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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.
- UN Human Rights Committee
- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- UN Committee against Torture
- UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture
- UN Committee on Migrant Workers
- UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
CCPR/C/79/Add.17
Last reported: 23 / 25 March 1993
Concluding Observations issued: 29 April 1993
Issues raised:
No mentions of children's rights.
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UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Ratified in 1986, but yet to report.
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
CERD/C/304/Add.62
Last reported: 18 August 1998
Concluding Observations issued: 20 August 1998
Issues raised:
Human Rights Education: The State party should also supply detailed information on the teaching, educational, cultural and information activities it is carrying out to prevent and combat all forms of racial discrimination and on the activities of the Association nigérienne pour la défense des droits de l’homme (Niger Association for the Protection of Human Rights). (Paragraph 17).
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UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW/C/NER/CO/3-4)
Last reported: 5 October 2015
Concluding observations issued: 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 instruments: the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, in 2012 (para. 6, f).
Women peace and security
The Committee notes that recent terrorist attacks have resulted in major population displacement with an estimated 242,000 persons comprising asylum seekers, refugees, returnees and internally displaced person in the Diffa region alone. The Committee commends the State party for the adoption of Act No. 2015-36 of 26 May 2015 on prohibiting migrant trafficking, and its open border and reception policy for refugees. It is however concerned that: no strategic policy or legislative response exists to address the extremely precarious conditions of displaced women and girls in the State party, as particularly aggravated in the Lake Chad region; displaced women and girls are at risk of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as early and forced marriage, human trafficking, forced prostitution and abduction by terrorist groups for use in suicide bombings and sexual slavery; and that no independent mechanism exists with a mandate to investigate all allegations of gender-based violence and other rights violations against women and girls by security forces and terrorist groups (para. 10).
The Committee recommends, in line with its general recommendations No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations, and No. 32 (2014) on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness, that the State party: expedite the adoption of a policy and legislative framework to guarantee the security of asylum seeker, refugee, returnee and displaced women and girls and ensure their access to food supplies, clean water and sanitation, shelter, health care, and education, and facilitated acquisition of identity documentation; collect data on incidents of gender-based violence against women and girls, in particular sexual violence, and incidents of early and forced marriage, human trafficking, forced prostitution and abduction by terrorist groups in the State party; establish a specialized mechanism to investigate allegations of human rights violations and acts of violence by security forces and terrorist groups, with particular attention to gender-based violence and other rights violations perpetrated against women and girls, bringing perpetrators to justice and ensuring compensation and rehabilitation for victims; and, avail itself of the financial and technical assistance provided by international development partners to ensure the inclusion and participation of women at all stages of the peace-making, stabilization and reconstruction process, in line with UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) (para. 11).
Stereotypes and harmful practices
The Committee recognizes the diversity of cultures and traditions in the State party. It is, however, concerned that insufficient action has been taken by the State party to implement the Committee’s previous recommendation (see CEDAW/C/NER/CO/2, para. 18) to develop a goal-bound national strategy to modify or eliminate discriminatory stereotypes and practices that are harmful to and discriminate against women, as well as to establish monitoring mechanisms to regularly assess progress achieved. The Committee remains concerned in particular that the practice of “wahaya”, characterized as a form of slavery, including sexual slavery, and female genital mutilation persists in the State party. It notes with concern the low number of prosecutions under the Penal Code provisions prohibiting slavery (articles 270.1-2-3) to incriminate perpetrators of wahaya and the low conviction rates for female genital mutilation (para. 20).
The Committee, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 5.3 calling for the elimination of all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, recommends that the State party: specifically criminalize the practice of wahaya, with the same penalties as other forms of slavery; ensure that articles 232.1-3 of the Criminal Code prohibiting female genital mutilation are strictly enforced; provide training for judges, prosecutor, the police and law enforcement officers on the strict application of these sanctions to ensure that perpetrators and practitioners of these harmful practices are effectively investigated, prosecuted and punished and that victims are provided with assistance and rehabilitation; and, develop and allocate sufficient resources for the implementation of a national plan of action to combat harmful practices, providing for strategic media campaigns and educational programmes to raise awareness among traditional and religious leaders, health care and social workers and the general public about the negative impact of the practices on women and girls (para. 21).
