COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD TAKES UP INITIAL REPORT OF BARBADOS

MORNING
HR/CRC/99/20
18 May 1999



The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning started its consideration of the initial report of Barbados, asking a Government delegation, among other things, about efforts to reduce poverty and to fund child-related programmes sufficiently in the wake of economic recession.

George Griffith, head of the Barbadian delegation and Director of the Barbados Family Planning Association, introduced the report and described the recent formation of a National Committee for monitoring the rights of the child, a Ministry of Social Transformation, a Youth in Focus programme, and steps taken to help disadvantaged children and the homeless. He said budgetary expenditures on child-related matters had been increased in recent years. A structural-adjustment regime introduced in 1990-91 had led to cuts in Government programmes related to children that had left staff positions unfilled and projects discontinued, he reported, but those shortfalls had long since been rectified and programmes and staff had been expanded.

Members of his delegation said poverty, especially among children, was an emerging area of concern, and the Government had formed a Poverty Alleviation Bureau in response; and that a high rate of births outside of marriage had led to legislation to protect thoroughly the rights of children in such circumstances.

Barbados, as one of 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is required to provide the Committee with periodic reports on efforts to implement the treaty's provisions. The written reports serve as a basis for questioning and discussion between Government delegations and Committee experts.

In addition to Mr. Griffith, the Barbadian delegation included Joan Crawford, Director of the Child Care Board of Barbados; Sandra Mason, Head of the country's Committee on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and Simone Rudder, Chargé d'Affaires of the Permanent Mission of Barbados to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee began the morning session at 11 by announcing the election of its Bureau after a private meeting. Elected Chairwoman was Nafsiah Mboi. Selected as Vice Chairpersons were Marilia Sardenberg, Amina Hamza El Guindi, and Ghassan Salim Rabah. Jacob Egbert Doek was appointed Rapporteur.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its review of the report of Barbados.

Initial report of Barbados

The report (CRC/C/3/Add.45) reviews implementation of the Convention on an article-by-article basis. An introduction details Government expenditures by "functional classification" -- education and health -- for the years 1990-1995, indicating a total allocation of 421.2 million Barbadian dollars in fiscal year 1994-1995, or 39.3 per cent of the Government budget, up from 33 per cent in 1992-1993. The introduction continues, "Successive Governments have recognized the need for special protection for the developing minds and bodies of children, and have sought to improve their plight. This was accomplished by ensuring that the laws were congruent where possible with the principles outlined in the Convention, and that these were translated into everyday practice in the lives of its citizens.

"However, during the early 1990s the international economic recession and subsequent national economic recession with its structural adjustment programme impacted negatively on levels of employment, income, standards of living, and service provision. Social service programmes could not be pursued as vigorously as they had been and this resulted in some setbacks and pockets of need for children."

The report also remarks that at ratification of the Convention, the Government had already enacted much of the legislation required to implement it. Since ratification, two areas had been addressed specifically: non-imposition of capital punishment to convicted offenders under age 18, and provision of legal-aid services to and for the benefit of minors. Other aspects of the document deal with such topics as legal and medical counselling, hazardous employment, sexual consent, criminal liability, deprivation of liberty, imprisonment, and consumption of alcohol and other controlled substances. The report notes, "The most problematic age group falls between 16 years and 18 years ... . Where the behaviour of such persons is delinquent, there is great difficulty in dealing with them. The Government should consider a halfway facility or residential centre to which such persons could be sent for training and discipline to prepare them better to fit into society."

Introduction of Report

GEORGE GRIFFITH, head of the delegation of Barbados and Director of the Barbados Family Planning Association, said the country was very aware of the importance of ensuring the best possible quality of life for its children; the Government sought to provide a wholesome environment, especially in children's formative years, and to protect and support families. Among steps taken to implement the Convention, he said, were the recent hosting of the first-ever Caribbean summit for youth, at which participating delegates were all under age 20; among the topics discussed were reproductive health. A summary of the conference would be made available to the Committee.

