Committee on Rights of Child examines report of Finland

Committee on the Rights of the Child
9 June 2011

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the fourth periodic report of Finland on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing the report, Arto Kosonen, Director, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, highlighted the legislative amendments and administrative changes aimed at improving the well-being of children in Finland including the Child Welfare Act in 2008 which emphasised the role of prevention and the new Health Care Act in 2011 with a specific focus on health promotion and early support and care for mental health services for children. The National Development Programme for Social Welfare and Health Care 2008 to 2011 reformed specialized services in child psychiatry, child welfare, child guidance and family counselling by ensuring services and experts were brought to the environments of children and young people. The Disability Policy Programme, published in 2010, outlined national disability priorities and stipulated all services should be provided on an equal basis. The Act on the Promotion of Integration provided for clear integration plans for all unaccompanied minors who received a residence permit in Finland. Mr. Kosonen said that in 2012 an independent Centre for Human Rights based on the Paris Principles would be operational focusing on the promotion and dissemination of information, education, training and research related to fundamental human rights issues.

In preliminary remarks, Committee Expert Maria Herczog, who served as Rapporteur for the report of Finland, noted the increase in child poverty of almost 14 per cent in recent years with 150,000 children now living below the poverty line and asked how these economic and social challenges had impacted children in the country. The Rapporteur said there was still no consolidated legislation fully covering the Convention and Optional Protocols and asked what measures the Government would consider to ensure that national standards of minimum services for children were achieved across the country.

Gehad Madi, serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of Finland, said that Finland was a role model in many fields of child rights and encouraged the Government to adopt a comprehensive monitoring approach to cover all stakeholders and to reconsider the age of 12 for incorporating a child’s view into decision making.

Other Experts raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, the lack of a standardized national criterion for placing children in institutional care, the problem of alcohol consumption and suicides among young people, the decline in school nurses and counsellors and the coordination structure in the Government among the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry for Culture and Sports and the regional Governments for implementing the Convention.

The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the fourth periodic report of Finland towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 17 June 2011.

The delegation of Finland included representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

As one of the 193 States parties to the Convention, Finland is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. The delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.

When the Committee reconvenes on Friday, 10 June, at 10 a.m., it will consider the fourth periodic report of Costa Rica (CRC/C/CRI/4).

Report of Finland

The fourth periodic report of Finland (CRC/C/FIN/4) notes that the Office of the Ombudsman for Children established in 2005, is an independent authority situated in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health which promotes the materialisation of the best interests and rights of the child at the general level of decision making and legislation. The Ombudsman receives a considerable numbers of complaints from the general public (a total of 1050 complaints in 2006 and 2007), which may be submitted the Chancellor of Justice, the Parliamentary Ombudsman and State Provincial Offices. In the Ombudsman’s annual report 2005, custody disputes were among one of the four most common grounds for contact. The Parliamentary Ombudsman is the supreme overseer of legality exercising oversight to ensure that authorities and officials observe the law and discharge their duties. There is a clear distribution of tasks between the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children. The Parliamentary Ombudsman ensures that the rights of children are implemented and its tasks are largely based on assessments of individual cases, this is the case also relating to the implementation of the rights of the child. Additionally, the Parliamentary Ombudsman also carries out inspections at offices and institutions, including child welfare institutions. The task of the Ombudsman for Children, on the other hand, is to promote the best interests of the entire child population by bringing up issues in social debate and contributing on decision making in advance.

The new Child Welfare Act, which entered into force in 2008, defines for the first time the concept of the best interests of the child at a legislative level. According to Section 4 of the Act, when assessing a child’s need for welfare measures and how to carry out such measures, the best interests of the child should be regarded as the primary consideration. According to the Administrative Procedure Act (423/2003), a child who is the age of 12 shall be reserved an opportunity to be heard in a child welfare matter concerning him or her. The Child Welfare Act also obligates municipalities to draw up a plan to promote the wellbeing of children and to organise and develop child welfare.

