Committee on the Rights of the Child
Eighty-fifth session
Consideration of reports of States parties
Replies of Eswatini to the list of issues in relation to its combined second to fourth periodic reports *
[Date received: 4 March 2020]
Replies to the list of issues (CRC/C/SWZ/Q/2-4)
A.Reply to paragraph 1of the list of issues
1.The Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini recognizes customary law as part of the law of the Kingdom. However, Section 252 (3) has a proviso that the recognition of customary law will not apply in respect of any custom that is inconsistent with a provision of this Constitution or a statute, or repugnant to natural justice or morality or general principles of humanity. On the other hand, Section 3(4) of the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act provides that any action less protective or less promotive in any law, the provisions of the CPW Act shall apply. Section 15 of the same Act provides fora child’s right to refuse to be compelled to undergo or uphold any custom or practices that are likely to negatively affect the child’s life, health, welfare, dignity or physical, emotional, psychological, mental and intellectual development.
2.With regards to legislative frameworks, the Kingdom of Eswatini has started a process of developing Regulations for specific legislation, these include the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act which are awaiting submission to Parliament. The process of drafting Regulations for the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act was initiated with stakeholder consultations in 2019 and Draft CPWA Regulations are being developed by the Attorney General’s Office. Regulations for the Disability Act have not been developed but a National Disability Action Plan was developed in 2015 to ensure that national policies and development programmes mainstream disability in all stages of planning and implementation.
3.The Legal Aid Bill, Citizenship Bill and Marriage Bill are still in Draft forms and are at consultation stages.
B.Reply to paragraph 2 of the list of issues
4.The Government of Eswatini in collaboration with UNICEF are implementing a five year Plan, which amongst its strategies include the engagement of a Consultant to review the National Plan of Action for Children (2011–2015). The National Master Development Plan for Children is in its final consultative stages of children stakeholder development. A comprehensive national plan for children taking into account the prevailing domestic status for children and the strategic growth agenda for children, will be developed by the end of the 2020/2021 Financial year. This plan seeks to define clear institutional arrangement frameworks, Children Services Processing and response systems and approaches that will be implemented as a strategic measure to match resources and efforts with the demand for children rights.
5.On Resources budgets required to support the needs of children, The National Children Services Department has initiated a process of establishing a multi-sectoral interdisciplinary children fund, geared to prioritizing Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) interventions and mature to support all children age cohorts. This is inclusive approach wherein all organizations, individuals and social stakeholders (both domestically and international) partner to pool resources and efforts to support children. Resilience through strong distribution of risks and social shocks in multi-sector partnerships; Strengthening of domestic capacity to unleash resources from a variety of stakeholders; and a common social interest for collectively developing children for common gain by government, private sector, families and communities.
6.Eswatini is learning from the various pilot case management systems undertake before the establishment of the NCSD, with a view to develop a National Comprehensive Case Management systems informed by the full rights for children for each spatial location. A standard Comprehensive data profile for each age cohort for children is being developed as a central reference for rights-based children services, and thus will be applied to all age groups for children.
7.The National Children Services Department was established in 2016 and has since recruited 14 technical officers who are coordinating the thematic programmes that the Department is running. These include the Child Protection and Psychosocial Support; Health and Food Security; Education and socio-economic security and Care and Support; Disability.
DPMO National Children Services Department Budget- Recurrent and Capital Budget Allocations for NCSD 2017/2018-2019-2020
|
Total Education budget allocations |
2017/2018 |
2018/2019 |
2019/2020 |
|
4 994 121 |
E7 679 760 |
4 713 051 |
C.Reply to paragraph 3 of the list of issues
8.The Commission’s independence is guaranteed in the Constitution (section 166) which states that “the Commission shall be independent in the performance of its functions and shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority”. However, the commission is still working on its enabling legislation that will fully support its independent function. With regards to capital and financial resources, The Commission’s budget is still sourced from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. There are ongoing efforts to establish an independent budget that will support the operation of the Human Right Commission.
9.With regards to ensuring that the Commission has a child-friendly complaint mechanism, currently there is no child friendly complaints mechanism in place, however, in the interim, there is a focal person assigned to deal with children’s issues receives complaints, investigates, recommends and refer to relevant structures. The establishment of a National Children Fund will hopefully accelerate the resourcing of the Human Rights Commission and establish the Child-friendly reporting mechanism to support children.
