UN Committee to review Samoa’s record on children’s rights

GENEVA (11 May 2016) – Children’s rights in Samoa will be reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on 17 and 18 May in sessions that will be webcast live. Samoa is one of the 196 States that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and so is required to be reviewed regularly by the Committee of 18 independent experts.

Among the possible issues to be discussed between Committee members and a government delegation from Samoa are:
·    Measures to prohibit corporal punishment;
·    Steps to prevent and tackle sexual exploitation and abuse of children;
·    Policies to promote adolescent health, including tackling suicide, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, discrimination against pregnant girls;
·    Child protection issues as part of natural disaster planning;
·    Free universal primary education;
·    Efforts to eliminate worst forms of child labour;
·    Minimum age of criminal responsibility.

The full list of issues and Samoa’s submitted written report can be found here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=987&Lang=en

The discussions will take place at Palais Wilson in Geneva on 17 May from 15:00-18:00 (02:00-05:00 on 18 May in Apia) and on 18 May from 10:00-13:00 (21:00-24:00 in Apia). The meetings are public and will be webcast here:  http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/. 

Committee members will base their evaluation on the delegation’s report and replies, as well as information from civil society groups.

The Committee will hold a news conference at 12:00 on 9 June at Palais des Nations in Geneva to discuss its findings on Samoa and the other countries being reviewed – Nepal, UK, Slovakia, Pakistan, Gabon , Bulgaria and Luxembourg. The findings, officially known as concluding observations, will be published on 9 June here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=987&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:     http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background:

Members of the CRC are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. To learn more about the Committee on the Rights of the Child: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx

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