COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDFifty-first session25 May-12 June 2009

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 the Niger (CRC/C/NER/2)

PART I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible before 6 April 2009

1.The lack of coordination between the various public services was identified on a number of occasions in the report (CRC/C/NER/2) as posing an obstacle to the implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (“the Convention”); please indicate the measures envisaged to remedy this situation. Please also indicate the measures taken or envisaged to improve the functioning of the Committee for the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and the resources available to it to carry out its role of supervising and implementing children’s rights.

2.Please provide additional information on the powers and resources of the Department for the Promotion of the Rights of Women and Children established under the National Commission on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in particular its capacity to receive complaints.

3.Since the adoption in December 2007 of Act No. 2007-30 on birth registration and the national civil registration policy, please indicate the measures taken to facilitate rural communities’ access to civil registry offices and, in particular, those measures targeting communities in the most remote areas. Please also indicate the measures taken by the State party to support the decentralized administrative units responsible for birth registration.

4.Please briefly describe the situation of children in the Mahamid community, which has been established in the Niger for decades but continues to have an unclear legal status.

5.Please inform the Committee of any initiative to combat harmful traditional practices such as those that occur in Koranic schools, including corporal punishment.

6.Please provide information on the situation of children living in slavery-like conditions, public information campaigns on the new provisions of the Criminal Code on slavery and prosecutions brought against those who continue to keep people in slavery and on the reintegration and rehabilitation of victims, including the civil registration of freed children.

7.With reference to paragraph 38 of the report, please specify which measures intended to prevent births are considered to constitute the crime of genocide.

8.Please inform the Committee about the level of water reserves and indicate whether the State party has reviewed its national plan for water and sanitation. If so, what measures have been enacted with a view to urgently increasing access to drinking water and sanitation services?

9.Please indicate the children’s issues that are considered as priorities for implementation of the Convention.

PART II

Under this section, the State party is to briefly (3 pages maximum) update the information provided in its report with regard to:

New proposed or enacted legislation: (the Children’s Code, the Family or Personal Status Code, the Trafficking in Persons Bill)

New institutions: (the Department for the Promotion of Women’s and Children’s Rights, the Central Minor Protection Service, the Directorate for Promotion of the School Enrolment and Training of Girls, the Youth Parliament, the National Youth Council, the National Commission for Oversight and Coordination of the National Plan of Action to Combat Child Trafficking)

Newly implemented policies: (national civil registration policy, draft framework document setting out a national integrated development policy for early childhood, national strategy for specialized education)

Newly implemented action plans, programmes and projects, and their scope.

PART III

Data and statistics, if available

In the light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide disaggregated data by sex, age group and geographical area covering the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 on child victims of abuse and neglect, in particular on the:

(a)Number of reported cases;

(b)Number and percentage of cases that resulted in prosecution, conviction or other type of follow-up;

(c)Number and percentage of child victims who have benefited from legal aid and rehabilitation measures.

In the light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide disaggregated data by sex, age group and geographical area covering the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 on the economic and sexual exploitation of children and on child victims of trafficking.

PART IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues (which does not contain issues already covered in part I) that the Committee proposes to take up during the dialogue with the State party. They do not require written answers. This list is not exhaustive, as other issues might be raised in the course of the dialogue:

1.The State party’s strategy to significantly enhance the overall implementation of the Convention, with particular emphasis on the general principles of the Convention and, in particular, article 3 (best interests of the child) and article 12 (respect for the views of the child).

2.Judicial pluralism and its consequences for the implementation of the Convention.

3.Definition of the child and, in particular, the legal age for marriage.

4.The right to life, survival and development (the new National Plan of Action for the Survival, Protection and Development of Children, 2006-2010, and revitalization of the Committee).

5.The family environment (State support/assistance to parents).

6.Children deprived of a family environment (shelters, foster homes and adoption).

7.Violence against children, including domestic violence.

8.Early and forced marriages and early pregnancies.

9.Nomadic children.

10.Children with disabilities (integration into the community, accessibility of facilities).

11.Children consuming alcohol and drugs.

12.Health (including access to health services, affordability of health care, vaccinations, harmful traditional practices, adolescent health and mental health).

13.Education (including the availability of qualified teachers and adequate facilities, girls’ access to education and geographic disparities in access to education).

14.Street children.

15.Economic exploitation, including child labour (the worst forms of child labour, children working in mines and child domestic workers).

16.Sexual exploitation and trafficking of children.

17.Administration of juvenile justice (including alternatives to detention, living conditions of juveniles in detention centres).

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