Submitted by CRIN on
Summary: A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the second Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'National Report', the 'Compilation of UN Information' and the 'Summary of Stakeholder's Information'. Also to be included will be the final report and the list of accepted and rejected recommendations.
Uruguay - 18th Session - 2014
Wednesday, 29 January, 09:00 - 12:30
National report
Compilation of UN information
Stakeholders’ information
Accepted and rejected recommendations
National Report
Progress in implementing the recommendations
A. Signature, accession, ratification (recommendations 1, 2, 3 and 4)
7. Accession to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (Act No. 17,724 of 3 May 2004).
C. Reports to the treaty bodies (recommendations 10, 11, 20 and 21)
13. National reports were also submitted on the rights of persons with disabilities; the rights of migrant workers and their families; torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; children’s rights and the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and Uruguay is now waiting to hear the dates of the dialogue with the respective committees.
D. Children’s rights, sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and the juvenile criminal justice system (recommendations 14, 15, 16, 18, 44, 45, 46, 47, 67, 68, 69 and 70)
17. In 2008, the National Council for the Coordination of Social Policies defined the national goals and strategic guidelines on public policies for children and adolescents for the period 2010–2030. The outcome of these discussions was the National Strategy for Children and Adolescents 2010–2030, which gathered the views of more than 5,000 children and adolescents. Moreover, there is now an “Action Plan on the National Strategy for Children and Adolescents 2010–2015”, which covers the main challenges identified and proposals to be developed, with benchmarks, goals to be achieved and action to be taken by each service for children and adolescents.
18. In May 2013, under the agreement between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Child and Adolescent Institute of Uruguay and the National Council for the Coordination of Social Policies, an extensive campaign entitled “No Excuses” was conducted in the media and on the streets, to expose the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and to place the issue on the public agenda.
19. With regard to child trafficking and smuggling, in 2011, the Child and Adolescent Institute of Uruguay started to implement the National Plan of Action to Eradicate the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, placing special emphasis on prevention, protection, support, restitution, participation, training and dissemination, and on monitoring and evaluation of the situation. The Plan was devised and promoted by the National Committee to Eradicate Commercial and Non-Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents.
20. Between 2009 and 2012, there were 23 prosecutions for child and adolescent sexual exploitation, brought mainly in criminal courts by the Office of the Public Defender Service for Criminal Matters specializing in organized crime.
21. In 2009, the regulations to Act No. 18,250 of 2008 (which defines the offences of trafficking and smuggling of persons) were adopted, establishing special aggravating circumstances when the victim is a child, adolescent or person with disabilities. Two courts with national jurisdiction over cases of organized crime were established, as well as two public defenders (Act No. 18,362 of 2008) and two special prosecutors’ offices (Act No. 18,390 of 2008) responsible for prosecuting human trafficking offences.
22. The number of street children and adolescents in Uruguay has decreased in recent years. In 2003, the NGO Gurises Unidos (Kids United) conducted a census to identify the number of street children, and found that there were 3,100 in Montevideo and its metropolitan area. In order to improve the living conditions of street children and adolescents and ensure that their rights are respected, the Comprehensive Programme of Support for Street Children was established and is implemented jointly by the Child and Adolescent Institute of Uruguay and the Ministry of Social Development.
23. In 2007, two years into the Programme, the Child and Adolescent Institute conducted a new census, which found a total of 1,887 street children and adolescents, namely, 40 per cent less than in 2003. There were 111 street children living in extreme situations. The programme Network for Extreme Street Situations was established in response to that.
24. The number of street children continues to decrease. In order to verify this trend, a new census is being planned.
25. In July 2011, the institutional framework to deal with adolescents in conflict with the law was strengthened through the creation of the System of Adolescent Criminal Liability. Since then, the use of custodial measures has changed with greater emphasis being placed on a socio-educational approach to the criminal liability of adolescents in conflict with the law. This has involved implementing initiatives to help adolescents to remain in their family and community environment or, if appropriate, to use deprivation of liberty in correctional facilities and a gradual increase in freedom of movement. In both cases, custodial and non-custodial, initiatives are under way to settle adolescents into a compulsory, personalized educational routine.
