Committee on the Rights of the Child

List of issues in relation to the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Iraq *

1.The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information, of 10,700 words maximum, by 15 February 2025. 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

2.Please provide information on:

(a)The progress made in adopting the draft child protection law that has been pending for more than 10 years and the draft child protection law of the Kurdistan Region, and the measures taken to ensure that the drafts comply fully with the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto;

(b)The debates on the proposed amendments to the Personal Status Act related to the age of marriage and the custody rights of mothers, and their conformity with the Convention;

(c)The main achievements and ongoing evaluation of the 2022–2025 implementation plan for the Child Protection Policy and the coordination functions of the Child Welfare Commission, including information on the level of engagement of all concerned government entities, children, civil society and other stakeholders in the development, implementation and monitoring of relevant policies and programmes;

(d)The proportion of the budget allocated to the Child Welfare Commission, implementation plans for the Child Protection Policy and other action plans, strategies, programmes and government entities concerning children;

(e)The development and utilization of an accurate and disaggregated national database on children and a child protection information management system, including the types of data collected and methods employed for data validation and quality management, and plans for the use of the upcoming census to collect data on issues related to the Convention;

(f)Measures taken to ensure pathways for children to gain access to justice and remedies, including administrative complaint mechanisms and child-friendly judicial procedures.

3.Please inform the Committee about measures taken:

(a)To prevent discrimination against, and denial of services to, children belonging to ethnic or religious minority groups, children of unmarried parents or children born as a result of forced or informal marriages, rape or conflict-related sexual violence;

(b)To prevent intolerance and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children, including criminalization and discrimination resulting from the amendments adopted in 2024 to Act No. 8 of 1988 on Combating Prostitution;

(c)To prevent the killing and maiming of children by explosive ordnance and to fully implement the prohibition of the death penalty for children, particularly in the context of counter-terrorism legislation;

(d)To evaluate the implementation, effectiveness, outcomes and impact of child participation mechanisms and frameworks, such as the Children’s Parliament and the National Framework for Youth Participation.

4.Please provide information on measures taken:

(a)To ensure birth registration and access to certificates for all children, including children who are internally displaced, who return from overseas, such as from the Syrian Arab Republic, who have parents affiliated with Da’esh, who were born in the context of armed conflict or humanitarian emergencies or who belong to ethnic or religious minority groups;

(b)To amend the Nationality Act (No. 26 of 2006) to reduce barriers to the acquisition of Iraqi nationality arising from marriage and paternity requirements and to facilitate its acquisition by children who would otherwise be stateless;

(c)To revise the legal framework in relation to the mandatory registration of children as Muslim, which sometimes causes reluctance to register a birth;

(d)To adopt and implement regulations and safeguarding policies to protect the rights, including the right to privacy, and safety of children in the digital environment and to safeguard children from censorship and digital surveillance.

5.Please provide information on:

(a)The measures taken to strengthen the legal framework and to address and prevent all forms of violence against children, including abuse, neglect, domestic violence and sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation, including in the digital environment and in relation to tribal customs;

(b)The cases and results of investigations conducted on allegations of torture and other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment against children, including in detention settings; the sanctions imposed on the perpetrators; and the steps taken to ensure the inadmissibility of evidence obtained by unlawful means, such as coerced confessions and torture, including in national security or terrorism-related cases;

(c)The steps taken to prohibit and prevent corporal punishment in all settings in laws, policies and practice;

(d)The measures taken to address the issue of unregistered marriages that contravene the law and to strengthen the legal framework and programmes to prevent child marriage.

6.Please provide information on measures taken to strengthen data collection related to children with disabilities, to harmonize domestic legislation based on a human rights-based approach to disability and to ensure inclusive education in mainstream schools by securing reasonable accommodation and sufficient support.

7.Please inform the Committee about measurestaken, including implementation of the National Strategy on Early Childhood Development 2022–2031 and capacity-building of health workers, to reduce neonatal and infant mortality through equitable access to healthcare services during and after pregnancy and delivery.

