Sudan
National report on follow-up
To:
The world summit for children
1990-2000
Khartoum
Feb.2001
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful
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10 / Acknowledgement
Introduction and background
Laws and Legislation
Achievements and lessons learnt
Policies and Legislation
The mechanisms
Achievements
Constrains
Future Actions
Health
Achievements and lessons learnt
Achievements
Constrains
Future Actions
Drinking Water
Achievements and lessons learnt
The mechanisms
Achievements
Constrains
Future Actions
Education
Achievements and lessons learnt
Policies and relevant Education Legislation
The mechanisms
Achievements
Constrains
Future Actions
Social Welfare
Achievements and lessons learntThe mechanisms
Achievements
Constrains
Future Actions
Culture and Information
Achievements and lessons learnt
The mechanisms
Achievements
Constrains
Future Actions
Conclusion
Appendix
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Acknowledgement:
Ministries, institutions and organisations concerned with the child welfare have worked in collaboration in order that this work comes out in its best image. In addition the considerable political support from the Presidency of the Republic and the President’s Advisory for Woman and Child Affairs coupled with strong support from the UNICEF played an immense role in the achievement of this work.
Support to childcare requires an integration of roles and co-ordination of efforts, so a technical committee was formed for the purpose, held several meetings, and a symposium which included a considerable number of researchers and childhood experts, where ideas and views were exchanged, experience enriched, in a time span stretching over nine months, to consider and scrutinise policies, mechanisms, and to survey the achievements of the Sudan in the field of child welfare. The difficulties encountered and thereafter the future perceptions for planning and programming within the guidelines of the ten specified and practical measures for the protection and development of children, as spelt out by the terms of the plan of action for Child Summit.
This effort culminated into a national workshop, which involved the combined effort of ministries, corporations, UN organisations, national and international NGOs, whereby the draft of the Sudan national report had been discussed thoroughly and specific recommendations were approved by the workshop and accordingly the final report was prepared by the assistance of a national consultant.
Introduction
a. The preparatory steps for this report:
This report was compiled in response to the Sudan permanent mission in New York correspondence, and on the light of the directives of the UNICEF Executive Director on behalf of the UN Secretary General, requesting all member states to write reports on their achievements in accordance to the indicators of the end of the decade from 1990 – 2000.
The report embodies a number of terms contained by the axes mentioned by the principal general guidelines, in conformity to the shape and contents of the periodical reports, recognised by the International Child Right Committee on their thirteenth session in October 1996. The report has been prepared in the light of the following aspects: -
§ On the light of the decision by the President advisory for woman and Child on 23rd April 2000 and in accordance to the recommendation of the Secretary General of the National Council for Child Welfare, a technical committee has been formed, under the chairmanship of the Council’s Secretary General and including as members, representatives from concerned ministries such as the ministries of Health, Education, Finance & Economic Planning, Social welfare, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and the ministry of Culture and Information. The Committee also included representatives of the Judiciary authority, the Human Right Consultancy Council. The Institute for Training and Legal Reform, the Humanitarian Relief Agency, the Central Bureau of Statistic and the Urban and Rural Water Corporation. The UNICEF has also participated in the meetings held by the Technical Committee.
. The declaration by the International Child Summit Conference, which was approved by the president of Sudan, has obliged all signatory states to prepare a national working plan to attain the objectives defined by the Summit Conference on the advent of the year 2000.
In compliance with this commitment, the Sudan has prepared a national plan of action for the survival and development of the Sudanese children, to cover the period 1992-2000, on an initiative from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and in co-ordination with other ministries in the social sector. The national plan of action is a summary of all the plans prepared by the ministries. All ministries co-operated with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the National Council for Child Welfare, which coupled with considerable assistance from the UNICEF to facilitate the needs of diligent national follow up, satisfied the aspirations for the principal objectives of the national plan for the protection and development of children.
§ The preparation of this report was preceded by the convening of several conferences to prepare a comprehensive national strategy for the past 10 years which contained the comprehensive national objectives and the general guidelines, besides the objectives and guidelines of the strategic sectors, their methods and stages of implementation, in addition to the basic policies and programmes to promote economic development and political evolution through the past decade. The strategy also included all the objectives and commitments contained in the national plan of action, which was prepared to materialise the logo “children come first”. The plan will constitute a reference framework for the endecade indicators, and utilise the lessons learned and the successes achieved and to overcome the failure.
§ The National Council for Child Welfare was established in 1991 as a national mechanism concerned with planning, monitoring and evaluation of children activities. The Council is presided by the Head of the State and includes the governors of the states, and the concerned federal ministers as members. To activate the follow up mechanisms, state child welfare councils have been established in 19 states to monitor and evaluate the progress and implementation of child activities in the states. To promote the follow up procedures, the provision of consultancy and technical support, besides drawing up of public policies and the laying down of national plans and programmes for child welfare. The Technical advisory Committee was established at the National Council for Child Welfare. To widen the base of the participation of the civil society, a co-ordinating committee for the non- –governmental organisations concerned with children was created to co-ordinate programmes related to child protection and welfare.
b. Action at the national and international level:
§ The government of the Sudan has adopted some laws and policies, in accordance to the implementation of the CRC. The federal government system was put into action to substitute the central government system. The constitution of the Republic of the Sudan 1998 has covered the fundamental freedoms and rights, which provide protection for the child, also the federal and state legislation conform to CRC, and the national comprehensive strategy has been laid down to satisfy the child needs.
