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Summary: A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the first Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'National Report', the 'Compilation of UN Information' and the 'Summary of Stakeholder's Information'. Also included is the final report and the list of accepted and rejected recommendations. Latvia - 11th Session - 2011 Scroll to: National Report 11. Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee of the Parliament monitors human rights developments in the country, including society integration, issues raised by the mass media, activities of religious organizations, human rights of persons detained in places of deprivation of liberty, promotion of gender equality, combating trafficking in human beings and elimination of violence in educational institutions. The Committee reviews relevant draft laws and performs parliamentary oversight over relevant institutions. To promote the observance of interests of children, the Committee established a Sub-Committee on the Protection of the Rights of Children. For example, the Sub-Committee is involved in the preparation of draft laws providing broader mandate to institutions dealing with protection of children's rights. Aspects of human rights are also considered by other parliamentary committees. 13. Pursuant to the Constitution, public administration institutions are subordinated to the Cabinet of Ministers. Sectoral ministries are responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights and for the implementation of international human rights obligations. Under their subordination there operate various rights protection and implementation supervising institutions. For example, the State Inspectorate for Protection of Children's Rights operates under supervision of the Ministry of Welfare. Administration of the Maintenance Guarantee Fund, under supervision of the Ministry of Justice, ensures children's right to social security by guaranteeing the minimal amount of maintenance if a child is financially supported by only one of the parents and the other parent is not fulfilling court's order on child maintenance payments. Legal Aid Administration, under supervision of the Ministry of Justice, offers state funded legal aid to low income individuals and disburses state compensations to victims. The State Probation Service, subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, ensures that imposed community service orders are performed to an adequate standard and promotes social reintegration of former convicts released from imprisonment. Health Inspectorate, subordinate to the Ministry of Health, supervises access to and delivery of health-care services. 20. Local governments provide social assistance and social care, access to health-care services and education and take part in society integration processes. For example, local governments provide social assistance (social benefits) to low-income families and socially vulnerable individuals and provide long-term and short-term social care and social rehabilitation services in the place of a person's residence or in an institution. Social assistance services are provided by local governments' social departments. Local governments provide orphans and children without parental care with places in education and upbringing institutions, provide them with guardianship, custody, adoption and protect personal and pecuniary rights and interests of children. Orphans courts have been established for the protection of the rights and interests of children or other legally incapacitated persons. Each municipality must ensure access to health-care services and the possibility for children and young persons living in its administrative territory, to obtain education. A number of municipalities have established Population Consultative Councils, formulating proposals concerning outstanding issues. 21. Prosecutor's Office is an institution within judiciary, which, within its competence, independently supervises the observance of rule of law. When implementing functions vested by law, Prosecutor's Office supervises pre-trial investigation, commences and performs prosecution and brings charges on behalf of the State in court proceedings, including inter alia charges for committing crimes involving violations of fundamental human rights. Prosecutor's Office also supervises execution of sentences of deprivation of liberty applied by courts and participates in court hearings concerning alteration of the term or other conditions of the imposed sentence. The protection of persons' rights within civil proceedings is performed by the prosecutor's participation and provision of an expert opinion in hearings before a court in cases concerning permission or annulment of adoption, establishing a person's legal incapacity and the establishment of custody. Complaints addressed to the Prosecutor's Office about the protection of person's rights are mostly linked with civil law issues, violations of the rights and lawful interests of minors and violations of the rights and lawful interests of detainees. Since the enactment of the Law on Constitutional Court, the Prosecutor's Office has submitted to the Constitutional Court three applications; two of them were satisfied. 24. In 2001 Latvia was one of the first states to issue a standing invitation to UN human rights special procedures; since then the mandate holders of UN special procedures have visited Latvia three times (in 2004 – Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; in 2007 – Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; in 2008 - Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography). Latvia promotes the issue of a standing invitation by urging all UN Member States to extend it at the Human Rights Council sessions and UPR Working Group sessions. 