COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF REPORT PRESENTED BY ECUADOR

MORNING
HR/CRC/98/42
23 September 1998



The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning concluded its consideration of the initial report presented by Ecuador on how it promotes and protects children’s rights and recommended that the country take measures to reduce infant mortality and to alleviate poverty.

In preliminary concluding observations and recommendations, the Committee experts urged the Government of Ecuador to give priority to basic education by allocating additional resources to that sector.

The Committee will offer its final recommendations towards the end of its session which concludes on 9 October.

Ecuador, as one of 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is required to submit to the Committee periodic reports on how it implements the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee will meet at 3 p.m. to take up a report from Iraq on the measures adopted by that country to comply with the provisions of the Convention.

Discussion

In response to questions raised by Committee members during the previous session, the delegation of Ecuador affirmed that there were no restrictions of any form on youth associations. The right to form any association by citizens was part of fundamental freedoms in Ecuador.

The delegation said that children lodging complaints against violations of their rights were assisted by 30 non-governmental organizations working in that field. Associations of university students, particularly those in the faculties of medicine and law, also supported children in presenting their complaints. In addition, political representatives in each city and parish were responsible for assisting child victims to bring their cases before the competent authorities.

Furthermore, there was a network of organizations providing social, legal, medical and psychological help to children who had suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse. A training programme was also developed for teachers with a view to reducing abuse in schools, detecting cases of abuse in the home, helping families with this type of problem and referring cases.

The delegation said that in May 1998, a Commission for the eradication of child abuse in the school system was set up to hear and investigate reports of child abuse. Ecuadorian law prohibited corporal punishment against children. Any teacher who inflicted corporal punishment against students was punished according to the law.

In further response to a question on suicide among children, the delegation estimated that the rate of suicide was low and that it was not a subject of concern for the Ecuadorian society. For that reason, there was no statistical data on the issue.

Regarding missing children, the delegation said that since 1992, in the province of El Guayas alone, there were 825 missing children. In addition, since 1997, Ecuadorian child rental cases had been discovered in Venezuela, Spain and Colombia. It was confirmed that the children left the country with the authorization of their parents and were entrusted to dealers who would provide a sum of money to the parents. The children were found in situations where they were exploited or forced to work as prostitutes. Thanks to country-to-country cooperation, some of the children had returned to Ecuador, the delegation said, adding that express laws penalizing the traffic of children were absent from the legal system.

In response to a question on adoption, the delegation said that international adoption could only be carried out through agencies recognized and approved by the Ecuadrian Government. According to current adoption procedures, the adoption process involved a pre-adoption stage to determine the moral, legal, social and psychological suitability of the petitioners to ensure the welfare and normal development of the child.

The Government of Ecuador had adopted an integrated system of education and health which affected three million children throughout the country. The educational system was comprehensive, universal and humanistic. Concerning traditional medicine used by indigenous peoples, the Government was convinced that its practice had positive results. Traditional practices which were detrimental to the health of children were non-existent in the country.

Preliminary Concluding Observations and Recommendations

Committee experts thanked the members of the delegation for their efforts in responding to their numerous questions. They said it was a fruitful dialogue. The introduction of the provisions of the Convention in the educational curriculum was a positive measure, they said.

Committee members expressed concern about the high infant mortality rate and malnutrition which had a serious impact on children's future. The Government was urged to change the trend by adopting measures to improve child nutrition. It was also urged to take measures to reduce the rate of infant mortality.

The members of the Committee urged the Government to take drastic action and adopt programmes to combat and alleviate poverty. The survival and development of children should be looked upon as a national policy, they added.

Committee members recommended that priority should be given to basic education by allocating additional resources. They further recommended that data collection be reinforced; that studies and investigations be carried out to discover the real cause of suicide among children; and that consumption of alcohol by street children be looked at seriously.