GENEVA (7 January 2016) – Children’s rights in Oman will be reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 12 and 13 January in sessions that will be webcast live.

Oman is one of the 196 states that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and so is required to undergo regular examinations of its record by the Committee of 18 independent experts.

The CRC members will hold discussions with a government delegation from Oman on how the Convention is being implemented. The Committee will base its evaluation on the delegation’s replies, as well as information from civil society groups.

These are among the possible issues to be discussed: Harmful practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation, and  crimes committed in name of so-called honour; incidents of child abuse and neglect, including sexual abuse; number of children separated from biological parents due to behaviour considered “immoral” such as pregnancy out of wedlock; steps to combat child labour; integration of children with disabilities into all areas of social life; efforts to address high levels of congenital malformations and other health issues, including wasting, stunting and anemia; the situation of children of migrant workers and issues related to juvenile justice. 

The full list of issues and Oman’s submitted written report can be found here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=924&Lang=en

The CRC’s meetings with the delegation will take place in Room XXV at Palais des Nations at the following times:
Tuesday 12 January: 15:00-18:00 (18:00 – 21:00 in Muscat)
Wednesday 13 January: 10:00 – 13:00 (13:00 – 16:00)
The meetings are public and will be webcast here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/

The CRC will hold a news conference to discuss its findings on Oman and the other countries being reviewed - Senegal, Iran, Latvia, France, Ireland, Haiti, Peru, Maldives, Zimbabwe, Maldives, Zambia, Benin, Brunei and Kenya – at 12:00 on 4 February at the Palais des Nations. The findings, officially called concluding observations, will be published on 4 February here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=924&Lang=en

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell (+41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org

Media accreditation for the Palais des Nations:   http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

To learn more about the Committee on the Rights of the Child, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx

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