26. The provision of alternatives to deprivation of liberty for adolescents has been successfully extended to the national level through 25 projects in 17 departments.
27. Community mediation experiments have been carried out by the regional offices of the Child and Adolescent Institute of Uruguay with a view to applying alternative conflict-resolution methods among young persons, thereby avoiding prosecution, and particularly regarding clashes between rival sports fans.
28. The new structure (System of Adolescent Criminal Liability), which is responsible to a committee of the Board of the Child and Adolescent Institute, seeks to increase levels of expertise with a high level of technical autonomy through the development of five programmes: (a) admission, study and referral, (b) community-based socio-educational measures, (c) remedial measures, (d) deprivation of liberty and partial release, and (e) social and community integration and support upon release.
29. In 2011, the Institute allocated considerable resources to infrastructure projects and for the period 2012–2014 it invested in human resources specializing in each of the five programmes.
30. In Uruguay, there are approximately 67,000 children and adolescents involved in child labour – defined as work carried out by persons aged under 15 or hazardous work carried out by adolescents aged between 15 and 17. The purpose of the National Committee for the Elimination of Child Labour and the Protection of Working Adolescents is to provide advice on, coordinate and propose policies and programmes to eliminate child labour.
31. The National Committee is drawing up a Plan of Action to Eradicate Child Labour in Waste Collection and Sorting, to be implemented in Montevideo and Canelones. Furthermore, the preparation of the Plan of Action to Protect Adolescent Workers began in 2012.
32. Labour inspections conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security have been extended to the whole national territory giving due weight to certain risk categories or activities, particularly during harvest time. This reflects the increase in seasonal labour in the departments of Colonia, Canelones, Maldonado and Rocha. In addition, reports of accidents involving persons under 18 years of age have been received from the State Insurance Bank.
33. In 2012, a total of 3,931 work permits (1,971 in the interior of the country and 1,960 in the capital) were granted.
34. Awareness-raising activities on “Protected child and adolescent labour” were conducted in public schools and agricultural schools of the Vocational Technical Education Council in Montevideo, Artigas, Colonia, Flores and Río Negro.
35. At the level of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), a joint initiative entitled “MERCOSUR united against child labour” is being undertaken, involving regional and bilateral activities, particularly in border areas.
36. In 1990, Uruguay ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2004, it adopted the Code on Children and Adolescents. It also ratified the ILO Minimum Age Convention (No. 138) and the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182).
37. Uruguay is significantly strengthening its comprehensive social policies on children and adolescents. In particular, it is making progress in implementing key initiatives to address the increased vulnerability of child workers, street children and victims of child abuse. Since the development of the National Strategy for Children and Adolescents 2010–2030 and the introduction of the social reform by the national Government, with the participation of social actors, and involving various policies and special initiatives targeting that group, unprecedented efforts have been made to ensure the full enjoyment of the rights of all children and adolescents.
38. Under the Equity Plan, Act No. 18,227 of 22 December 2007, a family allowance system was established, benefiting some 600,000 children. It has had a significant impact on low-income households and reduced both poverty and extreme poverty. A family capacity-building strategy (“Cercanías”) has also been established to provide assistance to families in extremely vulnerable situations. It is an inter-institutional strategy implemented jointly by the Ministry of Social Development and the Child and Adolescent Institute of Uruguay, with the participation of the health, education and housing authorities and civil society, and which involves outreach activities by field teams and promotes families’ access to services and benefits.
