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COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF PERU
12 January 2006
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Committee on the
Rights of the Child
12 January 2006
(Chamber A)
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the third periodic report of Peru on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In opening remarks to the Committee, Ana Mariá Romero-Lozada, Minister for Women and Social Development of Peru, said the Government of Peru attached great importance to the undertakings made by Peru under the treaties and conventions on human rights. The Government had analysed the comments made by the Committee on its previous report, and had endeavoured to implement them. It had also provided answers to the List of Issues. Peru had undertaken to give priority to the protection of the rights of the child and to invest in their development, as per the Millennium Development Goals.
Discussing the report, Committee Expert Rosa Maria Ortiz, who served as Rapporteur for the report of Peru, said the Committee would like to know why the increased economic growth had not resulted in increased budgetary allocations to priorities such as health, education, and child mortality. The country was clearly consolidating its democracy, but there appeared to be a lack of dialogue between the Government and civil society. There were changes underway that were not allowing for smooth progress in the implementation of the Convention. The delegation should explain how Peru was going to face up to the challenges of implementation.
Other Committee Experts raised questions related to, among other things, how effective decentralisation efforts were in the context of the protection of the rights of the child; how far the Millennium Development Goals would be implemented; what provisions were made for children with disabilities, in particular with regards to education; the seriousness of institutional shortcomings in particular areas such as the Andes and the Amazon and to what extent new plans and programmes had been able to integrate these particularly vulnerable regions in order to fulfil their needs; whether there were programmes that specifically targeted children in order to protect them from the detrimental circumstances of poverty; whether money was invested for education as a priority in those regions of the country where it was most needed; and what was being done to ensure that children had access to the drugs they needed, in particular with regards to HIV/AIDS.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Peru towards the end of its three-week session which will conclude on 27 January.
The delegation of Peru consisted of representatives of the Ministry for Women and Social Development, the Ministry of Public Affairs, and the Ministry of Education.
As one of the 192 States parties to the Convention, Peru is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. The delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes on Friday, 13 January at 10 a.m., it will consider the second periodic report of Ghana (CRC/C/65/Add.34).
Report of Peru
The third periodic report of Peru (CRC/C/125/Add.6) on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, says that in an analysis of the application of the Convention, it is first necessary to describe the political and legal situation in Peru in the 1990s. From the social point of view that decade was characterized by the corruption of the Government, the breakdown of the institutions of society, and excessive authoritarianism on the part of the Executive. The violation of fundamental rights was characteristic of a situation which Peru is still trying to understand today. Against this background the Government has been carrying out national policies to solve these problems. Accordingly, the fight against extreme poverty is becoming a basic focus of the State’s action in terms of the priority given to measures to help the poorest people and to build and develop capacities.
The problems of childhood in a multicultural country with great social disparities are not the same for all. However, it is possible to come to grips with this diversity and determine who are the most excluded children and where they are to be found. The phased approach makes it possible to observe these problems at all stages, from conception and pregnancy to the child’s birth and physical and mental development up to age 17. This approach, which is the one taken by Peru, covers children’s relations with culture, family, school, peers and community. Initial education is the first level of Peru’s education system and as such is intended to provide comprehensive and good-quality training to foster the development of children aged under six, respecting their identities and supporting the education services and the capacity of the family and the community to take better care of children’s early development.
Adolescent pregnancy is a problem in all regions of the country, although it is more prevalent in rural areas, and it is the third most common cause of death - from complications during pregnancy, delivery and the perinatal period, as well as from abortion. There is no family planning service for adolescents even though the need for one is obvious and such a service is one of the few available means of tackling this problem, the root of which lies precisely in the lack of guidance and services aimed directly at preventing all the risks associated with an active sex life. It is calculated that some 1.6 million persons have been affected by political violence, 30 per cent of them children. According to the Programme of Support for the Resettlement and Development of Emergency Zones, about 600,000 of these persons, including children orphaned by the fighting, moved away from their home communities because of the armed conflict.
Presentation of Report
Ana Mariá Romero-Lozada, Minister for Women and Social Development of Peru, said the Government of Peru attached great importance to the undertakings made by Peru under the treaties and conventions on human rights. The Government had analysed the comments made by the Committee on its previous report, and had endeavoured to implement them. It had also provided answers to the List of Issues. Peru had undertaken to give priority to the protection of the rights of the child and to invest in their development, as per the Millennium Development Goals. To apply these commitments, it had created the Forum of National Accord, with the objective of promoting 30 long-term state policies, seven of which had in particular to do with children and teenagers. The Forum encouraged the approval of the National Plan of Action for children and adolescents. The Government had approved the Road Map for 2004-2006, which would make it possible to include, feed, vaccinate and educate children, and the National Plan of Action for children and adolescents had been enacted into a law. These political decisions were an integral part of the national commitment to build a stable and just society.
