COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Forty-third session

11-29 September 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 OMAN (CRC/C/149/Add.1)

Part I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before 5 August 2006.

A. Data and statistics, if available

1.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number and percentage of children under the age of 18 living in Oman.

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 2004, 2005 and 2006 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);

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

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(c)Programmes and services for children with disabilities;

(d)Support programmes for families;

(e)Protection of children who are in need of alternative care, including kafalah, and support of care institutions;

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

(g)Programmes and services for children of migrant workers; and

(h)Juvenile justice and the recovery and social 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 sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number of children:

(a)Separated from their parents;

(b)Placed in institutions; or

(c)Placed through kafalah.

4.Please specify the number of children with disabilities, up to the age of 18, disaggregated by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, and urban and rural areas, covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living in institutions;

(c)Placed through kafalah;

(d)Attending regular schools;

(e)Attending special schools; and

(f)Not attending schools.

5.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on:

(a)Rates of infant and child mortality;

(b)Rates of immunization;

(c)Rates of malnutrition;

(d)Children infected with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS;

(e)Adolescent health, including early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), mental health problems (e.g. suicide rates, eating disorders, depression), tobacco use, alcohol and drug abuse; and

(f)The number of health professionals working in health-care services for children.

6.With reference to child abuse, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups and types of child abuse reported) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the:

(a)Number of reported child abuse cases;

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

(c)Number and proportion of child victims who have received counselling and assistance in recovery.

7.Please specify the criteria for “poverty” and indicate the number of children living below the poverty line. Please also specify the support for children living below the poverty line.

8.With reference to the right to education, please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas, immigrant children) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, in percentage of the relevant age group, on the:

(a)Rates of literacy (under 18 years);

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

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

(d)Number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions; and

(e)Teacher per child ratio and number of children per class.

9.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (including by sex, age and type of crime) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, in particular on the number of:

(a)Persons under the age of 18 who allegedly committed a crime, reported to the police;

(b)Persons under the age of 18 who were charged with a crime, and of those who were sentenced, and the type of punishment or sanctions related to offences, including length of deprivation of liberty;

(c)Detention facilities for persons under 18 in conflict with the law, and their capacity;

(d)Persons under 18 detained in these facilities, and persons under 18 detained in adult facilities;

(e)Persons under 18 kept in pretrial detention, and the average length of their detention;

(f)Reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of persons under 18 occurred during their arrest and detention; and

(g)Persons under 18 tried and sentenced as adults.

10.With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number of children:

(a)Involved in sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking, and the number of children provided with access to recovery and other assistance;

(b)Involved in substance abuse and the number of children who received treatment and recovery assistance;

(c)Involved in child labour; and

(d)The number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking, refugee and displaced children.

B. General measures of implementation

The Committee would appreciate receiving specific information on activities intended to implement recommendations contained in the Committee’s previous concluding observations (CRC/C/15/Add.161) on the initial report of Oman (CRC/C/78/Add.1) that have not yet been fully implemented, in particular those related to reservations and legislation (paras. 8-11), non-discrimination (paras. 24-28), the right to a nationality (paras. 33-34), violence against children and child abuse (paras. 35-36), children with disabilities (paras. 41-42) and the administration of juvenile justice (paras. 53-54). Please explain the obstacles to implementation and how the State party envisages overcoming them.

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

Please describe measures undertaken to strengthen data and statistics collection mechanisms and procedures with regard to the implementation of all provisions of the Convention.

Please provide information at the disposal of the State party on the setting up of a permanent and independent mechanism, such as a national human rights institution or an ombudsman, with the mandate to monitor and evaluate the progress of the implementation of the Convention.

Please provide updated information on the activities of the National Committee for the Follow-up on the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Please provide information on whether a new national plan of action for children has been developed and whether it covers all areas of the Convention and takes into account the objectives and goals of the outcome document entitled “A world fit for children” of the United Nations General Assembly special session on children in 2002.

Please provide information on the content of, and implementation measures for, the Seventh Five-year Development Plan 2006-2010, particularly those relevant to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Please provide updated information on the policies and programmes adopted and implemented to promote the respect for the views of the child, children’s participatory rights and their access to information.

Please provide information on the ban on the use of child camel jockeys adopted in 2005, the task force for the follow-up on the situation of children in camel races, and the measures taken so far to implement the ban and the results of these measures.

Please provide information on the status of the Juvenile Law bill and the draft Judiciary Organization Law.

Please provide updated information on efforts to disseminate the Convention, the State party report, and the previous concluding observations of the Committee (CRC/C/15/Add.161).

Please provide updated information on efforts made to provide training on and awareness of the Convention and human rights in general, to children, parents, teachers, religious and community leaders, social workers and other professionals working with and for children.

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

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.

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; and

Newly implemented programmes and projects, and their scope.

PART IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues (which does not contain issues already covered in Part I) that the Committee may take up during the dialogue with the State party. They do no require written answers. This list is not exhaustive as other issues might be raised in the course of the dialogue.

The enforcement of domestic legislation relating to the rights of the child;

Discrimination of vulnerable children, such as girls, children with disabilities, children born out of wedlock, children living in rural areas, and children in conflict with the law;

Right to a nationality;

Violence against children, including corporal punishment, in the family, schools and other institutions;

The situation of children with disabilities, with regard to access to social and health services, equal opportunities to education, recovery and recreation, and public attitudes towards children with disabilities;

The health status of children and their access to adequate social and health services;

Adolescent health concerns and reproductive health issues, and mental health-care services;

Measures for poverty reduction and their results;

The educational system, including early childhood care and education, enrolment in primary and secondary education, literacy, repetition rates, non-formal education services and training, and religious education;

Children of migrant workers;

Sexual exploitation, including child prostitution, and the trafficking and sale of children;

Juvenile justice; and

Children belonging to ethnic or national, religious and linguistic minorities.

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