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29 September 2000
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CRC
25th session
29 September 2000
Afternoon
The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its consideration of an initial report presented by the Marshall Islands on how that country implements the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In preliminary remarks, a Committee expert said the Convention was compatible with all cultures, traditions and legal systems of people around the world. The human dignity of the child could be found in all cultures. The State had the responsibility to abide by the treaty while the family had the obligation to respect the rights enshrined in the Convention.
The Committee will issue its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of the Marshall Islands towards the end of its current session which will conclude on 6 October.
Discussion over the course of the afternoon meeting focused on the main issues of family environment and alternative care; basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures.
The Marshall Islands is among the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and as such it is obliged to provide the Committee with periodic summaries of the measures taken to give effect to the provisions of the treaty. A five-member Government delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee members.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Monday, 2 October, it will meet in private to discuss draft general comments on articles of the Convention. It will also consider draft concluding observations on reports already taken up during this session. It will resume its public debate at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 3 October, to take up the initial report of Slovakia.
Discussion
The members of the Marshall Islands delegation continued to provide responses to questions raised by Committee experts this morning. The delegation said that the national nutrition and children's council played an important role in the field of nutrition. Children with nutritional deficiencies were taken care of by social workers. There were also efforts made by some religious non-governmental organizations that helped families with nutritional problems.
The Government had been carrying out awareness-raising campaigns with regard to suicide among youth, the delegation said. The country had the highest rate of suicide among the Pacific countries. The authorities had organized seminars and workshops designed to provide general information and had carried out studies to find the root causes of suicide among the young.
The Marshall Islands did not have laws providing the legal minimum ages for lodging complaints and seeking redress before a court without parental consent, the delegation said. Parental consent was not legally required before lodging complaints and seeking redress before a court, irrespective of the age of the child.
Out of fear, many children attempted to hide acts of violence such as incest or sexual abuse, and that was why there were no statistics available on child abuse, the delegation said. The Government was working on a programme through which children could express themselves and report on abuses committed against them. Although the sexual abuse of children did occur, it was limited and there were no reported cases of child prostitution. During the past three years, there had been only two reported case of sexual exploitation of children, and those cases had involved foreigners.
The number of teenage pregnancies had been on the rise in recent years in the country, the delegation said, adding that the Government was prompted to take further steps to cope with the problem. The use of condoms and other means of contraceptives by teenagers was strongly advised by social workers to avoid pregnancies and to protect from sexually transmitted diseases.
Alternative measures of child care seemed to be non-existent in the Marshall Islands, the delegation said. The phenomenon of children left to themselves for long times during the day while their parents were at work might exist in isolated cases. In general, all children were taken care of by other members of the extended family system.
Children should be in school until the age of 14 years of age, the delegation said. The Government had enacted a comprehensive education code in which it engaged itself to provide a thorough and efficient system of education to all children. At present, the Government allocated about 14 per cent of its annual budget to education.
Fruits and vegetables were rarely eaten by children in the Marshall Islands because of their scarcity, the delegation said. This had caused Vitamin A, Vitamin C and iron deficiencies. In addition, there was a high rate of anaemia among children.
Preliminary Remarks
In preliminary remarks, a Committee member said the dialogue with the delegation had been fruitful and comprehensive; the Convention was almost universal and the message of the human dignity of the child could be found in all cultures; the provisions of the Convention were in conformity with almost all societies which gave higher values to children; the culture of human rights was not something that opposed traditions and cultures; the child was at the centre of the human rights culture; the State had the responsibility to abide by the treaty while the family had the obligation to respect the rights enshrined in the Convention; and one of the aspects of respecting the best interests of the child was to bring problems to the open.
Since the Marshall Islands had no labour law, it had no structure to monitor child labour exploitation. The expert noted that the Government had affirmed that there were no such cases of exploitation. Legislation of this issue should be expedited. Adolescent health had to be stressed in line with the issues of suicide and consumption of alcoholic beverages. There should be studies on child abuse and neglect and child labour. Problems concerning malnutrition, education and teenage pregnancies should also be discussed and resolved. The Government had to publicise the provisions of the Convention and the content of the dialogue with the Committee in order to involve and inform public opinion.
