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Introduction and summary
As a popular movement for the rights of the child, Radda Barnen
[Swedish Save the Children] has an obvious task to fight to
ensure that the rights of the child are realised, thereby requiring
political will on the part of the Swedish Government, Members of
the Riksdag [Swedish Parliament] and other decision-makers.
This is Radda Barnen's Report (adopted by the Executive Board of
Radda Barnen on 23 January 1998) to the UN Committee on the
Rights of the Child - Geneva in response to a review of the
Second Periodical Report of the Swedish Government to the UN
Committee's 19th UN session in September/October 1998. Radda
Barnen is providing this supplementary report on how the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child has been applied in
Sweden. Radda Barnen is solely responsible for this report, but
also sup-ports the report from the NGO Network for the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which consists of some 60
voluntary organisations. The report has also been submitted to
the UN Committee (Article 45a).
Working methods
The Stockholm headquarters of Radda Barnen has gathered
experiences and knowledge on compliance with the Rights of the
Convention. These experiences, together with criticism and praise
of the Swedish Government, are presented in Section I.
During 1996-1997 Radda Barnen also invited, within the
framework of the project "From Flen to the UN", local branches
and county federations throughout Sweden to contribute
"snapshots of on the conditions prevailing for children in their
districts". In total, 25 reports from 19 associations and county
federations were received.
A common trend indicated by the reports is that the best
interests of the child as a primary consideration (Article 3) is
interpreted differently in the municipalities and that respect for
the opinions of the child (Article 12) is often forgotten. Members
of Radda Barnen who participated in the project "From Flen to the
UN" question whether Sweden really meets up to its international
obligations "to the maximum extent of its available resources"
(Article 4).
General comments on the second periodical report of the
Government to the UN Sweden is a rich country which has,
however, endured serious economic difficulties during the 1990s.
Among other things, these economic problems have resulted in
the development of a substantial national debt. Restructuring
affecting the basic needs of children has been implemented, state
resources have diminished, and the State, municipalities and
public authorities have implemented cut-backs in their
expenditure. Radda Barnen considers that the consequences of
this economic policy harm children, particularly children-at-risk,
and our impression is that the spirit embodied within Article 4 is
not always understood and respected by the municipalities or
reflected in their budgets. Their decisions often lack a perspective
on the child.
Radda Barnen closely monitors how the Swedish Government
satisfies its public inter-national law obligations arising from its
ratification of the Convention and also presen-ted comments to
the UNCommittee On the Rights of Child in connection. with the
Report by Sweden in 1992/93.
Radda Barnen has read the report of the Swedish Government
with great interest and is appreciative of the fact that the
Swedish Government fulfils its duty to report to the UN in time
and that Sweden was the first state to be examined by the UN
Committee in 1993.
The organisations within the NGO Network for the Convention on
the Rights of the Child - Radda Barnen is one of the founders and
members of the steering group - were also grateful for the
opportunity to conduct a hearing with the Government, and espe-
cially with the Prime Minister, attending for the first time, on 1
September 1997 with the Swedish Government's Report as a
basis. The voluntary organisations presented questions and
shared their knowledge concerning non-compliance in application
of the Convention.
The view of Radda Barnen is that the 1997 report from Sweden
provides a rather good comprehensive description of how the
Convention is applied there. However, we had no dialogue with
the Government before the report was written. In March 1997,
the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs invited a few
voluntary organisations to an informal meeting. Radda Barnen
subsequently invited the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs for a
meeting at its headquarters on 17 April 1997.
The Swedish Government's report is still not available in print, nor
is it possible to read it via the Internet. Radda Barnen has
therefore been obliged to use a preliminary report from the
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. This is not in accordance with
Article 44.6 of the Convention.
Many children in Sweden still do not have information and
knowledge about the Convention and further efforts to make the
Convention accessible are necessary.
In the opinion of Radda Barnen, the report from Sweden lacks an
analysis, for example of the best interests of the child being a
primary consideration, and a discussion about the difficulties in
applying the Convention which even a rich and democratic
country may experience. A public debate concerning conflicting
objectives, selection of different ways forward and priorities in
society could have contributed to an open discussion with other
countries and yielded an opportunity for exchanging experiences.
Nor was there an analysis of which consequences result from
political decisions concer-ning children, both in the short and long
term, and whether the municipal savings were really implemented
with respect for the principle of the best interests of the child, par-
ticularly as regards children in especially difficult situations.
Furthermore, there was no future vision on which child policy
should prevail in the future in accordance with the norms,
principles and regulations of the Convention.
However, Radda Barnen is appreciative of the 600 page main
report of the Parliamentary Committee "The Best Interests of the
Child a Primary Consideration", Swedish Public Commission
Report SOU 1997:116, which was presented on 20 August 1997.
Every sec-tion of the report consists of three parts: an analysis of
the Convention, the Swedish situation and the deliberations of
the Committee
Follow-up of previous report
In the report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
1992, Radda Barnen presented its views under the following
headings:
General principles; Children taken into detention, Article 3 7b;
Exploitation of chil-dren in pornography, Article 34c; The rights of
the child to knowledge and informa-tion, Article 42; Refugee
children, Articles 10, 22, 38 and 40;
Children exposed to physical and psychological abuse, Articles 3,
24.3, 34, 36 and 39;
Children with disabilities, Article 23;
Some issues are still relevant topics today and Radda Barnen
reverts to this in its report under the respective Article.
Guidelines for reporting
Radda Barnen adopts the UN Committee's guidelines for
reporting and provides comments under the following headings:
Development 1992-1997; general measures; international
development co-operation.
General principles: Articles 2, 3 and 12,
Civil and political rights: Articles 7 and 17,
Family environment and alternative care: Articles 10 and 19,
Basic health and welfare: Articles 23 and 24,
Education, leisure and cultural activity: Articles 28, 29 and 31,
Special protective measures: Articles 22, 34, 37, 38 and 39
To the UN Committee
Radda Barnen has, under the heading To the UN Committee,
expressed an interest in obtaining guidance from the Committee
as regards interpretation in some concrete examples, and
provides comments concerning a number of proposals to reinforce
the application of the Convention.