10.Children stakeholders have been segmented according to the sectors they represent, and afforded suitable coordination platforms for experience sharing and collaboration. A draft mechanism for a comprehensive National Institutional Arrangement has been developed to give a platform for children stakeholders to partner and form collaborative national plans and strategies for children.
D.Reply to paragraph 4 of the list of issues
11.The Kingdom of Eswatini through legislative and administrative measure is striving to ensure the removal of all forms of discrimination against all children. Legislatively, the National Disability Act, 2018 recognises the need for the respect and protection of children with disabilities. It prohibits the discrimination of persons with disabilities and further calls for the mainstreaming of disability across sectors. As a result in the education sector, the Ministry of Education Sector Policy, 2018 advocates and promotes inclusive education, thus removing the discrimination of children including children with disabilities. With regards to albinism, albinism has been recognised by the Government of Eswatini as a disability, thus attracting support from the Disability Unit.
12.To ensure the protection of all children including orphaned and vulnerable children, the State Party has been supported by international and regional bodies in providing for their needs. Awareness raising meetings have been held with key stakeholders including traditional leaders, senior government officials to sensitize them aboutthe SADC Minimum Package of Services for OVC and Youth, with a view of providing a standard package for the targeted groups. The Ministry of Education and Training Sector policy of 2018 abolishes corporal punishment in favor of positive discipline. To be in line with this policy direction, the Ministry has been engaged in a number of initiatives geared toward the full implementation of positive discipline.
13.In an effort to remove the use of corporal punishment in all settings, the State Party has developed The National Strategy to End Violence in Swaziland (2017–2022) which recognizes corporal punishment as violence, and a National Parenting Manual and corresponding Draft Family Strengthening Strategy have been developed which are aimed at supporting families to adopt positive discipline. The state does not discriminate any member of the society based on any creed as the rights for all is guaranteed in the constitution.
E.Reply to paragraph 5 of the list of issues
14.The State Party has no specific data on the killings of children with albinism, however the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office through its Disability Unit in collaboration with the Royal Eswatini Police and the association of albinism in Eswatini have conducted awareness raising meetings in 20communities since 2019. The State Party does not support ritual killings, and it is not part of our culture and customary practices as evidenced by the public pronouncement by His Majesty the King during Sibaya denouncing the practice of ritual killing.
15.The prevalence of polygamy between people aged 15–49 years is 11.7 percent for women and 8.2 percent for men. The percentage of people aged 20–49 years who were first married or in union before age 18 is 8.8 percent for women and 1.7 percent for men. Data relating to the prevalence of practices such as kuhlanta (inhlanti) kwendzisa, bride inheritance are not known. Forced marriages are not allowed in the country, to ensure this the country enacted the SODVA of 2018 which seeks to address such cases.
16.In respect of imposing a minimum age of 18, the State Party through the Marriage Bill of 2018, has fixed both customary and civil rights marriages to 18 years for males and females. By extension, Section 43 of the SODV also criminalizes marriage of children.
F.Reply to paragraph 6 of the list of issues
17.The Citizenship Bill recognizes the child’s right to inherit citizenship from both parents. The Kingdom of Eswatini has further developed the National Action Plan on Eradicating Statelessness in the Kingdom of Eswatini (2018) which seeks to achieve equal rights of passing nationality to children by both parents. It has components that strengthen birth registration and remove gender discrimination in nationality.
18.With regards to addressing barriers to birth registration, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini conducted a Bottleneck Analysis on Birth Registration in 2019has been undertaken and an accelerated work plan to implement the findings of the analysis has been developed. The plan also outlines planned 48 days’ outreach schedule to visit all chiefdoms that has high numbers of unregistered children. The government is in the process of upscaling birth registration and has taken a policy decision to ensure that all births are registered in all health care centers, starting with Mbabane Government Hospital which has already started the process.
19.In the longer term all existing legislations (Children’s Protection and Welfare Act 2012, Births, Marriages and Deaths Act of 1983) affecting access to nationality and citizenship will be harmonized through the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Bill.
20.On the question of child participation platform, the State Party recognizes the need for having child participation platforms even though currently there are none driven by Government. The State Party is not yet considering resuscitating the children’s parliament but is open for discussion for the introduction of other forms of child participation, grounded in domestic norms and customary practices.
G.Reply to paragraph 7 of the list of issues
21.In an effort to strengthen the capacities of the National Surveillance system, a Consultant was engaged in 2018 to review and assess strengths and limitations of the system. An assessment report with recommendations was submitted and shared with all stakeholders. Currently the recommendations are awaiting implementation.
