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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
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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
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CCPR/C/SR.3127
Adopted by the Committee: 28 October 2014
Published by the Committee: 31 October 2014
Issues raised:
Ratification:
The Committee welcomes the ratification of, or accession to, the following international instruments by the State party: the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2013; Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict in 2007; Protocol to Prevent, Supress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in 2006 (para.4).
Violence:
The Committee notes with concern the continuing reports of gender-based violence, sexual harassment and domestic violence against women and children in the State party. The Committee is particularly concerned at reports of lack of investigation and prosecutions as well as lenient sentences imposed on perpetrators. Finally, the Committee is concerned about the lack of a sufficient number of shelters for victims of domestic violence (para.11).
Corporal Punishment:
Committee notes that corporal punishment remains a concern especially in the home where it traditionally continues to be accepted and practised as a form of discipline by parents and guardians (arts. 7 and 24). The State party should take practical steps, including through legislative measures where appropriate, to put an end to corporal punishment in all settings. It should encourage non-violent forms of discipline as alternatives to corporal punishment, and should conduct public information campaigns to raise awareness about its harmful effects (para.13).
Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation:
The Committee is concerned at the prevalence of trafficking in persons, particularly of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian girls and women. The Committee is also concerned at the low number of prosecutions and the lenient sentences imposed on traffickers (art. 8). The State party should vigorously pursue its public policy to combat trafficking, in particular of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian girls and women (para.14).
Birth registration:
The Committee is concerned about the frequent failure to issue birth certificates for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children. The Committee notes the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on non-Contentious Procedure, but regrets the lack of comprehensive strategy to identify children lacking birth registration and/or identity document, and to issue those documents retroactively (arts. 16 and 24). The State party should increase its efforts to improve birth registration and the provision of birth certificates, particularly among the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian, through appropriate interventions such as awareness-raising programmes aimed at changing mind-sets regarding the need to register births or obtain birth certificates. The State party should also take immediate measures to identify children lacking birth registration and/or identity document and to ensure retroactive birth registration and issuance of documents for these children (para.17).
Child labour:
The Committee is also concerned at the persistence of child labour, particularly among Roma Ashkali and Egyptians, who are often engaged in harmful and exploitative labour, particularly in begging. The State party should redouble its efforts to eliminate child labour and should ensure that violations are effectively investigated and that those responsible are prosecuted and punished. The State party should also adopt sustainable strategies for providing support to families at risk of becoming victims of such practices and reinforce its awareness-raising campaigns (para.20).
Harmful practices:
The Committee is concerned at reports of the persistence of early marriages in the State party, in particular among Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities (arts. 2, 3, 24 and 26). The State party should further strengthen measures to combat early marriage by pursuing community awareness-raising strategies focusing on the consequences of early marriages, in particular among Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. The State party should also collect data on early marriages and provide it to the Committee in its periodic report (para.20).
CCPR/CO/81/SEMO
Last reported: 19-20 July 2004 (Serbia and Montenegro) Concluding Observations published: 28 July 2004
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Trafficking of children: The Committee noted that Serbia and Montenegro is a main transit route for trafficking in human beings and increasingly a country of origin and destination. It welcomed the efforts made by the State to address the situation regarding trafficking in women and children, including the establishment of national teams to combat trafficking, as well as the introduction of a criminal offence directed to trafficking in human beings, although some concerns regarding the definition of trafficking remain.
The Committee expressed concerned at the lack of effective witness protection mechanisms and noted the apparent lack of awareness about trafficking in women and children on the part of law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges. The Committee noted that shelters and SOS hotlines are managed by non-governmental organisations, which have also organised awareness campaigns, and highlighted the lack of adequate involvement by the authorities in these initiatives.
The Committee recommended that the State take measures to combat trafficking and strong measures should be taken to prevent trafficking and to impose sanctions on those who exploit women and children in this way. It stated that protection should be extended to all victims of trafficking so that they may have a place of refuge and an opportunity to give evidence against the persons responsible in criminal or civil proceedings. (Para. 16)
Domestic violence: The Committee expressed concern at reports of high rates of domestic violence. While noting the efforts made by the State to combat domestic violence, particularly in the area of legislative reform, the Committee regretted the lack of statistics and detailed information provided on the nature and extent of the problem.
