Committee on the Rights of the Child

List of issues in relation to the combined fourth to sixth periodic reports of Namibia *

1.The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information, of 10,700 words maximum, by 15 February 2024. 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 the measures taken:

(a)To ensure the effective implementation of the Child Care and Protection Act of 2015;

(b)To assess the implementation of the national agenda for children, 2018–2022, and adopt a new policy to succeed the national agenda for children;

(c)To ensure the effective coordination of all activities related to the implementation of the Convention across all sectors, including at the community level, and clarify which State body has the mandate and authority to fulfil that role;

(d)To ensure effective and equitable financing that leads to positive outcomes for children and transparent and participatory budgeting processes in which civil society, the public and children can participate;

(e)To strengthen the collection and analysis of disaggregated data to assess progress achieved in the realization of children’s rights and to facilitate the analysis of the situation of all children, including children in disadvantaged situations.

3.Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure the implementation of accountability regulations for industries in the business sector, including the mining and uranium-producing industries, that negatively affect children’s enjoyment of their rights.

4.Please describe the mechanisms in place to ensure the participation of children in the development of laws and local policies that affect them and to ensure that the outcomes of the Children’s Parliament and youth councils are taken into consideration in public decision‑making.

5.Please provide an update to the Committee on the measures taken to achieve universal birth registration and to ensure that all children, including stateless children and children whose place of birth cannot be determined, are issued with birth certificates and have citizenship.

6.Please provide information on any regulations or safeguarding policies in place to protect the rights, privacy and safety of children in the digital environment and on any programmes to enhance the digital literacy and skills of children, parents and teachers.

7.Please provide information on the following:

(a)Measures taken to prohibit corporal punishment in the home, enforce the prohibition of corporal punishment in school and promote positive and non-violent forms of child-rearing and discipline;

(b)Measures taken to prevent and address violence against children, including the sexual exploitation and abuse of children, in all settings, including the digital environment;

(c)Circumstances in which the marriage of a person under 18 years of age are permitted and any plans to prohibit child marriage, without exception;

(d)Status of the recognition of customary marriage bill and whether it would prohibit customary marriage of those under 18 years of age;

(e)How the findings of the study conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare on child marriage have informed policies or programmes aimed at preventing child marriage;

(f)Measures taken to address discrimination against and the stigmatization of children with albinism.

8.Please update the Committee on measures taken:

(a)To promote the equal sharing of parental responsibilities;

(b)To prevent family separation and ensure sufficient family-based and community-based care options for children who cannot stay with their families;

(c)To ensure that domestic and intercountry adoption procedures comply with the Convention and the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, that adoptions are carried out in line with the law and that there are sufficient post-adoption monitoring and services.

9.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To revise national legislation and policies on the rights of children with disabilities, including the national disability policy and the sector policy on inclusive education, in line with international human rights standards;

(b)To explicitly prohibit discrimination on the grounds of disability, ensure access for children with disabilities to remedies for violations of their rights and address discrimination against children with disabilities, including through awareness-raising activities;

(c)To ensure access for children with disabilities to early detection and intervention programmes.

10.Please describe the measures taken:

(a)To adopt the mental health bill and regulations and ensure access for children to community-based and therapeutic mental health services;

(b)To increase the number and strengthen the capacities of qualified social workers to address the needs of children;

(c)To prevent teenage pregnancy and integrate sexual and reproductive health education into mandatory school curricula and into the training of teachers;

(d)To address substance abuse among adolescents;

(e)To combat child poverty, including by increasing the coverage of grants.

11.Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that national policies and programmes addressing climate change and disaster risk management are implemented in accordance with the Convention and take into account children’s needs and views and to promote children’s awareness of and preparedness for climate change and natural disasters.

12.Please provide an update to the Committee on the policies or measures taken:

(a)To improve the quality of education, prevent school dropout and address the high repetition rates;

(b)To ensure the right of children with disabilities to inclusive education, including any measures to implement the findings of the analysis on inclusive education conducted by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture;

(c)To provide multilingual education for children belonging to ethnic minority groups;

(d)To improve access for children to early childhood education and ensure the registration of all early childhood education centres;

(e)To combat bullying, including cyberbullying, and violence among and against children in school;

(f)To incorporate human rights education into mandatory school curricula;

(g)To expand the availability of vocational training, in particular for children who have dropped out of school;

(h)To guarantee access for children to leisure and cultural activities.

13.Please provide information on the following:

(a)Measures taken to prevent the exploitation of children in labour, including through appropriate safeguards and reporting and referral mechanisms for victims;

(b)Implementation of the national strategic plan for children in street situations;

(c)Status of the child justice bill and the measures taken to gather information on the number and legal situation of children in detention.

Part II

14.The Committee invites the State party to provide a brief update, of no more than three pages, on the information contained 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, their scope and the financing provided for their implementation;

(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 the 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)Child marriages;

(b)Cases of violence against children, including abuse, neglect, domestic violence and sexual exploitation and abuse, including online grooming, that have been reported to the authorities, investigated and prosecuted, and please also include information on the sanctions imposed on the perpetrators;

(c)Children deprived of a family environment, including children who have been abandoned by their families, those who are living with extended family members, in institutions or in foster care and those who have been adopted abroad;

(d)Children with disabilities, further disaggregated by type of disability, who are attending mainstream schools, those who are out of school and those who have reported having experienced violence;

(e)Adolescent pregnancies;

(f)Substance abuse among children;

(g)Children living in poverty;

(h)Children in early childhood education and the proportion of early childhood education centres that are registered;

(i)Unaccompanied children in detention;

(j)Cases of the exploitation of children in labour, including informal and hazardous work;

(k)Children in street situations;

(l)Children who are victims of trafficking and investigations and prosecutions conducted for cases of the trafficking of children, and please also include information on the sentences handed down to perpetrators and the reparations afforded to victims.

17.Please provide updated statistical data for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, type of offence, ethnic origin, national origin, geographical location and socioeconomic status, on children who have been in contact with the criminal justice system, including those who have been:

(a)Arrested;

(b)Held in pretrial detention;

(c)Convicted and who are serving a sentence in detention, and please also include information on the length of the sentence;

(d)Referred to diversion programmes.

18.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 the participation of children and data collection, and on how those measures promote the realization of children’s rights under the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto.

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

20.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.