22.In response to the question of an action plan for implementing the National Strategy to End Violence (2017-2022), Eswatini has costed the Strategy and is currently being implemented incrementally. Key milestones in the implementation of the Strategy have been achieved. These included the development of a Multi-sectoral Guidelines for GBV Response which was developed in 2018 and finalized in 2019; Coordination platforms have been established in the form of High Level Task Force on violence (HLTF), Multi-sector Technical Team on Violence (MTTV) at national level and regional GBV referral networks; The enactment of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act (2018) and the Regulations of the Act; Capacity building sessions on the SODV have been provided to key Ministries and agencies. These included the following:
|
Sector |
Number of Officials Trained |
|
King ’ s Advisory Council |
20 |
|
DPMO Portfolio Committee (Senate and Assembly) |
20 |
|
Police |
120 |
|
Health |
80 |
|
Social Welfare |
60 |
|
Teachers |
120 |
|
Traditional Leadership |
300 |
|
Parliamentarians-Children Sector, Women ’ s Parliamentary Caucus |
40 |
|
Eswatini Bank (Private Sector) |
90 |
|
Prosecutors |
80 |
|
Community gate keepers |
1 843 |
|
Total |
2 773 |
23.The Ministry of Education and Training received a total 31 cases of violence through its toll free line. To ensure that these cases are followed up, the cases are assigned to regional guidance officers.
H.Reply to paragraph 8 of the list of issues
24.Day care facilities can be found in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. Government has little control over their existence and their operations as they are privately owned. On the hand government provides alternative care to children who are survivors of abuse or neglected. There is only one halfway house that is operated by Government with a capacity to enroll 12 children. Other forms of alternative care are orphanages. These are found in all regions of the country are also privately owned. The Manzini region has 8 orphanages, Hhohho (10), Shiselweni(8), Lobombo (3). A total of 1670 of children are living in these residential facilities.
25.With regards to the existence of One Stop Centers, the State Party has increased One Stop Centers (OSC) from 1 to 3 and they are fully funded by Government. These new centers are situated in health care facilities namely the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital (RFM) in the Manzini region, Mbabane Government, in Hhohho region and Lubombo Referrals Hospital, in the Lubombo region. Since the last report, an additional two One Stop Centers (OSC) were established and operationalized in two more regions.
I.Reply to paragraph 9 of the list of issues
26.The Eswatini National Disability Plan of Action (2018-2022) was costed, updated and launched in 2018 but the full implementation of the Plan is dependent on the establishment of the various structures proposed by the Persons with Disabilities Act of 2018.
27.In terms of the human and financial resourcing of the Unit; the Disability Unit currently has a staff compliment of three officers consisting of a programme manager and two sign language interpreters. To ensure that the Unit executes its mandate to the fullest, the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office is engaging the Ministry of Public Service with a request for the creation of relevant posts for the recruitment of officers for the Unit.
28.In terms of the financial resources for the Unit, the unit has been allocated a budget of E3.5 million for 2020/21. With E1.4 million of the budget being for the procurement adaptive and assistive devices and supplies for persons with disability; E200 000 being for supporting the Unit in reporting on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities. The State Party also provides grants to6180 persons with disability on quarterly basis.
J.Reply to paragraph 10 of the list of issues
29.To address issues of stunting, the State Party through its Ministry of Health has developed Guidelines and job aids for facilities to guide pregnant women on nutrition. There are several interventions being implemented on improving nutrition in pregnant mothers and their babies that will contribute to reduce the high rates of stunting. The interventions include: health education and promotion of Infant and young child feeding practices, provision of integrated community based growth monitoring and promotion services, prevention and control of micronutrients deficiencies, nutrition counseling services for pregnant and lactating mothers and provision of nutrition therapy for malnourished children.
30.The Ministry of Agriculture has developed the Food and Nutrition Mainstreaming Plan 2019–2023, which seeks to encourage the integration of nutrition into agriculture. In an effort to improve the nutrition of the nation, the Plan has 8 focus areas that seek to build the resilience of homesteads. These include the promotion of food trees and food gardens, vegetable gardens rearing of small stock; sanitation and hygiene; food processing and preservation through “One Household One Enterprise” and diversification of crops at household level. It is envisaged that the above programmes will curb stunting and food insecurity whilst benefitting at least 125 000 households.