53. Asylum procedures are in place since 1998 when the Law on Asylum Seekers and Refugees entered into force. In most cases Latvia is a transit country. As a destination country Latvia is attractive mostly to asylum-seekers from neighboring countries. From 1998 until the second part of 2010, 356 persons, including 128 children, have requested asylum. Refugee status, as provided for in the Geneva Convention, has been granted to 29 persons, while the alternative status – to 39 persons. Out of all persons who had received refugee status or alternative status, four persons have already naturalized and became Latvian citizens. From 2002 to 2008 seven unaccompanied foreign minors have entered Latvia. Alternative status has been granted to three unaccompanied minors, while none of the unaccompanied minors has been granted refugee status. 54. The new Asylum Law, adopted in 2009, provides that during the procedure for granting asylum, asylum seekers are provided with necessary living conditions in the accommodation center, and receive financial assistance for subsistence and for purchase of hygienic and basic items. Upon commencing their residence in Latvia, refugees and persons who have been granted alternative status receive an allowance covering subsistence costs and an allowance for learning the state language. Refugees' and asylum-seekers' children are provided with the opportunity to receive education. 58. During the past few years increased attention has been paid to planning the policy of execution of sentences, by drafting policy planning documents and amending national laws. The most important documents are the Concept Paper on Resocialization of Convicted Prisoners, the Policy Guidelines on Education of Imprisoned Persons, the draft Concept on Employment of Convicted Prisoners 2006-2010, the Policy Guidelines on the Enforcement of Prison Sentences and Detention of Juveniles for 2007–2013. 67. The Criminal Law penalizes rape and sexual assault. Aggravated responsibility applies if the raped person is a minor (the sentence of imprisonment from five to fifteen years with police control for three years), as well as in case of a small child (the imposed sentence is life imprisonment or imprisonment from ten to twenty years with police control up to three years). The Criminal Law considers as an aggravated circumstance if a crime has been committed through abusing person's official, material or other dependence. Courts apply this aggravated circumstance also in cases when sex crime has been committed within the family. 69. There are NGOs providing support to victims of domestic violence in the regions. Local governments and NGOs ensure operation of crisis centers that provide professional assistance, support and information to victims of domestic violence. Social rehabilitation of children victims of domestic violence is financed from the State budget. If a child victim needs a companion or if the companion him/herself needs protection from violence, his/her accommodation expenses at the receiving institution are also covered by the State. 71. The system for the protection of children's rights and its main operational principles are governed by the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child. Local governments' social services, police, educational, health-care and social care institutions form part of this system. Efficient cooperation of these institutions is prerequisite for the effective functioning of the children's rights protection system. 72. State Inspectorate for Protection of Children's Rights, the main institution for the protection of children's rights, is subordinate to the Ministry of Welfare. It monitors children's rights, provides methodological assistance and implements educational and informative activities. The Inspectorate examines the compliance with children's rights by different institutions; it also examines the cases of children without parental care, public sport and recreational facilities and cases concerning children and other legally incapacitated persons under the competence of Orphans courts. The Inspectorate is authorized to examine administrative offence cases in respect of violations of children's rights (physical or emotional violence performed against a child by public officials or employees; unlawful involvement of children in events). The Inspectorate, in cooperation with the Internet Association, performs awareness-raising activities for children, youth, teachers and parents concerning internet security and possible threats posed on the Internet. A special website is available for public to report electronically about offences on the Internet. These reports are processed and, if necessary, transferred to the State Police. 73. A hotline providing psychological help is available to children and teenagers, while observing their anonymity. If a child provides information on possible violence or other unlawful activities against the child, such information is forwarded to the Inspectorate for Protection of Children's Rights, which performs inspections and other necessary activities in cooperation with the State Police, the Orphans court and other services, to prevent any possible violation of children's rights. 74. At the local level Orphans courts monitor the observance of children's rights in the family. It monitors observance of children's rights in the family and implementation of guardianship rights, addresses family disputes pursuant to the Law on Custody Courts. If a child is a victim of domestic violence or suffers from parents' negligence, the Orphans court may decide on placing a child in out-of-family care, with a guardian, foster family or in a child-care institution. Observance of children's rights must also be ensured by other State and local government institutions and officials. 