Committee on the Rights of the Child

Seventy-seventh session

15 January-2 February 2018

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

C onsideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the second periodic report of Palau

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 13 October 2017. 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 inform the Committee whether the State party has taken any measures to carry out a comprehensive review of its laws and policies in order to ensure their compliance with the provisions of the Convention. Please also inform the Committee whether the national courts, including the appellate courts, invoke or refer to the rights contained in the Convention. If so, please provide examples.

2.Please indicate whether the State party is planning to develop and adopt a national strategy or an action plan to implement the provisions of the Convention. Please also inform the Committee which State body is responsible for coordination among various agencies and states with regard to activities in the field of children’s rights.

3.In the light of the information provided by the State party in paragraphs 1 to 11 of its report (CRC/C/PLW/2) concerning the allocation of resources, please inform the Committee whether such allocations are accompanied by performance indicators and a tracking system at all levels. Please also provide information on the targeted budgetary allocations for children in marginalized and vulnerable situations, in particular children with disabilities.

4.Please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendation to ensure that non-citizen children are afforded equal and adequate access to health, education and social services (see CRC/C/15/Add.149, para. 33). Please also inform the Committee on the measures taken, including legislative measures, to protect children against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

5.Please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendation to increase awareness of the participatory rights of children and to encourage respect for the views of the child in the family, communities, schools and administrative and judicial processes (see CRC/C/15/Add.149, para. 37).

6.Please update the Committee on the measures taken to prohibit the corporal punishment of children in all settings, including in the home. Please also specify whether the State party has taken measures to change public attitudes and raise awareness to promote positive, non-violent and participatory forms of child-rearing and discipline.

7.Please provide information on the measures taken to prevent and combat child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation, including through the effective investigation and prosecution of reported cases. Please also inform the Committee of the measures taken to provide physical and psychological rehabilitation services and to support the social reintegration of the victims of such crimes.

8.Please clarify which laws and policies regulate both domestic and intercountry adoptions and what mechanisms exist to monitor the practice of informal customary adoptions. Please also inform the Committee whether the State party intends to grant citizenship to children of non-citizen parentage adopted by citizens of Palau.

9.Please provide updated information on the measures taken to provide children with disabilities with inclusive education in mainstream schools and to provide access to information and to all public spaces and facilities.

10.Please indicate the steps taken to address the prevalence of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, among children. Please also inform the Committee of the measures taken to combat the high suicide rate, drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

11.Please inform the Committee whether the State party has taken measures to prevent children dropping out of school, particularly at the secondary school level. Please also provide information on the measures taken to train teachers and to ensure that they, especially those working in elementary schools, have the required pedagogical qualifications.

Part II

12.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

13.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.

14.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, including those living in remote communities and on the outer islands:

(a)Separated from their parents;

(b)Living in female-headed households;

(c)Living with extended families;

(d)Adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions.

15.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 in all parts of the State party:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Attending regular primary schools;

(c)Attending regular secondary schools;

(d)Attending special schools;

(e)Out of school;

(f)Abandoned by their families.

16.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.

17.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.