39. The Comprehensive Child and Family Support Centre Plan has made practical provision for children aged between 0 and 3 years, through various methods including early learning, preschool education, nutrition and family support. Other efforts have been made in the public sector, such as the daytime childcare centres of the Child and Adolescent Institute, the centres of the “Nuestros Niños” (Our Children) programme of the Departmental Government of Montevideo and education for 3-year-olds in kindergartens of the National Public Education Administration. Together these services have attained a high level of provision, as a result of the efforts made under the Equity Plan to improve the coverage and quality of early childhood care.
40. Important steps have been taken in the education system to establish compulsory preschool education for 4- to 5-year-olds. Programmes have also been put in place in primary education to meet needs in the various contexts in which the education system operates, including increasing the number of schools offering an extended schoolday or a full schoolday, of which there are now 31. In secondary education, various programmes are in place to encourage adolescents to remain in school.
41. The National Committee to Eradicate Commercial and Non-Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents has facilitated human resources training and awareness-raising activities for specialists and the community at large. The Child and Adolescent Institute of Uruguay promoted the creation of a Programme for the Support of Child and Adolescent Victims of Trafficking or Commercial Sexual Exploitation. The Integrated System for Protection of Children and Adolescents from Violence has broadened its scope, by developing training and awareness-raising activities on, and assistance in, situations of violence affecting children and adolescents, and has incorporated a generational perspective into the proposals developed by the National Council to Combat Domestic Violence, thereby aiding progress within a gender and generational framework.
42. A new form of care has been developed that helps prevent the institutionalization of children and adolescents. Under the Adoption Act, the concepts of “caring family” and “host centre” were created as alternatives supplementing the system of “carers”, which promotes life in a family environment and shorter placement periods for children aged under 7.
E. Discrimination (recommendations 22, 23, 24 and 36)
48. On 10 April 2013, the Equal Marriage Act was adopted, amending the Civil Code to define marriage as the permanent union of two persons, regardless of their sex or gender identity. The minimum age for marriage for both sexes is 16 and couples are allowed to choose, by mutual agreement, the order of their children’s surnames, and divorce may be granted at the request of either spouse.
50. The Act on Reparation for Discrimination for the Population of African Descent was adopted. It provides, among other things, that 8 per cent of State vacancies are to be filled by persons of African descent and sets training quotas at the National Institute of Employment and Vocational Training and in all student support and grant systems at the national and departmental levels. Furthermore, it reaffirms that the slave trade and trafficking are crimes against humanity, in accordance with international law, and declares that the development, promotion and implementation of public and private affirmative action measures specifically for persons of African descent are in the public interest.
F. Women’s rights and domestic violence (recommendations 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 50, 72, 73, 74 and 75)
64. Act No. 18,850 establishes reparation for victims of violence and a non-contributory pension and a special family allowance for the children of victims of domestic violence. The beneficiaries must meet some requirements related to age, marital status and availability of adequate resources of their own. The Social Insurance Bank is responsible for administering these benefits.
67. The National Institute for Women has established public services for women victims of gender-based domestic violence, providing psychological and social support and legal assistance, and representation at trial. There are now 16 offices for women victims of gender-based domestic violence. In 2012, a short-stay shelter was established, providing accommodation, protection and guidance for single women or women with children who are victims of domestic violence and whose lives are at risk.
69. The project “Uruguay, united in putting an end to violence against women, children and adolescents” for the period 2012–2014, was submitted to the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women. Within the United Nations system, UN-Women is the agency leading the project, in cooperation with national institutions. The project is designed to prevent, punish and eliminate gender-based violence and is intended as a contribution to the implementation of the National Strategy.
G. Prison system and criminal reform (recommendations 39, 40, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61 and 63)
73. The national preventive mechanism against torture is part of the National Human Rights Institution. Pursuant to the Act establishing the Institution, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it will carry out the functions of national preventive mechanism laid down in the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. This Act also requires the National Human Rights Institution to coordinate its functions with other institutions of a similar nature, e.g., the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Prison System, the community ombudsmen, the Consultative Council on Children’s Rights and the Inspectorate for Psychopaths.