75. The Satversme guarantees everyone's right to education and that the primary and secondary education is free of charge. Pursuant to the Satversme, primary education is compulsory. Each Latvia's citizen and permanent resident, citizens of the European Union Member States holding a temporary residence permit, and their children have equal right to education. 76. In the beginning of the 2009/2010 school year, preschool groups were attended by 98% of the compulsory preschool age (from five years) children. Preschool education is available in Latvian, Russian, Polish and Hebrew. From 2002 to 2009 a provision of the Education Law on compulsory preparation of children of five and six years of age for the acquisition of elementary education was successfully implemented. During seven years appropriate environment, premises, material-technical resources, as well as transportation for children residing in the respective administrative territory to educational institutions was provided for successful implementation of preschool educational programs. 77. Children with special needs can obtain education in special educational institutions (partly separated environment), in special classes of general educational institutions (integrative environment) or in general educational institutions (inclusive environment). In 2009/2010 school-year there were 63 special educational institutions, where 8,906 children studied, that is 3.9% of the total number of pupils. Any general educational institution can obtain a license for special educational programmes; to date 200 institutions have used this opportunity. Thereby, pupils with different special educational needs can study in general educational institutions. 78. The State subsidizes local governments to implement extracurricular educational programmes. Children and youth centers provide activity opportunities for such target groups as children in social risk groups, children from socially disadvantageous families, children whose parents are working abroad, children with special needs (with health problems), children from low-income families, children from large families, children receiving education at home, children registered at the State Probation Service, children supervised by the Minors Inspectorates, minors kept in places of imprisonment and children living in orphanages. 88. During the past three years the national budget assigned to health-care reaches an average of 3.5% GDP. The right to receive fully state-funded health-care is provided to: children under age 18; women – care during pregnancy and assistance during childbirth; individuals infected with tuberculosis; mentally ill persons during psychiatric treatment; individuals assigned the 1st degree of physical disability; low income individuals and other groups of population. 89. Health-care of pregnant women and children is a priority. Children have access to free health-care (including family doctor home visits, dental care, vaccination, preventive check-ups). Children are offered free vaccinations against tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, German measles, epidemic parotitis, b type Haemophilus influenzae infection, hepatitis B, chicken pox, tick encephalitis and pneumococcal infection. As of 1 September 2010 twelve year old girls are vaccinated by state-funded vaccines against human papilloma virus to eliminate the risk of cervical cancer. The number of vaccinated children exceeds the recommended level of the WHO - for example, 97% of children are vaccinated against polio and 97% against diphtheria and tetanus. 94. In 2004 Latvia ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol). Already in 2002 the Criminal Law was amended by introducing a new Article 'Trafficking in human beings'. Since 2000 the Article 'Sending a Person for Sexual Exploitation' of the Criminal Law provides a broadened definition of trafficking in human beings as prescribed by the UN Convention of the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. Accordingly, it is possible to hold an individual criminally accountable for sending a person for sexual exploitation even before such an individual commits a crime. From 2000 to 2010, 185 criminal proceedings have been initiated in accordance with the Criminal Law for sending a person for sexual exploitation, 42 criminal cases and criminal proceedings - for human trafficking. 96. Over the years, the Criminal Law and the Administrative Offences Code have been amended to decrease the demand for prostitution services. Any activity by a third person supporting prostitution is prohibited. Since 2009 the Criminal Law penalizes the establishment, maintenance, management and financing of a brothel. Involving a minor in prostitution or compelling to engage in prostitution is penalized by the Criminal Law. 109. Opinion poll of school principals and Roma parents, on the results of the implementation of the training programme for teacher assistants of Roma origin demonstrate that work of teacher assistants is assessed as 'good' and 'excellent'. This allows to conclude that teacher assistants significantly promote education achievements by Roma children and motivates parents of Roma origin to ensure that their children acquire education. This Latvian initiative has been highlighted by the Council of Europe as a good practice. In future, it is envisaged that the Roma community related issues will be addressed within the general policy framework for society integration to facilitate inclusion of the Roma community integration policy within the sectoral policy. 