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COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD TAKES UP REPORT OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION
23 September 1999
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MORNING
HR/CRC/99/42
23 September 1999
The Committee on the Rights of the Child began consideration this morning of a second periodic report of the Russian Federation, querying a Government delegation, among other things, about laws protecting children's rights and their implementation, and about the treatment of street children.
Introducing her country's report, Galina N. Karelova, Deputy Minister of Labour of the Russian Federation and head of the delegation, said the Government, despite persisting acute economic difficulties, had continued taking legislative and administrative measures to improve the condition of children. She said the Russian Federation would continue its efforts to promote and protect the rights of children through implementation of the Convention and through national legislation.
As one of 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Russian Federation must provide the Committee with periodic reports on efforts to put the treaty into effect.
The delegation of the Russian Federation also included Elena E. Chepurnykh, Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation; Anatoly I. Antonov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Tatyana N. Smirnova, Head of Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia; Yuri A. Boyehenko, Head of Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia; Vladimir A. Parshikov, Senior Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the United Nations Office at Gevena; Vladimir V. Dolgoborodov, Second Secretary; Grigory E. Lukiyantsev, Third Secretary; and Serguei L. Tchumarev, Third Secretary.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its consideration of the report of the Russian Federation.
Report of Russian Federation
The second periodic report of the Russian Federation (document CRC/C/65/Add.5) reviews administrative and legislative measures aimed at implementing the provisions of the Convention on an article-by-article basis. It says that the transformation of the economy under way in Russia has encouraged the establishment of a market economy, the active growth of a non-State sector and the development of new relations in the labour market.
The report also states that there have been considerable changes in the social sphere, with the introduction of insurance principles in health care, including a combination of compulsory and voluntary medical insurance. In addition, the social security system has been transformed in light of the changes occurring in the economy and in the social sphere. Social and economic changes have proceeded under crisis conditions marked by declining industrial output, an increasing budget deficit, rising unemployment, a reduction in living standards and an increase in poverty.
The report says legal and administrative measures have been taken within the limits of available resources to protect the rights and interests of children and to alleviate the effects on them of the social crisis. The steps taken led to a reduction in infant mortality from 19.9 per 1,000 live births in 1993 to 17.4 in 1996, and in juvenile mortality in general. The serious problems that exist in the Russian Federation in the main areas of the life of children are a cause of concern both for the authorities and for society at large, adds the report.
The report further says that "social orphanhood" – when children whose parents are still alive are deprived of parental care for various reasons -- is a problem causing special concern. The number of children annually found to be orphans and lacking parental care has increased by nearly 70 per cent, and the number of parents deprived of parental rights has quadrupled, partly in connection with the increasing scale of asocial parental behaviour, and partly as a result of the strengthening of the control exercised by the police in defence of the rights of children.
Introduction of Report
GALINA N. KARELOVA, Deputy Minister of Labour of the Russian Federation and head of the delegation, said that her Government, despite persisting acute economic difficulties, had continued taking legislative and administrative measures to improve the condition of Russian children.
The change to a market economy required a different outlook in the assertion of the best interests of children in order to cope with the new changes, Mrs. Karelova said. The Government of Russia had been endeavouring to implement the fundamental principles of the rights of human beings, particularly those of children. As the year 2000 approached, a series of cardinal changes had been made. In 1998, a basic law was adopted by the country's Parliament, the Duma, to strengthen the rights of children, she said.
Mrs. Karelova said her Government had focussed on priority measures to ensure the right to life of Russian children. In order to reduce the rate of mortality among children under five years, the Government had taken preventive measures by intensifying the campaign for vaccination against diseases affecting infants. In addition, sex education had been provided for adolescents to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. Prenatal screening programmes had been augmented as well.
Mrs. Karelova said the Russian Government recently had adopted new systems to help poor families and to protect orphans, not only financially but also by providing psychological assistance by telephone. The welfare of 620,000 registered "social orphans", children abandoned by their parents or taken away from irresponsible families, had become a serious problem for the Government, she said. Despite permanent economic shortcomings, the Government had succeeded in running 2,000 institutions where children were handled in a family-environment setting, in addition to 700 establishments dealing with children living in difficult conditions, she said.
Further, the Russian Federation saw the situation of disabled children as an acute social problem because of their number and the shortage of resources to handle them. Mrs. Karelova said the Government had been taking all necessary measures to ensure their maximum social integration.