Overall, poverty had declined by 2.7 per cent, while extreme poverty had declined by 4.9 per cent, and this showed the limits imposed by the structural inequality and social exclusion experienced by many, including children and adolescents, and was an indication of the level of challenge experienced by those seeking to combat these problems. A programme called “Together” had been initiated, bringing together Ministries, civil society and the business community, with the aim of guaranteeing the right to an identity, health, food and education for children and adolescents, in particular in rural and indigenous areas, through direct transfers to mothers of families, depending on the exercise of their rights. Work was done to move beyond capacity building to providing greater levels of service.
A new culture of dialogue and consultation in the framework of social development needed to be encouraged. Today, an increasing number of communities were engaging in democratic exercises, and the issues of children and adolescents were becoming increasingly important and recognised as such. Problems which affected children and adolescents, increasing their vulnerability, such as sexual exploitation, the failure to record births, ill-treatment and sexual abuse, abandonment and malnutrition, were all recognised, and the Ministry of Social Development had given them particular attention, resulting in progress. Various measures had been taken to implement the National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents for 2002-2010. The recommendations of the Committee would be transmitted to the political parties participating in the electoral process to ensure that they would be implemented.
Questions by Experts
ROSA MARIA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Peru, said the Committee thanked Peru for the report, and for the answers to the List of Issues. The report, although it contained much information, did not conform to the guidelines, and she therefore asked how it had been drafted, and whether non-State actors had participated in its drafting. The National Plan of Action and its enactment as a law was welcomed, but more information was required on how the different plans and laws would be implemented, and what process was used to draft initiatives and assess their success. The Committee also welcomed that several concerns and recommendations had been taken on board, but very much regretted that other observations had not been or only in part examined.
More information was also required on the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with regards to children who had suffered in the past, Ms. Ortiz said. The Committee welcomed the efforts made to reduce child mortality, but found the figures still alarming, and it should be explained why the increased economic growth had not caused increased budgetary allocations to deal with this phenomenon, as well as to other priorities such as health, education, and others. The country was clearly consolidating its democracy, and there appeared to be a lack of dialogue between the Government and civil society. There were changes underway that were not allowing for smooth progress in the implementation of the Convention, and the body responsible for the National Action Plan should have the authority to ensure this. The delegation should explain how Peru was going to face up to the challenges of implementation.
Other Experts raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, how effective decentralisation efforts were in the context of the protection of the rights of the child; did the law allow for close collaboration between Governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations, and children’s organizations; how strong was the children’s agenda in Governmental institutions; how far the Millennium Development Goals would be implemented; whether the Government had plans to prohibit physical punishment and to encourage non-violent forms of discipline; whether there was a National Ombudsman; what provisions were made for children with disabilities, in particular with regards to education and whether the Government had assessed the situation of these children; and the seriousness of institutional shortcomings in particular areas such as the Andes and the Amazon and to what extent new plans and programmes had been able to integrate these particularly vulnerable regions in order to fulfil their needs.
Response by the Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said the report had been prepared by the Office of Children and Adolescents at the Ministry for Women and Social Development. It highlighted the difficulties encountered in implementing the Convention. It was a practice of the Government of Peru to present an analysis of the difficulties encountered in respect to implementation. Future reports would be presented in compliance with the guidelines. The Office for Children and Adolescents was an important organ of the Ministry, which was competent for a number of topics, in particular matters dealing with the family, community, and the rights of children, adolescents, and the handicapped. There was a complementarity in its work in this regard.
Concerning the fight against poverty, the delegation said that although progress had been made, it was not sufficient to be widely effective. Poverty had been reduced, but not in a proportionate manner. Although it had dropped by 9 per cent in rural areas, this was not enough, and there was still a huge amount of inequality, ensuring that some sectors could not fully enjoy their rights or participate. The Government had made major efforts to target programmes in a much better manner, in particular with regards to health and education programmes. Problems persisted with regards to food, as, despite efforts, chronic malnutrition among children had not dropped, as the programmes did not cover 100 per cent of the population, and did not reach the poorest. The Government was working to remedy this.
The concerns and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had been taken onboard by the Government, the delegation said. Reparation programmes had been set up, and had been approved by the last Parliament, with a large budget allocated to the programmes, and a General Directorate of Displaced Persons and For A Culture of Peace had been set up to implement the recommendations. This was to ensure that the fight against poverty also contained an element of social reparation. The fund would, as a priority, focus on the most affected regions and families. There was also a joint programme on political violence, and the districts targeted by this were the poorest districts, which had been particularly affected by political violence in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The Government was also working with private companies to allocate resources.