110. The Law on Subsistence Guarantee Fund entered into force in 2004 to ensure child's right to social security, by establishing the Subsistence Guarantee Fund guaranteeing the minimal amount of subsistence in case a child is financially supported by only one of the parents and the other parent is not fulfilling a court's order on payment of subsistence or is fulfilling it in insufficient amount. The main functions of the Subsistence Guarantee Fund are: 1) to ensure the disbursement of subsistence means for children if one of the parents does not pay for the child's support and the recovery of child's support is impossible; 2) to administer funding allocated from the State budget and finances recovered from the debtor, to ensure control over disbursal of funds; 3) to register persons to whom child support has been disbursed from the Fund and debtors. 111. The main challenges in the field of children's rights relate to the elimination of different obstacles precluding access to favorable conditions for child's development, including domestic violence, neglect, in-school and out-of-school violence, poverty, disability, behavioral and functional disorders. 112. During the past few years a tendency to induce minor persons and small children in sexual activities by using electronic communication means, including social communication networks on the internet, has been observed. In 2008 the Criminal Law was amended, thereby penalizing inducing of a person under the age of 16 years or a small child to engage in sexual acts or inducing a minor or a small child to meet with the aim to commit sexual acts. 113. Efficient activities of law-enforcement institutions have significantly decreased the number of crimes related to engagement in prostitution of minors and small children (between 2005 and 2007, 3 criminal cases have been examined and 5 individuals were convicted, while there have been no such cases between 2008 and 1 September 2010). A comparatively high number of crimes is still related to production and dissemination of pornographic and erotic materials, involving minors and small children (between 2005 and 1 September 2010, 23 criminal cases have been examined and 26 persons were convicted). 114. The creation of the Information System on Support for Minors began at the end of 2009. The System aims to ensure efficient processing of information on children at risk (for example, minors who have committed an offence, vagrants, those living in socially unfavorable or dangerous environment etc.), thereby facilitating exchange of operational information and cooperation between law-enforcement, social and education institutions to early eliminate juvenile delinquency and victimization. 121. In the field of children's rights protection the national priority is child's development in a friendly environment – in the family. Key initiatives in overcoming challenges in this area relate to the necessity to improve cooperation between different services in order to timely prevent violation of child's rights, as well as with the supervision and provision of methodological assistance in order to raise the quality of work of the respective services (in particular, with regard to the State Inspectorate for Protection of Children's Rights as it supervises the work of services and provides methodological assistance). 7. CESCR and the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography recommended that Latvia allocate sufficient human and financial resources to the Office of the Rights Defender. The Special Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance recommended that Latvia should strengthen the capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman to thoroughly investigate and act on allegations of racist crimes and incitement to racial, ethnic or religious hatred and, in particular, strengthen and enlarge the Office's anti-discrimination unit. Furthermore, CAT encouraged Latvia to seek accreditation with the ICC to ensure that it complies with the Paris Principles. 12. In 2009, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography encouraged Latvia to ensure that sufficient funds were made available for all child protection programmes, ensuring that a child-rights approach was integral to all implemented programmes. 13. In 2007, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance recommended that Latvia should reinforce its National Action Programme on the Roma 2007–2009. In 2010, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations noted a number of measures taken, within the framework of that programme, to raise enrolment rates among Roma children. 20. CRC reiterated its concern that the principle of non-discrimination was not fully implemented for children belonging to minorities, including Roma children, children with disabilities, and children living in rural areas, in particular with regard to their access to adequate health and education facilities. 21. CRC, in 2006, was concerned at regional disparities between rural and urban areas, and marked social inequalities within the population. Furthermore, CESCR, in 2008, was concerned that the strategies to alleviate poverty did not sufficiently address the regional disparities that affect the equal enjoyment by all of economic, social and cultural rights. 32. CESCR, in 2007, was concerned about the high incidence of domestic violence and other forms of abuse against women and children, which, it found, often went unreported. Furthermore, CAT was concerned that domestic violence was not defined in national legislation and that marital rape was not recognized as a specific crime. CEDAW, in 2004, and HR Committee in 2003 had expressed similar concerns. CAT recommended that Latvia increase its efforts to prevent, combat and punish violence against women and children, including domestic violence, and include a definition of domestic violence in its Criminal Code and recognize marital rape as a specific crime. 