The Russian Federation would continue its efforts to promote and protect the rights of children through the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and through national legislation aimed at strengthening their applications, Mrs. Karelova concluded.
Discussion
Committee members raised a number of questions. They asked about measures taken to strengthen juvenile justice; about budgetary allocations for social activities involving children; about the distribution of power among the various State components of the Federation; about laws on protection of children's rights and their implementation; about the treatment of street children; about poverty-alleviation measures aimed at children; and about child allowances distributed to poor families.
Members of the delegation said the Government had been persuaded that existing legislation should be improved to better serve the interests of Russian children. A series of legislative measures had been taken to promote children's rights, but there had been difficulties in implementing them, especially because of the lack of financial resources. In the year 2000, the budget allocation for social expenditures was expected to be increased by 35 per cent, the delegation said.
The delegation said the country's difficult financial and economic situation had made it impossible adequately to implement the measures planned. Nevertheless, the federal organs of Government -- the State clients of the federal target programmes which made up of the presidential programme "Children of Russia" -- had managed to consolidate the positive results achieved. The measures taken under the presidential programme "Children of Russia" in 1998 had made it possible to support the implementation of long-term target measures to improve the qualitative indicators of children's health and welfare.
With regard to street children, the delegation said the police used more repressive methods instead of a social-protection approach, and the problem of street children and young offenders was one of the acute problems faced by the Russian authorities.
Non-governmental and non-commercial organizations operating in Russia had a considerable influence on the lives of children and were making a substantial contribution to efforts being made to improve their situations, the delegation said. Non-governmental organizations were widely involved in the legislative process and were participating in the implementation of federal and regional social programmes on behalf of children and the mobilization and distribution of humanitarian aid, the delegation said.
Answering a question on the number of suicides among children, the delegation said that during the last ten years the number of suicides had increased by 1.8 times, raising the concerns of the authorities. Suicides often were related to family situations such as impoverishment, unemployment, and drug addiction. School drop-outs were also sometimes subject to despair leading to suicide. The Government, conscious of the gravity of the increasing rate of suicide among youth, had taken measures to improve the situation, the delegation said.
HR/CRC/99/42
23 September 1999
The Committee on the Rights of the Child began consideration this morning of a second periodic report of the Russian Federation, querying a Government delegation, among other things, about laws protecting children's rights and their implementation, and about the treatment of street children.
Introducing her country's report, Galina N. Karelova, Deputy Minister of Labour of the Russian Federation and head of the delegation, said the Government, despite persisting acute economic difficulties, had continued taking legislative and administrative measures to improve the condition of children. She said the Russian Federation would continue its efforts to promote and protect the rights of children through implementation of the Convention and through national legislation.
As one of 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Russian Federation must provide the Committee with periodic reports on efforts to put the treaty into effect.
The delegation of the Russian Federation also included Elena E. Chepurnykh, Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation; Anatoly I. Antonov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Tatyana N. Smirnova, Head of Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia; Yuri A. Boyehenko, Head of Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia; Vladimir A. Parshikov, Senior Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the United Nations Office at Gevena; Vladimir V. Dolgoborodov, Second Secretary; Grigory E. Lukiyantsev, Third Secretary; and Serguei L. Tchumarev, Third Secretary.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its consideration of the report of the Russian Federation.
Report of Russian Federation
The second periodic report of the Russian Federation (document CRC/C/65/Add.5) reviews administrative and legislative measures aimed at implementing the provisions of the Convention on an article-by-article basis. It says that the transformation of the economy under way in Russia has encouraged the establishment of a market economy, the active growth of a non-State sector and the development of new relations in the labour market.
The report also states that there have been considerable changes in the social sphere, with the introduction of insurance principles in health care, including a combination of compulsory and voluntary medical insurance. In addition, the social security system has been transformed in light of the changes occurring in the economy and in the social sphere. Social and economic changes have proceeded under crisis conditions marked by declining industrial output, an increasing budget deficit, rising unemployment, a reduction in living standards and an increase in poverty.
The report says legal and administrative measures have been taken within the limits of available resources to protect the rights and interests of children and to alleviate the effects on them of the social crisis. The steps taken led to a reduction in infant mortality from 19.9 per 1,000 live births in 1993 to 17.4 in 1996, and in juvenile mortality in general. The serious problems that exist in the Russian Federation in the main areas of the life of children are a cause of concern both for the authorities and for society at large, adds the report.