The Government believed it faced a major challenge with regards to decentralisation to ensure that children’s needs were taken into account at all levels, the delegation said. The regional authorities had integrated programmes for local children, incorporating civil society and children’s organizations. A national objective was to make 6 per cent of GDP to be invested in social matters including health and education; however, Peru was still far from reaching this. Some 4.8 per cent of the State budget was invested in health matters, and the Government recognised this was too low. Over recent years, more than 10 million people had signed up to medical insurance, and 80 per cent of these came from vulnerable, marginalized areas, and it was important to maintain mechanisms to encourage this to continue by focusing on child health care, vaccinations, HIV/AIDS, and on emerging diseases. Given the decentralisation process, it was the regional Governments that held the purse strings of the health budget.
Regarding education, there had been a drop in percentage of the GDP spent on this, but the actual amount of money had increased between 2000 and 2005, the delegation said. Expenditure was carried out by regional Governments as well as the national Government. A joint working space had been created for the State, civil society and the People’s Ombudsman in order to discuss children who were under the responsibility of the State, such as in homes and institutions. An Ombudsman had been set up for the private health-care sector. There were 1,670 Ombudsmen, who strengthened the national structure for the protection of the rights of the child. The question of family violence could not be envisaged in this framework, however, as when violence occurred the victim was at a disadvantage, and could not be confronted with his or her aggressor. Ombudsmen for children could be members of the community or adolescents themselves who disseminated information regarding the protection of their rights, without participating at a legal level.
Further Questions by Experts
During the second round of questions, the Rapporteur asked what was the nature of the link that existed between the various ministries. She was surprised at the large number of children in homes, saying the family bond was of crucial importance and was not being given the importance it deserved. Other Experts raised questions related to the issue of child labour including the age for employment; the implementation of other United Nations and ILO instruments; whether there were programmes that specifically targeted children in order to protect them from the detrimental circumstances of poverty; whether money was invested for education as a priority in those regions of the country where it was most needed; and concerns that bilateral trade agreements could limit access to cheaper drugs for the people of Peru and what was being done to ensure that children had access to the drugs they needed, in particular with regards to HIV/AIDS.
Response by Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said there was an economic incentive to send children to school, but at the end of the day what was important was that parents sent their children to school and took them to health centres where necessary. It was very important to train mothers so as to ensure they could look after children and spread knowledge, and there were programmes to this effect. Often women in prison had their children with them, and there were therefore programmes to help them care for the latter.
Regarding the Millennium Development Goals, Peru had been named a pilot country for their implementation. It was crystal clear that Peru needed to get the necessary conditions of reducing poverty to achieve these Goals. Studies showed the importance of doing away with the lack of equity in the country, particularly with regards to children, and the need for the increased creation of jobs. Many State policies focused on equity, and all of them related to children, and all were forward-looking and both mid-term and long-term in aim. Civil society and the business community were also involved in their implementation. The National Plan for Children and Adolescents tied in closely with the achievement of these goals. There was a true follow-up of these plans. Many policies focused on children between 4 and 12 years of age who were at school, aiming to improve their nutrition level, among other things.
One of the policies adopted in the education sector was on inclusive education, the delegation said, and this encouraged the inclusion into mainstream education of young people, children and adolescents who had disabilities. Special basic education had to be inclusive in its approach, by law, and had to cater for those with special educational needs, with the aim of integrating them into everyday life and society. On the right to a name, in Peru there was a limitation regarding birth registry, and about 110,000 children every year were not registered in time at birth, and had no birth certificate. This was due to many reasons - bureaucracy, the need to pay a fee, misinterpretations of the rules for registration, and others, all of which meant that parents did not come forward to register their children at birth. The Civil Code dated from 1984 and required updating. Work was being done to register those children who were missing from the lists, and this was an ongoing campaign.
Many girls and boys working in the country wanted to continue to do so, as they felt that they learnt more whilst working, and could also contribute to their families. It was therefore incumbent on the Government to determine a curriculum that fulfilled the needs of all children, as well as to teach children about their own prospects and possibilities. In 2003, an emergency had been declared in the educational system, and a number of programmes had been set up. These had not been as effective as could have been wished, but work was continuing.
On health matters, the delegation said, it was clear in the health sector that there was a right to health, which referred not only to access to healthcare, but also access to quality control to ensure that there was equity, access to different options, respect of education and culture and others. Progress over the last few years was positive: there had been improvements in health care, with an increase in birth rates, a decrease in mortality rates, and others. There were disparities between regions, but the averages had improved. The greatest success had been in antenatal care. The greatest improvements were in institutional births, as there had been a significant increase in the number of institutional rural births. In rural areas, parents were increasingly attending clinics with their ill children. With regards to HIV/AIDS, work was being done to change behaviour, starting with an awareness raising campaign, with an increase in the number of people being aware of the illness. The approach drew its appreciation from the rights of the child, and aimed to raise awareness among teenagers. There was a health strategy on other sexually transmitted diseases.
