Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of all UN Treaty Bodies and their follow-up procedures. This does not include the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are available here: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/index.asp
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.
Scroll to:
- UN Human Rights Committee
- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
-
UN Committee against Torture
- follow-up - UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- UN Committee on Migrant Workers
- UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
_____________________________________________
(CCPR/C/CMR/CO/4)
Last reported: 19 and 20 July 2010
Concluding Observations issued: 28 and 29 2010
Concerns raised:
- Child marriage: There have been reported cases of marriages of girls as young as 12 years old, and the Committee regrets that the State party has not taken measures to address the different ages for marriage between women and men, set at 15 and 18 respectively. The Committee urges the State party to amend its legislation by raising the minimum legal age for marriage for girls to the same age as for boys. Appropriate measures, including awareness-raising campaigns, should also be taken to protect girls from early marriage. (paragraph 9)
- Female genital mutilation: The Committee remains concerned about the continuation of this practice, and the lack of an explicit legal prohibition of female genital mutilation. The State party should introduce specific legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation and redouble its efforts to raise awareness about the need to end this practice. (paragraph 10)
- Child detention: The Committee is concerned that minors continue to be detained with adults. There is a need for a stronger oversight of prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners. The State party should ensure that conditions of detention should comply with the Covenant and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners. The State party should take measures to ensure the separation in prisons of minors from adults.(paragraph 21)
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(E.C.12/CMR/CO/2-3)
Last reported: 21 and 22 November 2011 Concluding Observations issued: 23 January 2012
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Individuals with disabilities: The Committee is concerned about the apparent difficulties confronting disabled persons in education and on the labour market, given that, in spite of legislative and institutional measures adopted by the State party, only 52 out of 25,000 people recently hired by the civil service have disabilities. In addition, while taking note of inter-ministerial decisions designed to facilitate access by such persons to education, the Committee regrets that it has received no specific information about how access by the disabled to education and employment is realized in practice, or on the measures taken or planned on the basis of those decisions to facilitate their access to and use of public or private buildings and institutions, as provided for in the Act on the Protection and Advancement of Persons with Disabilities.
The Committee recommends that the State party take concrete and effective measures and allocate the resources needed in order to implement the Act on the Protection and Advancement of Persons with Disabilities. In addition, the Committee recommends that the State party promote the inclusion of disabled persons in education and the labour market, in particular by introducing a quota system. It further recommends that the State party ensure that the denial of reasonable accommodation is regarded as a form of discrimination under the law and as a matter of policy. The Committee also requests that the State party provide disaggregated comparative data in its next periodic report on the impact of the measures taken and draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 5 (1994) on persons with disabilities. (art. 2, para. 2) (Para. 11)
Labour market: The Committee remains concerned about the high rates of unemployment and underemployment, which have worsened since the onset of the economic crisis in the State party, especially among young people and women. The Committee also notes with concern that the great majority of young people work in the informal economy. The Committee, while taking note of the major projects planned for 2012 that the State party maintains should boost employment, recommends that it: (a) Include in its employment policy measures to overcome obstacles preventing young people and women from entering the formal labour market; (b) Develop professional training that meets the needs of the labour market; (c) Ensure that activities of the National Employment Fund, such as support for setting up microbusinesses and vocational training, help to create jobs in the formal economy; (d) Provide the National Employment Fund and the National Monitoring Service for Employment and Vocational Training with the resources they require to function properly. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 18 (2005) on the right to work. (art. 6) (Para. 14)
Minimum wage: The Committee remains concerned that the guaranteed minimum wage, which was set after tripartite negotiations, does not provide a decent living for workers and their families. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that the guaranteed minimum wage is sufficient to provide workers and their families with a decent living, as set forth under article 7 of the Covenant. In this regard, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure that the mechanism for setting and reviewing the minimum wage takes into account the minimum requirements for subsistence and the cost-of-living index. (art. 7) (Para. 15)
Child labour: The Committee notes with concern that the minimum age for working in the State party is 14 years. It is equally concerned that children under the age of 15 years work in plantations and in private households. The Committee also has doubts about the effectiveness of measures taken by the State party to combat child labour, given the low number of children in the care of public institutions The Committee urges the State party to bring its legislation into line with international child labour standards, in particular with regard to the minimum age and the various categories of hazardous work. In addition, the Committee strongly recommends that the State party take all the necessary measures, including more frequent visits by labour inspectors, to enforce legislation prohibiting child labour and to ensure that people who employ illegal child labour are prosecuted. The Committee requests that the State party include information in its next periodic report on prosecutions and convictions in this regard. (art. 10) (Para. 19)
Violence against females: The Committee notes with concern that acts of violence against women and girls, domestic violence, female genital mutilation and even sexual harassment are still not explicitly prohibited by the law of the State party, in spite of the Committee’s previous recommendations. The Committee also notes with concern the absence of penalties under the State party’s law for acts such as marital rape and breast ironing. Furthermore, the Committee regrets the lack of reliable information on how widespread such practices are in the State party.