31.To address the high rate of early pregnancy, the State Party is implementing various interventions aimed at curbing this challenge. For instance, the Ministry of Health has trained a number of healthcare workers on the provision of quality youth-friendly services at all levels of healthcare delivery. The Kingdom has developed Adolescent Youth-friendly Standards (AYFHS) to measure youth friendliness in health facilities and ensuring that adolescent and youth have access to sexual reproductive health services and information. In 2018, empowerment clubs were established in 37 primary Schools and in 19 Secondary Schools. Learners reached are 485 boys and 2970 girls.
32.The Ministry of Education introduced a life skills programme to support learners in making proper decisions relating to sexual and reproductive health. But it remains equally important to engage gate-keepers i.e. parents, religious leaders and authorities in knowledge empowerment in responding to sexual violence of learners. In January 2020, the Deputy Minister has since launched a campaign-“Let’s talk” aimed at reduction of early and unintended adolescent pregnancies.
33.With regards to access to abortion the State Party in its National Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy of 2013, recognizes and limits abortion only to medical or therapeutic grounds including where the pregnancy resulted from rape, incest or unlawful sexual intercourse with a mentally challenged woman. The State is yet to develop technical guidance to health service providers on the prevention, management of abortion and post abortion care.
34.In an effort to reduce infant and neonatal mortality the State Party has developed Standards for Maternal and Neonatal Care (2007) which are aimed at making pregnancy safer through assisting programme manager and health care providers to provide effective maternal and neonatal health services. Health care workers are being trained on these guidelines and mentored especially on basic life-saving procedures for both mother and baby. The State Party is also in the process of establishing and equipping health facilities with functional intensive care units and or sick newborn wards.
K.Reply to paragraph 11 of the list of issues
35.The State Party recognizes the need for investment in secondary education by eliminating barriers to access to secondary education. The Ministry of Education in collaboration with UNICEF have conducted an Out-Of- Schools Study (2018) with an aim of establishing the root causes of learners dropping out of school in Eswatini. The current Ministry of Education and Training Sector Policy (2018) recognizes the need for fostering an inclusive education training that will uncover and address barriers to learning and accommodate the diverse range of learning needs. A non-formal secondary education service is available to allow re-integration to the formal schooling system.
L.Reply to paragraph 12 of the list of issues
36.The State Party with the Support of the European Union, under the social protection project, have developed the Strategic plan for strengthening the Child/Juvenile Justice System in Eswatini, 2019–2024. The Strategy has been developed to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of the Children Protection and Welfare Act that relate to child justice and calls for the use of diversion as an alternative to incarceration of children. Although the Children’s Participation and Welfare Act (CPWA) and the Strategy calls for the establishment of Umphakatsi Child Justice Committees, these have not been established but they have been provided for in the Draft Children Protection and Welfare Act.
37.In instances where a child is deprived of liberty, upon arrest and detention the child is held in holding cells that are specifically used for children, disaggregated by gender and age as per the dictates of the CPWA (79), but in extreme cases of overcrowding children are detained with adults of the same gender. After remand, His Majesty’s Correctional Services ensures that they are kept in children designated centers.
38.To ensure that children who are deprived of liberty have access to health care services, His Majesty’s Correctional Services provides health care services through its health facility that is located within the institution – the institution has qualified medical personnel. If need be, if the child has medical complication he/she can be referred to government hospitals. In respect to access to education, the Vulamasango Correctional facility has a school (not public) that provides education to children who have been detained and are in conflict with the law.
39.Upon arrest, children are allowed visits by relatives at stipulated times as provided for in Sections 103(4) (d) (iii) of the Children’s Act. As a complaints mechanism, in the correctional facility children can lodge their complaint with social workers within the institution and escalate the same with the Officer in Charge.
M.Reply to paragraph 13 of the list of issues
40.The State Party has enacted the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act of 2018. The Act amongst other things makes the act of rape gender neutral whereas the previous laws narrowly defined rape as a forced sexual act of a male perpetrator and female victim. All other forms of rape were considered “indecent assault”. The Act for the first time criminalizes marital rape and other domestic violence offences; makes provision for Specialized Domestic Violence Courts; creates mechanisms and avenues for reporting of offences; and requires medical examination and treatment of victims. These are issues that had not been previously provided for. The State Party has developed Draft Regulations for the SODV Act.
41.The Persons with Disabilities Act (2018): Following the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2012 by the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini domesticated the Convention by enacting the Persons with Disabilities Act of 2018. The Act seeks to provide for the protection of rights and welfare of persons with disabilities.
