Submitted by crinadmin on
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 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
- UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- UN Human Rights Committee
- UN Committee against Torture
- UN Committee on Migrant Workers
- UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
(CERD/C/ZMB/CO/16)
Last reported: 4 – 5 August 2005
Concluding Observations issued: 27 March 2007
No mentions of children’s rights
____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW/C/ZMB/CO/5-6)
Last reported: 13 July 2011
Concluding Observations issued: 27 July 2011
Violence: While welcoming the enactment of the Anti-Gender Based Violence Act (2011), recent amendments to the Penal Code which include stiffer penalties for certain sexual offences, and the establishment of the Police Public Complaints Authority, the Committee reiterates its concern at the high prevalence of violence against women and girls, including domestic violence and widespread incidents of sexual violence, including rape and defilement, in both the private and public spheres, including while in detention. The Committee is also concerned that such violence appears to be socially legitimized and accompanied by a culture of silence, impunity and unawareness, therefore contributing to high levels of underreporting. The Committee also notes with concern the low rate of convictions for reported incidents of rape and defilement. The committee is further concerned that marital rape is not explicitly recognized as a criminal offence in either the Penal Code or the new Anti-Gender Based Violence Act (2011). (para 21)
Child trafficking: (…) However, the Committee is concerned that Zambia remains a country of origin, destination and transit for trafficking of persons and that there is an increasing number of child victims of commercial exploitation, including prostitution, especially of girls, orphans and disadvantaged children. The Committee regrets the absence of statistical data on the number of women and girl victims of trafficking for purposes of economic exploitation or prostitution. The Committee notes that the Zambian Penal Code criminalizes prostitution, including people living on earnings from prostitution. (para 23)
The Committee calls upon the State party to fully implement article 6 of the Convention, including through: (…)
c) Conducting comparative studies on trafficking and prostitution, including collection of disaggregated data, to identify and address root causes in order to eliminate the vulnerability of girls and women to sexual exploitation and traffickers and facilitate recovery and social integration of victims; (…) (para 24)
Citizenship: The Committee expresses its appreciation to the State Party for the fact that spouses have equal opportunities regarding the application and acquisition of Zambian citizenship since its previous report, and for ensuring equality of spouses or guardians in their right to apply and collect passports or birth certificates on behalf of their children without the need for the spouses’ written consent. In this regard, the Committee welcomes the decision by the High Court in the Edith Zewelani Nawakwi case. Despite these positive developments the Committee notes with concern that women are still not adequately aware of the fact that the consent of the father is no longer required in order for children to be included in their mothers passport. (para 27)
The Committee recommends that the State party promotes awareness of the: (…)
b) Equality of spouses or guardians in their right to apply and collect passports or birth certificates on behalf of their children without the need for the spouses’ written consent. (para 28)
Education: (…) However, the Committee is concerned that girls continue to drop out of school due to early marriage, teenage pregnancy, discriminatory traditional and cultural practices and poverty, especially in rural areas. The Committee is concerned about a number of other challenges relating to education in Zambia, such as lack of adequate capacity and infrastructure at schools, including inappropriate sanitary facilities for girls; lack of adequacy in gender responsive teaching; and insufficient availability of resources to comprehensively implement free basic education, sexual harassment and the HIV/AID pandemic which keeps many girls out of school. (para 29)
The Committee urges the State party to enhance its compliance with article 10 of the Convention and to raise awareness of the importance of education as a human right and as the basis for the empowerment of women. To this end, it urges the State party to:
a) Strengthen its efforts toward equal access, participation and successful completion of education at all levels as stipulated in the 2011 Education Act;
b) Take steps to overcome discriminatory traditional attitudes that in some areas constitute obstacles to girls’ and women’s education;
c) Address girls’ dropout and retention rates and narrow the gender gap at all levels of the educational system;
d) Reinforce its policy on the readmission to school of pregnant girls and young mothers, particularly in rural areas and enforce penalties where schools fail to comply;
e) Improve the quality of training in gender-responsive teaching and learning methodologies for teachers to encourage change in social norms and traditional attitudes toward the gender role of boys and girls;