The Committee strongly recommends that the State party expedite the review and adoption of laws designed to strengthen the legal framework to combat violence against women and girls and to ensure that domestic violence, female genital mutilation and sexual harassment, along with breast-ironing and marital rape, are made punishable under the Criminal Code and that perpetrators are prosecuted. The Committee also recommends that national awareness-raising campaigns be conducted to combat all forms of violence against women and girls. The Committee requests that the State party include information in its next report on how widespread the various forms of violence against women and girls are, together with statistics on prosecutions and convictions. (art. 10) (Para. 20)
Poverty: The Committee remains concerned that, despite the State party’s efforts, which have helped to reduce urban poverty, the problem of poverty has worsened in rural areas and in Adamaoua, East, North and Far North provinces. The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to combat poverty, especially in rural, disadvantaged and marginalized areas. The Committee also recommends that the State party focus on the rights of vulnerable groups, especially women and children, as well as other disadvantaged and marginalized groups. It refers the State party to its statement on Poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/2001/10). The Committee asks the State party to provide in its next periodic report information on how much of the budget is allocated to combating poverty in disadvantaged areas and comparative data disaggregated by sex, region and urban/rural area on poverty rates. (art. 11) (Para. 21)
Access to drinking water: While noting the improved access to safe drinking water in the State party and the programme that is under way to extend water supply and electricity to rural areas, the Committee notes with concern that much of the rural population still does not have access to them. The Committee also notes the high cost of water and of individual connections to the public network, and the large number of children forced to help fetch safe drinking water. The Committee urges the State party to step up efforts to improve access to safe drinking water, particularly in rural areas. It further recommends that the State party take the necessary measures to improve water supply to homes and to ensure that the planned 70,000 community connections benefit the most disadvantaged groups. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water. It also recommends that the State party raise public awareness of the very harmful effect on children’s health of carrying heavy jugs of water. (arts. 10 and 11) (Para. 25)
Health: The Committee remains concerned about the inadequacy of policies implemented by the State party to reduce infant and maternal mortality. It also regrets that the rate of teenage pregnancy remains high and, above all, that 20 per cent of abortions performed on teenage girls are carried out illegally, putting their health and lives in danger. The Committee urges the State party to take all necessary measures to reduce infant and maternal mortality and to facilitate the access of women and adolescent girls to sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning and birth control information. The Committee also urges the State party to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of laws designed to prevent maternal mortality caused by illegal abortions. (arts. 10 and 12) (Para. 27)
Sanitation: The Committee notes with concern that cholera epidemics, which are linked to poor sanitation, remain frequent in spite of the State party’s efforts to bring them under control. The Committee also observes that, according to data from Cameroon’s National Institute of Statistics, only 14.2 per cent of rural households have decent toilets. The Committee urges the State party to step up efforts to prevent cholera and to develop public sanitation and waste treatment services and the provision of safe water, especially in rural areas and including in schools. It further recommends that the State party take the necessary measures to improve access to adequate sanitation facilities. The State party should provide information in its next periodic report on the implementation of this recommendation and on the percentage of schools equipped with adequate and separate toilets. The Committee refers the State party to its statement on the right to sanitation (2011). (arts. 11 and 12) (Para. 29)
HIV/AIDS: The Committee is concerned about the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the State party, which remains high despite a decline in recent years resulting from measures taken thus far. The Committee recommends that the State party continue efforts to improve access to, and the availability and quality of, services for the prevention of AIDS, while also developing treatment services, especially in rural areas, paying particular attention to vulnerable groups such as women, young people and children, and risk groups such as sex workers and prisoners. The Committee also asks the State party to ensure that persons living with HIV/AIDS are aware of their human rights and the laws that protect them. (art. 12) (Para. 30)
Education: Although free public primary education has been introduced, the Committee is concerned about the high cost of related expenses, including parent association fees, which parents have to pay when enrolling their children. The Committee is also concerned about unequal access to primary education in Adamaoua, North and Far North provinces, where girls receive less schooling. In addition, the Committee notes that, although the State party has improved school attendance rates, low retention levels in primary schools and establishments that dispense transitional education to secondary schooling continue to lie at the heart of the child labour issue. The Committee observes furthermore that only 5 per cent of the population goes on to higher education.