The Committee recommended that the State establish crisis-centre hotlines and victim support centres equipped with medical, psychological and legal support, including shelters for battered spouses and children. In order to raise public awareness, it should disseminate information on this issue through the media.
Internally displaced people: The Committee expressed concern about the lack of full protection of the rights of internally displaced persons in Serbia and Montenegro, particularly with regard to access to social services in their places of actual residence, including education facilities for their children.
The Committee recommended that the State should take effective measures to ensure that all policies, strategies, programmes and funding support have as their principal objective the enjoyment by all displaced persons of the full spectrum of Covenant rights. Furthermore, internally displaced persons should be afforded full and effective access to social services, educational facilities, unemployment assistance, adequate housing and personal documents, in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination. (Para. 18)
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UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
E/C.12/MNE/CO/1
Adopted by the Committee: 13-14 November 2014
Published by the Committee: 28 November 2014
Issues raised:
Ratification:
The Committee welcomes the ratification by the State party of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure in 2013 and Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in 2006 (para.4).
Social security:
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure the effective implementation of the Law on Social and Child Protection in practice, including by increasing the capacity of and coordination among State institutions (para.16).
Harmful practices:
The Committee is concerned that the practice of early and forced marriages is still prevalent within certain communities (art.10). The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its measures to combat the practice of early and forced marriages, in particular among Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, including by raising awareness about the prohibition of early and forced marriages and the negative consequences of the practice. The State party should also collect data on such practices, disaggregated inter alia by age, sex, and ethnicity or nationality (para.19).
Labour exploitation:
The Committee is concerned about the incidence of child labour, including forced begging and informal and dangerous work on the streets, and that such children are exposed to exploitation and trafficking in persons (art.10).
The Committee urges the State party to intensify efforts to combat child labour, including through systematic and effective labour inspections and by investigating, prosecuting and sanctioning those responsible and providing victims with rehabilitation and assistance. It should also undertake awareness raising campaigns for children and parents on the dangers of child labour and the importance of education, and systematically collect data to assess the impact of measures taken to combat the economic exploitation of children (para.20).
Health:
The Committee recommends the State party make contraceptives widely available, accessible and affordable to all women and men of reproductive age, including adolescents (para. 24).
Education:
The Committee regrets the lack of disaggregated data on school enrolment and drop-out rates at various levels of education. It expresses concern at reports of low rate of enrolment, low school attendance, high drop-out rate and low educational attainment among children of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian origin, as well as lack of enrolment of children with disabilities in mainstream schools (arts.13 and 14).
The Committee recommends that the State party: Collect disaggregated data on school enrolment and drop-out rates at various levels of education, including in relation to children with disabilities, asylum-seekers, refugees, displaced persons, and disaggregated by sex and national or ethnic origin, to identify obstacles in accessing and continuing education and to devise appropriate strategies; Intensify its efforts to ensure that all children of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian origin have access to education, including by ensuring that they have access to birth registration or identity documents, providing free primary education, textbooks and transportation, raising awareness among parents on the value of continued education for their children’s long-term socio-economic prospects and increasing the number of Roma teaching assistants and the use of Roma language in schools; and ensure that all children with disabilities have access to quality and appropriate education (para.25).
E/C.12/1/Add.108
Last reported: 2-3 May 2005 Concluding Observations published: 13 May 2005
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Child trafficking: The Committee expressed deep concern about the high numbers of trafficked women and children for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour, as well as about reported incidents of police involvement. (Para. 25)
Child labour: The Committee noted with concern that many Roma children below the minimum working age of 15 years work in the informal economy without being covered by the labour code's special provisions on protection of minors. (Para. 26)
The Committee recommended that the State ensure the protection of minors against economic and social exploitation and take all necessary measures to combat and punish employment of children below the age of 15. (Para. 53)
Education: The Committee expressed concern that a high percentage of Roma children and children belonging to other minority groups, as well as refugee and internally displaced children, are not enrolled in school, drop out at an early stage, are being discriminated against at school, or are placed in schools for children with special needs. (Para. 37)
Rehabilitation: The Committee urged the State to take effective measures to ensure the immediate protection and long-term rehabilitation of abused children and to include in its next report detailed information on these measures as well as on the number of reported cases of child abuse. (Para. 51)
The Committee requested that the State ensure the provision of adequate counselling and other assistance to victims of physical and sexual violence and other traumatizing experiences related to armed conflict, in particular women and children, and to include information on these and other mental health services, as well as on the number of victims of such violence, in its next report. (Para. 63)
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CAT/C/MNE/CO/2
Last reported: 7-8 May 2014 Concluding Observations published: 16 May 2014
Concerns raised:
Corporal punishment: The Committee notes that corporal punishment remains a concern, especially in the home and alternative care settings, and is still widely practised in society, remaining an accepted form of discipline in Montenegro. (Para. 21)
The State party should take practical steps, including through legislative measures where appropriate, to put an end to corporal punishment in all settings and should conduct public information campaigns to raise awareness about its harmful effects.