H. Combating poverty and social inclusion (recommendations 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 and 82)
82. Poverty continues to be higher among women and children.
84. The proportion of children under the age of 6 living in households below the poverty line decreased from 40 per cent in 2008 to 24.5 per cent in 2012. A similar trend was observed for children aged 6 to 13: in 2008, 39 per cent were poor and in 2012, this figure dropped to 23.3 per cent. Public resources allocated to children and adolescents have increased in the past five years. Public expenditure on children as a percentage of GDP rose from 4.3 per cent to 5.5 per cent, which shows that greater macroeconomic priority is effectively being placed on children.
85. During the implementation of the National Strategy for Children and Adolescents 2010–2030 and based on the results of an ongoing evaluation, the decision was made to strengthen programmes and activities for families with pregnant women, and children aged under 4, taking into consideration that early childhood is a key period in the individuals’ future development.
I. Education (recommendations 14, 16, 84, 85, 86 and 87)
94. National policy in the area of education is based on the premise that education is a basic human right. It is considered that education must be provided from a very early age in order to ensure that the highest-quality results are achieved in building a fairer society and more responsible citizenry. Emphasis is placed on the importance of quality education for the younger members of the population as a means of reducing school dropout rates and school failure.
95. The General Education Act (Act No. 18,437), which establishes the importance of quality education for all as a lifelong right, was adopted in 2008. It is essential to continue to take steps to address not only the most obvious problems, but also the needs of all sectors and age groups, with an emphasis on the integration of those who have been alienated from the education system.
96. The National Public Education System, established on the basis of this Act, is working to implement programmes and plans for the various formal and non-formal education subsystems.
Plans and programmes implemented
100. A.PR.EN.D.E.R. Schools Programme. This programme focuses on strengthening educational activities with a view to reducing repetition rates, combating absenteeism and improving achievement levels, consolidating teachers’ groups that develop educational projects relating to knowledge management, and enhancing relationships with families through the active participation of key adults and reinforcement of the link between school and community.
101. Evaluation of online learning. This method of evaluation, using the Ceibal Plan (Basic Educational Computing Connectivity for Online Learning), makes class results instantly available to every teacher, school results available to every head teacher, and the overall results of schools within their jurisdiction available to every inspector.
102. Learning Evaluation System. Online evaluation designed by teachers, who suggest tests to obtain information on aspects of learning and to reflect on teaching. The tests are computer-based, and the teacher is instantly provided with the results.
103. Community teachers. Launched in 2005 and implemented jointly by the Preschool and Primary Education Council of the National Public Education Administration and the Ministry of Social Development, this programme aims to devise a set of innovative teaching strategies which, as well as having an impact on pupil learning, will enable the school to operate in other ways, as a group, both in its relationship with the children, their families and the community, and within the educational community.
104. School meal plan. This plan serves 238,000 children throughout the country on a daily basis, that is, 53 per cent of all children enrolled in public schools.
105. Teacher + Teacher Programme. The programme consists in deploying an additional teacher to work in coordination with the classroom teacher. Its aim is to increase teaching time in primary school classes in vulnerable schools, improve the quality of the educational provision, favour the teacher over the timetable, and reduce and eventually eradicate repetition and falling behind.
106. Schools offering a full schoolday. This will involve building classrooms, transforming ordinary schools into full-day schools, outfitting, distributing teaching materials, training teachers in the new educational model and setting up school libraries.
107. Other support programmes being implemented include: strengthening the schoolfamily- community link, acquisition of a second language through partial immersion, and recreational and expressive activities.