34. CESCR was concerned that, although trafficking in persons carried a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment, the courts, in most cases, administered lower prison sentences. Furthermore, the ILO Committee of Experts observed that provisions in the Criminal Law appeared to prohibit only the trafficking of minors to a foreign State, and not children trafficked domestically or trafficked into Latvia from another State. 36. CRC was concerned at reports that violence against children remained a widespread problem and that there was a general belief that violence in the home should be considered as a private matter. It urged Latvia to: strengthen existing legislation on the protection of children from all forms of violence; establish an effective reporting system for cases of child abuse and neglect; and provide care, physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration for child victims of violence. CRC reiterated its recommendation to ban from practice corporal punishment and other degrading practices in all settings, and to encourage Latvia to strengthen measures to promote alternative forms of discipline in schools and other institutions for children.81 37. The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography noted that child pornography, mainly via the Internet, was on the rise and stated that efforts should be directed towards prevention. The Special Rapporteur recommended that the law should clearly stipulate that a child under 18 years of age, irrespective of the legal age of consent to sexual activity, is unable to consent to any form of sexual exploitation, including child pornography and child prostitution. 38. CESCR was concerned about the absence of an effective strategy to address the situation of children living and/or working on the street. It recommended that Latvia address problems faced by these children and protect them against all forms of exploitation. In 2006, CRC made similar recommendations. 41. While noting the initiatives taken to improve the conditions of detention for persons under the age of 18, CAT expressed concerns at reports that juveniles were often held in pre-trial detention for prolonged periods and at the high percentage of them remanded in custody. Furthermore, CRC was concerned about allegations of mistreatment in detention. CAT recommended that Latvia should increase its efforts to bring its legislation and practice as regards the arrest and detention of juvenile offenders fully in line with international principles, including by: ensuring that deprivation of liberty, including pretrial detention, should be the exception, to be used only as a last resort and for the shortest time possible; and developing and implementing alternatives to deprivation of liberty. 43. In 2006, CRC was concerned that temporary or permanent suspension of parental rights had become a frequently applied measure; that most of the children were sent to institutions; and that a high number of children remained in long-term residential care. It was also concerned about the limited number of foster families and that the foster-care system was insufficiently regulated and resourced. The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography recommended the strengthening of complaints mechanisms for children placed in alternative care institutions. 44. CRC was concerned that children with mild to moderate disabilities were frequently institutionalised due to a lack of capacity to care for the child, and that families with children with disabilities often faced discriminatory attitudes from professionals and the local community. CRC was also concerned that, in spite of the declared inclusive policy, the majority of children with disabilities attended special schools, and that an allegedly high number of children did not attend school at all. 45. UNICEF reported that children of Russians were denied the right to birth certification. 50. In 2010, the ILO Committee of Experts requested Latvia to ensure that no person under 16 years of age may be authorized to perform hazardous types of work as stipulated by the article 3, paragraph 3, of the ILO Convention Minimum Age Convention (No. 138). 52. CRC was concerned that, in spite of remarkable growth rates, a large number of families lived in economic hardship, especially families headed by single parents, families with three or more children and families in remote areas. It welcomed the adoption of measures, including financial benefits and additional care facilities, to assist families in extreme adversity and with children at risk. It was, however, concerned that such assistance was not sufficient to prevent the circumstances related to evictions of families with children from their places of residence by court order. CESCR called upon Latvia to ensure that targeted social assistance dependent on family income is guaranteed to all disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and their families, and that such assistance does not fall below subsistence level. 55. CRC was concerned at the high rates of newborn, infant and child mortality, increasing rates of tuberculosis and hepatitis, and reports of the continued prevalence of iodine deficiency and malnutrition. It was concerned that the rates of child mortality, due to factors such as violence, fires, traffic and other accidents, had increased. 56. CRC was concerned about rates of adolescent pregnancy and the reliance on abortion as a contraceptive method, particularly among young women aged 15–17 years. 