Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty-sixth session

17 January–4 February 2011

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the consideration of the second periodic report of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (CRC/C/LAO/2)

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 inform the Committee whether the Committee for Protection and Assistance to Children, referred to in articles 35 and 36 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Children, has been established. In this regard, please provide further details on the current activities of the Committee or, in the event that it has not been established, any obstacles that have prevented its creation.

2.Please briefly provide more details on the implementation of the project referred to in paragraph 101 (c) of the State party’s report, and supported by the Poverty Reduction Fund, with a particular focus on how this project impacted on children.

3.Please briefly describe any recent concrete results of the State party’s Strategic Plan for the elimination of poverty, informing the Committee whether it has been revised to take into account current circumstances, such as the recent financial crisis. Please also briefly inform the Committee where the State party stands regarding the implementation of the goals it set for itself (see State party report para. 102) to reduce poverty by half by 2005 and eliminate it completely by 2010.

4.With reference to the State party’s report, paragraph 159 (e), please briefly provide information on the results of the 2002-2003 project to combat trafficking in women and children in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Please also briefly provide details on the work of the ad hoc working group against trafficking in persons that was established in 2005 (see State party report, para. 159 (c)).

5.Please inform the Committee whether the national reporting network system referred to in article 38 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Children has been established. In this regard, please provide further details on the structure of the system and how it works or, if it has not yet been established, any obstacles that have prevented its creation.

6.Please briefly describe specific measures or activities put in place by the State party to strengthen families and, particularly, to provide assistance to parents and extended families in caring for, raising and educating their children.

7.Please provide information on measures taken to combat and prevent all forms of abuse against children, including sexual and physical abuse in the home and in care institutions.

8.Please briefly inform the Committee as to current efforts to ensure the rights of children with disabilities. In this regard, please update the Committee on any recent work of the National Commission for the Disabled (established in 1995) and of the Association for Disabled Women and Children (established in 1998).

Please indicate whether there is a register for children who are placed in rehabilitation and reformatories. Please also provide information on how long children stay in these centres and the reasons for their detention, as well as on whether there is a monitoring mechanism to review the placement of children in these centres.

Part II

In this section, the State party is invited to briefly (three pages maximum) update the information provided 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.In light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide updated data for 2008, 2009 and 2010, on budget allocations (including trends analysis) for the implementation of the Convention throughout the State Party in the areas of health, education and protection of children.

2.With reference to children in care, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age, reason for entry into care and type of placement) for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 on:

(a)The number of children deprived of a family environment;

(b)The number of children already in the care system;

(c)The average length of stay in the childcare system.

3.Please provide updated data for 2007, 2008 and 2009, disaggregated by sex, age, ethnic group and rural/urban areas, on the number of children:

(a)Infected by HIV/AIDS;

(b)Affected by HIV/AIDS;

(c)Orphans of HIV/AIDS living in extended families, institutions, pagodas or with bonzes.

4.Please provide detailed statistics from 2008, 2009 and 2010, disaggregated by age, sex and offence committed, on:

(a)Persons under 18 who have been tried as adults;

(b)Persons under 18 detained in adult prisons;

(c)The number of children in conflict with the law who received alternative penalties;

(d)Reported cases of abuse or ill-treatment of children that occurred during the arrest or detention of children in conflict with the law, as well as the type of follow-up given to these cases.

5.Please provide data for 2007, 2008 and 2009 on:

(a)The number of child victims of sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography;

(b)The number of child victims of trafficking;

(c)The number of child victims of sexual abuse, including incest;

(d)The number of children who were provided access to recovery and social reintegration services, specifying the type of services;

(e)Legal proceedings instituted against the perpetrators of such offences and the outcomes of those proceedings over the same period; and

(f)The number of child victims of economic exploitation.

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