Experts of the Committee on the Rights of the Child Praise Sweden’s Planned National Strategy on Preventing Violence against Children, Ask about the Use of Isolation and Restraints in Psychiatric Hospitals and the High Youth Crime Rate

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its consideration of the sixth and seventh combined periodic report of Sweden, with Committee Experts praising the planned national strategy on preventing violence against children, and raising questions about the use of isolation and restraints in psychiatric hospitals and the high youth crime rate.

Bragi Gudbrandsson, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, welcomed the planned national strategy on preventing violence against children. When would this be developed?

Hynd Ayoubi Idrissi, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that isolation and restraints were reportedly still used in psychiatric hospitals in Sweden. What measures were in place to ensure that these practices were used as a last possible resort and with close medical supervision? Was there systematic monitoring of children in such institutions?

Clarence Nelson, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, asked about the root causes of the high youth crime rate. How did the State intend to address these causes? What counselling was provided to children who came into conflict with the law?

Introducing the report, Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, Minister for Social Services, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden and head of the delegation, said that a Government inquiry would shortly submit a proposal for a new 10-year national strategy to prevent and combat violence against children. The delegation added that the inquiry would propose measures for protecting children’s best interests and strengthening children’s rights within judicial procedures.

On psychiatric care of children, the delegation said that work was underway to prevent violence within psychiatric institutions and establish routines for determining the best interests of the child. Stricter conditions for the use of seclusion measures were introduced in 2020. Preliminary results showed that these efforts had led to a reduction in seclusions within care facilities.

Regarding youth crime, Ms. Waltersson Grönvall said that young people were exposed to and exploited by criminal networks. The Government would intensify efforts to prevent children and young people from being recruited into organised crime, for example by providing parental support. The delegation added that the number of field workers working to prevent crime had been increased on evenings and weekends, and an action plan for crime prevention and parental support had been developed.

In closing remarks, Mr. Gudbrandsson said that impressive work had been carried out in Sweden to ensure the implementation of the Convention. However, there was room for further improvement, and the Committee would provide practical guidance in this regard in its concluding observations.

Ms. Waltersson Grönvall, in her concluding remarks, said that Sweden intended to raise its ambitions regarding child rights. The delegation would ensure that child rights received attention during the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union. It would also ensure that Sweden effectively addressed the Committee’s concluding observations.

The delegation of Sweden consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Employment; Ministry of Education and Research; Ministry of Finance; Ministry for Foreign Affairs; and the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will issue the concluding observations on the report of Sweden at the end of its ninety-second session on 3 February. Those, and other documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, will be available on the session’s webpage. Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here.

The Committee will next meet in public on Tuesday, 17 January at 3 p.m. to consider the combined sixth and seventh periodic report of Mauritius (CRC/C/MUS/6-7).

Report

The Committee has before it the sixth and seventh combined periodic report of Sweden (CRC/C/SWE/6-7).

Presentation of Report

CAMILLA WALTERSSON GRÖNVALL, Minister for Social Services, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden and head of the delegation, said that Sweden had long been committed to advancing the agenda of the Convention. On 1 January 2020, Sweden incorporated the Convention into Swedish legislation. In addition, the Swedish National Institute for Human Rights was established on 1 January 2022, further strengthening the State’s capacity to safeguard human rights. The complaint mechanisms for children were currently being reviewed and a governmental inquiry on children’s opportunities to claim their rights was ongoing. This inquiry had been instructed to consider whether Sweden should ratify the third Optional Protocol to the Convention. It would present its final report in August 2023.

Some 160,000 migrants came to Sweden in 2015. Among them were thousands of children, some unaccompanied. Swedish municipalities welcomed them and provided them with education and social support.

Pre- and primary schools were kept open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, many children in Sweden had a difficult time. In particular, the pandemic impacted students in secondary education, with classes being held online for periods of time. The pandemic had further accentuated inequalities and increased the need to protect children online from sexual exploitation, disinformation and propaganda.

