Committee on the Rights of the Child

Seventy-fourth session

16 January-3 February 2017

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the second periodic report of Barbados

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 1 June 2016. 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 inform the Committee about measures taken by the State party to incorporate the Convention into domestic law. Please provide updated information on the status of draft laws and amendments that will have a direct impact on children and on the status of the draft National Youth Policy.

2.With regard to paragraph 23 of the State party’s report (CRC/C/BRB/2), please indicate what measures have been taken to develop mechanisms to improve data collection, disaggregation and dissemination, focusing specifically on children.

3.Please provide information on measures taken to eliminate discrimination against children in vulnerable situations and to change attitudes in society in that respect.

4.Please provide updated information on measures taken to adopt legislation prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings. Please also provide information on any legislative and administrative measures taken to combat domestic violence and physical abuse of children, including sexual abuse, as well as information on activities to raise public awareness about child abuse.

5.Please inform the Committee about specific measures taken to provide appropriate care and protection to children deprived of a family, including foster care regulations and short-term and emergency placements.

6.Please provide information on the implementation of the policy on persons with disabilities referred to in paragraphs 102 and 106 of the State party’s report, especially on measures taken in relation to assessment, prevention, early detection, intervention, treatment and rehabilitation of children with disabilities, their access to social services and funding available to support the programmes and policies.

7.Please provide updated information on the number of children who have been orphaned or are in a vulnerable situation as a result of HIV/AIDS who receive monetary and in-kind assistance from the Government. Please also provide updated information on the overall financial commitments for HIV/AIDS and the number of beneficiaries and kind of assistance provided for by the Welfare Department. In addition, please provide information on measures taken to address stigma and discrimination relating to HIV/AIDS.

8.Please provide updated information on measures taken to combat the growing levels of alcohol and drug consumption by children and adolescents, including information on the financial resources available.

9.Please provide data on child labour in the country and details of measures taken by the State party to combat child labour, including resources for the labour inspectorate.

10.Please provide information on trafficking in children for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation and of child pornography in the State party, including statistics on prosecutions and convictions under the Transnational Organized Crime (Prevention and Control) Act. Please also provide information on efforts to identify child victims of trafficking and other measures taken to secure the prohibition of the sale of and trafficking in children.

11.Please clarify whether the State party intends to raise the age of criminal responsibility to an internationally accepted level and to increase the protection of children in the juvenile justice system up to the age of 18. Please provide information on any legislative measures taken to abolish the practices of whipping and solitary confinement, and to ensure that children are separated from adults in prisons. Please also provide information on measures taken to ensure that detention of children, including pretrial detention, is used as a last resort only and for the shortest time possible.

12.Please provide updated information on the number of children, disaggregated by age and sex, who have been charged with “wandering” and on measures taken to separate children in need of protection from children in conflict with law.

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 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 regarding children and social sectors, under 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. In addition, please provide information on measures taken to ensure that the authorities are guided by the best interests of the child in their budgetary decisions.

15.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data disaggregated by age, sex, disability, ethnic origin, national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic status, for the past three years, on the number of children who are:

(a)Engaged in child labour in the informal economy, disaggregating the data by type of work, including hazardous work;

(b)Victims of human trafficking, sale and sexual exploitation;

(c)Victims of child prostitution;

(d)Victims of child pornography.

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

(a)The infant mortality and child mortality rates;

(b)The number of teenage pregnancies and of girls receiving medical and professional services for pregnancy and childbirth;

(c)The number of abortions;

(d)The number of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV;

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

(f)The rate of enrolment in and completion of pre-primary, primary and secondary schools, by age group;

(g)The number of school dropouts and repetitions;

(h)The number of children separated from their parents;

(i)The number of children living in child-headed households;

(j)The number of children placed in institutions and with foster families;

(k)The number of children adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions;

(l)The number of children who have benefited from the Government’s welfare system;

(m)The number of child and adolescent suicides;

(n)The number of children in detention settings, including juvenile and adult detention centres and in police custody, and information on how long children remain in police lock-ups, with reference to both children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with the law.

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:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living in institutions;

(c)Attending regular primary schools;

(d)Attending regular secondary schools;

(e)Attending special schools;

(f)Out of school;

(g)Abandoned by their families.

18.Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report that may have been outdated by more recent data collected or other new developments.

19.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.