108. At the lower, upper and technological secondary education levels, programmes have been designed to meet specific needs within short time frames, which determine their sustainability:
• Secondary Education Completion Programme: this provides for the completion of secondary education for public authority, private and trade union officials;
• Community Classrooms Programme (integration in the formal education system);
• Programmes addressing specific social issues: the Child and Adolescent Institute of Uruguay (Educational Areas) and Education in Confinement, and population groups with disabilities: deaf and hearing-impaired persons, blind and partially sighted persons;
• Face-to-face or tutored self-study adult education for individuals aged over 21 years;
• Uruguay Study Programme: this programme has resulted from inter-institutional coordination and includes financial support grants for students in some cases. It offers different types of courses: completion of primary education, completion of lower secondary education, basic vocational training, tutored self-study adult secondary education, completion of the bachillerato at the Technological University of Uruguay and in secondary education;
• Education for young people aged between 15 and 20 years: continuing education giving the opportunity to complete compulsory schooling;
• Educational commitment: this is an inter-institutional programme, initiated in 2011, designed to enhance the existing range of educational programmes, in order to ensure that adolescents and young people remain in and enhance their educational paths in the public education system and succeed in completing higher secondary education. It consists of three components: peer-based reference (where tertiary level or university students support and accompany young people in upper secondary education); learning agreements (a written record of the learning objectives set by the pupil, together with the school and the pupil’s family, and joint identification of the processes they will take part in and the commitments that each party will undertake), scholarships (financial support to assist young people to gain access to and remain in secondary education, seen as a component linked to the rest of the strategies).
109. With regard to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the education system and their effective inclusion in society and work, the Commission for the Continuing Education and Social and Professional Activities of Pupils Graduating from Special Schools (for pupils with intellectual disabilities) was set up in 2011. Its aim is to provide young people with disabilities with socio-educational paths that respect their personal characteristics, age and skills.
110. Other inclusion policies for the general population comprise: free travel for secondary-school pupils aged below 18 years; scholarships for low-income pupils who need support to be able to fund the minimum costs associated with attending an educational establishment (704 scholarships totalling 3,373,212 Uruguayan pesos were awarded in 2009, and 2,275 scholarships totalling 20,160,000 Uruguayan pesos — including 180 for pupils of African descent — were awarded in 2012); family allowances; financial benefits for parents of children and adolescents able to certify their attendance at an educational establishment from the preschool stage to completion of lower secondary education; guaranteeing the number of teaching days and promoting school attendance (in 2012, the level of pupil attendance increased to an average of 162 days, thereby achieving one of the highest figures in primary education and recovering the investment in each child attending public school.
111. Promoting regular school attendance is a sound strategy for ensuring that children learn and achieve better results and have greater opportunities. It should be noted that class attendance improved in overall terms in 2012, for the third consecutive year.
112. For its part, the repetition rate in 2012 decreased by half a percentage point to 5.6 per cent, which is the lowest repetition rate ever recorded (half the rate recorded a decade previously).
113. Until 2007, Uruguay shared a characteristic with many other societies: digital access was segmented, with significant inequalities to the detriment of the lowest socioeconomic groups. Act No. 18,640 created the Ceibal Support Centre for Child and Adolescent Education.
114. The Ceibal Plan emerged in this context, based on the one laptop per child experiment conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is a technology based socio-educational project that seeks to offer children and their families, especially in the poorest sectors of the population, the possibility of accessing new technologies, thereby transforming what used to be a privilege into a right for all, particularly children. The distribution of laptops to every child attending a Uruguayan public school and to every teacher has thus begun.
115. Access is now being universalized through the distribution of computers to all school pupils and students in lower secondary education and also through the provision of connections in all educational establishments, covering 99.5 per cent of enrolled pupils. Progress is being made in the production of teaching materials and the establishment of new platforms such as content management or mathematics platforms. Videoconference rooms have been installed and it is estimated that their numbers will reach 1,200 in 2014, when they will exist in all of the country’s urban centres. Work is under way on the teaching of English through videoconferencing based on content provision from laptop computers and on the management of the process under the responsibility of the class teacher.
