Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty-ninth session

16 January – 3 February 2012

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the third and fourth combined periodic report of Madagascar (CRC/C/MDG/3-4)

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional updated information, if possible before 12 September 2011.

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party.

Part I

In this section, the State party is requested to submit its responses to the following questions (30 pages maximum).

1.Please provide information on steps taken to support families, in particular single-headed households, living in extreme poverty, including ensuring access to food, sanitation and housing. Please update the Committee on all measures taken to prevent child abandonment, in particular for families living in poverty.

2.Please clarify which government entity is responsible for the overall coordination of policies, programmes and legislation relating to children’s rights between and across all levels of government and how such coordination is conducted.

3.Please provide information on the current status and functioning of the mechanisms for independent monitoring listed in the State report, how they function and what the outcome of such monitoring has been.

4.Please indicate whether the State has put in place a mechanism for systematic collection and processing of relevant data to follow the progress of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

5.Please provide information on the measures taken to effectively implement Act No. 97-044 of 2 February 1998 on the rights of persons with disabilities and ensure that children living with disabilities effectively enjoy their rights, in particular to health and education. Please indicate what practical measures have been taken to eliminate stigma and discrimination against them.

6.Please provide the Committee with information on current initiatives to ensure the right to health of children, including programmes to reduce child malnutrition, to combat malaria and to ensure universal immunization.

7.Please provide information on efforts and progress in improving adolescent reproductive health, including reducing child pregnancies and reducing risks for sexually transmitted diseases.

8.Please provide the Committee with updated information on the share of the State budget allocated to education, and on the programmes and measures taken in order to ensure the right to free primary education, including (a) reducing school drop-out rates, (b) ensuring training and retention of teachers, and (c) providing school meals.

9.Please provide the Committee with information on the progress made to eliminate child labour and in particular in eradicating the worst forms of child labour. Please update the Committee on the current progress regarding the implementation of the National Action Plan against Child Labour. Please indicate if there are any programmes for providing vocational training and technical education, in particular for children who have dropped out of school and as a measure to prevent child labour.

10.Please provide the Committee with further information on the progress in combating child prostitution and the sexual exploitation of children at the domestic level and in the tourism industry, including legislative review, awareness-raising programmes and cases of prosecution. Please also provide information on judicial actions to combat impunity in this regard.

11.Please provide updated information on the reform of the administration of justice for children, especially as regards the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

12.Please provide information on initiatives to ensure that all children in Madagascar are registered at birth, including on the progress and outcome of the national programme for rehabilitating birth registration.

13.Please provide information on the measures taken to prevent further damage to the environment by the business sector (both private and State-owned businesses), in particular in regulating business activities in order to protect the rights of children to a safe environment, to enforce respect by the business sector and to pursue remedies for violations of such rights.

Part II

In this section, the Committee invites the State party to briefly (three pages maximum) update the information provided 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, including the action plan against child violence and the development of a national strategy for preventing abandonment, deinstitutionalization and community care of children in Madagascar

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

1.Please provide, if available, statistical data (disaggregated by nationality, age, sex, ethnic origin, geographic location and socio-economic status), and its trend analysis for the period January 2005‑December 2010, on:

(a)The budgetary allocations for programmes aimed at implementing the Convention or otherwise for the benefit of children;

(b)The rate of marriages where at least one party is under the age of 18;

(c)Data on children’s health, in particular as regards children’s nutritional status, children infected by HIV, adolescent pregnancies, alcohol and drug consumption by children, and maternal mortality;

(d)The rate of inclusive education and percentage of children with disabilities who are currently enrolled in school;

(e)The enrolment and completion rates for primary education, and the percentage of parents requested to pay for their children’s primary education;

(f)Detailed statistics, disaggregated by age, sex and offence committed or charged with, on the number of children who have been tried as adults and detained in adult penitentiaries, as well as the number of children in pretrial detention and the length of time those children have spent in pretrial detention;

(g)The number of children employed in the private and public sector, including as domestic workers, as well as the number of children involved in the worst forms of child labour.

2.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.