Committee on the Rights of the Child

Eighty-second session

9–27 September 2019

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

C onsideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 15 May 2019. The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party.

Part I

1.Please provide information on the measures taken to assess the impact and results of the Action Plan for Children of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2015–2018. Please explain whether a policy framework, including financial resources and implementation measures, has been established or will be established under any subsequent plans at the national, entity, district and cantonal levels. Please also explain how systematic and meaningful child participation was or will be addressed in the policy framework.

2.In the light of the Committee’s previous concluding observations (CRC/C/BIH/CO/2-4, paras. 14 and 20), please provide updated information on the measures taken to strengthen effective coordination, in particular the role of the Councils for Children and the cooperation between them in that regard. Please indicate whether a budgeting process with a focus on children’s needs has been established at the national, entity, district and cantonal levels.

3.Please inform the Committee about the measures taken to adopt a national explicit legal definition of a child, particularly concerning the provisions of the family laws at the entity and district levels that allow for child marriage in certain circumstances (CRC/C/BIH/5-6, para. 56). Please provide information on measures taken to raise awareness of the harmful consequences of child marriage, particularly among the Roma population, and on the impact of those measures.

4.In the light of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination (2009), please describe further legal and awareness-raising measures taken to combat discrimination against children, particularly Roma children, children with disabilities, migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children and children of parents belonging to that community. Please explain plans to eliminate discrimination against children in exercising their rights and in their access to various services based on their place of residence.

5.With reference to the State party’s report (CRC/C/BIH/5-6, para. 82), please specify what “real assistance” the State party has provided to illiterate persons and whether that assistance has improved the rate of birth registration of children. Please provide information on the measures taken to facilitate the birth registration of children of nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina born abroad or children born in the State party’s territory to undocumented migrant parents.

6.Please provide updated information on the progress made in amending all relevant legislation to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including in the home, throughout the territory of the State party. Please update the Committee on the impact, remaining gaps and renewal of the strategy for preventing and combating violence against children for 2012–2015. Please provide information on any measures taken or envisaged to address peer violence, including bullying in schools and violence through the Internet.

7.Please indicate what measures have been taken to:

(a)Support parents, in particular single parents, in taking care of their children;

(b)Ensure adequate human, technical and financial resources for the social protection system;

(c)Prevent the placement of children in institutions;

(d)Strengthen and harmonize the kinship and foster care systems;

(e)Draft comprehensive legislation on the adoption of children.

8.Please provide information on data collection and plans concerning the vaccination of children. With reference to the State party’s report (CRC/C/BIH/5-6, paras. 148–149), please provide information on the steps taken to reduce the disparities between the different administrative units in the State party with regard to legislation, policies and practices relating to children with disabilities. Please also provide information on any measures taken or envisaged to ensure access to education and health services for children with disabilities and to provide additional support to their families.

9.Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure inclusive education of equal quality for all children, including Roma children, children in rural areas and children with disabilities, and to prevent them from dropping out of school. Please indicate whether adequate resources have been allocated to those measures. Please update the Committee on the steps taken to eradicate the “two schools under one roof” policy and mono-ethnic schools.

10.Please inform the Committee about any steps taken to implement the Law on Asylum (2016) to ensure full access to health-care services, education, free legal aid and psychosocial support for asylum-seeking and refugee children and guardianship for all unaccompanied children.

11.Please clarify whether any measures have been taken to amend criminal laws to punish persons who exploit children for the purpose of forced begging (CRC/C/BIH/5-6, para. 273 (a)). Please provide information on the measures taken to provide adequate training for judges and law enforcement officers dealing with trafficking, forced begging and the forced marriage of children to ensure that those criminal offences are prosecuted and punished.

12.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (CRC/C/BIH/CO/2-4, para. 77), please clarify what measures are in place to ensure access to education for children in detention, to establish adequate alternatives to custodial sentences and to establish a mechanism to monitor the execution of custodial sentences for children. Please explain the measures taken to implement the Law on Protection and Treatment of Children and Juveniles in Criminal Proceedings at the entity and district levels and to adopt the law at the national level.

13.Please provide updated information on the steps taken to implement the Committee’s recommendations under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/BIH/CO/1), in particular those on legislation (paras. 9, 27 and 29), a national action plan (para. 11) and the protection and reintegration of child victims (paras. 35, 39 and 41), with regard to not only child trafficking but also the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

14.With reference to annex 3 to the State party’s report, please explain the measures taken or envisaged to provide training on the provisions of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict for all relevant professionals and to specifically establish extraterritorial jurisdiction for all cases under article 4 (2) of the Optional Protocol. Please also provide information on reported cases of children from Bosnia and Herzegovina involved in the armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic.

Part II

15.The Committee invites the State party to provide a brief update (no more than three pages) on the information presented in its report with regard to:

(a)New bills or laws, and their respective regulations;

(b)New institutions (and their mandates) or institutional reforms;

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing;

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

16.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on the budget lines regarding children and social sectors by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and the gross national product. Please also provide information on the geographic allocation of those resources.

17.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin, national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic status, for the past three years, on:

(a)Child marriage among Roma children;

(b)The number of “two schools under one roof” and mono-ethnic schools;

(c)Cases of corporal punishment in all settings;

(d)Child victims of domestic violence;

(e)The number of criminal accusations, prosecutions and convictions in cases of child abuse, including sexual abuse and exploitation of children;

(f)The number of specialized institutions for the rehabilitation of child victims of violence and sexual abuse;

(g)Cases of neglect and abuse, especially in institutions and alternative care settings;

(h)Children living in poverty and in street situations;

(i)Migrant and asylum-seeking children, including unaccompanied children, both in and outside of reception centres;

(j)Child victims of trafficking and abduction.

18.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographic location regarding the situation of children deprived of a family environment, for the past three years, on the number of children:

(a)Separated from their parents;

(b)Placed in institutions run by the Government, by non-governmental organizations and by faith-based organizations;

(c)Placed in foster families.

19.Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographic location, for the past three years, on the number of children with disabilities:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living in institutions;

(c)Attending regular primary schools;

(d)Attending regular secondary schools;

(e)Attending special schools;

(f)Out of school;

(g)Abandoned by their families.

20.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data disaggregated by age, sex, type of offence, ethnic and national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic status, for the past three years, on children in conflict with the law who have been:

(a)Arrested;

(b)Referred to diversion programmes;

(c)In pretrial detention;

(d)Serving a sentence in detention, including data on the length of the sentence.

21.Please provide information on how the planning, implementation and monitoring of measures for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals integrate a child rights-based approach, including with regard to child participation and data collection, and how they promote the realization of children’s rights under the Convention and its Optional Protocols.

22.Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report that may have become outdated by more recent data collected or other new developments.

23.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.