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CRC
31st session
26 September 2002



The Committee on the Rights of the Child today examined the second periodic report of Ukraine on how that country was giving effect to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Presenting her country's report, Valentyna Dovzhenko, Head of the State Committee on Family and Youth Policy of Ukraine, said the difficulties arising from the transitional situation of Ukraine had had a direct impact on the level of social protection of citizens, particularly children. Despite that, the Government had been endeavouring to ameliorate the living conditions of the population. The level of poverty had been another factor hampering the development of social services to both children and adults.
Committee Expert Elisabeth Tigerstedt-Tahtela, in a preliminary concluding remark, said that many laws had been adopted in the country, which was a good thing, however, they should all be implemented. The Committee understood the difficulties encountered by the Government as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. Concerning economic development, she said the Government should give priority to the best interests of the child and children should be at the heart of development.
The Ukrainian delegation was also made up of Mykhailo Skuratovskyi, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Lada Pavlikovska, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice; Olexander Yaremenko, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance; Zinaida Kyianytsia, Deputy Head of the State Committee on Family and Youth Policy; Ivanna Markina, Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine in Geneva; and Roksolana Ivanchenko, Third Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Ukraine towards the end of its three-week session, which will close on 4 October.
As one of the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Ukraine is obligated to submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Friday, 27 October, it is scheduled to take up the initial report of Moldova (CRC/C/28/Add.19).

Report of Ukraine
The second periodic report of Ukraine, contained in document CRC/C/70/Add.11, highlights the measures taken by the Government to promote and protect the rights of the child since the initial report was submitted in 1995. It stresses that the complex demographic situation has been characterized by a low birth rate. While in 1993 there were 10.7 births per 1,000 inhabitants, by 1997 the rate had fallen to 8.7 births. The death rate is higher than the birth rate throughout the country.
The report notes that in the present acute social and economic crisis, all age groups in the population find themselves in difficulties, but the most damage has been suffered by the economic system for ensuring the conditions of the reproduction of the rising generation.
On the sale, trafficking and abduction of children, the report says that a criminal code established criminal responsibility for the abduction or substitution of another person's child for purposes of gain. According to the statistics, the number of recorded crimes concerning the abduction of another person's child is insignificant: there were 17 cases in 1997.

Presentation of Report
VALENTYNA DOVZHENKO, Head of the State Committee on Family and Youth Policy of Ukraine and Head of the delegation, said that the Government of Ukraine viewed the presentation of its second periodic report to the Committee as an important event. It highlighted the practical measures adopted in the field of the protection and promotion of the rights of the child. The recommendations made by the Committee during its examination of Ukraine's initial report had been implemented, and other important achievements had also been made.
The difficulties arising from the transitional situation of the young State had had a direct impact on the level of social protection of citizens, particularly children, Mrs. Dovzhenko said. Despite that, the Government had been endeavouring to ameliorate the living conditions of the population. The level of poverty was another factor hampering the development of social services both to children and adults.
Mrs. Dovzhenko said that the Government of Ukraine had been exerting more efforts in promoting the rights of the child through the adoption of legislation which had been brought in line with international standards. Other targeted programmes had also been implemented to develop the family structure and to take care of orphans.
Since the initial report of Ukraine was considered by the Committee in 1995, the Government had adopted 15 laws with the view to strengthen the protection and promotion of the rights of the child, Mrs. Dovzhenko continued. Those laws covered the prevention of domestic violence in the family and the family code, among other things. The Government had also ratified International Labour Organization Convention No. 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.
The Government had taken preventive legal measures against trafficking in persons, including children, and continued to cooperate with international organizations working in that area, Mrs. Dovzhenko said. In addition, national legislation had been strengthened against any form of torture or degrading treatment of persons; the practice of corporal punishment in the family had been banned; and crimes by adolescents had been reduced through steps taken in the field of social protection.
Following the concerns expressed by the Committee on the issue of health in the country, the Government had taken measures to improve the reproductive health conditions and had improved the health of adolescents, she said. Last week, further measures had been taken in improving the iodization of salt. The infant mortality rate had been brought down to 11.2 per thousand in 2001. However, due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, 1,931,100 children had been classified as victims of the disaster; of that number 553,800 children were living in radiation- contaminated areas; and the level of illness was 2.5 times higher than in other regions.
Questions by Experts on General Measures, Definition of the Child and General Principles
The Committee Experts raised questions on the first cluster of the main subjects concerning general measures of implementation; definition of the child; and general principles.
An Expert said that the report was prepared in line with the guidelines of the Committee and it was self-critical. However, it did not clearly reflect the situation of children since the initial report had been presented. There were reports of a lack of the full enjoyment of freedom of expression in Ukraine, as well as of trafficking in persons, which could have a negative impact on the rights of the child.
The Expert asked, among other things, if the new legislation adopted by the Government was rights-based; and if it reflected the principles of non-discrimination and the best interests of the child. Because of the declarative nature of Ukrainian legislation, the provisions of the international conventions were not fully implemented. The delegation was invited to comment on the issue.
What was the priority for the poverty reduction strategy, the Expert asked.
Another Expert said that the country had been going through a transitional process since the initial report was considered by the Committee in 1995. Concerning the autonomous regions of Ukraine, particularly in the Crimea, the Expert asked how the Government was monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the Convention there. She said that the death rate of children was more than the birth rate. What was the reason for this? Taking into consideration the Chernobyl disaster, what other causes were behind the rise in the death rate of children? Concerning the activities of non-governmental organizations, there were reports of restrictions by Government authorities. Could the delegation comment on that?
An Expert asked if the Government had acted on the recommendations of the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children held in New York in May this year. Had the Government designed a national plan of action on the issue? A study had been carried out, in conjunction with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), on the inconsistency of Ukrainian legislation with the provisions of international treaties. Could the delegation comment further on this issue.
What was the status of the Convention in the domestic legislation of the country, an Expert asked. In 2001, the Human Rights Committee had concluded that in the event of a clash between the national and international laws, national law prevailed. The delegation was invited to provide further information on that question. Did the Government define the level of poverty in the country? If so, what was the poverty line? How many people lived below that line?