In 2018, outside Swedish Parliament, Greta Thunberg started a youth movement on climate change that spread around the world and inspired millions of other children and young people to demand climate action and climate justice. Greta’s story was an iconic example of children and young people claiming their rights to demonstrate and participate in decision-making processes that affected them and their future. Involving children in all matters that affected them was key to a successful response.

In recent years, legislative changes had been made to prevent children in detention from being placed in isolation, to strengthen the protection of children in alternative care, and to improve access to personal assistance for children with disabilities.

Sweden launched an initiative in 2017 to boost knowledge about children’s rights. This had improved the competence of professionals who worked with children or took decisions affecting children. Thus far, 27 governmental agencies, County Administrative Boards, municipalities and regions had participated in this initiative. The Swedish Ombudsman for Children had also played a crucial role in providing knowledge and support. A Child Rights Delegation composed of civil society organizations had also been established. This delegation played a central role in ensuring the realisation of all children’s rights.

Sweden continued to be a major donor of international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. Children’s right to health and to inclusive and quality education for all were important priorities in the State’s development cooperation. The United Nations Children's Fund’s Office of Innovation, established in Stockholm in September 2021, was partly financed by Sweden.

There had been a rise in organised crime in Sweden, which had a severe impact on some children’s lives and well-being, especially those growing up in socio-economically disadvantaged areas. Several children had lost their lives while being caught in confrontations between criminal groups. Combatting all forms of violence against children was a major focus of the Government. A Government inquiry would shortly submit a proposal for a new 10-year national strategy to prevent and combat violence against children. The Government would also intensify efforts to prevent children and young people from being recruited into organised crime, for example by providing parental support.

Further, the Government would introduce a new health care guarantee that would grant children access to mental health support within 30 days. School-based mental health services would be strengthened and made available in every school. A new national strategy for mental health and suicide would be presented and a national coordinator for suicide prevention appointed. An inquiry had also been tasked with reviewing and proposing measures to improve the quality of care for children and young people in foster homes, supported housing, residential care homes and special youth detention centres. Another priority was to ensure a child-rights perspective in emergency response and preparedness at national, regional and local levels. The Government would finance a national 24-hour support hotline for children.

Questions by Committee Experts

BRAGI GUDBRANDSSON, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that Sweden had been the first country to ban corporal punishment in 1979. It set a high standard for child rights, and the Committee had high expectations for the State. Children had reportedly not been given the right to participate in inquiries considering legislation affecting them. Would this be changed in the future? The Committee welcomed that Sweden was considering ratifying the third Optional Protocol. Was there a timeline for this consideration?

There were disparities in the level of services provided by local authorities. Did the Government intend to reduce these disparities? Not all children had access to Barnahus. Were there plans to increase access to Barnahus and other services for children? How were these services regulated?

The Committee was concerned about new legal developments introducing stricter punishments for children in conflict with the law. Had an impact assessment of this legislation been conducted?

Did the Government intend to develop a new strategy and action plan on the rights of the child? The Committee welcomed the planned national strategy on preventing violence against children. When would this be developed?

Had child rights and the best interests of children been considered in budgetary planning? Did the budget address the disparities in financing for services for children between municipalities? What budget had been allocated for children in vulnerable situations, such as children with disabilities? Were there plans to address the lack of data on children in vulnerable situations?

The Ombudsman for Children lacked funds to carry out its mandate. The Human Rights Institution and the Ombudsman did not have the capacity to deal with individual complaints. Were there plans to address these issues? Did judges receive training on the Convention?

Was Sweden committed to providing one per cent of gross domestic product for international assistance? Were child rights considered in international assistance programmes?

Which Government entities were responsible for conducting awareness-raising campaigns regarding discrimination? How did the Government intend to improve competency within the public sector regarding determining the best interests of the child? What measures were in place to strengthen the participation of children in court proceedings regarding guardianship, and to increase children’s participation in Government decision-making procedures?

VELINA TODOROVA, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that Swedish law did not allow for the automatic acquisition of Swedish nationality for stateless children. The Expert asked for more information on the grounds of this law. There was no common framework for authorities to determine whether children were stateless. The number of stateless persons in Sweden had decreased since 2016, but the number of persons with unknown origin had steadily grown. Why were otherwise stateless children not automatically provided with Swedish nationality at birth? What steps were taken to determine stateless children’s nationality?