f) Implement a zero tolerance policy to end violence against girls, sexual abuse and harassment in schools and ensure that perpetrators are punished; and
g) Ensure that the new schools mentioned by the delegation during the dialogue which are soon to be constructed consider and adopt the gender specific concerns of women and girls, including appropriate sanitary facilities. (para 30)
Child labour: (…)The Committee is concerned about the lacking reporting and implementation of ILO Conventions on equality and child labour. (para 31)
The Committee recommends that the State party: (…)
d) Institute measures that will guarantee conformity with the ILO Conventions No. 100 on Equal Remuneration, No. 111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), No. 156 on Workers with Family Responsibilities and No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. (para 32)
Health: (…) The Committee is particularly concerned about the high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly due to deaths and disabilities resulting from unsafe abortions, despite abortion laws which do not prohibit women from seeking safe abortions at health centres; the lack of access for women and girls to reproductive healthcare and information, including contraception and HIV/AIDS treatment and especially in rural areas; the high rate of adolescent pregnancy; malnutrition; and the prevalence of gender-based violence and discrimination affecting women and girls, including early marriage. While recognizing the efforts of the State party through the ‘Roll-Back Malaria Initiative’, the Committee is concerned that malaria remains a serious health concern for women in Zambia and accounts for 20% of maternal morbidity and mortality. (para 33)
The Committee recommends that the State party:
a) Take all necessary measures to improve women’s access to reproductive health care and related services within the framework of the Committee’s general recommendation No. 24 on article 12 – women and health;
b) Strengthen its efforts, including through the CARMA, to reduce the incidents of maternal mortality and to raise awareness of and increase women’s access to health-care facilities and medical assistance by trained personnel, especially in rural areas;
c) Raise awareness amongst women and clinicians, including through an information campaign, about the legislation on abortion which allows women to seek safe abortions at health centres;
d) Provide women with access to good-quality services for the management of complications arising from unsafe abortions in line with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 24, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action;
e) Strengthen and expand efforts to increase knowledge of and access to affordable contraceptive methods throughout the country and ensure that women and girls, especially in rural areas, do not face barriers to accessing family planning information and services;
f) Ensure that anti-malaria drugs are available and accessible, especially to pregnant women to reduce the overall incidence of malaria and number of deaths caused from the disease; and
g) Reinforce education, including through the Youth Peer Programme and other programmes, on sexual and reproductive health rights targeting adolescent girls and boys, with special attention to the prevention of early pregnancy and the control of STIs, including HIV/AIDS. (para 34)
The Committee notes with concern that HIV/AIDS remains a serious concern in the country and that additional efforts are needed to raise awareness, especially among youth, about the risks and effects of HIV, AIDS and other STIs. The Committee is concerned about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and especially young girls who are raped due to the belief that intercourse with a virgin cures the infection. In this respect, the Committee is concerned that women and girls may be particularly susceptible to infection owing to gender-specific norms and that the persistence of unequal power relations between women and men and the inferior status of women and girls may hamper their ability to negotiate safe sexual practices, thereby increasing their vulnerability to infection. The Committee is also concerned about the shortage of personnel, and the inadequate infrastructure, health care facilities, access to services and safe spaces for women living with HIV, particularly in rural areas. The Committee is also concerned about the number and social situation of orphaned children and older women who are generally caring for family members with HIV/AIDS. (para 35)
The Committee calls upon the State party to:
a) Undertake continued and sustained measures to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls, especially orphaned children and older women and assess the consequences of HIV/AIDS for the family and society; (…)
c) Improve access to free prevention, treatment and care and support services at the programming level where gender and customary factors contribute significantly to infection rates among women and girls; (…) (para 36)
Prevalence of Customary Law: The Committee is concerned about the negative impact of the dual system of law in Zambia. While the State party has indicated that statutory law will prevail where there is a conflict with customary law, the Committee is concerned that customary law is in fact preferred and is more likely to be applied in family and personal relations, namely adoption, marriage, divorce, burial, and devolution of property on death. The Committee notes with concern that women bear the higher burden of child care and that harmful practices negate the rights of women to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children. (para 41)
