Committee on the Rights of the Child
Fifty-third session
11–29 January 2010
Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the second periodic report of Cameroon
Part I
Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible before 19 November 2009.
1.Please describe the various stages in the preparation of the State party’s report (CRC/C/CMR/2), particularly the steps taken to involve non-governmental organizations and civil society, including children, in the preparation of the report.
2.Please indicate what progress has been made in adopting the draft child protection code and the draft personal and family code.
3.Please describe any measures taken to bring domestic legislation into line with the Convention with regard to a minimum age for marriage, criminal liability and enlistment in the armed forces.
4.Please indicate whether the State party has set up a mechanism to coordinate the implementation of the Convention. If so, please describe its powers and the human and financial resources allocated to it to enable it to effectively coordinate the work of the ministerial departments and bodies responsible for implementing the rights of the child at the national, regional and local levels, taking account of the decentralization process under way in Cameroon.
5.Please specify whether the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms has a special unit for children. If so, is the unit accessible to children and authorized to handle complaints about violations of children’s rights?
6.Please provide the Committee with information on the financial benefits received by the State party as a result of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative, and explain how children have benefited from this additional finance.
7.Please provide information on all aspects of the physical and mental abuse of children in the State party, including corporal punishment and abuse and ill-treatment in the family, schools and alternative care institutions. Please also provide the results of the study on violence against women and information on the bill on violence against women that covers female genital mutilation.
8.Please provide information on specific measures taken by the State party to eliminate traditional practices that are harmful to the health and well-being of the child, including early marriage and “ironing” the breasts of adolescent girls. In this connection, please provide updated information on the impact of the 1998 strategic plan to combat female genital mutilation in terms of eliminating this practice in Cameroon, particularly in the far north, east and south-west.
9.Please provide information on measures taken between 2005 and 2008 to prevent and reduce the incidence of infant and maternal mortality, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Please also explain how children, particularly girls, are involved in the drafting and implementation of health policies and programmes that affect them.
10.Please provide information on the adoption of the national policy on the comprehensive development of young children, and describe the measures taken to implement it, including budgetary measures.
11.Please provide detailed information on measures taken to ensure an adequate standard of living and social security for children living in poverty, including those expelled from their place of residence with their families.
12.Please provide detailed information on measures taken between 2005 and 2008 to give effect to the rights of indigenous children in the areas of education, health care and social welfare, taking account of their cultural identity, language and values.
13.Please provide information on Act No. 2005/006 of 27 July 2005 on refugee status, and indicate whether the decree implementing the Act has been adopted. Please also indicate whether a body with the authority to grant refugee status has been set up, and describe measures taken to register the births of refugee children and protect them from sexual exploitation and early marriage.
14.Please list the children’s issues that the State party considers to be of high priority and in need of urgent attention with regard to the implementation of the Convention.
Part II
Under this section , the State party is invited 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
Newly implemented plans of action, programmes and projects, and their scope
Newly ratified human rights instruments
Part III
Data and statistics, if available
1.In the light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide data for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 on the budget resources (in absolute figures and as a percentage of the national budget or gross domestic product) allocated to the implementation of the Convention nationwide, in the following areas:
(a)Education (preschool, primary and secondary);
(b)Health and nutrition;
(c)Juvenile justice;
(d)Smuggling and trafficking of children.
2.Please provide information on the birth registration rate, including for indigenous and refugee children in Cameroon, and on how it has changed over the past three years.
3.With reference to children deprived of a family environment and separated from their parents, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age group and urban/rural area) for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 on the number of children:
(a)Separated from their parents;
(b)Placed in institutions (indicate how many institutions there are in the country);
(c)Placed with foster families;
(d)Adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions.
4.Please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age group and geographical area) for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 on the number of children with disabilities:
(a)Living with their families;
(b)Living in institutions;
(c)Placed with a foster family;
(d)Attending regular schools;
(e)Attending special schools;
(f)Not attending any school.
5.Please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age group and geographical area) for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 on the number of children attending primary and secondary schools, specifying the number of indigenous children and children with disabilities.
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 not require written answers. This list is not exhaustive, and other issues might be raised in the course of the dialogue.
1.Legislation.
2.Coordination.
3.Budget resources for children.
4.Dissemination of the Convention.
5.Definition of the child.
6.Non-discrimination.
7.Registration of births.
8.Family environment (State support/assistance for parents).
9.Protection of children deprived of a family environment.
10.Adoption (policy and legislation; adoption within the country or intercountry adoption).
11.Violence against children, including corporal punishment.
12.Health (particularly expenditure on health, primary health care, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent health, drug and alcohol abuse, and mental health).
13.Children with disabilities (including the legal framework for protection, accessibility of schools and health services, training of professionals working with children with disabilities, and support for families).
14.Education (including the availability of qualified teachers and adequate facilities, girls’ access to education, school fees, and geographical disparities in access to education).
15.Economic exploitation, including child labour (in both the formal and the informal sectors).
16.Sexual exploitation, and the smuggling and trafficking of children (within and beyond national borders).
17.Street children.
18.Juvenile justice (age of criminal liability, alternatives to detention, living conditions in juvenile detention centres, and reorganization of the system of juvenile justice).