Country Response
In response to questions raised by the Committee's Experts, the members of the Ukrainian delegation said that the Convention on the Rights of the Child had been published in the Russian and Ukrainian languages and it had been distributed widely. The Convention was ratified by Ukraine in 1990, a year before it became independent.
The implementation of any legislation depended on the machinery of each implementing authority of the Government, the delegation said. Decrees were needed to implement articles of a law. For example, there were 700 regions whose budgets were different from one another and which needed different decrees at the State, ministerial and regional levels.
In August 1991, when the country emerged as an independent State, there had been only one pioneering organization serving children, the delegation said. At present, there were 104 national and 2,000 regional youth organizations, in addition to a number of child organizations throughout the country.
The Government envisaged to adopt a children's code to embrace the various legislation designed for the protection and promotion of the rights of the child, the delegation said. In accordance with the Committee's recommendations, the Government had endeavoured to incorporate the teaching of the rights of the child in schools. About 60 per cent of children in the country knew the Convention and its contents.
With regard to the results of the Special Session of the General Assembly held in May, the delegation said that thanks to the assistance extended by UNICEF, the Government was able to pursue its national plan of action to promote the rights of the child.
The Government had adopted measures to assist needy families and their children by providing them with funds, the delegation said. All families considered to have low incomes received assistance. The authorities were envisaging to review the law on family assistance to include single-parent families and to raise the amount allocated to the families in general. The most recent programme to help families was the one adopted last year to assist orphans and street children. About 1.6 million children from needy families received hot meals every day.
There was no discrepancy between the national Constitution and that of the Crimean autonomous region, the delegation said. A State Committee on Family and Youth Policy was functioning in the Crimea and similar projects for children were being executed in all regions.

Experts' Questions on Civil Rights and Freedoms, Family Environment, and Alternative Care
Committee members continued to raise questions on the second cluster of main subjects concerning civil rights and freedoms; family environment; and alternative care. They asked, among other things, about discrimination and social attitudes against children infected with HIV/AIDS; about the de facto discrimination against disabled children; the educational and health situation of the Roma minority, if it was included in the list of national minorities; discrimination against Roma children; the decrease in the number of marriages; the conditions of institutional care for children; the sexual exploitation of Ukrainian adolescents outside the country; and about police brutality.

