COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONTINUES CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF HUNGARY

HR/CRC/98/19
19 May 1998

The Committee on the Rights of the Child continued this afternoon its consideration of a report by Hungary, discussing health and education issues and the prevention of discrimination against Roma youth.

The meeting saw a Hungarian Government delegation presenting the report tell Committee experts that one way to handle teenage pregnancies was to use prevention and educational programmes to draw attention to the dangers of having children so young. The mental hygiene strategy introduced by the Government last year into schools provided for sexual education and taught the prevention of drug abuse, alcoholism and AIDS, the officials said. The Hungarian delegation is led by Istvan Koncz, Titular State Secretary and Secretary of the Coordination Council for Children and Young People in the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Committee resumes its work at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 20 May, to conclude its consideration of the report of Hungary.

Discussion

Committee experts said there were many teenage pregnancies in Hungary. This raised the related questions of age of marriage for boys and girls, guidance in clinics for reproductive health and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. More information was also requested about the age of criminal responsibility, the minimum age for providing testimony in courts, adoption and marriage. The lack of an age of consent for medical treatment was questioned.

Prostitution had become legal in Hungary subject to obtaining a license, an expert recalled. How did the authorities respond to requests for licenses from persons below the age of 18? Was there any plan of action to tackle teenage pregnancies and early marriages? Were the rights of children born out of wedlock the same as those born to married couples? What measures were taken to prevent discrimination against Roma children and how effective had they been?

A Committee expert expressed concern about the level of suicides among adults and children in Hungary. Had there been any research carried out on the causes for this? What was being done to implement the basic principle of participation of children, and were there general mechanisms for children's complaints? More information was requested about the extent of student self-government and the representation of Roma children in youth organizations. Another expert said Hungarian
law allowed convicts above the age of 14 to go to jail, which was contrary to the Convention. Children guilty of crimes should be sent to reform schools if they were below the age of 18.

Committee experts said the report of Hungary mentioned the need for specific legislation with regard to the freedom of expression and protection of privacy of children; they hoped this would happen soon. What steps were being taken to protect personal data in schools, and when would specific legislation concerning this expected to be enacted? an expert asked. Concerning the right to personal integrity, had there been complaints of police brutality in dealing with children? Corporal punishment was illegal at schools and institutions, but it was not prohibited in the home. What was being done to inform parents about that issue. The Committee considered that corporal punishment at home had to be banned in legislation.

According to the Convention, the idea of the privacy of the family could not serve as a barrier to the protection of the rights of the child. Committee experts noted the rising level of violence and the increasing number of children entering institutions and asked what measures the Government was taking to counter this. Questions were asked about adoptions and the reasons which led authorities to separate children from their parents. The Convention made it clear that institutions should be the last resort, and the preference was to resolve problem situations within the family environment or in a family-like solution.

Experts also asked: Had Hungary ratified International Labour Office Convention 138 on the minimum working age? How many cases of incest had been reported in Hungary and how were they dealt with? Was any research carried out on this phenomenon? More information was requested about the relatively high number of institutionalized children (4,591 last year), the high number of minors non-Hungarians were allowed to adopt and projects to empower the family.

Committee experts said the Act of Disabled Persons seemed to be very positive. Did it deal with both physically and psychologically handicapped children? The number of breast feeding-women in Hungary had increased to 54 per cent, but the figures had stopped rising. Was there a reason for this, and were baby-friendly hospital initiatives publicized?

Other questions related to the rate of drop-outs; the equipping of schools; child labour and juvenile
delinquency; the right of the child to leisure and play, and the low number of Roma children entering high school and university, among other issues.

In response to questions, the delegation of Hungary said prostitution was still prohibited. There was a law under preparation which was trying to regulate the status of prostitutes; there was a big debate going on about this in Hungary. Youths were registered for their military service at the age of 17 but they could not start it until the age of 18. Concerning the age of consent for medical consultations, youths were offered consultations with school doctors without their parents. They could also use the excellent social services offered to those under 18, including efficient work by non-governmental organizations. International Labour Office Convention 138 had been ratified at the end of last year, and the age limit for work in Hungary was 16. The age of criminal responsibility was 14.

Regarding teenage pregnancies, the delegation said statistics showed that half the children born to families in which the mother was under 18 were born out of wedlock, while only 20 per cent of children whose mother was above 18 were born out of wedlock. This was a dilemma for the State, which considered everyone under the age of 18 to be a child unless he or she was married, in which case they were considered adults. There was a debate on how to handle this issue: some said it was the private business of the families concerned, while others called for regulations to stop it. One solution was to use prevention and educational programmes to draw the attention of this generation to the dangers of having children so young. The mental hygiene strategy introduced by the
Government last year into schools provided for sexual education and taught the prevention of drug abuse, alcoholism, AIDS and.

There was a nationwide student government represented in all schools, the delegation continued. That government was led by the Council for Students, which was made up of students, student organizations and, in the minority, functionaries of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Consensus was the rule for decision-making. The State organized annually the student parliament for secondary school students, which reviewed the implementation of the so-called Students' Charter. That Charter included all the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as others.

Concerning children's complaints, the delegation said that children could approach their school council, made up of students, teachers and parents, or the council of parents, which was an autonomous body within the school system. Children also had the right to approach the country's Ombudsman and other organizations with their complaints.

With regard to questions on suicide, the delegation said it was a pity that Hungary was famous for the situation of the Romas and for having the highest suicide rate in the world. Suicide had been documented in Hungary for 150 years, but for the past three years, the number of suicides had been decreasing. That was a miracle for Hungary; the Government was intensively studying the reasons for this in order to maintain them.

The delegation said Romas had come to Hungary in the fourteenth century. The Government was doing its best to improve their situation, but it did not have any illusions that its efforts could have an immediate impact. A two-year Government programme of action dealt with the rights and social conditions of Roma children. Since the adoption of the programme, special grants had been given to schools to support the education of children from national and ethnic minorities. However, it was not possible to see immediate results after only one year. One problem was that the Government sometimes did not know with whom to discuss issues; this process of resolving the issue of the Romas was long and painful. There were many youth associations and clubs in Hungary, but the only national minority with its own organization was the national German minority. There were
11 national minorities and several ethnic minorities and the Government was trying to encourage them to set up their own organizations. The delegation said Hungary's school system was famous for inventing new teaching methods. While some teachers and schools had raised objections concerning the need for sex education, the subject was now part of the national curriculum; teachers who objected therefore had to resolve the question or see the subject taught by specialists brought specifically to do so. In Hungary, there were good schools and better schools; the better
schools were well up to date with informatics technology. There was a difference in the quality of life between Budapest and the countryside, and between the western part of the country -- which was closer to Austria and Western Europe and was therefore better developed -- and the eastern part. The authorities were focusing on the less privileged part. Concerning pre-school education, 85.7 per cent of children went to kindergardens, while the rest remained at home because their parents offered them more facilities there. Private kindergardens had been opened after 1989.