57. CESCR was alarmed by the high suicide rate. Similarly, CRC was concerned at the rate of suicide among youth, particularly boys aged 14-17 years. 58. CRC noted that while the total number of newly reported cases of HIV was decreasing, the proportion of heterosexual transmissions, particularly among female adolescents, had increased. A 2009 UNODC commissioned report stated that the number of new HIV infections per year through injecting drug use remained relatively high. 59. CRC welcomed the fact that education was one of the priorities of the National Development Plan 2007–2013 and noted with appreciation an increase in the enrolment rates of children. It was, however, concerned at reported rates of non-attendance from primary, secondary and vocational schools as a result of, inter alia, hidden costs, poverty, inadequate transportation, closure of schools in sparsely populated areas, voluntary truancy, the lack of parental interest in education, and bullying in schools. 60. CESCR remained concerned that a high percentage of Roma children dropped out. It urged Latvia to continue efforts to increase school attendance by Roma children, including, inter alia, through allocation of scholarships and the recruitment of additional school personnel from the Roma community. 61. CRC was concerned regarding unsatisfactory conditions of State boarding schools for children with special needs or who are deprived of parental care. 63. In 2008, CAT remained concerned at the continued existence of the status of non- citizens and stateless persons, affecting a large group in society. In 2010, UNHCR noted that there were approximately 336,000 "non-citizens". While noting that 'non-citizens' might apply for naturalisation at any time, UNHCR stressed that the number of naturalised persons had declined in the past years. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance noted the existence of two particularly vulnerable groups of non-citizens – children of non-citizens who were born in Latvia and elderly persons who could enjoy easier access to citizenship. CRC remained concerned that despite the 1998 amendment of the Citizenship Law, which entitled children born in the period 1992–2005 to citizenship, and was granted upon application, a considerable number of children still did not have Latvian citizenship or remained stateless. UNHCR made similar observations. 68. CRC recommended that Latvia: undertake measures to ensure the availability of adequate facilities for refugee children, including access to legal counsel and medical care, as well as the availability of education, irrespective of the status of the refugee child; ensure that asylum-seeking children, including separated children, were only detained when it was necessary to protect their best interest and for the shortest time possible; and ensure that the birth of children born to asylum-seekers were immediately registered. 69. In 2006, CRC recognized the economic and social difficulties faced by Latvia, including the dramatic drop of the gross domestic product, which had negatively impacted the situation of children. 70. Latvia made the pledges for its election to the Human Rights Council, including to: (e) Improve the protection of the rights of the child and women by implementing the recommendations of the relevant UN human rights mechanisms and special procedures; 71. In 2008, CAT requested Latvia to provide, within one year, information on its response to the Committee's recommendations contained in paragraphs 7 (fundamental safeguards), 8 (asylum-seekers), 11 (juvenile detention), 17 (prompt and impartial investigations). A response was received in 2010. Summary of stakeholders' information 7. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (CoE Commissioner) welcomed the creation of the State Inspectorate for Protection of Children's Rights, which could deal with complaints or conduct investigations ex officio, as well as the establishment of Family Crisis and Assistance Centres. 31. SOS Children's Village Association of Latvia (SOS-LV) stated that policy and procedures did not provide support for effective preparation for children leaving the alternative care system and after care services. It noted a lack of specialized workers who could provide and facilitate the necessary support to young people leaving the out-of-home care systems. SOS-LV recommended that Latvia develop clear framework to support and promote the delivery of effective practices in after-care preparation and after-care services. SOS-LV further recommended that Latvia continue efforts to de-institutionalize the care system and to develop an appropriate range of alternative care options. 33. JS1 indicated that the legislation did not recognise same-sex marriage or any other form of same-sex partnership or cohabitation, nor did it offer legal recognition for the relation between children and co-parents in LGBT families. JS1 recommended that Latvia recognise the diversity of forms of family in its legislation and policies and ensure that children of homosexual parents would not discriminated against. 42. SOS-LV indicated that without adequate and comprehensive support, family problems in most cases deepened and often led to a situation where the children's physical and psycho-emotional well-being was at risk, noting that children might have to be removed from their families. SOS-LV added that, due to financial shortcomings and limited number of employees, there were difficulties to realize social rehabilitation programmes. SOS-LV recommended that Latvia review the implementation of existing law and policy and ensure the necessary financial and material resources to deliver effective social welfare services according to the needs of vulnerable children and families. 