Committee on the Rights of the Child

Seventy-ninth session

17 September–5 October 2018

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the combined third to fifth periodic reports of the Niger

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 15 June 2018. 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 to expedite the adoption of the Children’s Code, in conformity with the provisions of the Convention, to strengthen the mandate of the National Committee for the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and ensure that it receives sufficient human, technical and financial resources, and to adopt a national budget, through an approach that takes into account the rights of the child.

2.Please inform the Committee of measures taken by the State party to increase the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18 and to raise awareness of the negative consequences of early marriage and pregnancy.

3.Please indicate the measures taken to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in the home, in schools and in other institutions and to increase public awareness of the harmful effects of corporal punishment.

4.Please indicate what measures have been taken by the State party to implement the Committee’s recommendations (CRC/C/NER/CO/2, paras. 42 and 44) calling for support, including financial support, to be provided to programmes that help parents meet their responsibilities, and for measures to be taken to promote equal sharing of parental responsibilities. Please also inform the Committee about measures taken to abolish polygamy and repudiation.

5.In view of the lack of social workers, please inform the Committee about the efforts that the State party has made to increase protection for children deprived of their family environment and to strengthen alternative care structures.

6.Please provide further details on the implementation of Ordinance No. 2010-028 of 20 May 2010 concerning minimum rules on social protection for persons with disabilities, including children. Please also provide information on provision for children with disabilities, including financial support and access to health-care services and inclusive education.

7.Please provide the Committee with information on the funding of health care and health services. Please also inform the Committee about the impact of the Health Development Plan 2011–2015 on children, including in the area of nutrition, and about the action taken to implement the Plan, and provide information on the allocation of essential health-care resources. Please indicate what measures have been taken to address the epidemics in the regions of Diffa, Tillabéri and Tahoua.

8.Taking into account the relevant recommendation by the Committee (CRC/C/NER/CO/2, para. 67), please indicate what efforts have been made by the State party to improve the quality of education, help children complete their schooling, eliminate inequality and support children in situations of vulnerability, especially girls in particularly poor regions.

9.Please inform the Committee of measures taken to eradicate the worst forms of child labour, including the practice of forced child begging, particularly among talibé children, as well as child labour in quarries and gold mines.

10.In the light of reports that children associated with armed groups in the Lake Chad basin have been detained, please indicate what measures have been taken to protect those children and reintegrate them into social life, in particular those accused of terrorism.

11.In the light of the reportedly high rate of sexual violence, including rape, perpetrated against young children, please indicate what measures have been taken to prevent such assaults, rehabilitate child victims and prevent sexual offences against children.

12.Please provide information on the implementation of the provisions on juvenile justice contained in the 2011 Legal and Judicial Assistance Act, the 2014 Juvenile Courts Act and the 2017 Community Service Act.

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 the budget lines regarding children and social sectors by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and the gross national product. Please also provide information on the geographic allocation of those resources.

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

(a)The number of children who have married, giving details of follow-up in each case;

(b)The number of children registered at birth;

(c)The number of children in slavery;

(d)The number of recorded cases of abuse and violence against children, including corporal punishment of any kind, with additional information on the type of assistance offered to the victims and the action taken in each case, in particular any proceedings taken against the perpetrators and the sentences handed down;

(e)The number of recorded cases of sexual violence and rape committed against children and adolescents, the number of investigations and legal proceedings instituted and the outcome of the trials, including information on the sentences handed down to the perpetrators and the redress and compensation afforded to victims;

(f)The mortality rate among children under 5 years of age and infant and maternal mortality rates (disaggregated by cause of death);

(g)The rate of immunization;

(h)The number of children infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

16.Please provide data for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographic location, on the situation of children deprived of a family environment, stating the number of children:

(a)Separated from their parents;

(b)Living in child-headed households;

(c)Placed in institutions;

(d)Placed in foster care;

(e)Adopted within the country or abroad;

(f)In confiage.

17.Please provide data for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographic location, stating 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)Not attending school;

(g)Abandoned by their families.

18.Please provide data for the last three years, disaggregated by, inter alia, age, sex, socioeconomic background, geographic location and ethnic origin, on:

(a)School enrolment and completion rates among each age group at preschool, primary school and secondary school level;

(b)The number and percentage of students who drop out of school or repeat an academic year;

(c)The teacher-pupil ratio.

19.Please provide data for the past three years, disaggregated by, inter alia, age, sex, type of disability, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographic location, on:

(a)The number of children engaged in child labour and, with regard to the worst forms of child labour, the number of investigations conducted, indicating, in particular, any action taken in those cases, the sentences handed down to the perpetrators and the redress and compensation afforded to the victims;

(b)The number of investigations conducted, sentences handed down, instances of compensation paid and cases of child rehabilitation recorded in relation to the armed forces in the Lake Chad basin.

20.Please provide data for the last three years, disaggregated by, inter alia, age, sex, ethnic origin, geographic location and type of offence, on:

(a)The number of children suspected of an offence;

(b)The number of children who have been convicted and the type of punishment or sanction imposed for the offence, in particular the length of deprivation of liberty;

(c)The number and capacity of detention centres, reception centres and rehabilitation facilities for minors in conflict with the law;

(d)The number of children and young adults detained in those centres and the number of children held in adult detention facilities;

(e)The number of children in pretrial detention and the average length of such detention;

(f)The number of children held in prison with their mothers.

21.Please provide the Committee with an update of any figures in the report that may have been superseded or that do not take account of new developments.

22.In addition, the State party may wish to list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority in implementing the Convention.