Labour legislation ensured that women had time at work to breastfeed, and this tied in with a nutrition programme for children, the delegation said, in tandem with promotion exercises in schools promoting breastfeeding. A major problem in Peru was alcohol consumption, and work was being done to educate children as to its dangers, as well as to other drugs. The suicide rate in children and adolescents had increased, and there were programmes via the Government’s mental health strategy to combat this increase and to provide alternatives. As for teenage pregnancies, there had been a 3 per cent drop, and it was important to point out that this was, comparatively, important. More pregnant teenagers were at least asking for help from the health authorities. The Family Planning Law said that adolescents should have access to contraception.
On sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, the Ministry of Women had taken up the challenge to lead the fight against this phenomenon. It was a joint venture between the Government and private institutions, as many resources were required in order to intervene properly, sanction and punish those involved. There was a need to know how many children were affected, the delegation said, and this required a phased intervention, including consciousness-raising, and training for those involved in the chain of justice. The whole process relating to care for the victims needed to ensure that they were reintegrated into society and cared for, whilst the exploiters were punished and sanctioned, including the pimps and users, although not much progress had been achieved with respect to the latter, due to the difficulty of proving abuse by clients. If exploitation of the child was proven, there was a possibility of abuse being proven, and the perpetrator punished.
In efforts to eradicate child labour, the administration and civil society were working together, the delegation said, to implement the recommendations of the International Labour Office, and they had drafted a list of dangerous jobs and trades. Local authorities were those competent to authorise adolescents working in certain places. Minimum conditions that had to be respected had been established, including rest times and time for school. Work was continuing to improve the process, and this was being combined with the progress of the Ministry of Labour. Much remained to be done, but this was fully recognised. Domestic work could be undertaken from 12 years of age, under certain conditions, namely that it did not interfere with education, and was under four hours a day in duration. There were a number of programmes to help adolescents doing domestic work. There were also programmes for children who neither worked nor went to school to ensure they were prepared for a working environment.
The general age for work was 14, but depending on the difficulty of the work, this was increased for certain jobs. The possibility of increasing the minimum age to 15 was being considered by the Parliament. A very close eye was kept on the quality of hostels, hospitals and institutions, as the Government wanted to ensure that children got the best possible treatment. Street children should not be marginalized, and local Governments had responsibilities to provide them with shelter. There was a Bill that had been submitted on pernicious gangs and an apparent network of adolescent leaders of gangs. Some local Governments were leading this, and it had been very effective, for example, in Lima, where young gang members could get together to discuss their problems. The situation was not, however, as bad as in Central America, the delegation said.
Adolescents could not be imprisoned with adults, the delegation said. One of the problems encountered with street adolescents was that they often did not have identity papers, and it was difficult to prove their age. They were often considered to be youths, and kept in youth detention facilities in this context. Work was being done to carry out a pilot initiative to ensure that adolescents in conflict with the law in youth hostels and shelters were properly cared for and rehabilitated within society so that they could get a job once they left the accommodation. There was a bill in Congress which would mean that those involved in trafficking could denounce it, and identify the whereabouts of trafficked children. Adolescents were often trafficked from the border regions.
Concluding Remarks
ROSA MARIA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, in brief concluding remarks thanked the delegation, saying many topics had been dealt with and many challenges were ahead. Peru was encouraged to continue to deal with these topics and to scrutinise the comments and recommendations made. It was hoped the recommendations would be seen as a tool, and would be disseminated to other sectors, including civil society and other organizations dealing with children.
MANUEL RODRIGUES-CUADROS, the Ambassador of Peru to the United Nations Office at Geneva, in concluding comments, thanked the Committee for the rigour with which they had approached the report, and congratulated it for initiating the two-chamber practice, saying this would help with the focus on the countries, and was a very good practice for the treaty bodies. Some issues that seemed to have stemmed from the joint enterprise showed that it was necessary to work together to solve the problems identified. In Peru, more than 40 per cent of the population was under 15, and this meant that the problems and policies that favoured children and adolescents could not have a sectoral approach. There was an inequality due to exclusion, and these were issues which, to some extent, depended on policies for equality, which Peru was working on to promote. The State apparatus alone was not, however, sufficient. The over-riding aim was to produce synergies and reach out towards civil society, non-governmental organizations, and the people as a whole. Peru was a country in transition, having moved from a centralised to a decentralised State, allowing the regions to administer their own affairs, and sometimes resources were not duly reflected in the report. The recommendations would not be looked at simply as an interested opinion, but as factors which would allow Peru to implement them and build upon them in its own policies, and this would hopefully be seen in the fourth periodic report. There was a real dynamic that had been engaged to favour children and adolescents’ rights in Peru.