Education
The Committee welcomes the declaration of the President of the State party on compulsory education until 16 years of age and the implementation of a national strategy on girls’ education aimed at reaching parity by 2020. It is, however, concerned about: the disproportionately low school enrolment rates of girls, particularly those from rural areas (Diffa, Zinder, Tillabéry and Tahoua), nomadic populations, poor families, and girls who are victims of slavery, descendants of slavery, as well as girls with disabilities; girls’ extremely low completion rate and their high repetition rates, particularly at the secondary level of education, owing to, inter alia, early and child marriage, early pregnancy, indirect school costs, the requirement to pay school fees at the secondary level, child labour and preference for sending boys to school, resulting in a very low literacy rate (11 percent) among women in the State party; the poor quality of education due to insufficient investments in school infrastructure, teacher training, transportation to schools, and school feeding programs (para. 28).
The Committee, taking note of Sustainable Development Goal 4.5, to eliminate gender disparities in education, recommends that the State party: dismantle discriminatory stereotypes and other barriers to girls’ access to education by raising awareness, particularly among parents and traditional leaders, of the importance of education for women and girls and on the harmful effects of early and child marriage; ensure the re-entry into school of young mothers, including through repeal of Decision No. 65/MEN/DEST/EX of 10 July 1998, which temporarily excludes girls who become pregnant from school and definitively excludes them in case they get married; include mandatory age-appropriate and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights in school curricula, aimed at both girls and boys, inter alia, to reduce pregnancy-related dropout; allocate adequate funding to provide free education beyond the first six years of schooling at least until the completion of secondary school, eliminate indirect costs of schooling, improve the quality of teaching and school infrastructures, enhance the provision of school feeding programs and appropriate sanitary facilities for girls; and further promote women’s and girl’s access to tertiary education through, inter alia, advocacy and provision of scholarships and strengthen adult literacy programmes, especially in rural areas. (para. 29).
Health
The Committee notes the reduction in the maternal, infant and child mortality rates, the introduction of free care for children under five years of age as well as for specific services for women in the State party. However, the Committee is concerned about: the inadequate funding of the health-care sector, resulting in limited access to basic health-care services in particular among poor, rural and nomadic women, the lack of cancer prevention programmes, as well as limited sexual and reproductive health care services, information, and modern forms of contraception, including for adolescent girls; the extremely high rates of maternal mortality, fertility (7.6 children per woman), early and frequent pregnancy and the resulting incidences of obstetric fistula, and acute malnutrition affecting women; the persisting economic and sociocultural causes of women’s poor health in the State party, including early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, the requirement of the husband’s permission for a woman to seek medical treatment and women’s frequent inability to afford both the cost of the transportation and the treatment; criminalization of abortion, subjecting both the women procuring an abortion and any person assisting her to criminal liability (Art. 295-297 of the Penal Code), as well as the barriers to access abortion where it is legal, such as cases where the pregnancy gravely endangers the women’s health, rape or incest (para. 32).
The Committee, recalling its general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health, draws attention to Sustainable Development Goals 3.1 and 3.7, to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio and to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, recommends that the State party: increase the budgetary allocation to women’s basic health care, cancer prevention programmes and sexual and reproductive health-care services, affordable modern forms of contraception and family planning services, in particular as regards poor, rural nomadic women, as well as to adolescent girls; legalize abortion and ensure its legal and practical availability in cases in which the life and/or health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk and in cases of rape, incest and serious impairment of the fetus, and decriminalize abortion by repealing articles 295-297 of the Penal Code, and ensure unhindered access to safe abortion and to post-abortion care services; carry out targeted awareness-raising to combat the negative influence of customary, traditional or religious considerations that may be invoked to limit the autonomy of women and hamper the exercise of their sexual and reproductive health rights (para. 33).
Marriage and family relations
The Committee is concerned about: the extremely high rate of early, child and forced marriage in the State party, affecting a quarter of married women and girls, which is compounded by the absence of any legal framework or strategic action to prohibit this harmful practice. The Committee notes the link between the high rates of child marriage, fertility and maternal mortality rates and the disproportionately high illiteracy and poverty rates among women in the State party. It notes that most child marriages are conducted under customary law, which does not require the consent of the future spouses for marriage or a minimum age for marriage. The Committee is also concerned about discriminatory provisions in the Civil Code regarding the legal minimum age for marriage for girls (15) and for boys (18) (art. 144) and permitting parents to substitute their consent for marriage of their daughters (art. 148) (para. 42).
