Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixty – first session

17 September – 5 October 2012

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the consideration of the combined second, third and fourth periodic reports of Liberia (CRC/C/LBR/2-4)

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information, if possible before 2 July 2012.

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party.

Part I

In this section, the State party is requested to submit its responses to the following questions (30 pages maximum).

1.Please provide information on the new Children’s Law, including on its compliance with the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its supremacy over customary law.

2.Please indicate the steps taken by the State party to develop a national plan of action for children that covers all areas of the Convention.

3.Please clarify the mandate and capacity of the Children’s Protection and Development Division to coordinate the implementation of child rights across relevant sectors and from national to county levels. Please also clarify the overlap of mandates and roles between the Children’s Division and the Department of Social Welfare of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

4.Please indicate whether mechanisms are in place to assess the impact of budgetary allocations on children in all sectors.

5.Please provide detailed information on the targeted measures taken to eliminate traditional attitudes and laws that discriminate against children, in particular girls, children with disabilities, orphaned children, children of ethnic minorities and children in rural areas.

6.Please indicate additional steps taken to assess the scope, nature and causes of violence against children, including gender-based violence against girls and sexual abuse and exploitation, as described notably in paragraph 116 of the State party’s report. Please also indicate measures to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against children including the prohibition of corporal punishment in schools, alternative care facilities and within the family.

7.Please provide information on the measures taken to prevent institutionalization of children, deinstitutionalize children and reunite them with their biological parents. Please also explain the measures in place to accredit and regularly monitor alternative care institutions, including the new regulations for the appropriate use and conditions of alternative care for children launched by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in February 2010.

8.Please indicate the measures undertaken to reduce informal adoption and to regulate domestic and intercountry adoption. In particular, please update the Committee on the progress achieved in finalizing the Adoption Bill and on the results achieved with regards to the moratorium on adoptions recently declared by the Government. Please also clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Commission on Adoption created in 2008 and the ad hoc Central Adoption Authority established in 2009.

9.Please provide updated information on initiatives taken by the State party to reduce disparities in children’s access to health facilities and services, safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, in particular in rural areas. Please indicate targeted measures taken to combat child malnutrition and stunting. Please also provide information on efforts and progress in improving adolescent reproductive health.

10.Please provide detailed information on the measures taken to prevent and prohibit harmful practices against children, including early marriages, female genital mutilation and trial by ordeal.

11.Please indicate all measures taken by the State party to restore schools throughout the country and to increase school enrolment and retention rates. Please also explain the measures taken to ensure that pregnant teenage girls and children with disabilities effectively enjoy their right to education.

12.Please provide detailed information on the measures taken to prevent the recruitment of children and their use in armed conflicts in neighbouring countries.

13.Please indicate the measures adopted by the State party to provide child victims of violence including sexual abuse and exploitation, with psychosocial support, rehabilitation and reintegration. Please alsoinformthe Committee of initiatives taken by the State party to disseminate the amendment of the Penal Code in 2005 (so called Rape law), among police officials and the judiciary and to ensure its strict application.

14.Please provide updated and detailed information on measures adopted to tackle trafficking in the State party, including the implementation the Anti-Trafficking Law (2005) and its action plan.

15.Please update the Committee on whether the State party envisages raising the age of the child in juvenile justice related laws to 18 years, and prohibiting death penalty and life imprisonment for children. Please update the Committee on measures to establish juvenile courts in all counties and separate detention facilities for juveniles. Please also indicate the steps taken to ensure that juvenile courts are provided with the necessary human, technical and financial resources to operate effectively, and provide more information on the training provided to the judiciary on children’s rights.

Part II

In this section the Committee invites the State party to briefly (three pages maximum) update the information provided in its report with regard to:

(a)Newly implemented policies, programmes and plans and their scope;

(b)Newly established institutions or institutional reforms and their respective mandates;

(c)Newly enacted bills and their regulations;

(d)Newly ratified human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

1.Please provide data for the years 2008-2011 on budget appropriations for the implementation of the Convention in the areas of health, education and child protection.

2.Please indicate the rate and percentage of birth registration for the years 2008-2011 disaggregated by sex, county, urban and rural areas

3.Please provide, if available, statistical data on children who are living in informal and formal foster care settings disaggregated by sex, age, county and socio-economic background. Please also indicate in each case if one or both biological parents are living.

4.Please specify the number of children with disabilities, up to the age of 18, disaggregated by age, sex, county, type of disability and socio-economic background covering the years 2008 to 2011, who are:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Attending regular schools;

(c)Attending special schools;

(d)Not attending school.

5.With reference to the right to health please provide updated data on:

(a)Number of health facilities which were restored in the last three years (2008-2011) in different counties;

(b)Rates of infant and child mortality and updated number of children suffering from stunting or malnutrition;

(c)Rates of HIV/AIDS infections among children.

6.With reference to education, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age, county and rural/urban area) for the years 2008-2011 as a percentage of the relevant age group on:

(a)The rates of literacy of those under 18 years of age;

(b)The rate of enrolment in preschools, primary schools and secondary schools;

(c)The percentage of children completing primary and secondary education;

(d)The number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions;

(e)The ratio of teachers to pupils and the number of children per class;

(f)The proportion of qualified teachers and unqualified teachers receiving professional training.

7.Please provide information on the number of complaints and number of victims of sexual abuse, including the cases reviewed by the National Child Rights Observatory Group (NACROG), covering the years 2008-2011, disaggregated by sex, age, county and the number of investigations and prosecutions carried out in this regard and pending cases. Please also provide information on the number and proportion of child victims who received counselling and assistance for recovery and social reintegration.

8.Please provide data covering the last three years on the number of child victims of sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking. Please also provide data on the legal proceedings engaged against perpetrators of such offences over the same period and the sanctions pronounced against them.

9.Please provide data covering the last three years on the number of persons below 18 years of age who have been tried as adults, and detained in adult penitentiaries. Also provide more information on children below the age of criminal responsibility who have come into conflict with the law.

10.In addition, the State party may list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority with regard to the implementation of the Convention.