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that education is free of charge and equally accessible to all. It recommends that the State party offer financial assistance to low-income families to cover education-related expenses. The Committee also insists on the need for stronger measures to reduce the dropout rate. It further urges the State party to expand access to higher education in order to provide the labour market with the skills essential to the country’s growth. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 13 (1999) on the right to education. (arts. 13 and 14) (Para. 32)
Treaty ratification: The Committee encourages the State party to consider ratifying the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
_____________________________________________
Last reported: 28 April and 7 May 2010
Concluding Observations issued: 12 May 2010
Concerns raised:
- Arbitrary detention: The Committee is concerned by the use of civil imprisonment which means that persons, including minors, who have completed their sentences may be held in detention for a further period ranging from 20 days to five years, depending on how much money they owe. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that imprisonment is used only as a last resort. (paragraph 15)
- Separation of minors from adults: The Committee is also concerned by reports that there is no systematic separation of minors from adults and that female prisoners can be guarded by male staff. It recommends that Cameroon reorganise prisons to improve detention conditions for minors and to ensure that they are always detained separately from adults, and further develop alternative detention centres for minors away from prisons. (paragraph 15).
- Violence: The Committee is concerned about the high rate of violence against women and girls, especially the widespread domestic violence that continues to go unpunished. In addition, it reiterates its previous recommendation in which it encouraged the State party to amend its legislation to end the exemption from punishment of rapists who marry their victims, where the victims were minors when the crime was committed. The State should raise public awareness, through information and education programmes, of the fact that all forms of violence against women and girls constitute a violation of the Convention. It urges Cameroon to ensure that violence against women and girls is made a criminal offence and that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished, and that the victims are rehabilitated, ensure that victims they can seek immediate redress, protection and compensation. Any barriers to justice for women and girls should be removed and legal assistance made available to victims of violence. The Committee suggested that legislation that exempts from punishment rapists who marry their victims be amended. (paragraph 30)
- Data collection: The report does not feature disaggregated data on violence against women and children or the outcomes of the prosecutions initiated. The State should establish effective mechanisms to collect data and generate criminal statistics in order to monitor the implementation of the Convention, and include this data in the following report. (paragraph 31)
-------------------------------
UN Committee against Torture: Follow-up
The Committee requested follow-up information to be provided within one year on concerns issued in paragraphs 14, 18, 19 and 25 of its Concluding Observations. Paragraph 19 concerned children:
"The Committee takes note of the investigations into the events of February 2008 and of the report drawn up in 2009, although it has not received a copy. It also notes the administrative inquiry made into allegations of human rights violations, especially the right to life, by security forces, which concluded that they had acted in self-defence. However, the Committee is concerned about credible reports from a variety of sources alleging that the security forces have carried out, against adults and children, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and violations of the right to a fair trial. It is also concerned about the lack of thorough
individual, impartial and forensic medical investigations of alleged extrajudicial killings and acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by the security forces (arts. 2, 11, 12 and 16).
The Committee recommends that a full, thorough and independent inquiry be opened into the events of February 2008. The State party should also publish the report on the inquiries it has carried out and submit a copy of it to the Committee for appraisal. At the same time, the State party should promptly begin thorough, impartial and forensic medical investigations into allegations of extrajudicial killings, acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by the security forces and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice and sentenced appropriately."