N.Reply to paragraph 14 of the list of issues
Total (Recurrent+Capital) Education Budget Allocations, 2016/17 to 2019/20
|
2016/2017 |
2017/2018 |
2019/2020 |
|
|
Total Education budget allocations |
3.2 billion |
3.5 billion |
3.3 billion |
|
Education as a percentage (%) of total budget allocation |
12% |
15.4% |
|
|
Total Health budget allocations |
2 billion |
1.85 billion |
|
|
Health as a percentage (%) of total budget allocation |
10.1% |
9.8% |
10.1% |
O.Reply to paragraph 15 (a) of the list of issues
42.In 2010, 6% of children under five were underweight. Children most affected were those within 6–11 months of age (nine percent), those born from mothers with no or primary education and those from the poorest households. In respect of stunting, 31 percent of under-five children were stunted in 2010. Stunting was more prevalent in rural areas compared with urban areas (33% vs. 23%). The stunting rate was especially high in Shiselweni region (38 %). Children whose mothers have no education or primary education and those from the poorest households have the highest rates of stunting (40 percent, 38 percent and 42 percent, respectively). Only one percent of under-five children were wasted, with 11% of under-five children being overweight for their age.
Nutrition
|
Nutrition Status |
||
|
Indicator |
Description |
Value |
|
Underweight prevalence |
Percentage of children under age 5 who fall below |
|
|
(a) Moderate and severe |
(a) Minus two standard deviations (moderate and severe |
5.8 |
|
(b) Severe |
(b) Minus three standard deviations (severe) of the median weight for age of the WHO standard |
1.6 |
|
Stunting prevalence |
Percentage of children under age 5 who fall below |
|
|
(a) Moderate and severe |
(a) Minus two standard deviations (moderate and severe |
25.5 |
|
(b) Severe |
(b) Minus three standard deviations (severe) of the median height for age of the WHO standard |
7.2 |
|
Wasting prevalence |
Percentage of children under age 5 who fall below |
|
|
(a) Moderate and severe |
(a) Minus two standard deviations (moderate and severe |
2.0 |
|
(b) Severe |
(b) Minus three standard deviations (severe) of the median weight for height of the WHO standard |
0.4 |
|
Overweight prevalence |
Percentage of children under age 5 who are above two standard deviations of the median weight for height of the WHO standard |
9.0 |
Source: mics 2014 .
P.Reply to paragraph 15 (b) of the list of issues
43.The study on violence against children (2016), indicated that nearly three-quarters of children experience routine violence in the form of violent discipline. More than 1 in every 3 girls reported experiencing some form of sexual violence during childhood. Nearly 3 in every 10 (28.5%) girls reported experiencing emotional violence during childhood mostly from family members.
44.The 2016 National Surveillance Report also revealed that sexual violence, physical and emotional violence levels remain high,and the diagram below represents the proportion of cases by type/form of violence and the distribution of cases (victims) by sex.
Figure 1
National Surveillance System Annual Report, 2016
45.One of the shortcomings of the many interventions provided by service providers in response to gender based violence, is that they do not provide for reparation or support services in the form of shelters or temporary housing for survivors of violence. There is also need for comprehensive response structures to be put in place for the protection of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence including safe houses, and education centres, decentralized and prompt referral mechanisms at community level.
Q.Reply to paragraph 15 (c) of the list of issues
46.There are no official statistics of cases of teachers who have been convicted of using corporal punishment against children, as these cases are often dealt with by the schools concern.
R.Reply to paragraph 15 (d) of the list of issues
47.There are no mechanisms in place to ascertain the number of children in day care centers. This is solely because day care centers are privately owned thus making it difficult to canvass them in entirety. However, the development of the national Multi-Sectoral Early Childhood Care and Development (MS-ECCD) seeks to strengthen the coordination of all service providers including the day-care centers.
S.Reply to paragraph 15 (e) of the list of issues
48.There are also no conclusive statistics on the number of children living with autism, but cases of autistic children are increasing as evidenced by the increase in the number of individuals seeking therapeutic services in public health facilities including the Manzini Psychiatric Centre and Mbabane Government Hospital.