The Committee, recalling its general recommendations No. 21 (1994) on equality in marriage and family relations and No. 29 (2013) on the economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution, as well as joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices (2014), recommends that the State party: expedite the adoption of legislation raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 for both girls and boys and requiring the consent of both future spouses to any marriage; repeal all discriminatory provisions in the Civil Code and adopt a non-discriminatory personal status code; and, prohibit, including under customary law, the harmful practices of child and forced marriage, polygamy and repudiation and conduct awareness raising campaigns targeting parliamentarians, traditional and religious leaders and the general public on the harmful effects of these practices on women and girls. (para 43).
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UN Committee against Torture
Ratified in 1998, but not yet reported.
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UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture
No visits made.
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UN Committee on Migrant Workers
CMW/C/NER/CO/1
Adopted by Commmittee: 7 September 2016
Published: 11 October 2016
Issues Raised:
Ratification:
The Committee welcomes the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, March 2012; Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, September 2004, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, March 2009 (para.6)
Child Labour:
The Committee notes with concern that: Child labour, including forced labour, remains very common in the State party and involves children from Mali and Burkina Faso, among other countries, who are panning for gold or working in restaurants or in mines, as well as children, mostly girls, coming from Benin, Mali and Togo to undertake domestic work; No convictions have been handed down for any offence relating to the worst forms of child labour; Children employed in the above-mentioned areas very often fall victim to workplace accidents; Child domestic workers are very often victims of economic exploitation, physical, verbal, sexual and gender-based violence, and discrimination; Domestic work is not regulated by law; Children from the Niger face exploitation in the form of forced labour abroad, including forced begging in Mali and Nigeria and sexual exploitation in Algeria. (para. 28)
The Committee recommends:Increase the number of labour inspections and apply appropriate sanctions to employers who exploit migrant workers or subject them to forced labour or other abuses, especially in the informal economy, in line with target 16.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals; Take all necessary measures to ensure that migrant children are not employed in areas where they are at risk of workplace accidents and that they receive compensation if they do have such an accident; Provide adequate assistance, protection and psychosocial and other types of rehabilitation services to children, including children from the Niger abroad, who have been victims of labour exploitation and intensify its efforts to work with other countries to that end; Accede to the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189); Adopt, without delay, the national action plan to combat child labour which, according to information provided by the delegation, is currently under review. (para. 29)
Harmful practices:
The Committee is concerned at the practice of wahaya, also called sadaka, which entails the purchase of one or more girls to become “fifth wives” and which constitutes a form of slavery according to a 2008 judgment of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Committee also finds it regrettable that: Wahayas are subjected to sexual exploitation and multiple forms of abuse, including severe physical abuse; Persons engaging in the practice of wahaya are rarely prosecuted, and information is lacking on law enforcement and other measures taken to prevent and combat the practice; Information and statistics are lacking on women migrant workers who are taken as wahayas and on girls who are at risk of being sold as wahayas abroad (para.30)
The Committee recalls the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and recommends that the State party: Intensify efforts to ensure the prosecution of those who organize the selling of wahayas and those who buy and/or exploit them and impose appropriate penalties; Ensure that victims of the practice of wahaya receive appropriate compensation; Include statistics and other information in its next periodic report on victims of the practice of wahaya, including migrant workers, on the steps taken to prosecute the perpetrators of this crime and on the compensation obtained by victims (para. 31).
Birth Registrtion:
The Committee is concerned by reports that a significant number of children, including children of migrant workers, are not registered (para.36).
The Committee recommends that the State party step up its efforts to ensure that all children of migrant workers are registered at birth and issued with personal identity documents in line with target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals and that it raise awareness about the importance of birth registration among migrant workers and members of their families, especially those in an irregular situation (para. 37).
International Migrant Children:
The Committee notes the efforts undertaken by the State party to protect unaccompanied international migrant children and the efforts described by the delegation to ensure their repatriation and reunification with their families. It is concerned, however, about the significant number of unaccompanied children who remain without protection in the State party. The Committee is also concerned by the lack of information on what is being done to ensure the proper identification and protection of unaccompanied minors in transit, who risk becoming victims of violations and abuse (para.42).
The Committee encourages the State party to continue focusing on the situation of unaccompanied migrant children while respecting the principle of the best interests of the child. In particular, the State party should: Focus on developing protection policies to address the difficulties faced by unaccompanied migrant children and on setting up mechanisms for their identification and protection; Strengthen cooperation with transit and destination countries in establishing protection measures for unaccompanied migrant children and ensure that unaccompanied migrant children who have been the victims of crime are properly protected and receive individual care tailored to the specific needs of each child (para. 43).
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UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Ratified in 2008, but not yet reported.
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UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
Signed in 2007, but not yet ratified.