The Committee welcomed the national digitisation strategy for children. What regulations had been introduced to protect the safety of children online? What measures were in place to enhance the digital literacy of children, teachers and parents?

HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that isolation and restraints were reportedly still used in psychiatric hospitals in Sweden. What research had been carried out in this area? What measures were in place to ensure that these practices were used as a last possible resort and with close medical supervision? Was there systematic monitoring of children in such institutions?

There had reportedly been an increase in corporal punishment during the pandemic. Research on corporal punishment was reportedly being carried out. What had been the preliminary results of this research? What support was provided to child victims of violence? Why were there so few complaints and prosecutions regarding violence against children, despite reports of it increasing? What funding was allocated to support mechanisms? What measures were in place to combat sexual violence online, which was also increasing? How did the Government ensure that children’s voices were heard in cases involving violence?

There had been progress in reducing child marriage and female genital mutilation. Child marriage had been banned in 2020, a welcome development. Had progress been made on developing legislation covering honour crimes? What progress had been made in developing the hotline for children?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said that in April 2022, an inquiry on children’s rights analysed the possibility of ratifying the third Optional Protocol, and a report on its findings would be released soon. The inquiry also analysed the possibility of establishing functions within civil society organizations for supporting children in legal proceedings.

The Government was aware of disparities in access to child services between municipalities. It would continue to strive to assist all children to access their rights. Municipalities were independent from the Government but needed to comply with the rights of the Convention, ensuring education for children, access to social services and health care. The Government had provided guidance to municipalities on the rights protected by the Convention since 2017.

Children had the right to social service protection if they had witnessed a crime. Welfare agencies were required to take statements from children in safe settings. There had been shortcomings in the treatment of children who had experienced violence, so the Government had established an inquiry for developing a strategy on combatting violence against children. The inquiry would release a report on 18 January. It would propose measures for protecting children’s best interests, improving the knowledge of public officials who determined the best interests of children, strengthening children’s rights within judicial procedures, and reviewing the Barnahus system.

The National Board of Health and Welfare worked to strengthen cooperation between social services and the police to improve the quality of care for children in conflict with the law. An initiative was also in place to improve access to healthy meals for children in vulnerable situations. Children in vulnerable situations did not have access to certain key social services, and so an action plan to address this issue had been developed.

The Tidö Agreement, an agreement between Sweden’s political parties, aimed to protect children from violence. Inquiries formed under this agreement would consider children’s perspectives.

A strategy to strengthen the rights of the child had been developed in 2010. This strategy had yet to be evaluated, however, the national audit office had started an audit of the strategy in 2022, the results of which would be released in 2023. A future strategy would be developed based on the results of this audit.

Eight per cent of gross national product was allocated to education in the 2022 State budget. Sixty-two million Swedish Krona were allocated to projects specifically aimed at promoting child rights in 2022, including the children support hotline. In the State budget for 2023, the Government had increased funding for municipalities. The Minister for Child Rights had held a special press conference for children on how the 2023 budget affected them.

Statistics Sweden had collected data on the living conditions of children since 2001. In July 2022, Statistics Sweden launched a new method for collecting data on children, and this new method would be reviewed in 2023.

The Ombudsman for Children monitored the implementation of the Convention in regions and Government agencies but did not receive individual complaints. The Government inquiry on the rights of children would review complaints mechanisms available for children and submit recommendations for improving such mechanisms. The Government was committed to strengthening the Ombudsman and its ability to protect children’s rights.

The courts were not a part of the Government project to boost knowledge of children’s rights within public agencies, as courts were independent from the Government. The National Training Academy provided voluntary training on the rights of the child, including a special day of training on the Convention. In 2021, the Academy provided training on domestic violence and its effects on children.

Sweden was committed to international cooperation. It had established a minimum amount of funding, rather than a percentage of gross domestic product, for international cooperation projects. The rights of children were considered in all such projects. A toolkit for ensuring that human rights-based approaches were included in such projects had been developed.