T.Reply to paragraph 16 of the list of issues
49.The State Party has no specific data of children living with extended families although this is a common phenomenon. In respect of foster care services, the State Party is currently piloting a foster care system with the following milestones achieved thus far:
•Development of National Guidelines on Kinship Care and Foster Care &National Quality Service Standards for Foster Care in the Kingdom of Eswatini (1st quarter 2018). A team from Wilfred Laurier University in Canada was hosted to facilitate stakeholder consultations on the development of National Guidelines on Kinship Care and Foster Care as well as National Quality Service Standards for Foster Care in the Kingdom of Eswatini;
•Validation of National Guidelines on Kinship Care and Foster Care & National Quality Service Standards for Foster Care in the Kingdom of Eswatini (2nd and 3rdquarter 2018). National Guidelines on Kinship Care and Foster Care in the Kingdom of Eswatini as well as the National Quality Service Standards on Foster Care in the Kingdom of Eswatini were validated by approximately 40 stakeholders including State actors and none-State actors;
•Submission of draft documents for political review and endorsement (4th quarter 2018). After the Magistrates, legal experts and Principal Social Workers from the Department of Social Welfare had completed the validation exercise, the two draft documents were submitted to the Principal Secretary at the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office for political review and endorsement in mid-October 2018;
•Educational Foster Care Radio drama series (1st quarter 2019). SiphilaNje Drama Society led by the legendary Modison Magagula was engage to develop and record 13 episodes of an educational foster care radio drama series. The content of the script and recorded episodes were approved by technical persons from DSW and SOS CV Eswatini. CDs of 13 recorded episodes of an educational foster care radio drama series were submitted to the senior management of DPM’s Office. The radio drama seeks to create awareness on the importance of Foster Care in the kingdom of Eswatini. Broadcasting plans were scheduled for second quarter of 2020;
•Development of Foster Care Training Manuals (1st–3rd quarter 2019). Based on the fact that the country needed to develop evidence-based foster care training manuals, an assessment of parenting skills was commissioned in all the 4 regions of the country. The findings of the Parenting Skills Assessment Report informed the development of the foster care training manuals;
•Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (4th quarter 2019). The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini through the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office has endorsed the foster care project as a government programme. This showed Government’s commitment towards rolling out the foster care services beyond the end of December 2023. The signing of the MoU took place inside the Boardroom of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday, 14th November 2019. The 5-pager MOU outlines agreement on roles and responsibilities between SOS Children’s Villages Eswatini and the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini on the implementation of the pilot phase of the National Foster Care Programme. Hence marked to be effective from 14th November 2019 to 31st December 2023. An additional benefit of this MOU is the fact that it was approved by Cabinet and signed off by the Principal Secretary at the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office;
•Training and Sensitization of Stakeholders on Foster Care (4th quarter 2019 to present). A total of 24 (16 female, 8 male) Social Workers (Focal) from DSW and SOS were trained on National Foster Care Programme. There was a sensitization of Regional Development Teams 138 (78 male, 60 female) on National Foster Care Programme. 20 (9 male, 11 female) Police Officers from Domestic Violence, Child Protection & Sexual Offences Unit were trained on National Foster Care Programme. Sensitization and lobbying of Parliament Children’s Portfolio Committee on Alternative Child Care (Foster Care). 26 participated; among these were 7 Honourable Members of Parliament. Training of 9 (4 male, 5 female) Principal and Senior Magistrates on National Foster Care Programme.
50.With regards to children living in institutions the Table below represents the numbers of children in residential care facilities.