The Committee calls upon the State party to:
a) Take measures to ensure that statutory law does in fact prevail where there is a conflict with customary practices, especially in family relations and given the patriarchal focus of the customary law in Zambia to the disadvantage of women and girls;
b) Undertake an awareness raising campaign to better educate people about their rights under the Convention, including as regards negative customary laws that prevent their free choice regarding reproductive health and to promote the shared responsibility of both the father and mother to ensure the well-being and care of the child, and to ensure women’s right to make their own choices with regard to reproductive and sexual health;
c) Train and sensitize administrators of customary and traditional courts about the Convention and statutory laws that promote and guarantee the rights of women and girls, including in marriage and family relations; and
d) Ensure de facto criminalisation of certain harmful customary practices such as early marriage and sexual cleansing. (para 42)
____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Ratified in 2010, but not yet reported.
____________________________________________
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(E/C.12/1/Add.106)
Last reported: 26 – 27 April 2005
Concluding Observations issued: 23 June 2005
Orphans: The Committee is concerned about the large number of widows and orphans, a situation further exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is also concerned about the harsh living conditions of widows and girl orphans due to, among other things, harmful traditional practices such as “widow-cleansing”, early marriages and denial of inheritance. (para 23)
Street children: The Committee is concerned about the large number of street children, especially in the capital, Lusaka, who are particularly exposed to physical and sexual abuse, prostitution, and a high risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS. (para 24)
The Committee reiterates the recommendation made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/15/Add.206, para. 69) and, in particular, that street children be provided with preventive and rehabilitative services for physical and sexual abuse, as well as adequate food, clothing, housing, health care and educational opportunities. In this regard, the Committee requests the State party to provide further information about the District Street Children Committees and the programme for rehabilitation of street children under the Zambian National Services in its next periodic report. (para 46)
Child labour: The Committee expresses its deep concern regarding the persistent and widespread problem of child labour, in particular, children working in hazardous occupations such as small-scale mining operations and stone-crushing. (para 25)
The Committee strongly urges the State party to strengthen its legislative and other measures and to improve its monitoring mechanisms so as to address effectively the persistent problem of child labour, particularly in small-scale mining operations and stone-crushing. (para 47)
Poverty: The Committee is deeply concerned that the extent of extreme poverty in the State party has negatively affected the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights as enshrined in the Covenant, especially by the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups, including girl children and those afflicted by HIV/AIDS. (para 26)
The Committee recommends that the State party undertake all necessary measures to guarantee an adequate standard of living, including through the provision of social safety nets for the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups, in particular those women and children who have been the hardest hit by structural adjustment programmes, privatization and debt servicing. In this context, the Committee recommends that the State party provide in its next periodic report detailed information and disaggregated statistical data on the impact of the measures undertaken to reduce the level of extreme poverty and to ensure an adequate standard of living for the disadvantaged and marginalized groups. The Committee also refers the State party to its statement adopted on 4 May 2001 on poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/2001/10). (para 48)
Education: The Committee is concerned that customary land, which represents over 80 per cent of all land, is traditionally inherited by the man’s family in accordance with rules of male primogeniture, to the detriment of widows and, especially, girl children. (para 27)
While noting the activities undertaken by the State party such as the Programme for the Advancement of Girl-Child Education (PAGE) aimed at encouraging girls to stay in the school system, especially in the rural areas, the Committee remains concerned that traditional attitudes continue and that discrimination against girl children is prevalent in the State party. (para 45)