The Equality Ombudsman also worked to combat discrimination. Its current goal was to investigate more cases of discrimination and encourage increased reporting of cases. The Ombudsman had carried out assessments of how authorities implemented the Convention. It had also reviewed its communications aimed at children to improve the quality of its child-friendly information materials. A Government grant was provided to local anti-discrimination agencies to strengthen the information that they provided to children.

The Government had adopted five action programmes against different forms of racism. These programmes supplemented the national action plan on combatting racism. Knowledge gained from consultations with children and civil society had led to information materials being produced on preventing racism in schools and supporting victims of racism.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert asked if children’s matters were relegated to women in Sweden. Why were there only three men in the delegation? Why had Sweden decided now to put a hotline in place for children? How had children reported cases of abuse in the past? How did the State ensure that corporal punishment was not carried out?

Another Committee Expert asked how children were involved in developing the national strategy on preventing violence against children.

BRAGI GUDBRANDSSON, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, asked whether the Discrimination Act was being revised. This act did not fully cover the rights contained within the Convention.

Child deaths had been declining in Sweden, and the rate of deaths was among the lowest in the world. However, a quarter of child deaths were reportedly from “external or unknown causes”. Did the Government plan to conduct investigations into the causes of child deaths?

Another Committee Expert asked about children travelling to Sweden from Ukraine. What kind of support were these children provided with? Did the Government support these children to reunite with their families?

VELINA TODOROVA, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, asked whether 2021 amendments to the parental code had helped to strengthen protection of the best interests of children in custody disputes. Were there cases where it was deemed not appropriate for children’s views to be heard in such court cases? How were the views of children considered in parental agreements? How was the right of abusive parents to contact children determined?

There were persistent issues in the out-of-home care system. Why was residential care rather than foster care considered preferentially for babies? Some children in compulsory care were reportedly subjected to violent treatment by staff. Children in care were frequently moved between institutions and lacked access to appropriate medical support. How was the Government dealing with these issues? What measures were in place to strengthen the social workforce? Children with disabilities were reportedly not involved in decisions affecting them, and cutbacks had been made in personal assistance funding for children with disabilities. What had been the outcomes of an inquiry into services provided to children with disabilities? What measures were in place to support inclusive education?

HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that many efforts had been made to include Roma children in education. However, there were reports of persistent violence and discrimination in schools. Teachers as well as students were reportedly perpetrators of this discrimination, and in some cases reports of discrimination were not followed up by schools. What measures were in place to combat discrimination in schools and provide appropriate responses to complaints? Were efforts made to improve knowledge of the Convention amongst school staff? What measures would the State party take to ensure access to leisure activities for girls and disadvantaged children?

CLARENCE NELSON, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that Sweden had an excellent health system, but children in vulnerable situations had difficulty in accessing the system. It was difficult for such children to obtain a national health care number. What measures were in place to address this? Did the State promote breastfeeding and regulate marketing of formula? How was Sweden tackling high rates of depression and suicide amongst children? Were mental health services available in schools? Did mental health services cater for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children and children with disabilities? There was reportedly a high level of drug and alcohol abuse amongst school children. What measures had the State party taken to address this issue?

The Committee welcomed the State party’s adoption of climate action plans. How did these plans consider children’s views? Was climate change a part of school curricula? How was the Climate Act implemented? What work was the Climate Change Council carrying out? Was the Government confident of achieving 100 per cent renewable energy coverage by 2040?

Children in street situations had poor social service support. What measures were in place to address the problems faced by such children? There were concerns that the Tidö Agreement would have a negative impact on undocumented asylum seekers and immigrants. How would the Government ensure that the rights of children would not be affected by the agreement? Were the best interests of children considered in asylum claim assessments? Sweden was considering lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility as part of the agreement. The Committee was strongly opposed to such a move.