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This press release is not an official record and is provided for public information only.
Rights of the Child
12 January 2006
(Chamber A)
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the third periodic report of Peru on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In opening remarks to the Committee, Ana Mariá Romero-Lozada, Minister for Women and Social Development of Peru, said the Government of Peru attached great importance to the undertakings made by Peru under the treaties and conventions on human rights. The Government had analysed the comments made by the Committee on its previous report, and had endeavoured to implement them. It had also provided answers to the List of Issues. Peru had undertaken to give priority to the protection of the rights of the child and to invest in their development, as per the Millennium Development Goals.
Discussing the report, Committee Expert Rosa Maria Ortiz, who served as Rapporteur for the report of Peru, said the Committee would like to know why the increased economic growth had not resulted in increased budgetary allocations to priorities such as health, education, and child mortality. The country was clearly consolidating its democracy, but there appeared to be a lack of dialogue between the Government and civil society. There were changes underway that were not allowing for smooth progress in the implementation of the Convention. The delegation should explain how Peru was going to face up to the challenges of implementation.
Other Committee Experts raised questions related to, among other things, how effective decentralisation efforts were in the context of the protection of the rights of the child; how far the Millennium Development Goals would be implemented; what provisions were made for children with disabilities, in particular with regards to education; the seriousness of institutional shortcomings in particular areas such as the Andes and the Amazon and to what extent new plans and programmes had been able to integrate these particularly vulnerable regions in order to fulfil their needs; whether there were programmes that specifically targeted children in order to protect them from the detrimental circumstances of poverty; whether money was invested for education as a priority in those regions of the country where it was most needed; and what was being done to ensure that children had access to the drugs they needed, in particular with regards to HIV/AIDS.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Peru towards the end of its three-week session which will conclude on 27 January.
The delegation of Peru consisted of representatives of the Ministry for Women and Social Development, the Ministry of Public Affairs, and the Ministry of Education.
As one of the 192 States parties to the Convention, Peru is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. The delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes on Friday, 13 January at 10 a.m., it will consider the second periodic report of Ghana (CRC/C/65/Add.34).
Report of Peru
The third periodic report of Peru (CRC/C/125/Add.6) on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, says that in an analysis of the application of the Convention, it is first necessary to describe the political and legal situation in Peru in the 1990s. From the social point of view that decade was characterized by the corruption of the Government, the breakdown of the institutions of society, and excessive authoritarianism on the part of the Executive. The violation of fundamental rights was characteristic of a situation which Peru is still trying to understand today. Against this background the Government has been carrying out national policies to solve these problems. Accordingly, the fight against extreme poverty is becoming a basic focus of the State’s action in terms of the priority given to measures to help the poorest people and to build and develop capacities.
The problems of childhood in a multicultural country with great social disparities are not the same for all. However, it is possible to come to grips with this diversity and determine who are the most excluded children and where they are to be found. The phased approach makes it possible to observe these problems at all stages, from conception and pregnancy to the child’s birth and physical and mental development up to age 17. This approach, which is the one taken by Peru, covers children’s relations with culture, family, school, peers and community. Initial education is the first level of Peru’s education system and as such is intended to provide comprehensive and good-quality training to foster the development of children aged under six, respecting their identities and supporting the education services and the capacity of the family and the community to take better care of children’s early development.
Adolescent pregnancy is a problem in all regions of the country, although it is more prevalent in rural areas, and it is the third most common cause of death - from complications during pregnancy, delivery and the perinatal period, as well as from abortion. There is no family planning service for adolescents even though the need for one is obvious and such a service is one of the few available means of tackling this problem, the root of which lies precisely in the lack of guidance and services aimed directly at preventing all the risks associated with an active sex life. It is calculated that some 1.6 million persons have been affected by political violence, 30 per cent of them children. According to the Programme of Support for the Resettlement and Development of Emergency Zones, about 600,000 of these persons, including children orphaned by the fighting, moved away from their home communities because of the armed conflict.
Presentation of Report
Ana Mariá Romero-Lozada, Minister for Women and Social Development of Peru, said the Government of Peru attached great importance to the undertakings made by Peru under the treaties and conventions on human rights. The Government had analysed the comments made by the Committee on its previous report, and had endeavoured to implement them. It had also provided answers to the List of Issues. Peru had undertaken to give priority to the protection of the rights of the child and to invest in their development, as per the Millennium Development Goals. To apply these commitments, it had created the Forum of National Accord, with the objective of promoting 30 long-term state policies, seven of which had in particular to do with children and teenagers. The Forum encouraged the approval of the National Plan of Action for children and adolescents. The Government had approved the Road Map for 2004-2006, which would make it possible to include, feed, vaccinate and educate children, and the National Plan of Action for children and adolescents had been enacted into a law. These political decisions were an integral part of the national commitment to build a stable and just society.