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CAT/C/MNE/CO/1
Last reported: 11-12 November 2008 Concluding Observations published: 19 November 2008
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Corporal punishment: The Committee noted that corporal punishment of children is not explicitly prohibited in the home and in alternative care settings. It urged the State, taking into account the recommendation in the United Nations Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children (A/61/299), to adopt and implement legislation prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings, supported by the necessary awareness-raising and educational campaigns. (Para. 22)
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UN Committee against Torture: follow-up
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/2)
Last reported: 15 July 2016
Concluding observations published: 21 July 2017
Positive Aspects
The Committee welcomes the fact that, in the period since the consideration of the previous report, the State party has ratified or acceded to the following international and regional instruments: the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, in 2013 (para 6. a).
Issues raised and recommendations
Stereotypes and discriminatory practices
The Committee welcomes the different educational measures taken by the State party to counter sexist stereotypes, as well as the increased use of gender-sensitive language in the media, in accordance with the Law on Gender Equality. It is concerned, however, that patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes regarding the roles, responsibilities and expected behaviours of women and men in society and in the family, continue to be deeply entrenched within society, thereby undermining women’s social status, autonomy, educational opportunities and professional careers, significantly impeding the implementation of the Convention as well as constituting a major root cause for gender-based violence against women. In this regard, it also notes with concern the prevalence of son preference in families and within society and the attribution of a subordinate status of women vis-à-vis men, as reflected and perpetuated by a relatively high number of sex-selective abortions, and strong societal pressure on women to refuse inheritance to the benefit of male family members (para. 18).
The Committee recommends that the State party put in place and sufficiently resource a comprehensive strategy with proactive and sustained measures, targeted at both women and men, girls and boys, including mandatory courses for university students in law and medicine, to eliminate patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes that discriminate against women. The strategy should include a monitoring mechanism to regularly assess the impact of the measures taken and design remedial action. In this regard, the Committee recommends that the State party: develop and implement awareness-raising measures for the general public and relevant professional groups such as doctors and nurses on the pervasiveness and adverse effects of sex selection giving preference to boys on women’s human rights; strictly implement the prohibition of sex-selective abortions, establish services, including helplines for women who are pressured into undergoing sex-selective abortions; continue sensitizing the media on the need to eliminate gender stereotypes by promoting positive images of women as active participants in social, economic and political life and of men as active participants in household and child-rearing responsibilities and adequately monitor the use of gender-sensitive language by the media and extend the introduction of gender-sensitive language in educational materials (para. 19).
Child and/or forced marriage
The Committee is concerned that the legal minimum age of marriage is only 16 years of age and that there is a high prevalence of child and/or forced marriages within the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community, often resulting in early pregnancy. It note with concern that a significant number of girls who are victims of child and/or forced marriage or forced cohabitation with adult men, leading to child and/or forced marriage are victims of sexual exploitation. The Committee is concerned that the State party has made limited efforts to identify child victims and to adequately prosecute and sanction criminalize perpetrators of such crimes. (para. 20).
The Committee draws the State party’s attention to Joint General Recommendation/General Comment No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices (2014) and recommends that the State party: increase efforts to raise awareness on the harmful impact of child and/or forced marriage on the health, development and education of girls; identify, rescue and protect victims of forced cohabitation or child and/or forced marriage as well as those exposed to sexual exploitation following their marriage; strictly enforce the prohibition of forced cohabitation or child and/or forced marriage in particular in cases of further sexual exploitation of the victim, as well as adequately prosecute and sanction perpetrators of such acts; and raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 (para. 21).
