Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty-s even th session

30 May ‑ 17 June 2011

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the combined second and third periodic report of Bahrain (CRC/C/BHR/2-3)

The State party is requested to submit additional, updated information in writing, and not exceeding 30 pages, if possible before 19 November 2010.

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

Part I

1.Please provide information on the current status of the children’s bill and child education bill.

2.Please provide information on measures taken by the State party to ensure the compatibility of national legislation with the Convention, especially with respect to the explicit prohibition in domestic legislation of corporal punishment in all settings, including in the home, the minimum age for marriage for boys and girls and the minimum age for admission to employment.

3.Please provide information on measures taken to amend legislation relating to the transmission of Bahraini citizenship to children born to a foreign father and a Bahraini mother.

4.Please provide updated information on progress made towards the adoption of the national strategy for children.

5.Please provide updated information on the progress made in creating a centralized mechanism (DevInfo) responsible for collecting data on the implementation of the Convention across the territory of the State party.

6.Please provide updated information on the status, composition, and human and financial resources of the national human rights institution referred to in paragraph 54 of the State party report and indicate whether it has a specific unit dealing with children’s rights and whether it has the competence to receive complaints.

7.Please indicate whether the State party has envisaged developing a systematic approach to cooperate with and involve civil society, especially children’s associations and non-governmental organizations focused on human rights, throughout all stages in the implementation of the Convention, including policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes.

Part II

In this section , the Committee invites the State party to brief ly (three pages maximum ) update 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

1.Please provide updated data for the reporting period on budget allocations for children on education, health, social services and child protection. Please elaborate on the impact of the financial crisis on the resources allocated for children.

2.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age, ethnic origin, urban and rural areas and socio-economic status) covering the reporting period on the following (in percentage of the relevant age group):

(a)Percentage of children in pre-school education;

(b)Percentage of children completing primary and secondary education;

(c)Percentage of children in non-formal education programmes and training;

(d)Teacher-per-children ratio and the number of children per class.

3.Please provide disaggregated data for the reporting period (by sex, age, ethnic origin, urban and rural areas and socio-economic status) on the number of persons under the age of 18 involved in child labour, including both the formal and informal sectors.

4.With reference to child abuse, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age, ethnic origin, urban and rural areas and types of violations reported) for the reporting period on reported cases of child abuse, including sexual abuse, the number and percentage of cases which have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up, and the number and proportion of victims who have received counselling and assistance for recovery.

5.Please provide the number of children in childcare institutions, in particular in the National Centre for Child Protection, the Royal Charity Organization for Orphans and the Centre for the Welfare of Boys, and information on their rehabilitation and reintegration.

6.Please provide updated available data on the number of children in juvenile centres, the number of children in detention, and the number of judgements.

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