8.Please provide information on measures taken:

(a)To ensure social protection systems provide sufficient and inclusive support to children and families and that the systems are equipped with the appropriate number of social workers and psychologists trained to provide needs-based social services;

(b)To improve access to clean drinking water and sanitation.

9.Please provide information on measures taken:

(a)To address the adverse effects of environmental degradation and climate change, such as high temperatures, droughts, water scarcity, contaminated water supplies and sources, flooding and sandstorms, on the enjoyment of children’s rights;

(b)To ensure that national policies and programmes addressing environmental protection and climate change, including child-centred disaster risk reduction strategies, take into account children’s needs and views;

(c)To promote children’s awareness of and preparedness for climate change.

10.Please provide information on measures taken:

(a)To evaluate the implementation of the National Education and Higher Education Strategy 2012–2022;

(b)To increase the national budgetary allocation for education;

(c)To reduce school dropout rates related to child marriage and poverty, monitor children who are out of school, facilitate their reintegration into the school system and promote enrolment rates at all levels for both girls and boys, refugee and displaced children and children belonging to ethnic or religious minority groups, without discrimination;

(d)To improve and expand school infrastructure, safety in schools and the qualifications and training of teachers at all levels;

(e)To assess and remedy the learning loss that resulted from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, building on the State party’s second voluntary national review report (2021).

11.Please update the Committee about measures taken:

(a)To prevent the involvement of children in hazardous work and eradicate the worst forms of child labour;

(b)To raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years of age in line with international standards, and adopt and implement proper measures for children under the minimum age;

(c)To ensure fair trial rights, due process guarantees and child-friendly procedures for children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law, and establish and implement a framework for diversion;

(d)To apply non-custodial measures in relation to children deprived of liberty, including children facing national security or terrorism-related charges or detained for migration-related reasons.

12.Please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendations in relation to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

13.Please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendations in relation to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, including measures:

(a)To implement strategies to prevent the recruitment of children by terrorist groups and to facilitate rehabilitation and reintegration of these children;

(b)To implement the 2023 action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, and mainstream children’s rights in the discussions regarding the transition plan for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq scheduled to be concluded by 31 December 2024, including in relation to the repatriation and reintegration of and individualized support for Iraqi children from the Syrian Arab Republic.

Part II

14.The Committee invites the State party to provide a brief update, of no more than three pages, on the information set out in its report with regard to the following:

(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

15.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on the budget lines regarding children and social sectors, 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 geographical allocation of those resources.

16.Please provide updated statistical data, for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographical location and socioeconomic status, on the following:

(a)Cases of violence against children, including torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, abuse, corporal punishment, neglect, domestic violence, and sexual exploitation and abuse, that have been reported to the authorities, investigated and prosecuted, and information on the sanctions imposed on the perpetrators;

(b)Cases involving children processed by the child protection units, directorates and units involved in the fight against domestic violence, the High Commission for Human Rights of Iraq and other relevant mechanisms;

(c)Child marriage;

(d)Adolescent pregnancies;

(e)Children in street situations;

(f)Children living in poverty;

(g)Working children, including those involved in hazardous work;

(h)Children who are out of school;

(i)Children allegedly associated with armed forces and armed groups;

(j)Children repatriated from the Syrian Arab Republic, including those detained in Iraq following their return;

(k)Asylum-seeking, refugee, migrant, unaccompanied and separated and stateless children, indicating whether they are in detention.

17.With regard to the situation of children deprived of a family environment, please provide data, for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographical location, on the number of children:

(a)Separated from their families, including data on the duration of the separation;

(b)In alternative care facilities;

(c)Placed with foster families;

(d)Who are in kinship care.

18.Please provide data, for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographical location, on the number of children with disabilities who are or who have been:

(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.

19.Please provide statistical data, for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, type of offence, ethnic and national origin, geographical location and socioeconomic status, on children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal lawwho:

(a)Have been arrested;

(b)Have been referred to diversion programmes;

(c)Have been placed in pretrial detention;

(d)Are serving a sentence in detention, indicating the length of the sentence;

(e)Have been charged or detained on national security or terrorism-related grounds, including for their or their families’ actual or alleged association with armed groups, especially Da’esh.

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

21.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.

22.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.