Education
The Committee notes with appreciation that several elements on gender equality have been introduced into school curricula at the primary and secondary levels of education. However, it is concerned about: the insufficient emphasis placed on dismantling traditional gender roles both in training for teaching staff as well as in educational materials; Sexuality education being insufficiently taught and does not cover the social relations of gender and the impact of patriarchal attitudes and discriminatory stereotypes on sexual relations; the low literacy rate among women from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community and the high dropout rates among these girls especially at the secondary level of education; the limited access to education for asylum seeking, refugee displaced and internally displaced girls; the concentration of girls in traditional fields of study; and the absence of gender studies in university education (para. 30).
The Committee recommends that the State party: conduct capacity-building programmes for teachers at all levels of education with a view to changing existing stereotypical views and attitudes about the roles of women and men in the family and in society; ensure the integration into the school curricula of mandatory, age-appropriate sex education, including education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, paying special attention to both the prevention of early pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as patriarchal attitudes and violence; adopt and implement further targeted policies and programmes, to overcome educational barriers faced by Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian, asylum-seeking, refugee displaced and internally displaced women and girls and take effective measures to retain them in school and increase their attendance at the primary and secondary levels; in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4.3 on ensuring equal access for all women and men to affordable and high-quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university education, give priority to eliminating traditional stereotypes and structural barriers that may deter girls from enrolling in traditionally male-dominated fields of study, such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and provide girls with career counselling on non-traditional fields of study and career paths; and facilitate the introduction of specialized master’s and doctoral programmes in gender studies.
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(CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/1)
Last reported: 6 October 2011
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Violence against girls: While noting the adoption of the Law on Protection from Family Violence, the Committee is concerned about the high incidence of domestic and sexual violence against women and girls; its underreporting; the lack of prosecutions, the limited use of protection orders; the lenient sentences imposed on perpetrators; the fact that marital rape is subject to private rather than ex officio prosecution; the absence of State-run shelters and psycho- social rehabilitation; the limited support for NGOs providing assistance to women victims of violence; and the lack of research and disaggregated data on violence against women. (Para. 18)
Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution: While noting that the State party gives high priority to combating trafficking in human beings, in particular women and children, the Committee is concerned about the low number of prosecutions and the lenient sentences imposed on traffickers; the limited capacity of the competent authorities to identify (potential) victims of trafficking, including women and girls from vulnerable groups; and the lack of victim protection and compensation. It notes that the State party cooperates with only very few NGOs in implementing the National Strategy and the Action Plan for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings. (Para. 20)
Education: The Committee notes with concern that women and girls are under-represented in traditionally male-dominated fields of studies, including in post-graduate programmes, such as engineering and information technology, and that they are concentrated in traditionally female-dominated fields.The Committee recommends that the State party intensify efforts aimed at diversifying academic and vocational choices for women and men and take further measures to encourage women and men to choose non-traditional fields of education and careers.While noting the State party’s efforts to include Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) children in formal education, the Committee is concerned about the low enrolment and high drop-out rates of RAE girls at the primary and secondary levels, patriarchal attitudes of RAE parents towards education of girls, as well as reports on gaps in the quality of education provided in schools in RAE majority areas and on racial discrimination, abuse and harassment of RAE girls and boys by non-RAE children and teachers. It also notes with concern the extremely low number of RAE women and girls in higher education (Paras. 24-26)
Family benefit. The Committee is concerned about the low levels of family benefits and the lack of support programmes for single mothers and their children, who are specifically vulnerable to discrimination and abuse (Para. 32)
Disadvantaged groups of women and girls. The Committee is concerned about multiple forms of discrimination against Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) women, the lack of birth registration or proof of such registration of many local and displaced/refugee RAE women placing them and their children at a risk of statelessness, and the lack of basic services and infrastructure in the RAE refugee camps in Konik. (Para. 34)
Forced and early marriage. The Committee noted with concern that the practice of arranged and forced early marriage is still prevalent within Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, mainly concerning grils and boys aged 14 to 16. (Para. 38)
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
CERD/C/MNE/CO/2-3
Last reported: 5 and 6 February 2014
Concluding observations issued: 13 March 2014
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Education: The Committee has raised concerns about the low rate of enrollment and low school attendance rate among children of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian origin, especially after the age of 11, including, as reasons, child labour, child marriage and forced marriages in the case of girls. It is also concerned at the high number of Roma children living and working in the streets which makes them vulnerable to trafficking and economic and sexual exploitation.