Number of Children in Residential Care Facilities per Region
|
Region |
Number of centres |
Number of children |
|
Hhohho |
10 |
639 |
|
Manzini |
8 |
374 |
|
Shiselweni |
8 |
502 |
|
Lubombo |
3 |
155 |
|
Total |
1 670 |
Children in Residential Care Facilities
|
Name of Institution |
Number of Children |
||
|
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
|
1. ABC Ministry |
6 |
7 |
13 |
|
2. Amitofo Care Centre |
100 |
82 |
182 |
|
3. Bulembu Baby Home |
34 |
21 |
55 |
|
4. Bulembu Dvudvusi |
112 |
109 |
221 |
|
5. Bulembu Senior Girls |
- |
24 |
24 |
|
6. Bulembu Senior Boys |
18 |
- |
18 |
|
7. Bulembu Welcome Centre |
- |
1 |
1 |
|
8. Bulembu Young Adults |
7 |
7 |
14 |
|
9. El Roi Kuthula Place (1 day–4 months) |
4 |
3 |
7 |
|
10. El Roi Baby Home |
16 |
15 |
31 |
|
11. El Roi Labakhetsiwe Home |
22 |
16 |
38 |
|
12. El Roi Emseni East |
17 |
15 |
32 |
|
13. El Shaddai ( Ekufikeni ) |
23 |
16 |
39 |
|
14. El Shaddai ( Nkomanzi ) |
11 |
8 |
19 |
|
15. El Shaddai (Babies) |
13 |
7 |
20 |
|
16. El Shaddai Youth |
4 |
1 |
5 |
|
17. Emmanuel Khayalethu |
18 |
18 |
36 |
|
18. Fortress Centre (Joy Mission) |
4 |
7 |
11 |
|
19. Half-Way House |
8 |
18 |
26 |
|
20. Hawane Light House Care Centre |
24 |
20 |
44 |
|
21. Hope Centre Motshane |
21 |
4 |
25 |
|
22. Hosea ’ s Heart |
- |
15 |
15 |
|
22. Jesus Cares |
2 |
2 |
4 |
|
23. Johnson Lovelette |
- |
4 |
4 |
|
24. Manzini Youth Care ( Enjabulweni ) |
13 |
- |
13 |
|
25. Manzini Youth Care ( Zakhele ) |
13 |
- |
13 |
|
26. Manzini Youth Care (Fairview) |
14 |
- |
14 |
|
27. Manzini Youth Care ( Sikhunyane ) |
15 |
- |
15 |
|
28. Manzini Youth Care (Ngwane Park) |
- |
15 |
15 |
|
29. Mc Corkindale Children ’ s Home |
7 |
- |
7 |
|
30. New Hope Centre (Bethany) |
19 |
35 |
54 |
|
31. New Life Children ’ s Home ( Kamfishane ) |
25 |
19 |
44 |
|
32. Pasture Valley Children ’ s Home ( Nhlangano ) |
27 |
22 |
49 |
|
33. Pasture Valley Ekuthuleni (Girls Home) |
- |
7 |
7 |
|
34. Remar Swaziland (Fair View) |
- |
56 |
56 |
|
35. Remar Swaziland (Fair View) |
64 |
- |
64 |
|
36. Remar Swaziland (Trelawney Park) |
4 |
- |
4 |
|
37. Remar Swaziland (Ngwane Park) |
22 |
- |
22 |
|
38. Sandra Lee |
13 |
14 |
27 |
|
39. Selula Sandla A. M.E |
8 |
15 |
23 |
|
40. S.O.S (Mbabane) |
68 |
52 |
120 |
|
41. S.O.S Youth (Facility 1) |
10 |
9 |
19 |
|
42. S.O.S Youth (Facility 2) |
24 |
30 |
54 |
|
43. S.O.S. ( Nhlangano ) |
47 |
58 |
105 |
|
44. S.O.S Youth (Facility 1) |
6 |
10 |
16 |
|
45. S.O.S Youth (Facility 2) |
36 |
20 |
56 |
|
46. S.O.S. ( Siteki ) |
60 |
67 |
127 |
|
47. S.O.S Youth (Facility 2) |
3 |
6 |
9 |
|
48. Tfokotani Lorendana |
16 |
11 |
27 |
|
49. Zondle Women Organisation ( Lwandle ) |
23 |
- |
23 |
|
50. Zondle Women Organisation ( Hlathikhulu ) |
- |
17 |
17 |
|
Total |
887 |
826 |
1 884 |
U.Reply to paragraph 17 (a) of the list of issues
51.There is no available data on the number of children with disabilities living with their families nor living in institutions. However, the disability act proposes the establishment of a holistic data base for children with disabilities.
V.Reply to paragraph 17 (b) of the list of issues
52.Currently residential care facilities are not able to provide services to children with disabilities because of lack of capacity.
W.Reply to paragraph 17 (c) of the list of issues
Special Education by Sex, SEN 2014–2017
|
Sex |
SEN |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
Total |
|
Female |
Hearing Impaired |
135 |
60 |
106 |
169 |
470 |
|
Learning Disability |
43 |
14 |
39 |
23 |
119 |
|
|
Other Impairment |
67 |
27 |
58 |
67 |
219 |
|
|
Physical Disability |
20 |
10 |
19 |
19 |
68 |
|
|
Visually Impaired |
558 |
259 |
443 |
581 |
1 841 |
|
|
Total |
823 |
370 |
665 |
859 |
2 717 |
|
|
Male |
Hearing Impaired |
101 |
39 |
84 |
129 |
353 |
|
Learning Disability |
37 |
12 |
29 |
35 |
113 |
|
|
Other Impairment |
54 |
30 |
46 |
66 |
196 |
|
|
Physical Disability |
18 |
7 |
14 |
30 |
69 |
|
|
Visually Impaired |
337 |
161 |
304 |
368 |
1 170 |
|
|
Total |
547 |
249 |
477 |
628 |
1 901 |
|
|
Grand Total |
1 370 |
619 |
1 142 |
1 487 |
4 618 |
Source: Annual Education Census 2017 .
