COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF REPORT BY BOLIVIA

AFTERNOON
HR/CRC/98/47
25 September 1998





The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its consideration of the second periodic report presented by Bolivia and recommended that the Bolivian Government undertake measures to reduce its high rate of child labour.

In preliminary concluding observations and recommendations, the Committee experts urged the Government of Bolivia to allocate additional resources to improve the quality of education, health care and prisons. They also encouraged the Government to take further measures towards poverty alleviation programmes.

The Committee will issue its final recommendations on the report towards the end of its three-week session which concludes on 9 October.

Bolivia, as one of 191 States parties to the Convention, is obligated to submit periodic reports on how it implements the treaty. When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Monday, 28 September, it will take up the report of Kuwait.

Discussion

In response to the questions raised by Committee experts during the morning session, the delegation once again affirmed that the new draft law on the Code of Minors would be enacted in October. The draft included the principles of the Convention.

Municipalities were responsible for the implementation of any plan of action regarding children in general, and their education in particular, the delegation said. Control and supervision of the implementation of the principles of the Convention were carried out by the basic territorial organizations, as they were called, present in each region.

Moreover, the Bolivian Government recognized the existence of child labour, the delegation said. The involvement of children in any sort of work, either within the family or outside, was inevitable because of the economic situation of the country, particularly in the rural areas.

The delegation said that the introduction of a liberal economy in 1995 did not bring comfort to the population. That economic regime had brought hardship to the most vulnerable segments of the population. Although it had prompted the increase in per capita income, the reform was not universally accepted by all, added the delegation.

With regard to the dissemination of the Convention, the delegation reiterated that the Government was planning for its oral diffusion using radio transmission. The Government had found the use of radio a practical method to reach citizens living in the rural and remote areas. The dissemination would take place in the three indigenous languages which were recognized as official languages. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had allocated $ 800,000 for the promotion and protection of human rights in Bolivia, added the delegation.

Bolivia, as did many Latin American countries, produced coca leaves, the delegation said, stressing that children had been suffering from the conflict between the Government and coca producers. Officially, 12,000 hectares of coca leaves were used for licit purposes in Bolivia. However, the Government had to fight the illicit growing of coca leaves and this could affect children. Although the Government offered compensation to peasants engaged in coca growing, it was still far from totally eradicating the growing of the leaves, despite its commitment to do so.

Concerning minimum age, the delegation said that although the minimum age for marriage was 14 and 16 for girls and boys respectively, there was no age limit for sexual consent. The issue of consent was not dealt with either in the old or newly drafted Code of Minors which covered boys, girls and adolescents. Nevertheless, sexual offense was punishable by law, added the delegation.

When the delegation underlined that at the age of 14, girls reached maturity and were biologically fit to reproduce, there was a reaction from Committee experts who said that a girl at 14 could reproduce and become a mother, but not a parent. They argued that 18 should be the age for mental and physical maturity and marriage. The marriage of a girl at the age of 14 had mental, emotional and psychological impacts because she was still a child.

The age of 14 was still the minimum age for giving testimony in legal proceedings, except in divorce cases in which children might not be called upon to testify, the delegation said. There was no other provision prohibiting the participation of children and adolescents in legal proceedings in general.

Answering a question on anti-personnel landmines planted on the border between Chile and Bolivia, the delegation said that the Government had already appealed for assistance to eliminate those landmines, estimated to be 5,000. The landmines had so far caused a number of victims, mainly among children.

Preliminary Concluding Observations and Recommendations

In their preliminary concluding observations and recommendations, Committee experts noted the progress achieved by Bolivia in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention despite the economic difficulties and debt burden. They said it was a good experience for both the Committee and the delegation to deal with the first periodic report since the set up of the Committee.

Committee members welcomed the creation of the post of a Vice Minister for Human Rights in the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. They also appreciated the legislative reforms undertaken by the Government, including the Code of Minors to be enacted next month.

Committee expressed concern over the prevailing phenomenon of child labour in the Bolivian society. They urged that the Government should undertake measures to limit child labour which was estimated to make up 22 per cent of the economically active population.

The Government was further urged to allocate additional resources to improve the quality of education, health care and prisons. Committee members also encouraged the Government to take further measures towards programmes dealing with poverty alleviation. The experts noted that only 28 per cent of Bolivia’s children benefited from social services, and that close to three-quarters of the children were in particularly vulnerable positions. They were deeply concerned about Bolivia’s minimum age for work and marriage, discrimination against rural populations, the problem of street children, and the situation of children who were imprisoned with their parents.