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CERD/C/MNE/CO/1
Last reported: 2-3 March 2009 Concluding Observations published: 5-6 March 2009
Issues raised and recommendations given:
Education: The Committee noted the limitations in the 2003 census and asked for additional information on the characteristics and particular situation of the various ethnic minorities. In keeping with its general recommendation 8 (1990) and with paragraphs 10 to 12 of the guidelines for the CERD-specific reports to be submitted by State parties under article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention (CERD/C/2007/1), the Committee requested the State party include in its next periodic report disaggregated data on educational, social, economic and employment levels. (Para. 8)
Roma children: The Committee acknowledged the various measures taken to advance the situation of the Roma, but expressed concern that despite compulsory school education and the various measures undertaken by the State such as the Roma Education Initiative which introduced Roma assistants in some schools, a disproportionately large number of Roma children are not enrolled in schools, drop-out of school and do not complete higher education. The Committee also expressed concern at the large number of Roma from Kosovo who face problems in accessing education due to their lack of proficiency in Montenegrin as well as lack of documents.
The Committee recommended that the State continue to address the various factors responsible for the low level of education among the Roma with a view to improving enrolment and completion of their education. It also recommended that the State continue its efforts to facilitate the integration of minority pupils into mainstream education, including by providing language support in preschool education. (Para. 16)
The Committee expressed concern that socio-economic and living conditions of the Roma continue to be precarious and discriminatory in various spheres including education and recommended that the state implement stronger special measures targeting the Roma community to enable them to have practical access to education in a non-discriminatory manner, paying due attention to general recommendation 27 (2000) on discrimination against Roma. (Para. 17)
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UN Committee on Migrant Workers
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UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
CRPD/C/MNE/CO/1
Last reported: 13 March 2014
Concluding observations issued:
Principal areas of concern and recommendations
General principles and obligations (arts. 1-4)
The Committee recommends that the State party provide adequate and sustainable financial resources to organizations of persons with disabilities. It also recommends that the State party ensure effective participation of and consultation with organizations of persons with disabilities, including those representing women with disabilities, children with disabilities, persons with hearing impairments and the deaf, and persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities at the national and local levels through transparent frameworks in relation to law and policymaking (para. 9).
Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)
The Committee recommends that the State party make the necessary legislative amendments to ensure that all persons with disabilities are equally and fully protected against all forms of discrimination, including intersectional discrimination, in accordance with the Convention. It also recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to prevent and remedy intersectional discrimination experienced by persons with disabilities who belong to a minority group, particularly children, and ensure that they have equal access to all rights under the Convention (para. 11, c).
Children with disabilities (art. 7)
The Committee notes with concern that children with disabilities are not sufficiently included in decisions that affect their lives. It also notes with concern that: discrimination and social exclusion of children with disabilities is prevalent; data collected on the situation of children with disabilities is insufficient; despite the prohibition against placing children with disabilities under 3 years of age in institutions, children with disabilities are frequently institutionalised, including in so-called day-care centres, and furthermore, the institutions are divided based on impairment; early identification and intervention services are largely insufficient, particularly at the local level, and mostly follow the medical model; support provided to parents of children with disabilities is insufficient (para. 14).
The Committee recommends that the State party step up its efforts to allocate all necessary resources to eliminate discrimination against and exclusion of children with disabilities, with a particular focus on children at risk of intersectional discrimination. It also recommends that the State party: establish policies and programmes that will ensure the right of children with disabilities to express their views on all matters concerning them; take swift measures aiming at the deinstitutionalization of children and allocate all necessary resources to ensure that they have access to all necessary services in the context of community care instead of in the context of day-care centres or any other segregated settings; provide all children with disabilities, regardless of their impairment, with sufficient early childhood intervention and development services in cooperation with representative organizations of parents of children with disabilities, including at the local level, in compliance with the Convention; develop effective quality community-based support services for parents caring for children with disabilities (para. 15).
Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)
The Committee notes with concern that the current medical approach to disability permits the deprivation of liberty of persons with disabilities on the basis of impairment and provides for involuntary hospitalization and forced institutionalisation of children and adults with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities. The Committee also notes with concern that, pursuant to article 33 of the Protection and Exercise of the Rights of the Mentally Ill Act, police officers are obliged to deprive a person of liberty based only on the suspicion of “mental illness”. The Committee is concerned about the lack of information on any safeguards in this regard and the possibility of challenging such deprivation of liberty (para. 28).
The Committee urges the State party to repeal laws and protocols permitting any form of deprivation of liberty based on impairment or perceived impairment and to provide effective safeguards and remedies to persons with disabilities who have been deprived of their liberty on the basis of impairment (para. 29).
Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)
The Committee notes with concern that violence against persons with disabilities, particularly women and children, is prevalent and that effective measures to prevent violence, including sexual violence, in all settings and to monitor violence prevention, is lacking (para. 32).
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure the availability of accessible, effective and independent monitoring of facilities and programmes designed to serve persons with disabilities, and of complaint mechanisms, in accordance with article 16 (3) of the Convention, to enable the authorities to identify, investigate and prosecute all cases of violence against persons with disabilities. It also recommends that the State party: establish accessible and anonymous services for persons with disabilities who are experiencing violence, whether inside or outside the home, such as shelters, victim support services, hotlines and complaint mechanisms, including at the local level, and include therein a gender and a child rights perspective; provide training for all relevant professionals, particularly police officers, justice personnel, prison staff, social workers and health professionals, to ensure protection from and prevention of exploitation and abuse of and violence against persons with disabilities. The training should include effective reporting measures with a view to ensuring that persons who are exposed to violence are taken seriously and that investigation, prosecution and sanctioning of perpetrators are conducted effectively to prevent recurrence; conduct research and set up a system of collection and publication of data and statistics on violence against persons with disabilities, disaggregated by age, sex, type of violence and the setting of the act of violence (para. 33).
Education (art. 24)
The Committee is concerned about the absence of any comprehensive legislation for quality, inclusive education. It is also concerned about: the lack of comparable and comprehensive data on children with disabilities in mainstream education; the prevalence of a system of assessment for children with disabilities at school enrolment that appears to be in conflict with the human rights model of disability enshrined in the Convention (para. 44).
Recalling its general comment No. 4 (2016) on the right to inclusive education and Sustainable Development Goal 4, especially targets 4.5 and 4.8, the Committee recommends that the State party increase its efforts towards inclusive education, especially that it: collect data on children with disabilities in mainstream schools and progressively improve the accessibility of mainstream schools and tertiary education with time-bound goals, including the provision of reasonable accommodation and individual support, accessible environments, accessible and adapted school material and inclusive curricula; revise the system of assessment of children with disabilities for school enrolment and ensure the non-discriminatory access by all children with disabilities to inclusive education, in line with general comment No. 4 (para. 45).
Adequate standard of living and social protection (art. 28)
The Committee notes with concern that the State party does not regularly and transparently monitor the increase in living costs of persons with disabilities. It is concerned that there is no available and transparent data at the local level about children with disabilities who do not have access to social protection (para. 50, c).
The Committee recommends that the State party: collect data on all children with disabilities at the local level and ensure that every child has access to disability benefits in order to have a standard of living above the subsistence level (para. 51, d).
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UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
Concluding Observations on the Reports Submitted Under Article 29 (1)
Adopted by Commmittee: 8-9 September 2015
Published: 16 September 2015
Issues Raised:
Children Vicims of Enforced Disapperances:
The Committee also wishes to emphasize the particularly cruel effect of enforced
disappearances on the human rights of women and children. Children who are victims
of enforced disappearance, either because they themselves were subjected to disappearance or because they suffer the consequences of the disappearance of their relatives, are especially vulnerable to numerous human rights violations, including identity substitution. In this context, the Committee places special emphasis on the need for the State party to ensure that gender perspectives and child-sensitive approaches are used in implementing the rights and obligations set out in the Convention.
(para. 34)