47. LHRC reported that, although public primary and secondary schools may implement education programmes in minority languages, at least 60 percent of the curricula in secondary must be in Latvian and all state examinations shall be passed in Latvian. CoE Commissioner indicated that the education reform that began in 2004 was geared to making Latvian the main teaching language in secondary schools. It also noted that the reform encountered a number of problems, especially the lack of textbook in some subjects, the quality of the materials, and the lack of training for non-Latvian teachers in Latvian language. CoE ECRI recommended that adequate room be left in minority schools for teaching minority languages and cultures, while maintaining efforts to improve education in Latvian for children of ethnic minorities, particularly Russian-speaking children, in order to guarantee equal access to higher education and employment. 48. CoE Commissioner welcomed the setting up of the Agency for the Quality of Education, but reported that it checked the textbooks in Latvian, which were all standardised, but not those in minority languages, most of which were published outside Latvia. CoE Commissioner invited it to reconsider its strategy and to devote the same attention to all schools and all textbooks which it was mandated to supervise. 49. CoE ECRI reported that the school drop-out rate among Roma children was very high. While regretting de facto segregation of Roma children in schools, it noted that initiatives had been taken to encourage mainstream school attendance by Roma children. CoE ECRI recommended Latvia to encourage regular school attendance by Roma children and to tackle the problem of the high school drop-out rate. 60. LHRC recommended that Latvia ensure effective naturalisation through free training courses for the naturalisation examinations and exempt from these examinations people who reached the age of retirement, persons with disabilities and people having studied in Latvia. LHRC further recommended that children born in Latvia after 21 August 1991 should receive citizenship together with their birth registration.114 CoE ECRI made similar recommendations. Accepted and Rejected Recommendations The following recommendations were accepted: A - 91.9. Continue to earmark sufficient funds for all child protection programs (Moldova); A - 91.10. Continue to carry out measures in the field of child rights protection (Azerbaijan); A - 91.11. Contribute to the implementation of the recently adopted Human Rights Council resolution on children living and working on the streets (Hungary); A - 91.14. Continue efforts to improve and protect the rights of women and children by implementing recommendations made by the United Nations mechanisms and its related special procedures (Palestine); A - 91.37. Pursue its efforts to combat trafficking in human beings, especially women and children (Algeria); A - 91.40. Continue to adopt appropriate measures to prosecute and punish perpetrators of trafficking in human beings and develop effective systems for the timely prevention of sexual exploitation and trafficking in children (Republic of Moldova); A - 91.45. Consider the possibility of strengthening focused social assistance to poor families with children (Belarus); A - 91.46. Continue its efforts to promote the full integration of ethnic minorities into Latvian society and facilitate the naturalization and acquisition of citizenship, especially in the case of children (Costa Rica); A - 91.48. Consider further facilitation of the acquisition of citizenship and increased efforts to promote the registration of newborns (Brazil); A - 92.14. Adopt the necessary legislation to explicitly prohibit violence against children, including corporal punishment (Finland); A - 92.15. Maintain State preschool and general education institutions with education/teaching in minority languages, including the Russian language (Russian Federation); A - 92.17. Take measures to ensure the availability of adequate facilities for refugee children, including access to legal counsel, medical care and education (Poland). A – 93.21 (Part 1). Strengthen the capacity of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Children's Rights and (Norway); A - 93.29. Provide general information about anti-discrimination and reform the school curricula to regularly emphasize information about gender equality, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and ethnic minorities (Norway); A - 93.34. Engage in awareness-raising activities such as stressing diversity in school curricula in order to alleviate discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (Finland); A - 93.41. Prevent violence against Roma women and girls, including harassment and abuse at school, and address the gaps in their formal education (Islamic Republic of Iran); The following were rejected: R - 93.21 (Part 2). Consider establishing an Ombudsman for children (Norway); R - 93.42. Revise its legislation to provide automatic acquisition of citizenship by children born to non- citizens after 21 August 1991 (Canada); R - 93.43. Follow through on the proposal to change the Citizenship Law to provide citizenship automatically to newborn children of non-citizen parents, unless the parents refuse it (Norway); R - 94.6. Adopt effective steps to promptly eliminate an unacceptable system of non-citizenship. As a priority and urgent step, simplify the naturalization process for persons who have reached retirement age, as well as grant children of non-citizens the right to automatically acquire citizenship at birth (Russian Federation); No recommendations were left pending.
5th May, 9am to 12pm
UN Compilation
Stakeholder Information
Accepted and rejected recommendations