COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONCLUDES EXAMINATION OF INITIAL REPORT FROM CAPE VERDE

CRC
28th session
10 octobre 2001
Afternoon





The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its examination of an initial report from Cape Verde on how that country was implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In a preliminary remark, a Committee Expert said that the dialogue with the delegation had been constructive and had given the Committee the opportunity to grasp the real situation of children in Cape Verde. Although the Government was endeavouring to implement the provisions of the Convention, a monitoring mechanism was missing such as an ombudsman’s office. Much had to be done to disseminate the principles of the Convention, particularly to families which had many children. In addition, the Government should intensify its efforts in supplying clean drinking water to the population.

The Expert also said that disabled children should be integrated into the mainstream of the society and programmes should be implemented to improve their conditions. The situation of domestic violence that affected children and women was of concern to the Committee. It was also a good idea to approve the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption instead of attempting to follow the provisions without ratifying the treaty.

Over the course of their consideration of the report this afternoon, the Committee Experts continued to raise further questions under the third cluster concerning the main subjects of basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures. They asked, among other things, if the State had ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; the extent of breastfeeding; about the consumption of alcohol and tobacco; the situation of HIV/AIDS; the impact of tourism on children; the absence of a law against trafficking in women and children; about children left on their own; and the actual situation of child labour in the country.


Formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Cape Verde will be issued by the Committee before the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 12 October.

As one of the 191 States parties to the Convention, Cape Verde must submit periodic reports to the Committee so that it can monitor the implementation of the provisions of the treaty in that country.

The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 11 October in private to discuss and adopt its draft concluding observations on the country reports which it has considered during the current session. The Committee is expected to meet in public on Friday, 12 October before adjourning its autumn session.


Response of Cape Verde

In response to questions raised by Committee Experts before the morning meeting was adjourned, members of the Capeverdian delegation said that it was difficult to understand the reasons that led to the present family structure where 80 per cent of children were born out of wedlock. It might be attributed to the colonizers who introduced the tradition where one man had to have many children by a number of women. During the colonial era, female slaves were used to reproduce children by their masters who already had wives. After independence, the Government abolished the distinction between "legitimate" and "illegitimate" children.

With regard to the handicapped, the delegation said that according to a recent census, there were 3,157 children aged up to 17 years old who had disabilities. The majority of them were admitted in the mainstream of national education. Among those disabled children, the blind and the deaf were placed within families with the Government providing subsidies to the caring families.

Birth registration was not a prerequisite to access to medical treatment or education, the delegation said. Children could easily receive vaccination without producing any birth certificate. Registration of children could take place any time after birth with the payment of small fine for late registration.

The number of children born out of wedlock included those born within de facto unions, the delegation said. Because of the permissive life style in towns, children were born out of wedlock which was seen as a normal family structure. Although men and women lived together and had children, unless they were legitimately married, they were considered single. The society accorded more value to reproductive patterns than to conjugal roles. Women with more than one child might have at least two different fathers of their children. Families in rural areas were less affected by the phenomenon of having children outside marriage.

The Government was educating people about human rights and the rights of the child, the delegation said. It was recasting the educational curricula to make it more complimentary to the requirements and obligations of the State with regard to international treaties.

Concerning abandoned children, the Government had attempted to trace the root causes of the phenomenon and had invited the society to deal with the situation, the delegation said. Some of the street children were found to have escaped from SOS children villages. The Government had also succeeded in placing many abandoned children in foster families.


Associations could be created by children for a variety of reasons but could not be registered as a legal entity, the delegation said. Only persons over 18 years had the right to register associations.

Several municipalities had put in place machinery working for the rights of the child, the delegation said. Since they were unable to support their activities through local taxation, the central Government had to provide subvention to each municipality.

The number of clandestine abortions had dropped since abortion was legalized, the delegation said. In addition, there was a network of support for women and children in matters of family planning. Pregnancy up to the third month could be terminated in hospitals when the women so desired. Youth support centres, run by the Ministry of the Youth, provided counselling for children as old as 10 years and distributed free contraceptive devices such as condoms.

Women who had been victims of domestic violence often withdrew their complaints before the perpetrators were prosecuted, the delegation said. It was suspected that one of the factors that caused women to change partners might be violence and abuse perpetrated by male partners.

The Committee Experts continued to raise further questions under the third cluster concerning the main subjects of basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures. They asked if the State had ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption; about the extent of breastfeeding; consumption of alcohol and tobacco; the situation of HIV/AIDS; the impact of tourism on children; the absence of a law against trafficking in women and children; about children left on their own; and the actual situation of child labour in the country.

In response to the questions, the officials of Cape Verde said that education was compulsory for children between the age of 6 and 12, and with class repetition, some children might undergo compulsory education until the age of 15. The State guaranteed basic education for all, including vocational training.

The delegation said that although the State was not a party to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Government had maintained close contacts with the countries where its citizens were working. Lately, the Government had been contemplating ratifying the Convention.

Drinking water was a major problem in Cape Verde, the delegation said. However, the Government had taken a number of initiatives, with international cooperation, to implement projects aimed at increasing a clean water supply to the population.

With regard to the situation of HIV/AIDS, the Government, with funds obtained from the World Bank, had taken preventive measures towards the pandemic and other sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, awareness-increasing campaigns had been mounted through the mass media which disseminated information on the dangers of the disease.


According to the law, children over 16 years could be arrested and imprisoned if they were found guilty of committing offences, the delegation said. However, they were not placed in prisons together with adults. There was a lack of specialized prison facilities intended for young offenders. Children below the age of 16 years were normally reprimanded for their acts and were not kept in prisons.

There was no trafficking in women or children in Cape Verde, the delegation said, adding that the absence of this phenomenon had prompted the Government not to draft a law against it.

Cape Verde was a party to the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the African one, the delegation said.

With regard to adoption, the Government followed the guidelines laid down by the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, although it was not yet a party. Children already adopted by foreign parents kept their contacts with their biological parents and their country of origin.

Child labour was not considered as a major problem in Cape Verde, the delegation said, adding that children could perform petty jobs which did not required tremendous energy, such as shoe-shinning or street vendors. They were also engaged in small jobs within the framework of family enterprises. Generally, the minimum age for employment was fixed at 14 years.


Preliminary Remark

In a preliminary remark, a Committee Expert said that the dialogue had been constructive and had given the Committee the opportunity to grasp the real situation of children in Cape Verde. Although the Government was endeavouring to implement the provisions of the Convention, a monitoring mechanism such as an ombudsman’s office was missing. Much had to be done to disseminate the principles of the Convention, particularly to families who had many children. In addition, the Government should intensify its efforts in supplying clean drinking water to the population.

The Expert also said that disabled children should be integrated into the mainstream of the society and programmes should be implemented to improve their conditions. The situation of domestic violence that affected children and women was of concern to the Committee. It was also a good idea to approve the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption instead of attempting to follow the provisions without ratifying the treaty.




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