In Finnish legislation, a person who has not attained 18 years of age is a minor. In accordance with the Child Welfare Act (2007/417), which took effect as from the beginning of 2008, a person under 18 years of age is considered a child and a person 18 to 20 years of age is regarded as a young person. Young men present themselves at conscription call-ups at the age of 17, and they enter military service at the age of 18. A significant number of 17 year olds are exempted for mental health reasons.

All children residing permanently in the country are covered by the basic statistics kept by Statistics Finland, the national statistics authority, and are based on Finland’s population registry system. In Finland there is no general monitoring which would cover the state of health of all the children, nor is there any comprehensive information on children or people with disabilities. This is a deficiency, however, that is being remedied. Monitoring the state of health of children with disabilities and chronically ill children is being developed as a part of a more general LATE-project launched by the National Public Health Institute.

In 2005 juvenile punishment was established as a form of punishment covering the whole country (Act on amending Chapters 6 and 7 the Penal Code 1195/2004 and Act on the juvenile punishment 1196/2004). A person who commits a crime under 18 years of age may be sentenced for a juvenile punishment, if a fine is deemed insufficient and there are no serious grounds for imposing imprisonment. A person may be sentenced to juvenile punishment for a minimum of four months and a maximum of one year. A sentenced person will remain under supervision for the duration of the punishment. Only a few dozen juvenile punishments are imposed per year. In practice, it has not lead to the reduction of conditional imprisonment, which was one of the objectives of its establishment.

Presentation of Report

ARTO KOSONEN, Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Government, as mandated by law, adopted the first Development Programme for Child and Youth Policy for the years 2007 to 2011 along with a Policy Programme for the well-being of children, youth and families. The Development Programme and the Policy Programme should not be seen as a separate set of targets but as two different tools for the Government to implement the ideology of the Convention; both contributed to enhancing cross-sector cooperation to improve the well-being of children, youth and families. In Finland, child and youth participation included direct and indirect representative forms of involvement which mainly occurred in formal structures, including local youth councils (above 12 years old), school councils, national and local children parliaments (7 to 12 years old) and surveys carried out with children across the country.

The economic situation of families with children was improved by increasing family benefits. According to the new Child Welfare Act, preventive child welfare was defined as a new form of operation in child welfare. The Act highlighted prevention as well as the role of actors other than child welfare authorities in supporting the child and family. The objectives of the 2009 Decree on maternity and child health services, school and student health care and preventive oral health care for children and young people were to ensure uniform and regional equal access to services; reinforce health promotion; and strengthen early support and prevention of exclusion. Nationwide provision of more systematic and uniform preventive health services reduced socioeconomic differences in health and unequal access to services at regional levels.

The new Health Care Act (1326/2010) entered into force in May 2011 and incorporated a specific focus on more effective health promotion and early support. The Act stipulated that assessing the need for care within mental health services for children and young people should be within 3 weeks of the arrival of the referral at the unit for specialized health care and any treatment that was necessary should be organized within 3 months for persons under 23 years of age, taking into account the urgency of the treatment.

The National Development Programme for Social Welfare and Health Care included the launching of a total reform of services for children, young people and families with the goal of reinforcing prevention. The Programme brought together services to prevent and address problems and disorders across sector boundaries (health care, social welfare, youth work, education and the police) and the reform of specialized services (child psychiatry, child welfare, child guidance and family counselling) to better support basic services through different kinds of methods. It was essential that services and experts were brought to the environments where children and young people meet, including in the home, day care, school and at recreational facilities. The National Action Plan dealing with mental health and substance abuse defined the principles guiding the development of mental health work until 2015. The starting point for developing mental health work was the support for young people’s development, the promotion of mental health and the prevention and treatment of mental disorders.

A recent two year project to prevent bullying among children under school age introduced models for the prevention of bullying in the day care services of municipalities, organizations and the church as well as in child club activities. The project studied the situation first and foremost from the child’s perspective along with adult views. Key factors included teaching children interaction and social skills as well as reinforcing their capacity for empathy and enacting bullying prevention plans in all day care centres.

