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09 January 2001
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CRC
26th session
9 January 2001
Afternoon
The Committee on the Rights of the Child completed its public discussion this afternoon of an initial report of Latvia, with an Expert stating in preliminary reactions the need for an Ombudsman for children to ensure the implementation of the legislation designed to promote and protect the rights of the child.
On behalf of the Committee of 10 Experts, the member also said that the Government's cooperation with civil societies and its effort to include them in the process of the protection of children's rights was significant.
Formal, written conclusions and recommendations on the report of Latvia will be issued towards the end of the Committee's three-week session on 26 January.
The report was introduced this morning by a nine-member Government delegation. These officials, led by Janis Karklins, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, were on hand throughout the day to discuss the document and to answer questions put by Committee members.
During the afternoon meeting, the Committee reviewed matters related to family environment and alternative care; basic health and welfare; education, leisure, and cultural activities; and special protection measures. Among other things, the Latvian delegation said that breast-feeding was encouraged, at least for the first six months of the child's life; however, there had been a decrease in breast-feeding because of working mothers; and the national breast-feeding council had continued to emphasize the need for breast-feeding. In addition, a campaign of immunization had been successfully accomplished with 90 per cent of children vaccinated.
As one of the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Latvia must report periodically to the Committee on the status of the country's children and on Government efforts to implement the Convention.
The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 10 January, to take up the initial report of Liechtenstein (CRC/C/61/Add.1). High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson will address the Committee at the beginning of the meeting.
Discussion
The discussion centred on the general subjects of family environment and alternative care; basic health and welfare; education, leisure, and cultural activities; and special protection measures.
Responding to questions raised in the previous meeting, the Latvian delegation underlined that non-citizens were not considered stateless persons as they enjoyed every right in the society and participated in the affairs of the country. However, non-citizens residing in Latvia, mainly originating from the former Soviet Union, were not allowed to vote or to stand for election.
The right to the freedom of movement for non-citizens was guaranteed by the Government of Latvia through the issuance of travel documents recognized by many countries, the delegation said. However, while Latvian citizens were granted visas by many countries, those holding non- citizen passports were denied such entry visas.
In order to reduce the number of non-citizens in the country, the Government had intensified the process of naturalization and Latvian nationality was granted, the delegation said. Persons desiring to obtain Latvian nationality should be able to speak the Latvian language, sing the national anthem and should be loyal to the nation. About 41,700 applications for naturalization had been submitted until this week, including 6,000 minors.
Registration of births was free and there were no major problems in that regard, the delegation said. Except for very few cases, all births in the country were registered and certificates were issued on request.
A Committee member expressed concern that the number of children not attending school was high. Another Expert said that there were reports of between 15,000 and 25,000 children living on the streets. The problem of lengthy pre-trial detention of children was also invoked by the Experts. What was the policy of the Government on abortion, asked another member. Latvia was reported to have the highest suicide rate in Europe so what had been done to reduce such incidents, the Expert asked.
Responding to the questions, the delegation said there were 17 boarding schools for children with special needs. An integration process was planned so that children under that category would join normal schools.
Latvia had different ethnic groups, including Roma, the delegation said; they were provided with special text books in their own language to further their studies. In addition, Latvia had ensured the possibility to obtain State-financed primary and secondary education in eight minority languages. Among others, there were 199 Russian and six Polish schools.
The rate of infant mortality had been reduced, with only 270 cases in 1999, the delegation said. Accessibility to health services had improved and basic health services were provided free of charge.
Children with mental health deficiencies could only be hospitalized with the consent of their parents, the delegation said. Their stay at psychiatric centres was subject to permission by the same parents or guardians.
Breast-feeding was encouraged at least for the first six months of the child's life, the delegation said; however, there had been a decrease in breast-feeding because of working mothers; and the national breast-feeding council had continued to emphasize the need for breast-feeding. In addition, a campaign of immunization had been successfully accomplished with 90 per cent of children vaccinated.
Latvian officials had been promoting programmes for the use of contraceptives for young girls, the delegation said; such measures were to prevent the practice of abortion to get rid of unwanted pregnancies.
Detained or imprisoned children were kept separately from adults; men and women were also kept separately, the delegation said. In addition, children served their sentences in correction facilities for minors. Children could only be transferred to adult facilities upon attaining majority at 18 years of age.
In order to reduce the number of street children, the Government had implemented programmes in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, the delegation said.
The Government had also taken measures against sexual abuse and exploitation of children, the delegation said.
Preliminary observations
The Committee had a number of preliminary reactions to the report of Latvia. Formal, written conclusions and recommendations will be issued towards the adjournment of the Committee's session on 26 January.
A Committee member, speaking on behalf of the group, said that the Committee was pleased with the legislation designed to promote and protect the rights of children; a sort of ombudsman for children was essential to ensure the implementation of legislation; data collection had to be improved; the Government=s cooperation with civil societies and its effort to include them in the process of the protection of children's rights was significant; and further resources should be allocated to sectors promoting the rights of the child.