Response by Delegation of Ukraine
In response to the questions raised by Committee Experts, the members of the Ukrainian delegation said that all children in the country were equal and they enjoyed the rights enshrined under the Convention. With regard to children belonging to the Roma minority, which was among 110 national minorities recognized by the State, their rights were respected as were the rights of all other children in the country. The Constitution prohibited any form of discrimination against individuals or groups. Roma people were Ukrainians and they were not seen differently from others.
The legislative system of Ukraine was similar to systems that existed in other countries, the delegation said. However, there might be a difference in the status of international treaties. Concerning Ukraine, national law prevailed when international and national laws contradicted each other. Nevertheless, such laws going against the implementation of international laws were later reviewed. Ukraine was a party to the Vienna convention on the status of international treaties.
Deprivation of liberty of an adolescent for a serious crime could not exceed 10 years according to the new criminal code, the delegation said. The use of capital punishment had been banned by the new criminal code. In addition, the new criminal code defined criminal liability for rape, unnatural satisfaction of sexual needs, sexual relations with a person who had not reached puberty, and corruption of a minor.
There was an increase in the number of public institutions offering social, remedial and psychological assistance to children, the delegation said. There were at present 88 shelters for juveniles and 5 medical and social rehabilitation centres. In recent years, efforts to establish family-like children's homes and foster families had been considerably intensified. Approximately 100,000 children were deprived of a family environment and they were living in institutions; and there were more than 100,000 orphans living in boarding schools.
The delegation said that there were approximately 60,000 families in Ukraine which were unable to care for their own children; 25 per cent of those were families with a large number of children; and 35 per cent were single parent families. In order to prevent child abandonment and support children living in disadvantaged families, the State Committee had approved regulations to help disadvantaged families.
The Government has reduced the age of admission to employment from 16 to 15 years to allow children to work, the delegation said. Some 400,000 children were currently engaged in various kinds of jobs in the country. Children worked to help their families, and the Government ensured that the work they carried out was not dangerous for their health.
Asked if adopted children had the right to know their biological parents, the delegation responded by saying that if the parents were not deprived of their parental rights, the child had the right to have contacts with them. Currently, Ukraine had 27,000 children ready for adoption whose names were retained in the "adoption bank" with their full identities and descriptions. The names of the adopted children were not changed after the process of adoption.
To the regret of the Government, there were 153,000 disabled persons in the country, the delegation said. The Government had taken measures to help integrate this category of the population into the society and to prevent any form of discrimination against them. The Government had succeeded in reducing the number of disabled persons in institutions by providing allocations to families who took care of such persons. Special classes within regular schools had been created to allow disabled persons to pursue their studies. Only the disability of 3,000 children was related to the Chernobyl disaster.
Concerning HIV-infected children, the growth of the number was related to mother-to-child transmission, the delegation said. In order to deal with the virus, the Government had created special clinics where HIV/AIDS patients were treated, thanks to the assistance provided by UNICEF. The use of one-time syringes by drug-addicts was encouraged to reduce the number of young people contaminated by the disease.

Experts' Questions on Basic Health and Welfare, Education, and Special Protection Measures
The Committee Experts put queries under the last cluster of the main issues on basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures. They asked, among other things, about sexual abuse of children; the high number of street children, numbering 100,000; the lack of educational facilities in many areas; if access to universities was free; special protection for victims of commercial sexual exploitation; absence of a law dealing with forced labour; the right to privacy; the administration of the juvenile justice system; supervision of leisure activities; corruption in the education system in the form of a bribe by students; the prohibition of acts of torture by State officials; detention of children in adult prisons; and the situation of refugee children.

Country Response
Responding to the questions raised by Committee Experts, the delegation said that the Government had already ratified the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflicts, and on the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitution. The authorities had put in place the necessary legal instruments to complete the adoption of the Protocols before next month.
The new phenomenon of trafficking in human beings was causing problems for the Government of Ukraine, the delegation said. However, the Government had introduced changes to the old criminal code to cover crimes related to trafficking. In addition, it had created centres where victims of such acts were rehabilitated. Officials were also working with the International Migration Organization (IOM) to deal with the outflow of Ukrainians for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. The Government had signed a number of bilateral agreements on the exchange of labour with several countries.
The authorities had discovered 35,000 children working and living on the streets, the delegation said, adding that 28,000 of them had been put in shelters provided by the Government. At least two-thirds of the children had families but did not want to return to them. Not all school-aged children were attending school, but the Government was encouraging students to attend classes.
With regard to the computerization of school classes, the delegation said that many educational centres in urban areas had been equipped with computers. However, despite the directives of the Government, rural schools were less computerized because of lack of funding.
The new criminal code of 2001 had defined torture according to the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Ukraine was a party, the delegation said.

Preliminary Concluding Remarks
ELISABETH TIGERSEDT-TAHTELA, Committee Expert, said that many laws had been adopted in Ukraine, which was a good thing, however, they should all be implemented in practice. The Committee understood the difficulties encountered by the Government as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. Concerning economic development, the Government should give priority to the best interests of the child and children should be at the heart of development. She noted that acts of violence by state officials should be brought to justice; and marginalized children should be integrated into the society.

Closing Remarks by Delegation
VALENTYNA DOVZHENKO (Ukraine) thanked the members of the Committee for their understanding of the problems of the State and for their wise advice. The Government would continue to improve the living conditions of its people, particularly those of its children; and to do that, it would pursue its cooperation with non-governmental and international organizations. She said that the Government had abandoned the use of the Chernobyl nuclear power station and had committed itself not to operate nuclear-related plants. Such a stand would allow children to live better.



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