There were 10 juvenile prisoners in Finland under the age of 18 years old and segregating them strictly would mean placing a minor alone in a separate department which would not serve the child’s best interest. For a minor, close contact with family and friends was important. An individual placement procedure for minor prisoners in Finland was under preparation. The parliamentary Ombudsman recently initiated a survey of the placement and conditions of juvenile prisoners, asking the prison administration to report on measures to ameliorate the situation of minor prisoners. A family ward was established in March 2010 which operated under the National Institute of Health and Welfare. The family ward included a small parent and baby unit where a child under two years could be placed when a parent was held either in pre-trial custody or was serving a prison sentence if this was considered to be in the best interest of the child.

Amendments to the Criminal Code concerning punishments for sex offences entered into force in June 2011 and extended the scope of criminal liability to include the solicitation of children for sexual purposes (grooming) and the attendance at pornographic performances involving the participation of children. The production, distribution and possession of all child pornography were criminalized, including pictures, paintings or drawings depicting an actual a situation where a child was abused. An inter-ministerial working group from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs drafted a proposal for Parliament which advised ratification of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The Ministry of Justice initiated the Follo Model for child-friendly justice in four district courts with the objective of developing and improving the position of children in proceedings and pre-trial investigation. These pilot projects examined the applicability in Finland of the Follo Model as applied in the settlement of custody disputes in Norway with the purpose of securing a friendly settlement of custody disputes.

In 2010, the Ministry of Education and Culture established an inter-ministerial working group to assess the situation of the 3 Sami languages (North, Inari and Skolt Sami) with measures taken to improve linguistic rights in early childhood education, education and training, social welfare and health care, culture, media and industrial policies. The first National Policy on Roma was published in 2009, proposing a number of measures to increase the well being of children and their families. These measures aimed at promoting the inclusion of Roma children and their families by developing different forms of early childhood education, family work and parenthood.

The Disability Policy Programme, published in 2010, outlined the national disability policy. The programme underlined the rights of parents with disabilities to all services intended for families, stipulating that these services should be provided on an equal basis. In June 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established a multi-stakeholder working group to prepare the measures needed for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. An amendment to the Basic Education Act (642/2010) improved the right of a pupil to general, enhanced or special learning.

The Act on the Promotion of Integration (1386/2010) would come into force in September 2011 and provided for an obligation for municipalities to draw up a clear integration plan for all unaccompanied minors who received a residence permit in Finland, taking into account the opinion of the child concerned. In the pilot project, ‘Participative Integration in Finland’ an integration path was developed for immigrant children to prevent the exclusion of these groups from society. The Act on Reception of People Seeking International Protection concerned the safeguarding of subsistence and care of an asylum-seeker, a beneficiary of temporary protection and victims of trafficking that would come into force in September 2011. The Act provided for special accommodation for unaccompanied minor asylum applicants separate from adults as well as health care on the same grounds as for Finnish nationals.

An independent Centre for Human Rights would start its work at the beginning of 2012. The Centre promoted the dissemination of information, education, training and research related to fundamental human rights issues. The Centre would be based on the Paris Principles and would follow the implementation of human rights conventions, including a multi-stakeholder Human Rights Board to promote the coordination of fundamental human rights in the country.

Questions by Experts

MARIA HERCZOG, the Committee Member serving as Rapporteur for the Report of Finland, said that Finland was considered one of the most important models for other countries concerning the promotion of the rights of the child. The Committee noted the Government’s legislative achievements and the intention to ratify the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Convention on Persons with Disabilities. The Committee welcomed with appreciation the joint efforts made on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Convention to raise awareness through close cooperation among the Government, non-governmental organizations, the church and children. However, the Rapporteur raised the issue of the increase in child poverty of almost 14 per cent in recent years with 150,000 children living below the poverty line. Finland used to be an almost homogenous society with a strong egalitarian value system, however economic and social challenges had impacted many children with the potential to increase school drop out rates, mental health problems, substance abuse and violence.