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
CEDAW/C/CMR/CO/4-5
Last reported: 12 February 2014
Concluding Observations issued: 28 February 2014
Concerns and recommendations:
Nationality: The Committee is concerned that the Nationality Code provides different conditions for women and men as regards to the acquisition, transmission and retention of Cameroonian nationality. (para. 24)
The Committee recommends that the State party revise the Nationality Code in order to ensure equal rights to nationality of women and men. (para. 25)
Birth registration: The Committee expresses concern that many girls are not registered at birth, in particular in the Bakassi zone, due to lack of legal literacy, financial barriers and long distances to civil registration offices, which prevents girls from: i) obtaining personal documents, ii) accessing social security, healthcare education and eventually formal employment, and iii) benefiting from accurate age-verification to curtail child marriages. (para. 24)
The Committee recommends that the State party revise the Nationality Code in order to ensure that women and girls in rural and remote areas, including in the Bakassi zone, are aware of the procedures and requirements for birth registration and that they do not face financial and other barriers in obtaining birth registration. (para. 25)
Education: The Committee remains concerned about the high rate of female illiteracy and the high dropout rate among girls, due to child marriage and early pregnancy. (para. 26)
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure equal access to all levels of education. Including by eliminating child marriages; enabling young women to return to school after giving birth and providing incentives for parents to send their daughters to school. As well as raise awareness among communities, families, students, teachers and decision-makers, especially men, about the importance of women’s and girls’ education. (para. 27)
Work: The Committee is deeply concerned about the exploitative and hazardous conditions of work faced by women and girls working in plantations and in the mining sector. It also remains concerned about reported cases of women kept in hereditary slavery by traditional chiefs and the exploitation of girls in the context of foster arrangements. (para. 30)
The Committee recommends that the State party protect women and girls working in plantations through the regulation and monitoring of their working conditions, increased inspections and the imposition of fines for such employers; collect information on reported cases of women kept by traditional chiefs in hereditary slavery; and raise awareness among the general public on the negative impact of exploitation of girls in the context of foster arrangements and prosecute and punish perpetrators of such exploitation. (para. 31)
Health: The Committee remains concerned about the high rate of maternal mortality, partly due to the shortage in blood supplies and the lack of effective implementation of the 2003 law on blood transfusion; the lack of access to basic health-care services, including essential obstetric care, in particular in rural areas; the limited availability and accessibility of comprehensive education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including on responsible sexual behaviour, and of family planning services as well as the low rate of contraceptive use. The Committee is further concerned about the conditions under which abortion is legally available, which do not include instances of incest; and the disproportionately high number of women living with HIV/AIDS and the delay in adopting the draft law on the protection of persons living with HIV/AIDS. (para. 32)
The Committee calls on the State party to increase access for women and girls, in particular rural women, to basic health-care services; widely promote education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including by undertaking awareness-raising campaigns about available contraceptive methods; and increase access to safe and affordable contraceptive services throughout the State party and ensure that women and girls do not face barriers in accessing information on family planning. The Committee further calls on the State party to consider broadening the conditions under which abortion can be legally available, including in instances of incest; and intensify measures to reduce the disproportionately high rate of HIV/AIDS among women; ensure the effective implementation of the 2011-2015 National Strategic Plan to Combat HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases; and adopt without delay the draft law on the protection of persons living with HIV/AIDS. (para. 33)
Disadvantaged groups: The Committee is concerned about the lack of adequate protection and assistance for disadvantaged groups of women such as those belonging to the Pygmy and Mbororo communities and mountain and island populations; women albinos, girls living in the street, older women and women with disabilities who are victims of stigmatization; lesbian, bisexual and transgender women who are victims of discrimination and criminalization; and women refugees and internally displaced women who face difficulties in accessing basic services. (para. 36)
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that women facing discrimination have access without discrimination to basic services, including health, education, adequate water and sanitation. In particular, it should:
- Raise awareness among the population with a view to eliminating the stigmatization of women albinos, girls living in the street, older women and women with disabilities; and ensure that they have access, without discrimination, to support for income generating activities;
- Raise awareness among political, traditional and religious leaders, as well as members of civil society
- Ensure that refugee women and internally displaced women do not face discrimination; and consider ratifying the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention). (para. 37)