The report further says that "social orphanhood" – when children whose parents are still alive are deprived of parental care for various reasons -- is a problem causing special concern. The number of children annually found to be orphans and lacking parental care has increased by nearly 70 per cent, and the number of parents deprived of parental rights has quadrupled, partly in connection with the increasing scale of asocial parental behaviour, and partly as a result of the strengthening of the control exercised by the police in defence of the rights of children.
Introduction of Report
GALINA N. KARELOVA, Deputy Minister of Labour of the Russian Federation and head of the delegation, said that her Government, despite persisting acute economic difficulties, had continued taking legislative and administrative measures to improve the condition of Russian children.
The change to a market economy required a different outlook in the assertion of the best interests of children in order to cope with the new changes, Mrs. Karelova said. The Government of Russia had been endeavouring to implement the fundamental principles of the rights of human beings, particularly those of children. As the year 2000 approached, a series of cardinal changes had been made. In 1998, a basic law was adopted by the country's Parliament, the Duma, to strengthen the rights of children, she said.
Mrs. Karelova said her Government had focussed on priority measures to ensure the right to life of Russian children. In order to reduce the rate of mortality among children under five years, the Government had taken preventive measures by intensifying the campaign for vaccination against diseases affecting infants. In addition, sex education had been provided for adolescents to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. Prenatal screening programmes had been augmented as well.
Mrs. Karelova said the Russian Government recently had adopted new systems to help poor families and to protect orphans, not only financially but also by providing psychological assistance by telephone. The welfare of 620,000 registered "social orphans", children abandoned by their parents or taken away from irresponsible families, had become a serious problem for the Government, she said. Despite permanent economic shortcomings, the Government had succeeded in running 2,000 institutions where children were handled in a family-environment setting, in addition to 700 establishments dealing with children living in difficult conditions, she said.
Further, the Russian Federation saw the situation of disabled children as an acute social problem because of their number and the shortage of resources to handle them. Mrs. Karelova said the Government had been taking all necessary measures to ensure their maximum social integration.
The Russian Federation would continue its efforts to promote and protect the rights of children through the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and through national legislation aimed at strengthening their applications, Mrs. Karelova concluded.
Discussion
Committee members raised a number of questions. They asked about measures taken to strengthen juvenile justice; about budgetary allocations for social activities involving children; about the distribution of power among the various State components of the Federation; about laws on protection of children's rights and their implementation; about the treatment of street children; about poverty-alleviation measures aimed at children; and about child allowances distributed to poor families.
Members of the delegation said the Government had been persuaded that existing legislation should be improved to better serve the interests of Russian children. A series of legislative measures had been taken to promote children's rights, but there had been difficulties in implementing them, especially because of the lack of financial resources. In the year 2000, the budget allocation for social expenditures was expected to be increased by 35 per cent, the delegation said.
The delegation said the country's difficult financial and economic situation had made it impossible adequately to implement the measures planned. Nevertheless, the federal organs of Government -- the State clients of the federal target programmes which made up of the presidential programme "Children of Russia" -- had managed to consolidate the positive results achieved. The measures taken under the presidential programme "Children of Russia" in 1998 had made it possible to support the implementation of long-term target measures to improve the qualitative indicators of children's health and welfare.
With regard to street children, the delegation said the police used more repressive methods instead of a social-protection approach, and the problem of street children and young offenders was one of the acute problems faced by the Russian authorities.
Non-governmental and non-commercial organizations operating in Russia had a considerable influence on the lives of children and were making a substantial contribution to efforts being made to improve their situations, the delegation said. Non-governmental organizations were widely involved in the legislative process and were participating in the implementation of federal and regional social programmes on behalf of children and the mobilization and distribution of humanitarian aid, the delegation said.
Answering a question on the number of suicides among children, the delegation said that during the last ten years the number of suicides had increased by 1.8 times, raising the concerns of the authorities. Suicides often were related to family situations such as impoverishment, unemployment, and drug addiction. School drop-outs were also sometimes subject to despair leading to suicide. The Government, conscious of the gravity of the increasing rate of suicide among youth, had taken measures to improve the situation, the delegation said.
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