Committee on the Rights of the Child

Seventy-eighth session

14 May-1 June 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 Lesotho

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 16 February 2018. 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 provide information on the steps taken and resources committed to implementing, disseminating and translating into Sesotho and Braille the newly adopted legislation, particularly the Child Protection and Welfare Act 2011 and the 2011 regulations relating to the Act, and the steps taken to build upon expired child-related policies and strategies. Please provide the Committee with information on any ongoing efforts to establish a Children’s Commission capable of effectively dealing with complaints from or involving children.

2.Please clarify the mandate, budget and capacity of the Directorate of Child Protection services within the Ministry of Social Development for coordinating the implementation of children’s rights across all relevant sectors and levels of governance. Please clarify the roles and responsibilities related to the implementation of the Convention of the Ministry of Law, Constitutional Affairs and Human Rights and the Ministry of Social Development.

3.Please provide information on the measures taken to establish a comprehensive system of data collection for all the areas covered by the Convention. Please also provide information on the new integrated system for social assistance and the steps taken to develop child-sensitive indicators for monitoring the implementation of the Convention.

4.Please provide information on the measures taken to harmonize the definition of the child with the Child Protection and Welfare Act and the Convention, in particular on measures taken to amend the Marriage Act 1974, which allows girls to marry at the age of 16.

5.Please provide information on the targeted measures taken to eliminate traditional attitudes and laws that discriminate against children, in particular girls, children with disabilities and albinism, children with HIV/AIDS, children born out of wedlock and children from ethnic minorities.

6.Please provide information on the steps taken to increase birth registration, particularly in the rural areas, to remove penalties for late registration and to allocate sufficient resources to the Office of the Registrar. Please also provide the Committee with information on the measures taken to remove inconsistencies in the laws related to the time requirement for birth registration.

7.Please provide information on all measures taken to eradicate corporal punishment in all settings, including at home and in schools and by removing the “justifiable discipline of children” from the Child Protection and Welfare Act. Please also provide information on systems for the early detection and prevention of violence and child abuse at the community level and within the family, in particular sexual abuse, and on the type of support and rehabilitation services, including shelters, provided to child victims.

8.Please update the Committee on the measures taken to develop and implement an alternative care policy and minimum standards of care, and to establish a network of services and safe houses for children and a functioning social welfare workforce. Please explain the measures in place to accredit and regulate alternative care institutions, including orphanages. Please also inform the Committee about the measures taken to regulate and monitor domestic and intercountry adoption.

9.Please provide the Committee with information on the steps taken to reduce the high level of infant mortality and to improve immunization coverage and access to basic HIV services and antiretroviral treatment. Please also provide information on the measures taken to increase the supply of medicine, improve the accessibility of health facilities and support sexual and reproductive health education and services for adolescents, including family planning and safe abortion services.

10.Please outline the measures taken to improve the schools infrastructure, make schools more accessible, especially in rural areas, and improve accessibility to secondary education, especially for girls, including steps to eliminate fees. Please also explain the measures taken to ensure that adolescent mothers, children with disabilities and herd boys and girls effectively enjoy their right to education.

11.Please inform the Committee of the measures taken to eliminate child labour, in particular herding and domestic work, and the worst forms of child labour, namely the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

12.Please provide information on the measures taken to raise the age of criminal responsibility to an internationally accepted standard and to make the children’s courts fully operational. Please inform the Committee of the steps taken to provide assistance and physical and psychological recovery support to child victims and witnesses and to keep children separated from adults in detention centres and in police stations.

Part II

13.The Committee invites the State party to provide a brief update (no more than three pages) on the information presented in its report (CRC/C/LSO/2) 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

14.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on budget lines relating to children and social sectors, as well as under the various ministries, by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and gross national product. Please also provide information on the geographic allocation of those resources.

15.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, national origin, ethnic origin and geographic location, on the number of children, including those living in rural and mountainous areas:

(a)Separated from their parents;

(b)Living in child-headed households and orphaned children;

(c)Placed in institutions and with foster families;

(d)Adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions;

(e)Who have benefited from the child support grant system.

16.Please provide updated data for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, national origin, ethnic origin and geographic location, on:

(a)The allocation of resources to the primary health-care system;

(b)Infant and child mortality;

(c)Teenage pregnancy and girls receiving medical and professional services for pregnancy and childbirth;

(d)Abortions;

(e)Sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS;

(f)Enrolment and completion rates, in percentages, of the relevant age groups in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools;

(g)The number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions.

17.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 areas of the State party:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living in institutions;

(c)Attending regular and informal primary schools;

(d)Attending regular secondary schools;

(e)Attending special schools;

(f)Out of school;

(g)Abandoned by their families.

18.Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, residence and type of offence, for the past three years, on the number of children:

(a)Diverted from the juvenile justice system;

(b)In pretrial detention;

(c)Serving criminal sentences and their sentences.

19.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.

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.