Report on the 54th Session / 55th Pre-Session
of the Committee on the Rights of the Child
25 May – 11 June 2010
GenevaSwitzerland
Prepared by:
5
IBFAN - International Baby Food Action Network
GIFA – Geneva Infant Feeding Association
5
Table of contents
I. General information 3
1) Plenary session 54 (25 May-4 June 2010) 4
2) Pre-55 session meeting (7-11 June 2010) 4
II. Country Reviews 5
1) Argentina (2-3 June 2010) 5
2) Belgium (1-2 June 2010) 7
3) Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) (27-28 May 2010) 9
4) Grenada (31 May – 1 June 2010) 11
5) Japan (27 – 28 May 2010) 13
6) Nigeria (26 May 2010) 15
7) Tunisia (4 June 2010) 17
8) Summary 18
IV. Other points of interest discussed during Session 54 20
1) 20th anniversary of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention 20
2) New Committee Member 20
3) Dual Chambers 20
4) Complaints mechanism 20
5) Day of General discussion 21
V. 55th Session, September 2010 + 56th pre-session 21
1) Plenary session 55 (September 2010) 21
2) Pre-session 56 (January 2011) 21
Annex 1: Members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (May 2009) 22
Annex 2: List of National Child Rights NGO Coalitions, by country, 2009 24
I. General information
Since 1993, there have been more than 500 State party reports prepared for review by the CRC Committee, of which about 400 have been considered so far. More and more of these are 3rd, 4th and even 5th reports. In order to catch up on late reporting, the Committee has asked several States Parties to present combined 3rd + 4th or 4th + 5th combined reports for a specific date. Since January 2010, the Committee has been meeting in parallel dual chambers to reduce the backlog. This is intended to continue during the three 2010 sessions.
Unfortunately, still a few countries such as Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Tuvalu & Tonga, have not presented any report to the Committee though they have been requested to do so on several occasions.
From one session to another, the functioning of the Committee remains similar – as described in Part II (Articles 42 - 46) of the Convention. The most recent session 54 was divided into two parts, the session per se, and the pre-session (of session 55). As a few years earlier, the Committee members met in two parallel chambers to consider seven periodic reports on the implementation of the Convention[1] (Argentina, Belgium, FYR of Macedonia, Grenada, Japan, Nigeria and Tunisia) and six reports on the implementation of the two Optional Protocols (Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, FYR of Macedonia, Japan and Serbia). This report discusses only the seven periodic reviews. The Committee also met in pre-session with a number of NGOs from several of the countries that will be reviewed in September 2010 (session 55).
The members of the CRC Committee are: Ms. Agnes Akosua Aidoo (Ghana), Ms. Hadeel Al-Asmar (Syria), Mr. Luigi Citarella (Italy), Mr. Kamel Filali (Algeria), Mr. Peter Guran (Slovakia), Ms. Maria Herczog (Hungary), Mr. Sanphasit Koompraphant (Thailand), Mr. Hatem Kotrane (Tunisia), Mr. Lothar Krappmann (Germany), Ms. Yanghee Lee (Republic of Korea), Ms. Marta Mauras Perez (Chile), Ms. Maria Rosa Ortiz (Paraguay), Mr. Awich Pollar (Uganda), Mr. Dainius Puras (Lithuania), Mr. Kamla Devi Varmah (Mauritius), Ms. Susan Villaran de la Puente (Peru), Mr. Jean Zermatten (Switzerland). Committee Expert Ms. Moushira Khattab resigned from the Committee and will be replaced until the end of her term by Ms. Azza el-Ashamawy.
Ms. Yanghee Lee (Republic of Korea) is the chairperson of the Committee. Ms Agnes Aidoo, Mr. Kamel Filali, Ms. Rosa Maria Ortiz and Mr. Jean Zermatten are the Vice-Chairpersons; Mr. Lothar Krappmann, the Rapporteur.
Committee members’ domains of expertise and cultural backgrounds[2] are various (legal, judiciary, medical, education, social, and other). Issues related to health and nutrition of infants and young children remain of central importance to many Committee members who have stressed this to GIFA staff on several occasions, and discuss them at practically every State review.