The Rapporteur noted there was still no consolidated legislation fully covering the Convention and Optional Protocols, and asked what kind of actions were planned to ensure that such new legislation would be in place in the near future. Would the Government establish a coordinating body to introduce child mainstreaming by assessing the impacts of all developments, legal actions and decisions made on children? The Rapporteur noted the independence of municipalities in service provision and said some children were not provided equal access to services based on where they lived. What measures would the Government consider to provide national standards of minimum services across the country and was the Government measuring the quality of services and outcomes? How could the Government strengthen the right to equal access of all children to meet their needs? The Rapporteur was concerned with the limited data available on children in vulnerable situations relating to poverty, minorities, abuse and neglect, migrants, refugees, unaccompanied children and children with disabilities. What plans were there to gather more refined and detailed data considering children in vulnerable situations?

Corporal punishment was still accepted and used as a method for disciplining children. Considering widespread school violence and problems with bullying there seemed to be an interrelation between child rearing practices and problems identified among children. How was the Government planning on combining the many different programs and efforts to address children’s violence into a holistic approach to raise awareness, change attitudes and help parents, professionals and children understand the causes and consequences of violence and alternatives for replacing it?

GEHAD MADI, the Committee Member serving as Co-Rapporteur for the Report of Finland, noted the low level of awareness of the Convention among the general public and the youth which was linked to the issue of training. The Co-Rapporteur said that training in human rights among professionals who worked with children, including law enforcement officials, teachers and health and social workers, should be a priority. Concerning discrimination, the Co-Rapporteur asked what action was being taken on the Report on Discrimination, as social exclusion and discrimination against the Roma population was a key concern for the Committee. Finland adopted the system of Ombudsman in different categories, however, was there any coordination and cooperation among different Ombudsman related to children’s rights and welfare? The Co-Rapporteur encouraged an acceleration of the implementation of the action plan on violence against children and an immediate ban on the use of any form of violence against children, including corporal punishment.

Other Experts then raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, the coordination structure in the Government among the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry for Culture and Sports and the regional Governments for implementing the Convention. Was there a structural framework that integrated all of the Government’s policies concerning the implementation of the Convention? Were there regulations or extraterritorial justice by the Government of the activities of Finnish companies operating in other countries who might directly or indirectly support child labour? Had the Government exercised due diligence for the import or trade of goods by countries where child labour existed and could the delegation provide more information on the laws regulating the marketing of goods targeting children, particularly unhealthy food?

A Committee Expert asked what the Government was doing to ensure that Finnish youth were the first to counter discrimination against minority groups. A Committee Member asked about the Government’s focus on the age of 12 years for incorporating children’s views and wondered if this age threshold would be lowered. A Committee Member asked what formal training these professionals received from the Government and whether or not it would be feasible to incorporate the principles of the Convention into their performance evaluations.

A Committee Member asked about the Youth Parliament and what were the conditions for elections. Questions were raised about the allocation of resources and how they were prioritized on a regional level? Committee Experts asked for a clearer explanation on the Government’s independent monitoring model and were there plans for the future to target regions with low density population with mobile teaching programs or other intervention tools such as the internet to facilitate child access to social and other services.

A Committee Expert asked if there was a mechanism to detect violence against children at home or in school. What were the legal frameworks of the child protection system in Finland? A Committee Member asked what kinds of complaints from children were received from the Ombudsman and what child friendly methods permitted children to access the Ombudsman. Would the new Government impact the perception of discrimination against immigrants and minority populations?

Response of the Delegation

Responding to questions on the structure of human rights institutions in Finland, the delegation explained that the Government provided the first comprehensive report on human rights policies to Parliament in 2009 and as a follow-up, Parliament requested the Government create a National Action Plan on Human Rights which was now under preparation. The Human Rights Centre, which will be operational from 2012, was tasked with human rights education and better cooperation and coordination among actors in the field of human rights.

There was a draft law on the reform of equality legislation which required the approval of the new Government which was in the process of forming after recent elections. The legislation would expand the cover of discrimination to include age and would establish a new mechanism, the Ombudsman for Equal Treatment which could act on specific cases of discrimination based on age. According to the Government, the present function of the Children’s Ombudsman was important because it focused on awareness-raising in the area of child’s rights. The delegation said independent monitoring mechanisms were critical and it was not up to the Government to decide how the different Ombudsmen cooperated with one another. The Ombudsman was a low threshold mechanism which was cost free for the victim and could react quickly in comparison with a court procedure.