J. Trafficking in persons (recommendations 43, 48, 49, 50 and 51)
116. Uruguay has made significant progress in combating trafficking in persons, especially women, children and adolescents. It has adopted Act No. 18,250 on migration, which incorporates the specific punishable offence of trafficking and smuggling of persons. Act No. 17,815 on sexual violence, whether or not for commercial purposes, committed against children, adolescents or persons with disabilities, defines the offences of pornography, prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Work is currently being undertaken to strengthen State policies.
III. Voluntary pledges and commitments
(c) Reduce child mortality and malnutrition to achieve the 2015 national Millennium Development Goals;
(d) Establish support systems to safeguard the rights of child and adolescent victims of commercial sexual exploitation, at the national level, for the period 2015–2020;
(k) Adopt and start to implement the National Human Rights Education Plan within the next four years;
(o) Expand and improve the early childhood education provision;
(x) Ensure 100 per cent access to birth registration.
Eliminate the late enrolment fine as an incentive for registration;
(ll) Continuing to implement the project “Uruguay, united in putting an end to violence against women, children and adolescents” 2012–2014; (pp) Pursue the adoption of legislative and administrative measures to promote the social integration of children in conflict with the law, in particular the implementation of a crime policy that takes account of the best interests of the child, effective use of alternative measures to pretrial detention and the strengthening of a special juvenile jurisdiction;
(qq) Continue to develop a criminal responsibility system that respects the rights of children, with an emphasis on the promotion of educational measures and the gradual decrease in leisure activities;
Compilation of UN information
III. Implementation of international human rights obligations
A. Equality and non-discrimination
29. CESCR was concerned about widespread de facto discrimination against children born out of wedlock. It recommended that Uruguay amend its family law and conduct awareness-raising programmes.
B. Right to life, liberty and security of the person
30. CED urged Uruguay to ensure that women and children who are victims of enforced disappearance are provided with special protection and assistance.
33. The Special Rapporteur on the question of torture recognized the overall progress the Government had made, but noted that conditions of detention for both adults and children in conflict with the law remained disturbing. The causes of the situation seemed to include the abuse of pretrial detention, the growing prison population and the failure to use alternatives to imprisonment or release during proceedings. The Special Rapporteur recommended that Uruguay prioritize comprehensive prison reform, including a review of legislation and the ingrained use of pretrial detention.
40. CESCR was concerned that many people, the majority of whom were children, lived on the streets. It recommended that Uruguay address such phenomenon and ensure access to health care, education and social security.
41. While noting steps taken to combat trafficking in women and girls, CEDAW requested additional efforts in that regard.
D. Right to privacy, marriage and family life
60. CESCR called on Uruguay to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for both boys and girls.
62. UN-Uruguay expressed satisfaction with the changes made in adoption procedures and said that the Code on Children and Adolescents included broad procedural guarantees.
I. Right to education
91. UNESCO encouraged Uruguay to strengthen measures to guarantee greater social inclusion in the national education system; to step up efforts to address the problem of high school dropout rates, particularly in secondary schools; and to continue to invest in education.
92. UN-Uruguay highlighted the progress achieved in access to nursery education and the fact that the goal set for children’s attendance at compulsory nursery schools (ages 4 and 5 years) had been reached.166 UN-Uruguay said that current challenges related to the quality of education and the development of policies to include children from the most vulnerable groups. It recommended introducing reforms in the education system to reduce school dropout rates, particularly in secondary education.
93. CESCR was concerned at secondary school dropout rates and poor literacy levels in rural areas and among Afro-descendants. It recommended that Uruguay improve access to and the quality of primary and secondary education. CERD recommended the implementation of the 2008 law on education and the reduction of school dropout rates of children of African descent and indigenous origin.
Stakeholders' information
A. Background and framework
2. Constitutional and legislative framework
5. The National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office (INDDHH) reported that during 2011 reforms were made to the Children and Adolescents Code (CNA) that were regressive in nature (criminalization of attempted theft and of acting as an accomplice to theft, extension from 60 to 90 days of the period during which judges are allowed to hand down a final sentence in cases in which adolescents are detained as a temporary preventive measure) and which in practice have increased the number of adolescents deprived of their liberty. Both IELSUR and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Uruguay (CDN-U) expressed concern about this regressive trend and drew attention to the debate on the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility to 16 years, on which a referendum on a reform of the Constitution would be held during the national elections in 2014.