1) Plenary session 54 (25 May – 4 June 2010)
During the Plenary meetings, seven States parties - Argentina, Belgium, FYR of Macedonia, Grenada, Japan, Nigeria and Tunisia - were reviewed in relation to the Convention itself (periodic review). Questions asked by Committee members to the government representatives followed the usual given order, with issues linked to the child’s rights to health, nutrition and more specifically breastfeeding entering into the “basic health and welfare” section. Six State parties were reviewed regarding the two optional protocols.
At the end of the session, the Committee made official recommendations to the State parties in its Concluding Observations[3].
Representatives from NGOs, the press and UN organisations attended the session but did not intervene; there were occasions to meet informally with Committee members, and to discuss relevant documentation with them, data and country reports on, for example, health and nutrition issues, including breastfeeding. The Committee uses some of this material to formulate its questions to government officials.
The size of government delegations varies from one country review to the other: some are very large, with official delegates from a variety of ministries such as Health, Education, Social Affairs, Gender, Family Affairs, Economy, Labour, etc. - this was the case of the delegation from Japan and Nigeria for example. NGO representatives attending the sessions usually change daily depending on the countries being reviewed.
GIFA staff met with a few members of the CRC Committee during the sessions.
2) Pre- 55 session meeting (7-11 June 2010)
The pre-session meetings are not open to the public. During the pre-session, representatives from NGOs from Angola*, Bosnia and Herzegovina**, Burundi*, Guatemala*, Montenegro***, Nicaragua***, Sierra Leone**, Spain*, Sri Lanka***, Sudan***[4] had been invited to meet with the Committee regarding the periodic and optional protocol reviews to be held in September 2010.
The pre-session meetings generally last three hours per country, and participants include representatives from domestic and international NGOs and/or national NGO coalitions as well as international organisations such as WHO, UNICEF, etc. that have prepared reports on child rights in these countries. Government officials are not present. The Committee questions NGO representatives on various issues but most importantly on specific difficult or controversial issues. GIFA encourages IBFAN members to contact the national NGO coalition of their country[5] to take part in the preparation of a national coalition (or alternative) report in time for the pre-session. Also, GIFA contacts IBFAN groups in each country to prepare a short country report focused on the situation of infant and young child feeding.
The NGO Group for the CRC usually sets up a meeting during the pre-session and NGOs based in Geneva meet representatives from these NGO Coalitions. It is interesting for these National Coalitions to hear about the situation in other countries, as well as the experiences of other National Coalitions. GIFA staff was unable to attend the meeting held for NGOs.
II. Country Reviews
The following summary concerns the discussions relating to the seven countries examined during the plenary session: Argentina, Belgium, FYR of Macedonia, Grenada, Japan, Nigeria and Tunisia. IBFAN-GIFA had received three reports on the situation of breastfeeding from IBFAN national groups (Argentina, Belgium, Macedonia) but information regarding infant and young child feeding was compiled by the GIFA office and sent to the Committee for each of the other countries reviewed.
1) Argentina (2-3 June 2010)
This was the review of the combined 3rd + 4th periodic reports of Argentina. The government delegation consisted of 8 members, of which one from the Ministry of Health. IBFAN presented a report on the breastfeeding situation prepared by IBFAN-Argentina. The Committee Expert, Marta Maura Perez, served as country rapporteur for the CRC.
Discussion
Legislation and other measures: The CRC welcomed the ratification of several international human rights instruments (the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families). It also welcomed new legislation on the Convention that has been introduced in the past years both at national and provincial level - in particular, the adoption of Law 26061 which has set forth mechanisms for the promotion and protection of children's rights. However, dissemination and implementation of federal legislation at both provincial and local level remains a challenge. This law provides for the establishment of a national Ombudsman, but as no-one has been appointed to this position yet, the Committee expressed its concern for the lack of progress on this point.
Other measures undertaken include the establishment of the Federal Council for Children, Adolescents and the Family (2006) for policy coordination on child issues and the National Plan of Action for the Rights of the Child (2005). The government delegation also presented the impressive results that have been achieved with regards to reducing unemployment and poverty.