Marriage and family relations: The Committee is concerned about the existence of discriminatory legal provisions, including those relating to polygamy; the husband’s role as the head of household; the choice of residence by the husband; the administration of family property and of the wife’s property by the husband; and the lower minimum age of marriage for women compared to that for men. (para. 38)
The Committee recommends that the State party repeal all discriminatory provisions relating to marriage and family relations; and sensitize traditional leaders on the importance of eliminating customary practices that discriminate against married women with regard to land retention. (para. 39)
------------------------------------------------------------
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW/C/CMR/CO/3)
Last reported: 28 January 2009
Concluding Observations issued: 10 February 2009
Concerns and recommendations:
- The trafficking and prostitution of women and girls persists, despite State measures taken to combat the problem. (paragraphs 30, 31)
- Discrimination: the minimum legal age for marriage is 18 for men and 15 women, constituting not only discrimination against women, but also an infringement of article 16 of the Convention. The Committee welcomes the draft law on the Family Code, which sets the minimum legal age for marriage at 18 years for both women and men. The Committee urges the State party to accelerate the adoption of the draft law on the prevention and punishment of violence against women and gender-based discrimination and to give priority attention to combating violence against women and girls, in particular domestic violence. (paragraphs 16, 17)
- Female genital mutilation and other harmful practices: The Committee is seriously concerned about the persistence in some areas of the country of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and breast ironing, and that the State party has not taken sustained and systematic action directed at their elimination. It also reiterates the concern expressed in its previous concluding observations, as also expressed by the Committee against Torture (see CAT/C/34/Add.17) and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (see E/C.12/1/Add.40), that practices impeding the enjoyment of women's rights, such as female genital mutilation and breast ironing, are still occurring in some parts of the country and that there is no law to punish them. The Committee is also concerned that little sensitisation is being done to eradicate these practices. The Committee urges the State party to enact national legislation to prohibit female genital mutilation, as well as any other harmful practice, such as breast ironing, in all instances, to strengthen its awareness-raising and educational efforts, targeted at both women and men, with the support of civil society, and to eliminate the practices of female genital mutilation and breast ironing and their underlying cultural justifications. It also encourages the State party to devise programmes for alternate sources of income for those who perform female genital mutilation as a means of livelihood. (paragraphs 28, 29)
- There is a high rate of violence against women and girls, such as widespread domestic violence perpetrated by husbands and other male relatives, and that no specific law on violence against women has been adopted. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that such violence appears to be socially legitimised by a culture of silence and impunity and is socially accepted in most cases. It requests the State party to raise public awareness, through the media and education programmes, of the fact that all forms of violence against women constitute discrimination under the Convention and therefore in violation of women's human rights. The Committee calls upon the State party to ensure that violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, marital rape and all forms of sexual abuse, constitutes a criminal offence; that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished and victims rehabilitated; and that women and girls who are victims of violence have access to immediate means of redress and protection. There is a lack of data and information on violence against women and girls disaggregated by age group. (paragraph 26)
- Not all girls attend school because of a number of factors that include poverty and social stereotypes, especially those living in rural areas. The Committee urges the State to adopt comprehensive measures to improve the education of girls in rural areas.(paragraphs 34, 35)
- Only male children are regarded as heirs. According to most traditions, a woman has no right to inherit from her parents, especially her father. (paragraph 46)
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
(CERD/C/CMR/CO/15-18)
Last reported: 22 and 23 February 2010
Concluding Observations issued: 5 March 2010
Concerns raised:
Education: The Committee commends the adoption of an education sector strategy paper that seeks to improve access to and equality in education. The study of discriminatory stereotypes is part of the education programme, and priority education zones have been established to encourage girls and indigenous children to attend school. (paragraph 8)
A major concern of the Committee is that indigenous peoples are still disadvantaged in accessing education, because there is a mismatch between the school system and their way of life, because of the difficulties for these people to obtain birth certificates, that primary schooling is not free due to other related expenses and bullying in schools against indigenous children by teachers and other pupils.
The Committee recommends guaranteeing access to all levels of education for indigenous children by:
- guaranteeing free access and providing birth certificates;
- adapting the school system to the ways of life of indigenous peoples;
- developing and implementing education programmes that address the particular needs of indigenous children, including to teach them about their history, culture, technologies and value systems;
- combating violence against indigenous children in school. (paragraph 16)
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on Migrant Workers
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
_____________________________________________