What were the root causes of the high youth crime rate, and how did the State intend to address these causes? What counselling was provided to children who came into conflict with the law? The pre-trial detention of children should only be used as a measure of last resort. The period of review of pre-trial detention was, at two weeks, too long. Judges dealing with youth needed to be sensitive to the needs of children, and it appeared that the current training system for judges was inadequate.

Were Internet service providers required to block and audit sexual content involving children? What progress had been made in tackling online prostitution of children?

Some Swedish children were being held in Syria. What efforts had the Government made to repatriate these children?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said that the Government specified that certain inquiries should have a child-rights perspective, but this was not the case for all inquiries. The Government intended to involve children more in future inquiries.

The knowledge boost project included specific measures for strengthening knowledge and awareness of the rights of children with disabilities. Children with disabilities were provided with support in attending education and accessing healthcare. Personal assistance was also financially supported. There were no institutions in Sweden, but children whose families could not support them could voluntarily stay in small family homes. The number of young children receiving personal assistance had increased since 2018. Reforms that further strengthened access to personal assistance were introduced in 2022.

The inquiry into violence against children did consult children, asking for input on a plan for eliminating such violence; 173 children, a majority of whom had experienced violence, participated in a survey on the matter. Since 2008, the National Board of Health and Welfare had conducted investigations into cases of child abuse to inform Government efforts to protect children. In 2022, the National Board was commissioned by the Government to address shortcomings in the responses of municipalities to violence.

In response to the low number of reports of violence against children, the Government was working to improve the knowledge of investigators of crimes involving children, offering specialised training to those investigators.

Preventing honour-related violence was a top priority for the Government, the delegation said. It had implemented measures to build capacity and raise awareness about such violence within the community and 1.6 billion Swedish Krona had been allocated to the strategy. A new criminal offense, “honour-based oppression”, had been introduced in 2022, and “honour motives” were considered as an aggravating circumstance in the Criminal Code since 2020. Measures banning forced marriage and female genital mutilation had also been implemented. An inquiry investigating the possibility of criminalising child marriage was underway. There were also measures in place to prevent child abuse within Barnahus. A permanent centre against honour-related violence had been established to monitor efforts to combat the practice. The Government had also commissioned various authorities to combat female genital mutilation, map the practice and produce guidelines on handling cases of female genital mutilation. New arrivals were provided with education on preventing honour-related crimes.

The penalties for sexual crimes against children were increased in 2022. Imprisonment was the primary punishment for sexual exploitation of a child. Legislation had been expanded to include exploitation that occurred online. An inquiry was analysing these legislative changes. Guidelines on investigating cases of online sexual abuse had been developed, and a system for handling reports of online sexual abuse was being developed. The police had developed awareness-raising materials regarding sexual abuse online for children. Swedish Internet service providers were obliged to block and report cases of online child abuse.

The delegation said that the Government had developed a national digitisation strategy 2023-2027. The strategy had been drafted and was now being considered. Under the strategy, children would be provided with information on their rights and how to protect themselves online. The Media Council had been managing a “Safer Internet Centre” since 2021 in cooperation with the police. A hotline for reporting online child abuse was being established by the centre. In 2020, the Government had produced a report on the consumption of pornography that found that there was a need for the development of knowledge on the issue. It had also set up an inquiry to investigate how to improve support for victims of pornography and examine the criminality of pornography.

The Government aimed for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people to be respected and have equal rights with others. It had produced information materials for intersex children, and was working on a new, more inclusive Gender Identity Act. The new act would aim to simplify the procedure for changing sexes recorded in public registers. The Government had implemented measures to improve mental health and prevent suicide, including measures targeted at asylum seekers. It was also supporting municipalities to conduct home visits providing mental health support to those in need. The majority of regions had reported a shortage of psychologists, and the Government intended to strengthen the national committee addressing this shortage.

In 2024, the Swedish Food Agency would lead a national committee working to promote and support breastfeeding.

The national agency for education was working to strengthen student health care. In July this year, measures would be implemented that ensured that all students had access to special education teachers within schools. A project to improve cooperation between student health care and social services was also underway.

