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 Scroll to: _____________________________________________ UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/FJI/CO/18-20) Last reported: 15 – 16 August 2012 Concluding Observations issued: 23 October 2012 Concerns raised: No mention of children’s rights ____________________________________________ UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/FJI/CO/4) Last reported: 14 July 2010 Concluding Observations issued: 30 July 2010 Concerns raised: Violence: The Committee regrets the lack of data and information regarding the incidence of various forms of violence against women and girls, as well as studies and/or surveys on the extent of violence and its root causes. The Committee is also concerned that social support services suffer from inadequacy, insufficiency and a lack of coordination. (para 22) The Committee urges the State party to give priority attention to combating violence against women and girls and to adopting comprehensive measures to address such violence, in accordance with its general recommendation No. 19. Such measures should include the expeditious adoption of a comprehensive law criminalizing all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence with regard to de facto relationships, marital rape, sexual violence, sexual harassment and institutional violence, as well as the development of a coherent and multisectoral action plan to combat violence against women. (…) (para 23) Sexual exploitation: (…) The Committee is also concerned about the exploitation of underage girls in commercial sex work. While the Committee notes that the State party has set up the Transnational Crimes Unit of the Fiji Police Force to investigate the trafficking in persons, which complements the Crimes Decree, it regrets the lack of disaggregated data and information about the prevalence and root causes of trafficking, as well as about training for law enforcement personnel in this regard. (para 24) Education: The Committee welcomes the high rate of enrolment of girls and appreciates the State party’s efforts to ensure access and equal opportunities for boys and girls at all levels of education, to establish re-entry policies enabling young women to return to school after pregnancy, and to set up the “Matua” programme (2004), which encourages interested school leavers and adults to continue their education. However, the Committee is concerned that traditional attitudes, perceived gender roles and poverty — particularly the lack of ability to pay the costs associated with uniforms, shoes, books and transportation — continue to limit girls’ education and contribute to the increase in girls’ dropout rate, particularly in rural areas and the outer islands. The Committee is also concerned about the inadequacy of the reproductive and sexual health education included in the school curriculum. In addition, the Committee is concerned at the gender segregation reflected in students’ choice of the field of education and regrets the insufficient training programmes and educational opportunities for women and girls with disabilities. The Committee urges the State party to take steps to overcome traditional attitudes that, in some rural areas and outer islands, may constitute obstacles to girls’ and women’s education and to the retention of girls in school. The Committee also calls on the State party to actively encourage the diversification of educational and professional choices for women and men and to provide incentives for young women to enter traditionally male-dominated fields of study. The Committee urges the State party to ensure the budgetary allocation necessary for the continued implementation of programmes to facilitate the education of children, especially girls, from poor families and to strengthen reproductive and sexual health programmes, including sex education targeting adolescent girls and boys, with special attention accorded to the prevention of early pregnancy and the control of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. The Committee requests the State party to include in its next report information about the measures taken and their gender impact, as well as information about access to education for women and girls with disabilities. (para 29) Health: (…) The Committee is particularly concerned about the lack of access to adequate health care services for women and girls with disabilities, including mental and psychosocial disabilities. In this regard, the Committee notes the need to reform the Mental Health Treatment Act to ensure, inter alia, rehabilitation and reintegration following hospital treatment, as well as the need to raise awareness about the full and equal human rights of people with mental and psychosocial disabilities. The Committee also notes with concern that in rural areas, poverty and the inability to afford transportation have had a negative impact on women’s access to health. In addition, the Committee is concerned about the limited access to reproductive and sexual health services, especially in some rural areas and outer islands, and about the fact that violence against women has increased the vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS infection. (para 32) ____________________________________________ UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Signed in 2010, but not yet ratified. ____________________________________________ UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Not yet signed or ratified. ____________________________________________ Not yet signed or ratified. ____________________________________________ Not yet signed or ratified. ____________________________________________ UN Committee on Migrant Workers Not yet signed or ratified. ____________________________________________ UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance Not yet signed or ratified.
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.