REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION IN SLOVENIA OF THE MEASURES OF THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR CHILDREN

CONTENTS

I. SUMMARY 3
II. INTRODUCTION / 8
III. CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD / 11
IV. CHILDREN'S HEALTH / 16
V. THE ROLE OF WOMEN, MOTHER'S HEALTH AND FAMILY PLANNING / 24
VI. THE FAMILY / 23
VII BASIC EDUCATION AND LITERACY / 35
VIII. CHILDREN IN DIFFICULT CONDITIONS / 42
IX. REDUCING POVERTY AND REVIVING ECONOMIC GROWTH / 47
X. CHILDREN AND THE ENVIRONMENT / 50
XI. APPENDIX (tables) / 51


I. SUMMARY

In 1990 the largest ever meeting of heads of state took place at the United Nations: the World Meeting at the Children’s Summit, at which the Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and the Plan of Measures for the Implementation of the Declaration in the 1990s were passed. The Declaration and the Plan of Measures, passed at the World Meeting at the Children’s Summit, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child create a sizeable but implementable project for the welfare of children which is supposed to be realised by 2000.

The Republic of Slovenia has joined in the implementation of these documents adopted at the World Summit for Children and the General Assembly of the United Nations by adhering to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and through the implementation of the Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children signed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Dr Janez Drnovšek.

In the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Slovenia has adopted numerous measures with the intention of implementing children’s rights. These include: the Resolution on the Foundations of the Formulation of Family Policy in the Republic of Slovenia, new education legislation which will regulated the entire education system, new health and social legislation and numerous other measures relating to the implementation of the civil, political, social and economic rights of children.

In 1996, in response to the Initial Report on the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Republic of Slovenia, the UN Commission for Children’s Rights expressed its acknowledgement of the Republic of Slovenia’s work in this field and proposed further measures for the implementation of children’s rights in the Republic of Slovenia. These included: the adoption of appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to stop the maltreatment and sexual abuse of children in the family, raising the lower age limit of criminal liability and ratification of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and in Intercountry Adoptions, the adoption of appropriate measures in the area of the vocational education of children, and the withdrawal of the proviso to the first paragraph of Article 9 of the Convention.

In 1999, in accordance with these recommendations, the Republic of Slovenia withdrew the proviso to the first paragraph of Article 9 of the Convention, ratified the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children in Intercountry Adoptions, raised the lower age limit of criminal liability of children, passed new legislation and numerous measures in the area of the vocational training of children, altered criminal legislation in favour of children and women who are the victims of violence in the family and society and adopted numerous other measures in the area of the protection of children against violence in the family (regional expert teams for the multidisciplinary treatment of children's issues), passed legislation which improves the position of children in civil proceedings, passed legislation relating to children with special needs, ratified the European Convention on the Exercising of Children's Rights and adopted the National Guarantee and Maintenance Fund Acts. Also passed was the programme of the fight against poverty and social exclusion and the National Social Care and Assistance Programme to 2005, which inter alia define the measures of the state, local government and NGOs in the area of the protection of children's rights. Additionally, with the intention of ensuring the greater inclusion of Romany children in society, the Programme for the Protection of Romanies was adopted. A new law on parental care and family benefits, which inter alia defines state aid for single-parent families, is undergoing parliamentary procedure.

These legislative and programme-related measures of the state and local government are also reflected in the implementation of the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in Slovenian society, which defines among the fundamental tasks of the States Parties to the Declaration: the improvement of the health and nutrition of children, reduction of child and infant mortality, improvement of the position of disabled children and other children living in difficult conditions, general strengthening of the role of women and guaranteeing of equality, guaranteeing of basic education and literacy of the population, guaranteeing of safe maternity with an emphasis on responsible family planning, guaranteeing special support and protection for the family, a safe environment and revival of economic growth and reduction of poverty.

In the area of health care equal access to health care services for all children, or access to preventive health care, treatment and rehabilitation for children, and basic and hospital health care (in 1994 the average doctor-patient ratio in basic health care was 943 pre-school children (0-6 years old) per child doctor team and 23,338 young people (7-19 years old) per school doctor team), has meant that child mortality has halved. The reduction in the number of children suffering from contagious diseases is also a reflection of the implementation of the national immunisation programme in basic health care (in 1989 there were 14 cases of tetanus among children, as compared to just 3 in 1998; in 1989 there were 5,243 cases of rubella among children, as compared to just 47 in 1998). Deaths as the result of injuries and poisoning appear as a cause of death after the age of 1 and are the leading cause of death of the population up to approximately 45 years old (the number the number of fatalities of children aged 5-19 in 1989 was 108, in 1990 it was 92 and in 1998 it was 95). In the last three-year period the suicide rate among young people aged 7-19 has gone up. The number of suicides per 100,000 young people (7-19 years old) was 6.4 in 1996, 6.8 in 1997 and 10.2 in 1998.