The Government had made large investments in strengthening psychiatric care for children and young people and developing different treatment methods. Guidelines for regulating psychiatric care had been developed, and the Government supervised residential homes for young people. The national audit office was also conducting a review of these homes. Work was underway to prevent violence within these institutions and establish routines for establishing the best interests of the child. Preliminary results showed that these efforts had led to a reduction in seclusions within care facilities.

Municipalities were responsible for the reception of unaccompanied migrant children, the delegation said. All children had access to the same care system. A national knowledge centre on unaccompanied migrant children had been established, which published information materials on issues such as trafficking in human beings. Measures were being developed to prevent unaccompanied migrant children from disappearing.

Two different forms of financial support were provided to minors who fled from States with socio-economic challenges. Temporary housing was provided to children who had fled Ukraine. Newly arrived students from Ukraine were supported with mother-tongue tuition and with curricula in line with that of Ukraine. Eighty per cent of children from Ukrainian families had enrolled in the Swedish school system, and child-friendly support information was provided to Ukrainian children.

The delegation said that stricter conditions for the use of seclusion measures were introduced in 2020. The Government had permanently allocated funds to the regions to implement these measures. The Government had also strengthened the supervision of child and youth psychiatry, and funded the regions’ efforts to strengthen in-patient psychiatric health care and training of psychiatric workers.

Legislative changes had been made to ensure that children’s will and views were considered in determining the child’s best interests in custody disputes. Hearing the child’s views in custody cases was mandatory unless the child was particularly sensitive or if the child’s views had been previously documented. Public officials were required to protect children from their parents’ conflict. Considering the views of children was required even when a parental agreement had been reached. Abuse against children needed to be considered in custody dispute cases, but unfounded accusations needed to be disregarded. An inquiry into parental contact in custody cases was underway.

A commission of inquiry into the institutionalisation of children was working to reduce the number of children placed in institutions. There had been an increasing trend of children affected by evictions since 2018. However, evictions had marginally decreased in 2021. The Government had commissioned municipal boards working to prevent eviction, particularly of families. The housing allowance had been temporarily raised until June 2023.

The inquiry on nationality and citizenship issues in 2021 proposed not to impose a system of automatic imposition of citizenship at birth for children. Such a system would complicate the process of registering for foreign nationality, and processing would take time and involve higher costs. The inquiry proposed to impose Swedish citizenship to children of foreign nationals with permanent Swedish residence permits. Legislation had been introduced to grant Swedish citizenship to stateless persons who held temporary residence permits and had resided in Sweden for more than five years. The inquiry proposed that knowledge of Swedish society should be required for acquisition of Swedish citizenship for persons over 16. Persons of “unknown nationality” could refer to stateless persons or persons who were nationals of countries that did not exist. Stateless children, including children without residence permits, were offered access to education and health care. Unaccompanied minors and minors granted temporary protection received information packages on services available to them.

Case officers on asylum cases involving children were required to consider the views and best interests of the child. A study had shown that children were treated with respect in investigations, but reasons for final decisions were not made clear. The migration agency would work to improve its practices based on this study’s findings.

Teachers needed to react firmly to situations involving students’ drug and alcohol use. Sweden had a State-owned monopoly over the sale of alcohol, controlling when and where alcohol could be sold. Alcohol was heavily taxed. There had been a decrease in the consumption of alcohol amongst school students since the year 2000. Information about alcohol and drugs was incorporated in school curricula.

Most children with disabilities received education within mainstream facilities. Students with disabilities had access to inclusive education and special needs schools. The Government was making large investments in increasing access to special education teachers. A grant to improve equality in education between municipalities had been established. Investments were also made to improve access to school materials and strengthen teacher training. An inquiry to investigate school safety had been commissioned. Teachers made aware of reports of abuse within schools were required to pass on those reports to the State monitoring body for follow-up.

An inquiry chair was appointed to assess the Discrimination Act’s compliance with the Convention, and it found that there was not full compliance with article 2.2 of the Convention. A proposal for revising the Discrimination Act had been developed, and the Government was considering this proposal.