Overall, poverty had declined by 2.7 per cent, while extreme poverty had declined by 4.9 per cent, and this showed the limits imposed by the structural inequality and social exclusion experienced by many, including children and adolescents, and was an indication of the level of challenge experienced by those seeking to combat these problems. A programme called “Together” had been initiated, bringing together Ministries, civil society and the business community, with the aim of guaranteeing the right to an identity, health, food and education for children and adolescents, in particular in rural and indigenous areas, through direct transfers to mothers of families, depending on the exercise of their rights. Work was done to move beyond capacity building to providing greater levels of service.
A new culture of dialogue and consultation in the framework of social development needed to be encouraged. Today, an increasing number of communities were engaging in democratic exercises, and the issues of children and adolescents were becoming increasingly important and recognised as such. Problems which affected children and adolescents, increasing their vulnerability, such as sexual exploitation, the failure to record births, ill-treatment and sexual abuse, abandonment and malnutrition, were all recognised, and the Ministry of Social Development had given them particular attention, resulting in progress. Various measures had been taken to implement the National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents for 2002-2010. The recommendations of the Committee would be transmitted to the political parties participating in the electoral process to ensure that they would be implemented.
Questions by Experts
ROSA MARIA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Peru, said the Committee thanked Peru for the report, and for the answers to the List of Issues. The report, although it contained much information, did not conform to the guidelines, and she therefore asked how it had been drafted, and whether non-State actors had participated in its drafting. The National Plan of Action and its enactment as a law was welcomed, but more information was required on how the different plans and laws would be implemented, and what process was used to draft initiatives and assess their success. The Committee also welcomed that several concerns and recommendations had been taken on board, but very much regretted that other observations had not been or only in part examined.
More information was also required on the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with regards to children who had suffered in the past, Ms. Ortiz said. The Committee welcomed the efforts made to reduce child mortality, but found the figures still alarming, and it should be explained why the increased economic growth had not caused increased budgetary allocations to deal with this phenomenon, as well as to other priorities such as health, education, and others. The country was clearly consolidating its democracy, and there appeared to be a lack of dialogue between the Government and civil society. There were changes underway that were not allowing for smooth progress in the implementation of the Convention, and the body responsible for the National Action Plan should have the authority to ensure this. The delegation should explain how Peru was going to face up to the challenges of implementation.
Other Experts raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, how effective decentralisation efforts were in the context of the protection of the rights of the child; did the law allow for close collaboration between Governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations, and children’s organizations; how strong was the children’s agenda in Governmental institutions; how far the Millennium Development Goals would be implemented; whether the Government had plans to prohibit physical punishment and to encourage non-violent forms of discipline; whether there was a National Ombudsman; what provisions were made for children with disabilities, in particular with regards to education and whether the Government had assessed the situation of these children; and the seriousness of institutional shortcomings in particular areas such as the Andes and the Amazon and to what extent new plans and programmes had been able to integrate these particularly vulnerable regions in order to fulfil their needs.
Response by the Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said the report had been prepared by the Office of Children and Adolescents at the Ministry for Women and Social Development. It highlighted the difficulties encountered in implementing the Convention. It was a practice of the Government of Peru to present an analysis of the difficulties encountered in respect to implementation. Future reports would be presented in compliance with the guidelines. The Office for Children and Adolescents was an important organ of the Ministry, which was competent for a number of topics, in particular matters dealing with the family, community, and the rights of children, adolescents, and the handicapped. There was a complementarity in its work in this regard.
Concerning the fight against poverty, the delegation said that although progress had been made, it was not sufficient to be widely effective. Poverty had been reduced, but not in a proportionate manner. Although it had dropped by 9 per cent in rural areas, this was not enough, and there was still a huge amount of inequality, ensuring that some sectors could not fully enjoy their rights or participate. The Government had made major efforts to target programmes in a much better manner, in particular with regards to health and education programmes. Problems persisted with regards to food, as, despite efforts, chronic malnutrition among children had not dropped, as the programmes did not cover 100 per cent of the population, and did not reach the poorest. The Government was working to remedy this.
The concerns and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had been taken onboard by the Government, the delegation said. Reparation programmes had been set up, and had been approved by the last Parliament, with a large budget allocated to the programmes, and a General Directorate of Displaced Persons and For A Culture of Peace had been set up to implement the recommendations. This was to ensure that the fight against poverty also contained an element of social reparation. The fund would, as a priority, focus on the most affected regions and families. There was also a joint programme on political violence, and the districts targeted by this were the poorest districts, which had been particularly affected by political violence in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The Government was also working with private companies to allocate resources.