The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts and continue to undertake educational campaigns for all sectors of society, including traditional rulers, parents and guardians, on the value of educating girl children. (para 56)
Child-headed households: The Committee is deeply concerned about the high incidence of child-headed households, a phenomenon that it is linked to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and which negatively impacts on children’s access to education. (para 31)
The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to provide assistance to child-headed households, including financial and other means of assistance to enable child heads of household to exercise his or her basic right to education. (para 55)
Discrimination: While noting the activities undertaken by the State party such as the Programme for the Advancement of Girl-Child Education (PAGE) aimed at encouraging girls to stay in the school system, especially in the rural areas, the Committee remains concerned that traditional attitudes continue and that discrimination against girl children is prevalent in the State party. (para 32)
____________________________________________
(CCPR/C/ZMB/CO/3/CRP.1)
Last reported: 9 – 10 July 2007
Concluding Observations issued: 23 July 2007
Violence: The Committee is concerned that, despite numerous and positive measures adopted to combat violence and sexual abuse against women, the phenomenon continues to be a serious problem in Zambia. It is concerned that in practice, cases of indecent assault, defilement and rape tend to be considered as customary issues and are therefore often dealt with by customary courts rather than criminal courts. The Committee also notes with particular concern information according to which young girls are at risk of abuse when commuting to school and at the school. (articles 3, 6 and 7)
The State party is called upon to significantly strengthen its efforts to combat gender-based violence and to ensure that cases are dealt with in an appropriate and systematic manner. The State party is encouraged, in particular, to increase the training of the staff of Victim Support Unit offices and of the Police on violence against women, including sexual abuse and domestic violence. The State party should also adopt specific legislation criminalizing domestic violence, and adopt immediate and concrete measures to combat sexual violence against young girls in the school environment. (para 19)
Corporal punishment: The Committee remains concerned by information according to which the legal recognition of the rights of parents and teachers to administer punishment on children brings confusion and jeopardizes their full protection against ill-treatment. It is further concerned that corporal punishment is still widely practised on children. (articles 7 and 24)
The State party should prohibit all forms of violence against children wherever it occurs, including corporal punishment in the schools, and undertake public information efforts with respect to appropriate protection of children from violence. (para 22)
Age of criminal responsibility: The Committee reiterates its concern that under the Penal Code, 8 year old children are criminally responsible for their actions. (article 24)
The State party should take immediate action to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to an acceptable level under international standards. (para 26)
____________________________________________
(CAT/C/ZMB/CO/2)
Last reported: 8 – 9 May 2008
Concluding Observations issued: 26 May 2008
Detainment: The Committee notes with concern that the police service rely on the judges’ rules, which are not enforceable, for guidance on the procedures to be followed by police officers in detaining and questioning suspects. The Committee also expresses concern that there are no formal rules ensuring the right to contact relatives, the right of access to a lawyer, including for children, and medical examination from the outset of detention (arts. 2 and 11).
The Committee notes with concern that juveniles are often not held separately from adults, women from men, and pretrial detainees from convicted prisoners. The Committee is also concerned at the low legal age for criminal responsibility (8 years) (art. 16).
The State party should take urgent measures to ensure that accused persons are detained separately from convicted ones and that children and women are detained separately from adults and men respectively, in all circumstances. The State party should raise the age of criminal responsibility to a more internationally acceptable age. (para 18)
Corporal punishment: While noting that the State party’s legislation prohibits corporal punishment in schools, the Committee remains concerned about the absence of legislation prohibiting such punishment in the family and in institutions other than schools, and that corporal punishment is de facto widely practised and accepted as a means of upbringing (art. 16).
The State party should extend legislation prohibiting corporal punishment to the family and to institutions other than schools, ensure that legislation prohibiting corporal punishment is strictly enforced and undertake awareness-raising and educational campaigns to that effect. (para 21)
____________________________________________
UN Committee on Migrant Workers
Not yet signed or ratified.
____________________________________________
UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
Ratified in 2011, but not yet reported.