Concerning the interplay between the Human Rights Centre and the Ombudsman, cooperation was foreseen as there would be a broad Board on the Human Rights Centre to ensure good coordination. Both bodies were independent and they would determine their own coordination. At the moment the mandate had not provided for complaints to be received by the Ombudsman for Children. The Child and Youth Policy Programme had a clear legal base on the Youth Act which required every Government to issue a programme. The Government Policy Programme was initiated by the executive branch and was well coordinated by the Child and Youth Policy Programme. The delegation agreed that coordination among national government development plans and local government development plans was a key issue in Finland.

The delegation said that regarding discrimination and racism among children and youth, there was not a dramatic increase in this issue. However, there were changes in the attitude of young people toward immigration as reflected in a study, the 2010 Youth Barometer, which asked 19 questions about immigration and minorities; the same questions asked in 2005 and the results showed some worrying trends as there were less youth in 2010 that welcomed immigrants and minority populations in Finland. To counter this trend, the Government was carrying out a national multiyear ‘Yes’ Programme along with regional plans to change the perception of young people toward immigration.

There were several improvements in the benefits for families, for instance the child benefit allowance was now bound to an index which would rise every year according to the index, the amount of the child benefit, child allowance for single parents, allowance for day care and home care were all raised. Services for children and families were important means for combating exclusion. Finland was committed to the European Union 2020 Strategy to Combat Poverty.

The municipalities in Finland were independent and during the last few years the Government had tightened monitoring and supervision over municipalities. There was a monitoring system by the National Institute for Health and Welfare every second year concerning the health results on preventive services, a benchmarking analysis which was publically available.

Further Questions by Experts

During the second round of questions, the Rapporteur raised concerns about the lack of a permanent presence of health care professionals in schools because these professionals, counsellors, nurses and psychologists were employed on a part time basis. What plans did the government have to resolve this issue? The Rapporteur asked about the shortage of early childhood education care places. Had the Government considered cash programs to encourage parents of migrant or refugee children to enrol their children in day care? The Rapporteur asked about the decrease in the number of foster care placements and noted that there seemed to be a problem with a lack of social workers in the system. Was there a national planning system on the effectiveness and efficiency of children in out of home placement in the care system?

GEHAD MADI, Co-Rapporteur for the Report of Finland, encouraged the Government to ratify the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and asked if there was a child hotline to provide free advice and services. The Co-Rapporteur was concerned by the plans to continue to detain child asylum seekers and that asylum seekers aged 16 and above were kept with adult asylum seekers.

A Committee Member raised the issue of the lack of follow-up in the report on the Optional Protocol on children involved in armed conflict, in particular detailed information on asylum seekers and refugees. A Committee Member said only only 1 per cent of mothers exclusively breast feeding at six months and asked for the reasons behind this decrease. A Committee Expert asked if the Government would introduce peer prevention bullying systems to reduce the incidents of bullying in schools and what advice could families receive from the Government on tailored services for children with disabilities?

Further Questions by Experts

In a continuation of the second round of questions, a Committee Expert asked about measures had been taken to reduce the long period required to resolve child custody cases. What measures were taken by the State to ensure refugee children were unified with their families? Outbreaks of violence against minority children were a problem in Finland and a Committee Expert asked for more information on this situation and what measures had been taken to avoid preventive detention for juveniles. What guarantees ensured children and families were given access to the benefits of the Child Welfare Act?

A Committee Expert asked about the laws to protect children as witnesses in trials and to compensate them as victims. Could the delegation clarify how specialized courts function, including the training of judges in these courts and what was the maximum sentence that could be given to a minor, 12 years or 12 months?

A Committee Member asked what role the child played in the decision making process for placing him in institutional care. Was there the possibility for the Parliamentary Ombudsman to visit children in institutional care? How did they make the assessment for institutional care and could the family appeal decisions to place children in institutional care?

