COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD REVIEWS SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF SLOVENIA

26.01.2004

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the second periodic report of Slovenia on how that country was giving effect to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing the report, Aljaz Gosnar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the implementation of children’s rights in his country was based on the underlying principle of ensuring the best interests of the child. It guaranteed fundamental civil and social rights of the child, social security, access to social services, protection of children and the participation of children. Such an orientation was reflected in legislation, policies and measures of the State, governmental organizations and other sectors in the country, he added.

Mr. Gosnar further said that Slovenia was making efforts in the field of humanitarian and development assistance by implementing the principles of solidarity, protection and assistance for children. It contributed funds annually to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Stability Pact and other humanitarian and development institutions which helped child victims of war and other disasters.

In preliminary concluding remarks, Nevena Vuckovic-Sahovic, the Committee Expert who acted as country rapporteur to the report of Slovenia, said the discussion had been long and fruitful. It had been a real “day of Slovenian children” at the Committee. On the basis of the documents that the Committee possessed and on the basis of the discussion, the Committee would recommend that Slovenia improve legislation to give equal treatment to all children in the country; introduce a children’s code; strengthen a body for the coordination of children’s affairs; and set up an Ombudsman for the rights of the child, among other things. She hoped that Slovenia would do all it could in the field of the protection and promotion of children’s rights.

In the course of the discussion, other Committee Experts also asked the delegation about such issues as the decline in the number of adoptions; educational opportunities for Roma children; prohibition of corporal punishment; temporary refugee status; the function of the children’s parliament; prevention and protection against harmful information through the Internet; measures against school dropouts; the growing number of incidents of drug abuse; and the high rate of alcoholic consumption among the youth, among other things.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Slovenia towards the end of its three-week session which concludes on 30 January.

Also representing Slovenia were Eva Strgar, Head of the Department for Health Education, Institute for Health Prevention; Tatjana Music, Head of the Department for Criminality, General Police Administration, Ministry of the Interior; Slavica Cernosa, Counsellor, Office for Education, Ministry of Education Science and Sport; Jadranka Vouk-Zeleznik, Counsellor, Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs; and Andraz Zidar, Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Slovenia in Geneva.

Slovenia is among the 192 States parties to the Convention and as such it is obligated to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to implement the provisions of the almost-universal treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 27 January, it will meet in private. On Wednesday, 28 January at 10 a.m., it will take up the second periodic report of Japan (CRC/C/104/Add.2).

Report of Slovenia

The second periodic report of Slovenia (CRC/C/70/Add.19) provides information on the efforts made by the State party since it submitted its initial report in May 1996 and its responses to the Committee’s conclusions issued following the consideration of that report. The present report on the measures adopted by Slovenia to give effect to the Convention on the Rights of the Child includes the amendments made by the Government between November 1996 and 2001 concerning children’s rights. The report also includes measures by non-governmental organizations concerning children’s rights and proposals put forward by the Government, the professional public and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on this issue.

Over the five-year period covered in the report, most of the recommendations made by the Committee have been carried out, the report says. During that period, Slovenia, with the intention of implementing the recommendations of the Committee, had prepared and adopted new legislation, as well as certain planning documents on the enforcement of the rights of the child.

The report further notes that in 1996, the Programme for the Protection of the Roma was adopted. In addition to other issues, it defines the measures for the social integration of Roma children into regular primary schools. Only exceptionally is a whole primary school classroom in all Slovenian primary schools made up of Roma children only. However, in the 1998/99 academic year, only 58 Roma schoolchildren out of a total of 1,067 continued their education.

Introductory Statement

ALJAZ GOSNAR, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the implementation of children’s rights in his country was based on the underlying principle of ensuring the best interests of the child. It guaranteed fundamental civil and social rights of the child, social security, access to social services, protection of children and the participation of children. Such an orientation was reflected in legislation, policies and measures of the State, governmental organizations and other sectors in the country. Since the State had acceded to the Convention, it had implemented the majority of legislative actions and programmes for the benefit of children.

Slovenia had devoted special attention to refugee children during the war in the former Yugoslavia, Mr. Gosnar said. They were entitled to primary education in the same way as all Slovene schoolchildren and they had equal access to secondary and higher education.

The position of children in the country with respect to social rights had been additionally improved in recent years, Mr. Gosnar said. A new parenthood and family earnings act had been adopted. A policy in relation to parenthood and maternity had placed Slovenia at the very forefront of countries in the world for its provision of a high level of rights in the post-natal period. A wide range of choices and support to both parents, and special protection for children with special needs had been provided by the State.

Slovenia was also in the process of drafting the National Development Programme for Improving the Position of Children for the period 2003-2013, Mr. Gosnar said. Among other things, it would define aims and measures for improving the position of children in the fields of health, family policy, education, the fight against poverty and social exclusion, children with special needs, violence and abuse, and drug abuse, among other things.

Slovenia was making efforts in the field of humanitarian and development assistance by implementing the principles of solidarity, protection and assistance for children. It annually contributed funds to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Stability Pact and other humanitarian and development programmes which helped child victims of war and other disasters.

In conclusion, Mr. Gosnar announced that his country had withdrawn it reservation to the first paragraph of article 9 of the Convention several days ago. The reservation, which the State inherited as a consequence of becoming a successor to the Convention, had become obsolete after the State completed a new legislative framework in that field in 1998. Due to technical reasons, the notification of the withdrawal had unfortunately been delayed. The withdrawal was transmitted to the legal service of the UN on 19 January 2004.

Discussion

NEVENA VUCKOVIC-SAHOVIC, the Committee Expert who served as the country rapporteur to the report of Slovenia, said the report reflected the good will of the State in complying with the provisions of the Convention. The country’s children were living under good conditions with the State party taking care of them. The country had ratified several, but not all of the major international treaties. In that regard, the ratification process of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child should be accelerated.

She said that the family law was in the process of being redrafted, and since it did not include a provision on the prohibition of corporal punishment, now was the right time to contemplate its inclusion. According to information she had received, about 12 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line. There was also a situation of hidden poverty concerning single parents and the Roma population.

Other Committee Experts also made comments on the report and raised a series of questions. An Expert said that a number of ministries and institutions were involved in activities pertaining to the protection and promotion of the rights of children. How did the State coordinate all those activities? Was the same policy applied by all the actors? What was the State’s plan to implement the recommendations of the Committee with regard to assistance to non-governmental organizations? Was an ombudsman created to receive complaints from children and to protect their rights.

Another Expert asked if the Government had made an assessment to verify how people knew about children’s rights, including the law-enforcement agents. She asked if the rights of the child were part of the teaching curriculum, underlining that children should be taught about their rights.

One Expert said that Italian and Hungarian minorities had been given a special status. What about the other minorities, such as the Roma and Serbians? Serbians formed the largest minority in the country; how did the State treat Serbian children?

Referring to resources, another Expert asked how resources were allocated to each ministry for children and how the State monitored their implementation. The budget for education had been reduced, particularly for secondary education, what was the reason behind that? What measures were taken to raise children’s awareness on the Convention? Had the Government organized workshops and implemented programmes to that end?

An Expert said that seen from the report, there had been real progress in the country with regard to the implementation of the Convention. However, there had been delays in ratifying some important treaties, including International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions 138 and 182, which were relevant to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. With regard to discrimination, he said that there were acts of stigmatization against Roma children. There should have been appeals by Slovenian institutions to design legislation concerning the Roma minority; what follow-up had been made by the Government on this issue?

Which ministry was serving as the focal point for children’s rights, asked another Expert. Did one ministry coordinate all the activities concerning children? Due to the dispersion of archives, certain statistical data could not be established, such as on issues concerning adoption. The country was no more in transition and would be joining the European Union in May. What had the impact of the preparations to join the Union been on the rights of the child?

Responding, the delegation said that the protection of minorities was ensured by the country’s legislation. Italian and Hungarian minorities had been given special national minority status. Law had also regulated the situation of Serbians and other minorities. Legislation had been laid down to protect the rights of minorities.

Asked about the rate of suicide in Slovenia, the delegation said that the rate had increased from 20 to 30 per 100,000 persons. The State recognized that it was one of the public health problems in the country, which had prompted the Government to take a series of measures to prevent such incidents.

A decision to create an ombudsman for the rights of children had not yet been taken, the delegation said. A discussion had to be held between the Government and representatives of non-governmental organizations on the need to establish an ombudsman.

The Government had reformed its educational system in 1995, the delegation said. A nine-year period of schooling had been made compulsory. Part of the reform of the curriculum had provided educational opportunities to the Roma population. Teachers were also given in-service education, which was considered as a criterion for promotion.

Slovenia had a lot of problems with regard to the Roma population and the Government was making efforts, but tackling them required a long-term process, the delegation said. In 1995, a programme had been adopted to carry on with the pre-schooling system for Roma children and to integrate them in the mainstream of education. This was not enough though and the Government was making further efforts to improve the educational standard of the Roma.

Concerning children with disabilities, the Government had adopted a law in 2000 on the placement of children with special needs, the delegation said. In 2003, it had also adopted a decision on the educational integration of that category of children, as well as on the integration of Roma children at schools. Mobile pedagogical support to children with disabilities had also been carried out.

There was no rule on corporal punishment, the delegation said, adding that the issue would be dealt with in the new family law which was under preparation. Within the chapter of family violence, it was envisaged that corporal punishment would be prohibited.

In 2000, the poverty threshold stood at 13.8 per cent, and that figure was higher among single parents, the delegation said. Being conscious of the situation, the Government had taken in February 2000 measures to fight poverty and social exclusion. Single parents were granted child benefits and social assistance as part of the State’s measures to deal with poverty.

The Committee Experts continued to raise questions on a number of issues. An Expert asked about the measures taken with regard to the retention and granting of citizenship. What steps were being taken concerning children who had temporary refugee status so that they could be granted permanent resident permits? What was the general attitude of the society towards single mothers? Slovenia was a model country that granted 365 days of maternity leave with 100 per cent salary payment. With regard to human rights education, she said that the topic was one of 60 optional subjects and only 1 per cent of students at the university level opted for it.

Who was responsible for the monitoring of the quality of pre-school institutions, another Expert asked. What legal measures and plan of action were taken with regard to trafficking in persons?

Other Experts also queried the delegation on joint custody of a child; the situation of common law marriages and the status of children; the consequences of common law unions; the status of children born out of wedlock; foster care families and child accommodation centres; the decline in the rate of adoption; the disparity in admission between girls and boys in higher education; the function of the children’s parliament; prevention and protection against harmful information through the Internet; measures to prevent school dropouts; the growing number of incidents of drug abuse; the high rate of alcoholic consumption among the youth; the cost of secondary education; the rate of youth unemployment; the age limit for medical assistance without the presence of parents; the consequences of domestic violence; the vaccination coverage; the increase in teenage pregnancies; and the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, among other things.

Responding, the delegation said that a law had been adopted last year abolishing the temporary refugee status and granting resident permits to all refugees.

With regard to a question on religious issues, the delegation said that a dialogue had been going on between the State authorities and religious groups. The dialogue had paved the way for the allocation of worship places for Muslims. In Lublijana, the discussion was already bearing fruit with the city authorities envisaging allocating localities to Muslims.

Concerning children involved in armed conflict, the delegation said that the situation had changed, and now the country had a professional army that excluded the recruitment of children below 18 years.

The children’s parliament was composed of elected children, the delegation said. The different ministries had to respond to children’s requests concerning their rights. Children’s inquisitions were discussed by the State agencies and the findings were published.

Concerning mental health problems, the delegation said that at the primary level, mental health services were available in all major medical service centres. Other institutions also rendered services to children with special cases, including learning disabilities.

On the issue of using injected drugs and the spread of HIV/AIDS, the delegation said that in both cases, the rates were very low in the society. For example, there had only been 116 cases of HIV/AIDS infections. The number of incidents of mother-to-child infections of HIV/AIDS was equally very low.

Religion was not part of the teaching curriculum, the delegation said, adding that although the subject on “ethics and religion” was taught in schools, the religious part comprised the history of various religions of the world. Thirty different religions were operating on an official basis in the country.

Further efforts had been made to sensitize the population on the negative effects of sexual abuse and child abuse, with more institutions carrying out advocacy work in that field, the delegation said. Changes were also planned to increase the penalty for sexual abuse and the distribution of pornographic materials to children. Higher sentences against perpetrators of sexual crimes would also be included in the criminal law as a deterrent to crimes related to sexual abuse.

There had been no cases in which children had been found to be victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation or sale, the delegation said.

Asked why a child stayed for a long period in a foster family, the delegation said that at times the process was long and it was difficult to take the child away from the foster family and reinstate him or her with the blood parents. Although there were a lot of children in foster care, their situation was monitored by professional childcare personnel.

Children born out of wedlock, even within the common law union, had the same rights as the ones born within a marriage, the delegation said.

Law offenders between 14 and 18 years could be detained for up to three months if they were found to be repeating criminal acts, the delegation said. Alternative measures could be applied to children of that age group in the case of recidivism of their acts.

Joint child custody applied to divorced or separated couples and not to unmarried couples, the delegation said. The law did not automatically grant the mother custody of the child; the best interest of the child was taken into consideration.


Preliminary Concluding Remarks

NEVENA VUCKOVIC-SAHOVIC, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Slovenia, said the discussion had been long and fruitful. It had been a real “day of Slovenian children” at the Committee. On the basis of the documents that the Committee possessed and on the basis of the discussion, the Committee would recommend that Slovenia improve legislation to give equal treatment to all children in the country; introduce a children’s code; strengthen a body for the coordination of children’s affairs; and set up an Ombudsman for the rights of the child, among other things. She hoped that Slovenia would do all it could in the field of protecting and promoting children’s rights.


Remarks by Delegation

ALJAZ GOSNAR, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said his country would spare no effort in implementing the provisions of the Convention and the Committee’s recommendations. This would help the State party to boost its activities for children.