), A/59/41 (2004) 114 at paras. 3, 12, 30, 40, 41, 48 and 66. For text of General Comment, see CHILDREN’S RIGHTS - GENERAL.

•          CRC General Comment 6 (Thirty-ninth session, 2005): Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside their Country of Origin, A/61/41 (2005) 15 at paras. 1, 3, 13, 18, 46, 76, 77 and 90. For text of General Comment, see CHILDREN'S RIGHTS - GENERAL.