A Committee Expert asked why 12 was the age limit for incorporating a child’s view into decisions that concerned him. Was there a standardized national criterion for placing a child in an institution?

Response of the Delegation

Responding to the second round of questions, the delegation explained that municipal bodies were obligated to provide support to children with substance abuse problems. Each municipality was required to draw up a welfare plan in cooperation with different administrative fields to cover children with substance abuse problems. In Finland, children were often placed in residential care, however a new amendment to the Child Welfare Act aimed at decreasing residential care with a preference for open care and the aim of reuniting the family. The social worker made the assessment of the best way to support the child by working closely with the family and the child. There were insufficient social workers in Finland, which posed a challenge for the country. There were no set criteria for placing a child in alternative care and it was primarily the social worker who assessed the situation with a priority emphasis on open care and institutional care was the last alternative. The municipality made the decision regarding placement based on the recommendation of the social worker and if the parents opposed the decision then the administrative court would make a final ruling. The delegation explained the age limit of 12 had been incorporated to protect children from sensitive issues related to their situation.

The rights of migrant workers and immigrants was already covered by Finnish legislation as the basic rights and freedoms of the Constitution covered all individuals residing in Finland so it was not necessary for the Government to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers. There was a growing interest in corporate social responsibility in Finland. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs commissioned a study in 2009 about corporations and human rights which raised the issue among the public.

Bullying toward children with disabilities and minorities was a problem in Finnish schools and the Ministry of Education had developed a program, Kiva, with universal measures aimed at children, parents and teachers and specific measures targeted at both the victims of bullying and the bullies. The programme also targeted school personnel with on line tools to monitor the programme, lesson plans and internet forums to share experiences.

The policy in Finland for children with disabilities was to integrate them into normal classes as far as possible. A child would only be placed in special education as a last resort. The right of the Sami people to receive education in Sami language was extensive for those living in Sami homeland areas. Special funding was provided by the Ministry of Education for teaching in Sami language for those outside the Sami homeland. The same condition applied for Roma children.

The Government had a new obligation for each municipality to draw up an individual integration plan for unaccompanied migrant children to cover 3 years and to include access to all social services, health and education. There was also an integration plan for immigrant families to access integration services, with an emphasis on permitting migrant children to enter daycare on a more flexible basis. A key part of the integration plan was for the mothers to learn the Finnish language along with civic training. The delegation explained it was trying to overcome the situation where migrant children learned the language faster than the parents and acted as interpreters for their parents.

In 2011, there were 2 unaccompanied minors in detention, in 2010 there were 4, and in 2009 there were 15. Unaccompanied minors were always placed separately from adults and provided their own room; if a minor was detained with their family they stayed together in a family room. The average duration of detention was 9 days and most were detained because their identity could not be determined.

Further Questions by Experts

A Committee Expert asked how extensively the Kiva anti-bullying programme was implemented across Finland.

A Committee Member asked for data concerning the implementation of the general principle of inclusion for children with disabilities, specifically were there specialists supporting teachers and what was the percentage of children who could not be integrated. At what age would a minor receive a tailored integration plan for minors who were immigrants?

A Committee Expert said that information indicated that 100 per cent of mothers delivered in institutions and only 5 maternity hospitals out of 30 were certified as baby friendly for breast feeding. What materials were distributed by health workers to promote breast feeding?

A Committee Member asked about school health services and why children with behavioral problems such as ADHD were being treated with drugs rather than alternative methods of treatment.

Response of the Delegation

The Kiva anti-bullying programme was implemented in 80 per cent of the comprehensive schools in Finland with an intention to mainstream it to 100 per cent of schools.

Concerning the assessment of the age of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, two independent doctors performed an assessment with an analysis of teeth and bones to determine whether or not a person was below 18 years old. If the person was deemed less than 18 then the principle of the benefit of the child would apply and the individual would not be treated as an adult. The Child Welfare Act stipulated the number of children allowed in group homes and the requirements of care workers. Minor asylum seekers received the same basic and specialist health care as all Finnish citizens.