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25th session
29 September 2000
Afternoon
The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its consideration of an initial report presented by the Marshall Islands on how that country implements the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In preliminary remarks, a Committee expert said the Convention was compatible with all cultures, traditions and legal systems of people around the world. The human dignity of the child could be found in all cultures. The State had the responsibility to abide by the treaty while the family had the obligation to respect the rights enshrined in the Convention.
The Committee will issue its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of the Marshall Islands towards the end of its current session which will conclude on 6 October.
Discussion over the course of the afternoon meeting focused on the main issues of family environment and alternative care; basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures.
The Marshall Islands is among the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and as such it is obliged to provide the Committee with periodic summaries of the measures taken to give effect to the provisions of the treaty. A five-member Government delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee members.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Monday, 2 October, it will meet in private to discuss draft general comments on articles of the Convention. It will also consider draft concluding observations on reports already taken up during this session. It will resume its public debate at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 3 October, to take up the initial report of Slovakia.
Discussion
The members of the Marshall Islands delegation continued to provide responses to questions raised by Committee experts this morning. The delegation said that the national nutrition and children's council played an important role in the field of nutrition. Children with nutritional deficiencies were taken care of by social workers. There were also efforts made by some religious non-governmental organizations that helped families with nutritional problems.
The Government had been carrying out awareness-raising campaigns with regard to suicide among youth, the delegation said. The country had the highest rate of suicide among the Pacific countries. The authorities had organized seminars and workshops designed to provide general information and had carried out studies to find the root causes of suicide among the young.
The Marshall Islands did not have laws providing the legal minimum ages for lodging complaints and seeking redress before a court without parental consent, the delegation said. Parental consent was not legally required before lodging complaints and seeking redress before a court, irrespective of the age of the child.
Out of fear, many children attempted to hide acts of violence such as incest or sexual abuse, and that was why there were no statistics available on child abuse, the delegation said. The Government was working on a programme through which children could express themselves and report on abuses committed against them. Although the sexual abuse of children did occur, it was limited and there were no reported cases of child prostitution. During the past three years, there had been only two reported case of sexual exploitation of children, and those cases had involved foreigners.
The number of teenage pregnancies had been on the rise in recent years in the country, the delegation said, adding that the Government was prompted to take further steps to cope with the problem. The use of condoms and other means of contraceptives by teenagers was strongly advised by social workers to avoid pregnancies and to protect from sexually transmitted diseases.
Alternative measures of child care seemed to be non-existent in the Marshall Islands, the delegation said. The phenomenon of children left to themselves for long times during the day while their parents were at work might exist in isolated cases. In general, all children were taken care of by other members of the extended family system.
Children should be in school until the age of 14 years of age, the delegation said. The Government had enacted a comprehensive education code in which it engaged itself to provide a thorough and efficient system of education to all children. At present, the Government allocated about 14 per cent of its annual budget to education.
Fruits and vegetables were rarely eaten by children in the Marshall Islands because of their scarcity, the delegation said. This had caused Vitamin A, Vitamin C and iron deficiencies. In addition, there was a high rate of anaemia among children.
Preliminary Remarks
In preliminary remarks, a Committee member said the dialogue with the delegation had been fruitful and comprehensive; the Convention was almost universal and the message of the human dignity of the child could be found in all cultures; the provisions of the Convention were in conformity with almost all societies which gave higher values to children; the culture of human rights was not something that opposed traditions and cultures; the child was at the centre of the human rights culture; the State had the responsibility to abide by the treaty while the family had the obligation to respect the rights enshrined in the Convention; and one of the aspects of respecting the best interests of the child was to bring problems to the open.
Since the Marshall Islands had no labour law, it had no structure to monitor child labour exploitation. The expert noted that the Government had affirmed that there were no such cases of exploitation. Legislation of this issue should be expedited. Adolescent health had to be stressed in line with the issues of suicide and consumption of alcoholic beverages. There should be studies on child abuse and neglect and child labour. Problems concerning malnutrition, education and teenage pregnancies should also be discussed and resolved. The Government had to publicise the provisions of the Convention and the content of the dialogue with the Committee in order to involve and inform public opinion.
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