The Government believed it faced a major challenge with regards to decentralisation to ensure that children’s needs were taken into account at all levels, the delegation said. The regional authorities had integrated programmes for local children, incorporating civil society and children’s organizations. A national objective was to make 6 per cent of GDP to be invested in social matters including health and education; however, Peru was still far from reaching this. Some 4.8 per cent of the State budget was invested in health matters, and the Government recognised this was too low. Over recent years, more than 10 million people had signed up to medical insurance, and 80 per cent of these came from vulnerable, marginalized areas, and it was important to maintain mechanisms to encourage this to continue by focusing on child health care, vaccinations, HIV/AIDS, and on emerging diseases. Given the decentralisation process, it was the regional Governments that held the purse strings of the health budget.
Regarding education, there had been a drop in percentage of the GDP spent on this, but the actual amount of money had increased between 2000 and 2005, the delegation said. Expenditure was carried out by regional Governments as well as the national Government. A joint working space had been created for the State, civil society and the People’s Ombudsman in order to discuss children who were under the responsibility of the State, such as in homes and institutions. An Ombudsman had been set up for the private health-care sector. There were 1,670 Ombudsmen, who strengthened the national structure for the protection of the rights of the child. The question of family violence could not be envisaged in this framework, however, as when violence occurred the victim was at a disadvantage, and could not be confronted with his or her aggressor. Ombudsmen for children could be members of the community or adolescents themselves who disseminated information regarding the protection of their rights, without participating at a legal level.
Further Questions by Experts
During the second round of questions, the Rapporteur asked what was the nature of the link that existed between the various ministries. She was surprised at the large number of children in homes, saying the family bond was of crucial importance and was not being given the importance it deserved. Other Experts raised questions related to the issue of child labour including the age for employment; the implementation of other United Nations and ILO instruments; whether there were programmes that specifically targeted children in order to protect them from the detrimental circumstances of poverty; whether money was invested for education as a priority in those regions of the country where it was most needed; and concerns that bilateral trade agreements could limit access to cheaper drugs for the people of Peru and what was being done to ensure that children had access to the drugs they needed, in particular with regards to HIV/AIDS.
Response by Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said there was an economic incentive to send children to school, but at the end of the day what was important was that parents sent their children to school and took them to health centres where necessary. It was very important to train mothers so as to ensure they could look after children and spread knowledge, and there were programmes to this effect. Often women in prison had their children with them, and there were therefore programmes to help them care for the latter.
Regarding the Millennium Development Goals, Peru had been named a pilot country for their implementation. It was crystal clear that Peru needed to get the necessary conditions of reducing poverty to achieve these Goals. Studies showed the importance of doing away with the lack of equity in the country, particularly with regards to children, and the need for the increased creation of jobs. Many State policies focused on equity, and all of them related to children, and all were forward-looking and both mid-term and long-term in aim. Civil society and the business community were also involved in their implementation. The National Plan for Children and Adolescents tied in closely with the achievement of these goals. There was a true follow-up of these plans. Many policies focused on children between 4 and 12 years of age who were at school, aiming to improve their nutrition level, among other things.
One of the policies adopted in the education sector was on inclusive education, the delegation said, and this encouraged the inclusion into mainstream education of young people, children and adolescents who had disabilities. Special basic education had to be inclusive in its approach, by law, and had to cater for those with special educational needs, with the aim of integrating them into everyday life and society. On the right to a name, in Peru there was a limitation regarding birth registry, and about 110,000 children every year were not registered in time at birth, and had no birth certificate. This was due to many reasons - bureaucracy, the need to pay a fee, misinterpretations of the rules for registration, and others, all of which meant that parents did not come forward to register their children at birth. The Civil Code dated from 1984 and required updating. Work was being done to register those children who were missing from the lists, and this was an ongoing campaign.
Many girls and boys working in the country wanted to continue to do so, as they felt that they learnt more whilst working, and could also contribute to their families. It was therefore incumbent on the Government to determine a curriculum that fulfilled the needs of all children, as well as to teach children about their own prospects and possibilities. In 2003, an emergency had been declared in the educational system, and a number of programmes had been set up. These had not been as effective as could have been wished, but work was continuing.
On health matters, the delegation said, it was clear in the health sector that there was a right to health, which referred not only to access to healthcare, but also access to quality control to ensure that there was equity, access to different options, respect of education and culture and others. Progress over the last few years was positive: there had been improvements in health care, with an increase in birth rates, a decrease in mortality rates, and others. There were disparities between regions, but the averages had improved. The greatest success had been in antenatal care. The greatest improvements were in institutional births, as there had been a significant increase in the number of institutional rural births. In rural areas, parents were increasingly attending clinics with their ill children. With regards to HIV/AIDS, work was being done to change behaviour, starting with an awareness raising campaign, with an increase in the number of people being aware of the illness. The approach drew its appreciation from the rights of the child, and aimed to raise awareness among teenagers. There was a health strategy on other sexually transmitted diseases.