In 2010, the National Strategy for the Promotion of the Awareness of the Rights of the Child was developed and in 2009 a special campaign was made to support the Convention. In 2008, 54 per cent of individuals were aware of the Convention which increased to 27 per cent in January 2010. A study among most teaching professionals in Finnish high schools indicated that these professions were aware of the Convention as a legal instrument, but rarely used it in curriculum.

In 2009, out of all children in education, 8 per cent, or 47,000 pupils, participated in special needs education and the three most common reasons were late development, mental disabilities and physical disabilities.

All migrant and asylum children who entered Finnish reception centres went through a medical evaluation and were provided with psychosocial counselling, if needed. There was a duty for those working in reception centres to inform doctors if there was something alarming in the behaviour of a child so that the child could receive the necessary services.

For juvenile sentencing, 12 months was a special juvenile sentence and 12 years was the maximum term for a fixed sentence. The delegation said that the total number of detained juveniles was between 3 and 10 individuals over the last 3 years. Considering where to house them was an economic issue because there were too few for a central location and also an important issue for minors was to be in close location with their family and not to be placed in isolation. The Parliamentary Ombudsman requested a report from the Ministry of Justice on how to best place the small number of minors in detention, which would be released shortly. Currently, an individual assessment was being used as the best solution. In Finnish administrative law, all legal decisions could be appealed and the process on how to do this was available to those who were sentenced. The Supreme Court was the final instance to define the principle of the best interest of the child.

Since the 1980s, corporal punishment was made illegal in Finland and there were recent cases where criminalization was implemented.

Data protection in terms of ethnic minorities was widely discussed in Finland because sensitive information concerning individual persons required protection. The Finnish Statistics Center collected data based on first language and citizenship. The delegation said that there was a requirement to collect data in alternative ways to determine the needs of minority persons.

The delegation said the Ministry of Justice was not aware of extradition in the case of sexual exploitation. There were existing hotline services funded by the State, but provided by non-governmental organizations for children and for victims of crime. Special measures could be applied to protect children victims and witnesses during trial proceedings.

The number of school health nurses declined as a result of the recession in the 1990s. The Government addressed this problem by increasing State subsidies for municipalities to recruit nurses and teachers to 18 million Euros per year. Recent figures indicated an increase in breast feeding with 14 per cent of babies exclusively breast fed at the age of 6 months. The delegation explained that the certification of baby friendly hospitals had increased since the 1990s. There was a stabilizing or decreasing trend in child suicides with increased training for early identification among doctors and health care workers. An important new health service was to prevent intergenerational mental health or substance abuse problems through intervention techniques that supported the family. As of 2006, sex education was compulsory in Finnish schools and awareness among adolescents of reproduction had increased.

The delegation explained that children under school age never received medication and that the Government encouraged a broad range of alternatives to medication as a remedy for behavioural problems. There was an alcohol problem among young people in Finland and monitoring indicated that binge drinking in comprehensive schools had decreased, but increased in upper secondary schools. The delegation explained that a decrease in Government taxation on alcohol in 2003 had led to more drinking and in 2009 the Government increased taxes twice which should lead to a decline in drinking among children. The Government had a system of monitoring in school and in health care to intervene and support young children with drinking problems.

Preliminary Remarks

GEHAD MADI, the Committee Member serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of Finland, in preliminary concluding remarks, said there had been great honesty and clarity on behalf of the Finnish delegation to the Committee’s questions and that Finland was a role model in many fields of child rights and he hoped that Finland would pass its experience to developing countries. However, more work was required across different areas including immigrant, refugee, and asylum children along with Roma and Sami children. The issue of a comprehensive monitoring approach to cover all stakeholders should be addressed and the Co-Rapporteur encouraged the State party to reconsider the age of 12 for considering the child’s opinion.

ARTO KOSONEN, Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the delegation would bring the issues raised back to Finland to discuss with stakeholders across society. The Government was looking forward to receiving the concluding observations and believed that this discussion would contribute to the Government’s work at home to improve the situation for children at home and around the world.

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