A National Committee for monitoring the rights of the child had been formed, with representatives from the Government, the private sector, law-enforcement agencies, teachers, and other relevant officials and civil-sector members, Mr. Griffith said. A Ministry of Social Transformation had been established as well, following recent elections, which was largely responsible for matters relating to children and youth; the Ministry was designed, among other things, to ensure that disadvantaged sectors of society, including children in disadvantaged situations, were well protected by social-service agencies; steps also had been taken to improve legal protections and practical services for persons who were physically and mentally challenged, and for the homeless (including provision of counselling); a task force had been formed as well to deal with problems like vagrancy and homelessness. In addition, the Youth in Focus programme, run by young people, had been created to enable children to inform the Government about issues of importance to them.

Budgetary allocations for child-related programmes and services had been expanded, Mr. Griffith told the Committee, and the Child Care Board and Agency would be reorganized. Training for professionals in the day-care field was being augmented under a programme recently designed and established with the help of experts.

Difficulties were being experienced in filling child-welfare and related social-service posts, he said; other challenges included dealing with suspected cases of child abuse and with such social matters as violent or improper content and influence of movies and music lyrics. There had been a decline recently in teen-age births, but more progress needed to be made, and the schools currently offered courses on family life and reproductive health.

Discussion

Committee members put a number of questions. They asked, among other things, if the Barbadian Parliament was directly involved in implementation of the Convention; if representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were represented on the National Committee for implementation of the Convention; why the Convention was not apparently part of school curricula; what problems had caused the lateness of the report; what new needs were apparent in terms of child protection; what new steps were being taken to reduce poverty; how extensively children and citizens at large had been educated about the Convention; if domestic legislation sufficiently addressed poverty and increased levels of divorce and single parenthood; how claimed "improvements" to the economy under the structural-adjustment regime had filtered down to children; if the current age of criminal responsibility, set at 7, could not be raised; and if a precise age limit could not be established for the independent consultation of a lawyer by a c
hild.

Mr. Griffith said, among other things, that Parliamentary involvement in implementation of the Convention was broad; the country was small and the Minister responsible for "social transformation" had been actively involved in promoting and educating citizens about the Convention; the 28 members of Parliament, meanwhile, were of course responsible to their constituencies and as a matter of routine debated the impact of various legislative measures on children, taking into account the standards of the Convention.

During the structural-adjustment programme introduced in 1990-91, the budgetary application for the Child Welfare Department had been cut by around a third, meaning that staff positions had not been filled and programmes had been eliminated, Mr. Griffith said. Since then, however, funding had been increased significantly over successive years, allowing the lost ground to be recovered and new progress to be made; new programmes had been introduced and additional staff hired; among related steps, the foster-care allowance had been increased by 100 per cent.

Joan Crawford, Director of the Barbados Child Care Board, said the Board was responsible to the Ministry of Social Transformation. It was perceived to be "the" agency related to children; among other functions, it served as a liaison between the public and various Government services and programmes. Delay in submission of the report to the Committee mostly had been a matter of obtaining responses from NGOs and other sources of information. A Poverty Alleviation Bureau had been set up to focus on poverty-related problems, she said -- poverty was considered an emerging area of concern in the field of child rights.

Barbadian legislation was almost in conformity with the requirements of the Convention, said Sandra Mason, head of the Barbadian Committee on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; efforts were being made to keep up with trends and with emerging problems; one concern was that almost 50 per cent of families had unmarried parents, and relevant legislation had been passed, terming long-term unions, even without marriage, to be "families", while other measures strictly protected the rights of children born out of wedlock. Judges decided whether mothers or fathers had custody of children born out of wedlock, she said -- mothers were not automatically given custody. Other legislation stipulated that divorces were not considered final until all matters relating to the support and protection of children had been worked out to the satisfaction of the Court.