The implementation of equal opportunities between the sexes is reflected in the high proportion educated women, the increasingly high employment rate of women, well-regulated parenting leave and women's health care and accessible and relatively well-developed public child care network. Antenatal care is based on the rule that care must be accessible, that the individual can afford it and that it is acceptable to pregnant women. This is reflected in the low rate of infant mortality and perinatal mortality (the average infant mortality rate in 1985-89 was 10.8, as compared to 5.2 in 1998. Perinatal mortality per 1000 live births was 12.1 in 1985; in 1998 it was 5.6, a fall of more than a half). The drop in the abortion rate, which in 1996 fell below 20 abortions per 1000 women of childbearing age (at the beginning of the 1980s the rate was 40 abortions per 1000 women aged 15-49), shows the good accessibility of health care at the primary level and free services in the areas of family planning, contraception and childbirth. We have not yet succeeded in lowering to the European level the mortality of women as a result of pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. Mortality as a result of pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period (maternal mortality) remains with minor fluctuations at an average of 10 or more deaths per 100,000 live-born children, a figure which places Slovenia among countries with a higher level of this type of mortality. Violence against women also represents one of the areas where statistical figures are high (in an 8-month period in 1996 violence against women accounted for 29.54% of recorded criminal offences). However the state and local government, together with the non-governmental sector, have developed mechanisms for the protection of women exposed to violence, including: appropriate criminal legislation, numerous prevention programmes and forms of help for women exposed to violence in the family (information, counselling and other social assistance services, shelters for victims of violence, crisis centres and other forms of help).

Guaranteeing special protection and support for the family represents one of the areas where the state has developed several measures with the intention of ensuring economic and social security for families and other measures designed to support families (e.g. a well-organised network of nursery schools – around 60% of children aged 1-7 are enrolled at a nursery school). Family benefits represent one of the basic mechanisms with which the state provides financial assistance to families and contributes to the maintenance of children in the family. They include maternity leave allowance, parenting benefit, layette allowance, child benefit, and child care allowance. The introduction of a maintenance allowance protects the rights of those children who do not receive legal maintenance while taking into account the child’s age (up to 18) and the average wage of the family.

The accessibility of the education system enables the provision of basic education and literacy for all Slovenes. Figures on the number of children included in the education system show that in 98.19% of children were enrolled at elementary school in 1998, as compared to 96.1% in 1989. The proportion of children attending secondary schools is increasing significantly: 93.2% in 1998 as compared to 75.6% in 1989. Despite the very high share of children included in formal systems of education, around 2% of elementary school children are still not completing their elementary school obligations. In the case of secondary education this proportion is higher – around 10% of children of secondary school age (the 93-98 generation). With the new system of vocational or technical education, which extends from the lowest level to higher education, it should be possible for every child to obtain at least a basic vocational education and thus improve his or her prospects of employment. The high proportion of children in the education system is also reflected in literacy figures. The 1991 population census showed that 0.4% of people over 19 years old were illiterate (0.5% of women and 0.4% of men). Thus in quantitative literacy terms Slovenia falls above the average for OECD countries (inclusion in the education system), although in qualitative terms (measurement of the literacy of the adult population) it is rather lower than the OECD average (research by the Adult Education Centre in Slovenia). The integration of Romany children in education systems is improving and elementary school classes consisting entirely of Romany children are an exception (just 7 such classes in the 1998/99 school year). This figure reflects the fact that it has been the policy of elementary schools to integrate Romany pupils in ordinary classes.

Children in difficult conditions included abused, maltreated and neglected children. Numerous preventive, advisory and institutional programmes have been developed for these children and there are also regional expert teams whose aim is the multidisciplinary treatment of the problem and teamwork by experts in this area. Children with special needs (according to figures from the National Statistics Office there are 4,982 children and young people with special needs in Slovenia) cannot all be included in the category of children in difficult conditions since activities at the national, local and NGO levels and activities organised by disabled groups themselves are aimed at the integration and inclusion in society of children with special needs. As well as rights deriving from social insurance, social care and assistance and benefits such as family benefits and tax reliefs, children with special needs are also provided with access to health care services and there is a developed network of social care and assistance institutes for the care and training of children and young people with special needs. New forms of care are being introduced, for example day care and training, short-term temporary admissions, and residential communities. A general assessment would be that this area is well organised, and there is a developed network of special institutions which are gradually building up their programmes of work. The position of families with children in an institution is gradually being equalised with that of families with children or young people with special needs who are included in other forms of organised treatment (day care, half-day care, short-term temporary admission to an institute, mobile service, etc.) or at home, which is a positive sign. It is encouraging to note that the number of residential communities which include young disabled people is increasing. In June 2000 a fundamental law governing the education of children with special needs was passed: the Guidance of Children with Special Needs Act. This will enable better access to the educational system (within the framework of regular forms of education, in primary schools with adapted programmes and in training institutes) for children with special needs.

A polluted environment (polluted air, excessive noise, drinking contaminated water, improper waste management and exposure to ionising radiation) causes numerous illnesses and conditions. Particularly at risk are vulnerable groups of the population, including children. With the adoption of the National Environmental Protection Programme, Slovenia defined its basic goals and strategies in the area of the protection of the environment, and an action programme up to 2008 in certain key areas, with the aim of improving the environment for all inhabitants of Slovenia, including children.