The discussion concerned the following issues: impact of business activities on children (with particular reference to agro-toxic products); inhuman treatment and discrimination of children with mental disorders; corporal punishment (not explicitly prohibited outside the home and still tolerated within the family); birth registration (indigenous children and ineffective civil services); children with disabilities (discrimination in education and the effects on employment opportunities); juvenile justice (poor conditions of detention facilities, severe sentences for juvenile offenders); adoption (intention to ratify the Hague Convention); the welfare system (family allowance scheme, parent support programmes); child abuse and neglect; education (vocational training as a remedy to school-drop outs, human rights education in the curricula, sex education); indigenous peoples (protection of languages, financial assistance for higher education, necessity to translate the Convention into indigenous languages); child labour (high number of adolescents exploited economically, in particular in rural areas); children without parental care (the de-institutionalization process); violence against children (often linked to violence against women);
Concerning health issues, the Committee acknowledged the positive attitude towards health and nutrition but expressed its concern about the high rates of maternal and neo-natal mortality. It welcomed the adoption of a comprehensive Health Action Plan including the Plan on Birth. The lack of human resources for high-risk birth comprises a problem. The Committee expressed also its concern regarding the increasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases among the youth, including HIV.
With regards to nutrition, the Committee expressed concern about the high levels of disparity in malnutrition: in North-West Argentina, chronic malnutrition is twice as high as the national average.
There was a discussion on infant feeding and the importance of breastfeeding was well recognized by the government. According to the government delegation, breastfeeding rates have increased to 40%, thanks to joint governmental and UNICEF efforts in this regard. The Committee acknowledged the efforts made by the State party to encourage breastfeeding; however, it was concerned about the lack of a systematic data collection process and the absence of a National Breastfeeding Committee.
Committee Recommendations
Health and access to health services: (Paragraph 57) the Committee recommended that the State party: "a) Increase its efforts for the promotion of mother-child health, including during pregnancy and birth; b) Take urgent measures to address inequalities of access and quality of health services among the provinces, with a particular focus on primary health care, as well as addressing the causes of chronic malnutrition in the North West provinces; c) Undertake a study into the determinants of the high percentage and stagnant rates of maternal and neonatal mortality, and urgently address them; […] f) Seek technical assistance from UNICEF and WHO, among others."
Breastfeeding: The Committee recommendations on breastfeeding follow most of the recommendations included in the IBFAN report. In paragraph 60, the Committee recommends that the State party "establish a National Breastfeeding Committee and systematically collect data on practices of breastfeeding ensuring at the same time the enforcement of the International Code of Marketing on Breast-Milk Substitutes. The State party should also promote baby-friendly hospitals and encourage breastfeeding to be included in nursery training."
Suggestions for future action
The recommendations highlight the importance of breastfeeding and confirm that the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes is a step toward the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
At the centre of its recommendations, the Committee has placed the implementation of policies that protect and promote breastfeeding, and most importantly the enforcement of the International Code. NGOs can substantially contribute in this process especially in advocating for the enforcement of the law. A follow-up on the recommendations is necessary, especially on the establishment of the National Breastfeeding Committee, the collection of data on breastfeeding, the inclusion of breastfeeding in nursery education (one of the first times this is recommended) and the promotion of baby friendly hospitals. This is a comprehensive and detailed set of recommendations concerning our issue. Together they can play a crucial role in monitoring and denouncing violations of the Code.
IBFAN groups in Argentina, can play a fundamental role in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child by being pro-active in the follow-up of the recommendations and participating in their implementation.
The next combined 5th + 6th report is due in July 2017.
There is one National Coalition on Child Rights in Argentina:
Comité Argentino de Seguimiento y Aplicación de la Convención Internacional sobre los Derechos del Niño
Alsina 1905 5to piso “C”
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: +54 (11) 4952 0810
Email: ;
Website: www.casacidn.org.ar
2) Belgium (1-2 June 2010)
This was the review of Belgium’s 3rd periodic report. The country was represented by a team of 17 members, from both the Flemish and the French communities, including one person from the Ministry of Health. IBFAN presented a report on the breastfeeding situation prepared by IBFAN-Belgium. The Committee expert, Luigi Citarella, served as country rapporteur.
Discussion
A number of reforms and legal measures have been undertaken since the last review. The Committee recognized the leading role that Belgium has in protecting and implementing human rights. It welcomed the appointment in 2010 of an Ombudsman in the Flemish community, the establishment of the National Commission for the Rights of the Child, with the function of coordinating policies on children at national level, and the adoption of a National Action Plan for Children. It also welcomed the adoption of several human rights instruments (The Hague Convention No. 33, the 2000 protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children).