§ Sudan third population census revealed that Sudan population reached 25,588,000, (50.3% for males, 49.7% for females). According to the 1993 population census the average population development was 2.88% and consequently the number of the population in 1998 rose to 29,946,000. It is expected that Sudan population will reach 33,757,000 in 2003. Urban population represents 29.2%, while rural population represents 68% and the nomadic community represents 2.8% of the population.
§ Sudan economy started to recover a considerable portion of the momentum it has lost during the 1980’s where the GNP attained a rise of 6% in 1999. The local fiscal policies had contributed to produce a positive effect on inflation rate where its average rate dropped from101% in 1994 to 9.1% in 1998. Despite the considerable improvement in average development and the drop in inflation rates which kept pace with revenue increases resulting from oil returns, the average mortality rate and the level of the basic services has not gained much improvement in the prevailing circumstances of drought and war which continued for two decades.
§ The continuity of the war has led to the displacement of 4 million people, a factor that reduced the government ability to promote skills, to build the infrastructures and to provide the basic services. It is worth mentioning that Sudan foreign debt amounted to 24 billion dollars, repaid at the rate of 60 million dollars per year to the International Monetary Fund. This payment is made from local resources.
The social services represent 15% of the flow of external aid i.e. 8 billion dollars of the total flow, which amounts to 54 billion dollars that represents the total amount of aid received by the Sudan since the eve of independence in 1956 up to the end of the Second Millennium. That sum was tapped from various financial resources of foreign aid whether regional or international, bilateral agreements, or loans or donations or commodity aid. The table below demonstrates the flow of foreign aid from 1969 to the year 2000 inclusive: -
Time span / Total in million dollars / The average support in million dollars.1969 – 1985 / 7,886.3 / 464
1985 – 1989 / 2,255 / 451
1989 – 2000 / 1,292.7 / 107.6
We refer herewith that, the government adopted through the national comprehensive strategy the responsibility to promote all the demographic features in the spiritual, health and social aspects as follows: -
. Reduction of infant mortality rate through reducing those deaths resulting from diseases that could be controlled, reducing the current rate rising to 89.1 per thousand to 20 per thousand in the year 2001.
§ Reduction of the under 5years mortality rates through the same methods from their current rate in (1992) estimated at 123 per thousand to 45 per thousand in 2002.
§ Reduction of malnutrition diseases among children under 5 years, through the promotion of the health education programmes and the training of the relevant cadres from the present rate of 30% in 1990 to 10% in 2001.
§ To raise the coverage of safe drinking water to 100% for the use of both human beings and animals to 20 litres per day in 2005.
§ To escalate the rate of enrolment to primary schools from 26% in 1990 to 100% in 2001.
§ The eradication of illiteracy in 2001.
The government has endeavoured through the obligations and commitments to the CRC and the recommendations of the Child Summit Conference, by drawing up policies and programmes and mechanisms created to achieve the objectives contained in the National Plan of action. The priorities of the government reflect its regard to the recommendations of the Child Summit Conference.
The contents of the report:
The report reflects the important mechanisms, achievements and constrains besides the future perspectives within the following areas: -
1. Laws and legislation:
1-1 Policies and legislation:
The government of Sudan having singed the CRC has undertaken several measures to implement the agreed upon activities. Since the CRC has become an obliging law to the government as a participant, the legislation of the country had been reviewed to conform to the convention.
§ In the year 1993, the minister of justice and the attorney general issued the resolution No (39) 1993, which related to the formation of a committee to review the laws pertinent to childhood on the light of the International Child Right Convention. Accordingly the minister of social welfare issued resolution No. (51) 1994 to form a committee to review the legislation particularly relating to children and the possibility of issuing a special act for the child. In addition, the President Advisory on woman and child issued the resolution No. (5) 2000 to create a committee to gather all the legislation related to woman, child and the family, and compare these with the international conventions and agreements.
1-2 Mechanisms:
The Advisory Council for Human Rights was founded in 1994 headed by the minister of justice as spelt by the republican decree No. (89). A woman and child Advisory was also established by Presidential decree in the year 2000, also Act for the establishment of a Training and Legal Reform Institute was passed. A special administration for woman and child was created within the institute for Training and Legal Reform besides the creation of other similar administrations at the ministries of External Relations, Social welfare, Health, and the Ministry of Education. A special administration for human rights was established at the Ministry of Justice. A committee was formed to deal with the phenomenon of women and children abduction, which functions, in co-operation with other government organs and the civil community in addition to the non-government organisations. The Council of Ministers Resolution 1999 was issued whereby the National Mobilisation Project for Production, Solidarity and the Combat of Poverty to support the poor families was created. To activate the juvenile delinquency Act 1983, special juvenile delinquency courts were established together with public houses to accommodate the juvenile delinquents. Local councils were also established to follow up the implementation of the service laws.
1-3 Achievements:
The laws and legislation associated with childhood have been revised to recognise the children prosperity, development and protection. A committee has been formed to consider the preparation of a unified child Act. The judiciary authority has established a model juvenile delinquency court with financial support provided by the UNICEF and Save the Children (Sweden). The committee for the prevention of women and children abduction has managed to rejoin many children to their families and arranged several workshops at the friction zones to raise the awareness on child rights and to eradicate the phenomenon of abduction.
To promote the mechanisms and human resource capabilities, the National Council for Child Welfare, in co-operation with the Judiciary authority, and under the auspices of the Chief Justice has arranged workshops to activate the role of the Judiciary authority in the implementation of the International Child Right Convention. The Ministry of Justice, together with the Attorney General’s Chambers arranged training sessions to upgrade the child right awareness for legal counsellors attached to the Ministry of Justice, the police force and the army. The Institute for Training and Legal Reform also arranged special training sessions to raise awareness on the International Child Right Convention for those absorbed in the legal professions.