There were various initiatives to promote equal access to leisure activities for all children that targeted school students. The Government had increased funding for organizations that promoted leisure activities for children, particular for girls and disadvantaged children. Many civil society organizations had been forced to close leisure activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government intended to introduce a “leisure card” that allowed children from disadvantaged economic backgrounds to access leisure activities.

Young people were exposed to and exploited by criminal networks. The Swedish National Council on Crime Prevention had studied crimes committed by young people and factors that encouraged and discouraged crimes. It was mandatory for municipalities to offer mediation to offenders under the age of 21. The Ombudsman for Children was tasked with protecting children and young people from being exploited by criminal organizations. The Ombudsman also had an active role in crime prevention work. The age limit for interventions had been lowered from 15 to 12 years. The number of field workers working to prevent crime had been increased on evenings and weekends. An action plan for crime prevention and parental support had been developed.

Those under the age of 18 were remanded in custody only in exceptional circumstances when adequate supervision could not be arranged. Minors were only detained when there was suspicion that they had committed serious crimes. Prosecutors and courts could suspend detention orders and detention orders could be appealed at any time.

The humanitarian situation in camps in northeast Syria was of grave concern to the Government, and work was underway to repatriate Swedish children in these camps. Over 40 children had been repatriated thus far, while a small number remained. These children would be repatriated when possible.

Children under the age of 18 could not be trained in firearms or recruited in the armed forces.

The Government aimed to achieve 100 per cent supply of energy from non-fossil fuel sources by 2040. In 2021, around 60 per cent of the energy produced in Sweden was from renewable sources, and around 90 per cent from non-fossil fuel sources. The Government held regular civil society meetings on climate issues. From 2019 to 2022, Sweden held national youth climate policy councils, and had a standing youth policy council that discussed climate issues. These councils informed government policy. Sweden’s school curricula included information on climate topics and sustainable development.

Questions by Committee Experts

BRAGI GUDBRANDSSON, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that family and community-based programmes had been developed, but their results had not always been positive. Were new programmes being developed? Sweden had not passed a law on Barnahus. Why was this?

VELINA TODOROVA, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that the Committee had met with children whose parents were in prison. Those children said that they needed more counselling, visitation rights and support in accessing education. Why were there plans to combat male violence against women rather than gender-based violence in general?

HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, asked about ongoing inquiries into mental health care in schools. Children did not know where to file complaints of abuse. How did the State intend to inform children about channels for reporting abuse and available remedies?

CLARENCE NELSON, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that there was concern about the practice of solitary confinement of children, including in pre-trial detention. Why was this still practiced, and when would it cease? The State seemed to be targeting children in its response to the issue of children involved in gangs, rather than the gangs themselves. This response needed to be reconsidered.

Another Committee Expert asked whether the State had any measures in place to trace the families of unaccompanied children who came to Sweden from Ukraine. How many children of Swedish origin were still in Syrian camps? What was done to support them, and when would these children be repatriated? What measures were in place to support family reunification between children and incarcerated mothers after release?

One Committee Expert asked about policies in place to strengthen the inclusion of children with disabilities in education and other areas of life. What plans were in place to invest in inclusive education? Did the State subsidise medications for children with disabilities?

A Committee Expert asked about mechanisms for children not enrolled in school to report abuse.

Concluding Remarks

BRAGI GUDBRANDSSON, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Sweden, said that impressive work had been carried out in Sweden to ensure the implementation of the Convention. However, there was room for further improvement, and the Committee would provide practical guidance in this regard in its concluding observations.

CAMILLA WALTERSSON GRÖNVALL, Minister for Social Services, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden and head of the delegation, said that the dialogue would contribute to improving children’s rights in Sweden. Sweden intended to raise its ambitions regarding child rights. The Prime Minister had increased the number of ministers dealing with issues concerning children from two to four, including a minister responsible for policies on the rights of the child. Sweden recognised the importance of accountability mechanisms such as the Committee in protecting human rights. The importance of the Convention could not be understated. Sweden had long been committed to advancing this agenda, and the delegation would ensure that it received attention during the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union. The delegation would also ensure that Sweden effectively addressed the Committee’s concluding observations.

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