17. CDN-U said that in accordance with the Children and Adolescents Code (CNA) the National Honorary and Consultative Council on Children and Adolescents, which had been set up by CNA should have its own budget and a workplan. CDN-U said that it was still necessary for participation by children to be included as a key element of public policy management.
C. Implementation of international human rights obligations
2. Right to life, liberty and security of the person
24. CDN-U said that it was concerned about the large number of detentions of children by the police and that it had reliable reports that adolescents suspected of having committed crimes, and more recently street children had been tortured in police stations. It highlighted the scant attention given to cases of torture and ill-treatment and said that Act 18.315 (Police Procedure) made derogations from the system of guarantees provided for by the Children and Adolescents Code (CAN).
26. INDDHH reported that during its visit to the SER detention centre at Colonia Berro it had found that minors were kept locked up for 20 to 23 hours a day and had no access to any kind of activity. They are able to attend classes only occasionally, discontinuously and exceptionally. A high proportion of the adolescents in the Centre take medically prescribed drugs and there are no frequent medical check-ups. There is no information on the current internal regulations and consequently punishments are arbitrarily imposed without justification. CDN-U also drew attention to the absence of any individualized plans and programmes for adolescents in each centre.
29. JS4 indicated that assistance provided by the Comprehensive System of Protection of Children and Adolescents from Violence (SIPIAV), created in 2007, has remained concentrated in the metropolitan zone. JS4 recommended that Uruguay carry out studies on the prevalence of violence against children and adolescents.
30. JS4 noted that commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents has only recently begun to be looked at as a problem in Uruguay. JS4 recommended to prioritize resources to the inter-institutional mechanisms in charge of creating related public policy; promote quantitative and qualitative studies on the situation of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents; implement specialized victims attention services; accelerate the implementation of a specialized police to investigate crimes of trafficking and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents; strengthen the justice system and; criminalize sexual tourism.
4. Right to privacy and family life
48. CDN-U indicated that although CNA establishes the right of children to live with their family and the responsibility of the State for guaranteeing that right, it does not determine how it does so and how it ensures that separation of the family is a measure of last resort. It is also concerned about the piecemeal institutional structure of the child protection system.
7. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living
57. JS4 noted that in its first UPR cycle, Uruguay accepted a number of recommendations related to efforts to eradicate poverty. JS4 welcomed achievements between 2009 and 2011, with the poverty rate dropping from 20.9% to 13.7%, and called for continued and strengthened resolve in the fight against poverty. JS4 noted that despite these achievements, the statistics also show that in Uruguay poverty has the face of a child: while the general poverty rate in Uruguay is reported at 13.7%, the rate for children under 6 is practically double that at 26.1%.
58. JS4 recommended to ensure political and financial support for the Ministry of Social Development’s program “Uruguay Crece Contigo,” to fulfil its mandate to “guarantee the integral development of children and their families, from a perspective based on rights, equity, gender equality, social justice and integral development”; promote the participation of children living in poverty, with a special focus on education and; prioritize civil society consultations and the statistical analysis of progress in the fight against childhood poverty during the State Review before the Committee on the Rights of the Child in June 2015.
8. Right to education
62. JS1 informed that UNESCO funding for the Sex Education Programme came to an end in 2010 and that students are now deprived of their right to receive comprehensive sex education.
63. JS4 recommended that Uruguay prioritizes inclusive education to guarantee the right of education for all, regardless of their level of ability.
9. Persons with disabilities
64. JS4 referred to data published by UNICEF on the 2011 population census, noting that children and adolescents with disabilities represent 5.6% of the total Uruguayan population between 0 and 17 years old.
Organisation: