COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD STARTS CONSIDERATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF MOZAMBIQUE

CRC
29th session
22 January 2002
MORNING


Phenomenon of Sexual Exploitation of Children is of Concern, Delegation Says


The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning started its consideration of an initial report from Mozambique, with a Government delegation saying that the phenomenon of sexual exploitation of children was of concern to the authorities.

The report was introduced by Luciano Andre de Castro, Deputy Minister for Women and Social Action Coordination of Mozambique, who said that his country was an agricultural country with high rates of poverty due to factors like its low economic development, illiteracy, and a war that had lasted three decades. In addition, the external debt and natural disasters had made the population more vulnerable, especially children. He said children represented the majority of the population and their welfare was the Government's priority since the country had attained its independence.

Mr. Andre de Castro said that the Mozambican society was concerned about the phenomenon of sexual exploitation of children of both sexes. Legally, a child was protected against sexual and economic abuse and from child labour; however, due to social and economic difficulties and the lack of access to education and professional training, many children found themselves involved in remunerative activities to pay for their basic needs, he said.

The Committee members also raised several questions under the main subjects of the general measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; definition of the child; general principles; civil rights and freedoms; and family environment and alternative care.

The Mozambican delegation was also made up of Alexandre da Conceicao Zandamela, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Maria Francisca Sales Lucas, Deputy National Director in Charge of Social Action; Agostinho Ferrao Pessane, Assistant of the Minister for Women and Social Action Coordination for Public Education and Information; Andre Conjuano Utui, of the Ministry of Education; Marcia Rosa Feliz Pinto, Representative of the Public Prosecutor; Abilio Alberto Mussane, of the Ministry of Labour; Maria de Lurdes Pale, Third Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Mozambique in Geneva; Atalia Macome, of the Ministry of Health; and Justina Cumbe, of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Mozambique is among the 191 States parties to the Convention and as such it is obligated to submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will conclude its discussion on the report of Mozambique and an Expert will offer preliminary remarks.

Report of Mozambique

The initial report, contained in document CRC/C/41/Add.11, reviews the various legislative and administrative measures undertaken by the State in order to comply with the provisions of the Convention. It also includes the measures taken to promote and protect the rights of the child. The report notes that out of the country's 15.7 million inhabitants, about 45.7 per cent are under 15 years of age. It says that the last conflict of violence ended in 1992 after 16 years of war between the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo) and the Government. During that war, 1 million persons had died, including an estimated 600,000 children. Despite a gradual improvement in the well-being and living conditions of children, the country still has a high infant mortality rate - 135 per 1,000 children died before the age of one. About 40 per cent of children still did not have access to basic education, and health service coverage is still insufficient in terms of both infrastructure and personnel.

The report notes that the country still has no organized system for gathering data on children and their basic rights which is capable of assessing tendencies, priorities and children's needs. There is no data on expenditure on children in sectors with activities related to protection, such as a juvenile court, the police and other institutions linked to the administration of justice for minors. The right of children to protection against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is established by the Constitution, which states that children cannot be discriminated against for reasons of birth, nor can they be subjected to ill-treatment. The most serious cases violating these rights arise from the tendency of people to take justice into their own hands. That phenomenon occurs principally among street children and adolescent drug addicts, who are frequently beaten up when caught in the act or in possession of stolen goods. There have also been many cases of abuse and cruel treatment of children by members of their families or by other citizens, sometimes resulting in death.

The report also notes that in Mozambique children come of age when they are 21; criminal responsibility is acquired at the age of 16; children under 21 and over 16 have limited liability; legal capacity to work is now acquired at the age of 15 years; the marital age is 18, although boys aged 16 and girls aged 14 can be allowed to marry if they have the consent of their parents or guardian; and military obligation starts at the age of 18.

The report says that the principle of the best interest of the child is not expressly established in the constitutional text, nor is it directly expressed in ordinary legislation. However, it is present in and inherent to the application of various other basic principles relating to the rights of the child, such as non-discrimination, survival and development, and respect for their opinions. As the principle of the best interest of the child is not clearly expressed in legislation, and as there is no national action plan for children, there is no uniform or systematic acceptance of the importance of this concept at central, province or local levels. It is sometimes absent from the definition of policies that are important for the lives of children.

Introduction of Report

LUCIANO ANDRE DE CASTRO, Deputy Minister for Women and Social Action Coordination of Mozambique, said that his country was an agricultural country with high rates of poverty due to several factors like low economic development, illiteracy, and a war that lasted three decades. In addition, the external debt and natural disasters had made the population more vulnerable, especially children. Children represented the majority of the population and their welfare has been the Government's priority since the country had attained its independence.

In order to create an adequate environment for the implementation of the rights of the child, new policies and laws had been adopted and new institutions had been created, Mr. Andre de Castro went on to state. The Ministry for Women and Coordination of Social Action had been set up to coordinate actions developed in the country in favour of the child.

Mr. Andre de Castro continued to state that bearing in mind that more than 60 per cent of the Mozambican population lived in absolute poverty, the Government had developed several actions in order to ensure that children should have a satisfactory level of life. Recently, the Government had approved the National Plan for Absolute Poverty Reduction, which would also benefit children.

He said that the guarantee to health care had been one of the major priorities of the Government. The efforts in that area were meant to extend a sanitation network around the country, and to implement programmes related to women, children and adolescents. In order to ensure children's access to education, several actions had been carried out, such as the rehabilitation, construction and outfitting of the schools and increasing the number of classrooms at all levels.

Mr. Andre de Castro said that in the past decades, the country had experienced a war that ended in 1992 and as a result, about 4.5 million Mozambicans had been internally displaced; 1.7 million, including children, had been refugees in the neighbouring countries and were repatriated and reintegrated in their communities; and about 250,000 children were in difficult situation.

The Mozambican society was concerned about the phenomenon of sexual exploitation of children of both sexes, Mr. Andre de Castro said. Legally, a child was protected against sexual and economic abuse and from child labour; however, due to social and economic difficulties and the lack of access to education and professional training, many children found themselves involved in remunerative activities in order to pay for their basic needs.

In conclusion, Mr. Andre de Castro said that during the past years, Mozambique had achieved progress in the implementation of the rights of children as a result of both internal efforts and international support. However, there was a need to continue with actions that would reduce poverty so that Mozambican children could have more access to basic social services and family building capacity that would guarantee them adequate conditions for their survival and the protection of their rights.

Discussion

Following the introduction of the report, Committee members raised a number of questions. One Expert, who served as country rapporteur to the report of Mozambique, commented on the report, saying that following the devastating war that ended in 1992, about 1.8 million refugees had returned to Mozambique; at the same time, there had been more than 3 million internally displaced persons; large scale population movements had come to an end in 1997 and the situation had normalized for the first time in 20 years. By 1992, 60 per cent of schools had been destroyed or closed; the illiteracy rate had risen from 22 per cent in 1990 to 34 per cent in 1992. An estimated one million Mozambicans were working in South Africa, legally or illegally. The overall human rights record showed serious problems. In 2000, the League of Human Rights had documented an overall decline of respect of human rights by the police force. With regard to the preparation of the report, the Government deserved high compliments and appreciation for the unique process of producing its first report under the Convention. The well- written and informative report provided not only information on good practices but also indicated problems.

With respect to the draft family bill that had been submitted by the Government to parliament, the delegation was asked to explain its contents. Other Committee members also raised a number of questions, among other things, on the juvenile justice structure? What were the principal measures of the national plan of action for children? Why was there a distinction between the age of marriage for boys and girls? Which body monitored the implementation of the provisions of the Convention? Did the Government set priorities for the implementation of the treaty? What were the areas in which Mozambique was cooperating internationally? Was there a plan to decentralize the heavily centralized administration? What were the effects of the structural adjustment programme? Did it benefit children or did it have a negative effect which impeded the implementation of the rights of the child?

Responding to the questions, the delegation said that the Convention had been translated into Portuguese and in some of the other national languages. Non-governmental organizations and Churches were participated in disseminating the provisions of the Convention.

The majority age of a child was fixed at 21 years, the delegation said; criminal liability was 15 years but there were certain limitations, such as not handing down lengthy sentences for children under the age of 16 years; a two-year sentence was the maximum for children below the age of 16. There was no juvenile detention centre in the country, but the Government had envisaged the construction of such a centre. The right to vote or to be elected was exercised from the age of 18 years upwards. Persons with disabilities, irrespective of their age, had no legal responsibilities for their acts.

Asked about gender discrimination in the area of marriage, the delegation said that girls matured earlier than boys; this was why girls could get married at the age of 14 with the consent of their parents, whereas the minimum age for boys to marry was 16 years.

The Government was planning to decentralize its administration, the delegation said; however, additional resources were needed, including trained human resources; and the country's debt should be written off to enable it to have more resources for the implementation of activities concerning child rights. UNICEF had been of great help in many aspects, particularly in the promotion and respect of the rights of the child.

The Committee Experts continued to query the members of the Mozambican delegation on such issues as the situation in SOS child villages and family contacts; mechanisms to lodge complaints; discrimination against girls and women; the situation of abortion that caused high maternal deaths; respect for the opinion of the child in the family, which was usually hampered because of tradition; violence in society in general and among children in particular; registration of birth; and gender bias in education, among other things.


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