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26th session
9 January 2001
Afternoon
The Committee on the Rights of the Child completed its public discussion this afternoon of an initial report of Latvia, with an Expert stating in preliminary reactions the need for an Ombudsman for children to ensure the implementation of the legislation designed to promote and protect the rights of the child.
On behalf of the Committee of 10 Experts, the member also said that the Government's cooperation with civil societies and its effort to include them in the process of the protection of children's rights was significant.
Formal, written conclusions and recommendations on the report of Latvia will be issued towards the end of the Committee's three-week session on 26 January.
The report was introduced this morning by a nine-member Government delegation. These officials, led by Janis Karklins, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, were on hand throughout the day to discuss the document and to answer questions put by Committee members.
During the afternoon meeting, the Committee reviewed matters related to family environment and alternative care; basic health and welfare; education, leisure, and cultural activities; and special protection measures. Among other things, the Latvian delegation said that breast-feeding was encouraged, at least for the first six months of the child's life; however, there had been a decrease in breast-feeding because of working mothers; and the national breast-feeding council had continued to emphasize the need for breast-feeding. In addition, a campaign of immunization had been successfully accomplished with 90 per cent of children vaccinated.
As one of the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Latvia must report periodically to the Committee on the status of the country's children and on Government efforts to implement the Convention.
The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 10 January, to take up the initial report of Liechtenstein (CRC/C/61/Add.1). High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson will address the Committee at the beginning of the meeting.
Discussion
The discussion centred on the general subjects of family environment and alternative care; basic health and welfare; education, leisure, and cultural activities; and special protection measures.
Responding to questions raised in the previous meeting, the Latvian delegation underlined that non-citizens were not considered stateless persons as they enjoyed every right in the society and participated in the affairs of the country. However, non-citizens residing in Latvia, mainly originating from the former Soviet Union, were not allowed to vote or to stand for election.
The right to the freedom of movement for non-citizens was guaranteed by the Government of Latvia through the issuance of travel documents recognized by many countries, the delegation said. However, while Latvian citizens were granted visas by many countries, those holding non- citizen passports were denied such entry visas.
In order to reduce the number of non-citizens in the country, the Government had intensified the process of naturalization and Latvian nationality was granted, the delegation said. Persons desiring to obtain Latvian nationality should be able to speak the Latvian language, sing the national anthem and should be loyal to the nation. About 41,700 applications for naturalization had been submitted until this week, including 6,000 minors.
Registration of births was free and there were no major problems in that regard, the delegation said. Except for very few cases, all births in the country were registered and certificates were issued on request.
A Committee member expressed concern that the number of children not attending school was high. Another Expert said that there were reports of between 15,000 and 25,000 children living on the streets. The problem of lengthy pre-trial detention of children was also invoked by the Experts. What was the policy of the Government on abortion, asked another member. Latvia was reported to have the highest suicide rate in Europe so what had been done to reduce such incidents, the Expert asked.
Responding to the questions, the delegation said there were 17 boarding schools for children with special needs. An integration process was planned so that children under that category would join normal schools.
Latvia had different ethnic groups, including Roma, the delegation said; they were provided with special text books in their own language to further their studies. In addition, Latvia had ensured the possibility to obtain State-financed primary and secondary education in eight minority languages. Among others, there were 199 Russian and six Polish schools.
The rate of infant mortality had been reduced, with only 270 cases in 1999, the delegation said. Accessibility to health services had improved and basic health services were provided free of charge.
Children with mental health deficiencies could only be hospitalized with the consent of their parents, the delegation said. Their stay at psychiatric centres was subject to permission by the same parents or guardians.
Breast-feeding was encouraged at least for the first six months of the child's life, the delegation said; however, there had been a decrease in breast-feeding because of working mothers; and the national breast-feeding council had continued to emphasize the need for breast-feeding. In addition, a campaign of immunization had been successfully accomplished with 90 per cent of children vaccinated.
Latvian officials had been promoting programmes for the use of contraceptives for young girls, the delegation said; such measures were to prevent the practice of abortion to get rid of unwanted pregnancies.
Detained or imprisoned children were kept separately from adults; men and women were also kept separately, the delegation said. In addition, children served their sentences in correction facilities for minors. Children could only be transferred to adult facilities upon attaining majority at 18 years of age.
In order to reduce the number of street children, the Government had implemented programmes in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, the delegation said.
The Government had also taken measures against sexual abuse and exploitation of children, the delegation said.
Preliminary observations
The Committee had a number of preliminary reactions to the report of Latvia. Formal, written conclusions and recommendations will be issued towards the adjournment of the Committee's session on 26 January.
A Committee member, speaking on behalf of the group, said that the Committee was pleased with the legislation designed to promote and protect the rights of children; a sort of ombudsman for children was essential to ensure the implementation of legislation; data collection had to be improved; the Government=s cooperation with civil societies and its effort to include them in the process of the protection of children's rights was significant; and further resources should be allocated to sectors promoting the rights of the child.
* *** *