Labour legislation ensured that women had time at work to breastfeed, and this tied in with a nutrition programme for children, the delegation said, in tandem with promotion exercises in schools promoting breastfeeding. A major problem in Peru was alcohol consumption, and work was being done to educate children as to its dangers, as well as to other drugs. The suicide rate in children and adolescents had increased, and there were programmes via the Government’s mental health strategy to combat this increase and to provide alternatives. As for teenage pregnancies, there had been a 3 per cent drop, and it was important to point out that this was, comparatively, important. More pregnant teenagers were at least asking for help from the health authorities. The Family Planning Law said that adolescents should have access to contraception.
On sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, the Ministry of Women had taken up the challenge to lead the fight against this phenomenon. It was a joint venture between the Government and private institutions, as many resources were required in order to intervene properly, sanction and punish those involved. There was a need to know how many children were affected, the delegation said, and this required a phased intervention, including consciousness-raising, and training for those involved in the chain of justice. The whole process relating to care for the victims needed to ensure that they were reintegrated into society and cared for, whilst the exploiters were punished and sanctioned, including the pimps and users, although not much progress had been achieved with respect to the latter, due to the difficulty of proving abuse by clients. If exploitation of the child was proven, there was a possibility of abuse being proven, and the perpetrator punished.
In efforts to eradicate child labour, the administration and civil society were working together, the delegation said, to implement the recommendations of the International Labour Office, and they had drafted a list of dangerous jobs and trades. Local authorities were those competent to authorise adolescents working in certain places. Minimum conditions that had to be respected had been established, including rest times and time for school. Work was continuing to improve the process, and this was being combined with the progress of the Ministry of Labour. Much remained to be done, but this was fully recognised. Domestic work could be undertaken from 12 years of age, under certain conditions, namely that it did not interfere with education, and was under four hours a day in duration. There were a number of programmes to help adolescents doing domestic work. There were also programmes for children who neither worked nor went to school to ensure they were prepared for a working environment.
The general age for work was 14, but depending on the difficulty of the work, this was increased for certain jobs. The possibility of increasing the minimum age to 15 was being considered by the Parliament. A very close eye was kept on the quality of hostels, hospitals and institutions, as the Government wanted to ensure that children got the best possible treatment. Street children should not be marginalized, and local Governments had responsibilities to provide them with shelter. There was a Bill that had been submitted on pernicious gangs and an apparent network of adolescent leaders of gangs. Some local Governments were leading this, and it had been very effective, for example, in Lima, where young gang members could get together to discuss their problems. The situation was not, however, as bad as in Central America, the delegation said.
Adolescents could not be imprisoned with adults, the delegation said. One of the problems encountered with street adolescents was that they often did not have identity papers, and it was difficult to prove their age. They were often considered to be youths, and kept in youth detention facilities in this context. Work was being done to carry out a pilot initiative to ensure that adolescents in conflict with the law in youth hostels and shelters were properly cared for and rehabilitated within society so that they could get a job once they left the accommodation. There was a bill in Congress which would mean that those involved in trafficking could denounce it, and identify the whereabouts of trafficked children. Adolescents were often trafficked from the border regions.
Concluding Remarks
ROSA MARIA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, in brief concluding remarks thanked the delegation, saying many topics had been dealt with and many challenges were ahead. Peru was encouraged to continue to deal with these topics and to scrutinise the comments and recommendations made. It was hoped the recommendations would be seen as a tool, and would be disseminated to other sectors, including civil society and other organizations dealing with children.
MANUEL RODRIGUES-CUADROS, the Ambassador of Peru to the United Nations Office at Geneva, in concluding comments, thanked the Committee for the rigour with which they had approached the report, and congratulated it for initiating the two-chamber practice, saying this would help with the focus on the countries, and was a very good practice for the treaty bodies. Some issues that seemed to have stemmed from the joint enterprise showed that it was necessary to work together to solve the problems identified. In Peru, more than 40 per cent of the population was under 15, and this meant that the problems and policies that favoured children and adolescents could not have a sectoral approach. There was an inequality due to exclusion, and these were issues which, to some extent, depended on policies for equality, which Peru was working on to promote. The State apparatus alone was not, however, sufficient. The over-riding aim was to produce synergies and reach out towards civil society, non-governmental organizations, and the people as a whole. Peru was a country in transition, having moved from a centralised to a decentralised State, allowing the regions to administer their own affairs, and sometimes resources were not duly reflected in the report. The recommendations would not be looked at simply as an interested opinion, but as factors which would allow Peru to implement them and build upon them in its own policies, and this would hopefully be seen in the fourth periodic report. There was a real dynamic that had been engaged to favour children and adolescents’ rights in Peru.
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