X.Reply to paragraph 18 (a) of the list of issues
53.The following Tables presents statistical data on the number of children in conflict with the law.
|
Period |
Age range |
Number of males |
Number of females |
Offence |
|
2019 |
12 – 18 |
3 |
2 |
Lawful authority |
|
21 |
5 |
Public Morality |
||
|
158 |
23 |
Crimes against Persons |
||
|
158 |
50 |
Crimes against property |
||
|
101 |
16 |
Crimes against statutes |
||
|
Total |
441 |
96 |
||
|
2018 |
10 |
1 |
Lawful authority |
|
|
29 |
17 |
Public Morality |
||
|
284 |
88 |
Crimes against Persons |
||
|
272 |
64 |
Crimes against property |
||
|
97 |
15 |
Crimes against statutes |
||
|
Total |
692 |
185 |
Y.Reply to paragraph 18 (b) of the list of issues
54.There is no available data on children who are in conflict with the law and have been referred to diversion programmes. This is because in the absence of Regulations of the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act, police, magistrates and correctional services effect different forms of what purports to be diversion in deserving cases.
Z.Reply to paragraph 18 (c) of the list of issues
Females (2017–2019)
|
Age |
Number of Children |
Types of Offences |
|
12 yrs – 18 y r s |
13 |
Theft |
|
14 |
H/B and Theft |
|
|
1 |
Child protection Act |
|
|
5 |
Murder |
|
|
2 |
Assault GBH |
|
|
0 |
Opium Habit Forming Drug (OHFD) |
|
|
1 |
Assault Common |
|
|
1 |
Malicious Injury to Property |
|
|
1 |
Human Trafficking |
|
|
1 |
Theft by False Pretence |
Males (2017–2019)
|
Age |
Number of Children |
Types of Offences |
|
12 yrs – 18 yrs |
40 |
Theft |
|
55 |
H/B and Theft |
|
|
5 |
Robbery |
|
|
7 |
Assault GBH |
|
|
4 |
SODV |
|
|
2 |
Opium Habit Forming Drugs |
|
|
2 |
Murder |
AA.Reply to paragraph 18 (d) of the list of issues
Females (2017–2019)
|
Age |
Number of Children |
Type of Offences |
Length of Sentence |
|
12 yrs – 18 yrs |
39 |
Theft |
12 months and above |
|
23 |
H/B and Theft |
2 yrs and above |
|
|
6 |
Child protection Act |
2 yrs and above |
|
|
3 |
Assault GBH |
2 yrs and above |
|
|
2 |
Opium Habit Forming Drug (OHFD) |
2 yrs and above |
|
|
1 |
Assault Common |
5 months and above |
|
|
6 |
Murder |
5 yrs and above |
|
|
1 |
Malicious Injury to Property |
12 months and above. |
|
|
1 |
Human Trafficking |
15 yrs |
|
|
1 |
Theft by False Pretence |
12 months and above |
Males (2017–2019)
|
Age |
Number of Children |
Types of Offences |
Length of Sentence |
|
12yrs – 18yrs |
60 |
H/B and Theft |
2 yrs and above |
|
27 |
Theft |
12 months and above |
|
|
39 |
Robbery |
||
|
11 |
Assault GBH |
2 yrs and above |
|
|
1 |
SODV |
||
|
14 |
Opium Habit Forming Drug (OHFD) |
2 yrs and above |
|
|
9 |
Murder |
5 yrs and above |
AB.Reply to paragraph 19 of the list of issues
55.The State Party recognizes the need for employing child rights based approach in this regard. Efforts need to be concentrated in building the capacity of State and Non-State Actors for the full participation of children.
AC.Reply to paragraph 20 of the list of issues
56.The State party recognizes the need for updated data with regards to children’s issues, however, there is no new data on this regard.
AD.Reply to paragraph 21 of the list of issues
57.The State Party, as a matter of priority recognizes the need to register all children to ensure that the children can access services including education, health and other social programmes. There is also need for comprehensive data on the number of children programming and investment in appropriate interventions for the group.