COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Forty-first session

9-27 January 2006

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTIONON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the second periodic report of the REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS(CRC/C/65/Add.35)

PART I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before 23 November 2005

A. Data and statistics, if available

1.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by gender, age groups, ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 on the number and percentage of children under 18 living in Mauritius.

2.In the light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide disaggregated data on budget allocations and trends (in absolute figures and percentages of the national and regional budgets) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 regarding the implementation of the Convention evaluating also the priorities for budgetary expenditures given to the following:

(a)education (different types of education, i.e. pre-primary, primary and secondary education);

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(b)health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care and other health-care services for children, including social insurance);

(c)programmes and services for children with disabilities;

(d)support programmes for families;

(e)support for children living below the poverty line (please also specify the criteria for “poverty” and indicate the number of children living below the poverty line);

(f)protection of children who are in need of alternative care including the support of care institutions;

(g)programmes and activities for the prevention of and protection from child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child labour;

(h)programmes and services for abandoned children, including street children; and

(i)juvenile justice and the recovery and reintegration of juvenile offenders.

Please also indicate the estimated expenses of the private sector, in particular for health and education.

3.With reference to children deprived of a family environment and separated from parents please provide disaggregated data (by gender, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 on the number of children:

(a)separated from their parents;

(b)placed in institutions;

(c)placed with foster families;

(d)adopted domestically through simple or plenary adoption; and

(e)adopted through intercountry adoptions.

4.Please specify the number of children with disabilities, up to the age of 18, disaggregated by gender, age groups and, if possible, ethnic groups, urban and rural areas, covering the years 2002, 2003 and 2004:

(a)living with their families;

(b)living in institutions;

(c)placed with foster care;

(d)attending regular schools;

(e)attending special schools; and

(f)not attending schools.

5.Please provide information on the number of children abducted from or to Mauritius.

6.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by gender, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2002, 2003 and 2004:

(a)rates of infant and child mortality;

(b)rates of immunization;

(c)rates of malnutrition;

(d)adolescent health, including early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), mental health and abortions;

(e)number and percentage of health professionals working in health-care services for children;

(f)number of children infected with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS; and

(g)drug use, alcohol, tobacco and other substance abuse.

7.With reference to child abuse, please provide disaggregated data (by age, gender, if possible ethnic groups and types of child abuse reported) covering the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 on the:

(a)number of reported child abuse cases;

(b)number and percentage of reports which have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up; and

(c)number and proportion of child victims that have received counselling and assistance in recovery.

8.With reference to the right to education, please provide disaggregated statistical data (by gender, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas, immigrant children) covering the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 in percentage of the relevant age group on the:

(a)rates of literacy, below and over 18 years;

(b)rate of enrolment in pre-primary schools, primary schools and in secondary schools;

(c)percentage of children completing primary and secondary education;

(d)number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions;

(e)teacher per child ratio and number of children per class;

(f)number of children attending public schools;

(g)number of children attending private schools; and

(h)number of children attending school abroad.

9.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (including by gender, age and type of crime) covering the years 2002, 2003 and 2004, in particular on the number of:

(a)persons below 18, who have allegedly committed a crime, reported to the police;

(b)persons below 14 tried or reported to the police;

(c)persons below 18 who have been sentenced and the type of punishment or sanctions related to offences including length of deprivation of liberty;

(d)detention facilities for persons below 18 in conflict with the law and their capacity;

(e)persons below 18 detained in these facilities and persons below 18 detained in adult facilities;

(f)persons below 18 kept in pretrial detention and the average length of their detention;

(g)persons below 14 in pretrial detention;

(h)reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of persons below 18, which occurred during their arrest and detention; and

(i)persons below 18 tried and sentenced as adults.

10.With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by gender, age, if possible ethnic group, urban and rural areas) for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 on the number of:

(a)children involved in sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking and the number of those children who were provided with access to recovery and reintegration services;

(b)children involved in substance abuse and the number of those children who received treatment and reintegration services;

(c)children involved in labour who are under 16;

(d)migrant unaccompanied persons below 18; and

(e)street and homeless children.

B. General measures of implementation

1.The Committee would appreciate receiving information on activities meant to implement recommendations contained in the Committee’s previous concluding observations on the initial report of the Republic of Mauritius (CRC/C/15/Add.64) which have not yet been fully implemented.

2.Please provide more information on measures taken to improve the system for collection of disaggregated data and children under 18 in all areas under the Convention, including on whether the NCC, which was expected to build a database on children and compile statistics necessary for policy formulation, has been able to accomplish its task.

3.Please provide information on cases, if any, where the Convention has been directly invoked in domestic courts, and if so, please provide examples of such cases.

4.Please provide detailed information on the current restructuring of the National Children’s Council (NCC), the body which is in charge with promoting the rights of the child and protecting children from all forms of abuse.

5.Please provide further information on the National Action Plan for the Development and the Protection of Children and on the national children’s policy which was being prepared by the Ministry of Women’s Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare, with the assistance of UNICEF.

6.Please provide updated information on the dissemination of the Convention and the State party report and on efforts made to provide training, awareness on the Convention and on human rights in general, to children, parents, teachers, social workers and other professionals working with and for children in all parts of Mauritius.

7.Please provide updated information on the cooperation between the State party and the international community including non-governmental organizations, in the efforts to implement the Convention.

8.Please indicate the issues affecting children that the State party considers to be priorities requiring the most urgent attention with regard to the implementation of the Convention.

9.Please provide updated information on the NGO Trust Fund which was established in 1998 in order to streamline grant procedures.

PART II

Please provide the Committee with copies of the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all official languages of the State party as well as in other languages or dialects, when available. If possible, please submit these texts in electronic form.

PART III

Under this section, the State party is to briefly (3 pages maximum) update the information provided in its report with regard to:

new bills or enacted legislation;

new institutions;

newly implemented policies;

newly implemented programmes and projects and their scope.

PART IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues (that does not contain issues already covered in Part I) that the Committee may take up during the dialogue with the State party. They do not require written answers. This list is not exhaustive as other issues might be raised in course of the dialogue.

1.Non-discrimination in general and in particular discrimination against girls, children with disabilities, children living in poverty, children in conflict with law, children with HIV/AIDS or whose parents have HIV/AIDS and children living in rural areas.

2.Respect for the views of the child.

3.Comprehensive survey on children with disabilities which was being carried out by the Ministry of Social Security and was supposed to form the basis of the new national policy on children with disabilities.

4.Violence against children, including corporal punishment, within the family, schools and other institutions, and the implementation of the Child Watch Network Program.

5.National Action Plan for Children and NPA to combat poverty.

6.Placement of children in alternative care.

7.Reform of the education system, including the Action Plan for Education (APE), the Education for Development project (EDEV) and the Zones Education Prioritaire (ZEP).

8.Adolescent health concerns, including early pregnancy, abortion and the abuse of alcohol and other substance abuse by children.

9.Economic exploitation.

10.Street children, including actions taken based on Save the Children’s qualitative study on street children.

11.Sexual exploitation, trafficking and sale of children, including the survey on child sex tourism which was to be conducted to determine the extent of this problem.

12.Administration of juvenile justice, inter alia, alternatives for (pretrial) detention, adequate legislation, rehabilitation and social reintegration services.

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