Committee on the Rights of the Child

Thirty-ninth session

Summary record of the 10 30 th meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Thursday, 19 May 2005, at 10 a.m.

Chairperson :Mr. Doek

Contents

Consideration of reports of States parties ( continued )

Initial report of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The meeting was called to order at 10 a .m.

Consideration of reports of States parties (agenda item 5) (continued)

Initial report of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CRC/C/11/Add.28; CRC/C/Q/BIH/1 (list of issues); CRC/C/RESP/85 (written replies of the State party); HRI/CORE/1/Add.89/Rev.1 (core document))

1. At the invitation of the Chairperson, the delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina took places at the Committee table.

2.Mr . Nagradic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) said that the initial report of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been prepared by a team of experts from different ministries and public bodies and by a small number of representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Unfortunately, although the document had been finalized four years previously, it had not been possible to submit it to the Committee until 2004, and as a result of the delay, which was due to problems of internal organization, much of the information it contained was out of date.

3.The core document contained up-to-date information on institutions and the general legal framework for the protection of human rights. In addition, the Government had made every effort in its written replies to provide supplementary information allowing a more complete and reliable idea to be formed of the current situation on the rights of the child in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2001, the country’s capacity to collect and compile data had been significantly enhanced and conditions for implanting the Convention had changed a great deal.

4.In particular, major institutional and legislative changes had taken place, with laws passed including the State and Entity-level Framework Laws on Primary and Secondary Education, the Law on the Protection of Members of National Minorities, the State and Entity-level Laws amending the Law on Displaced Persons and Refugees, the Law on the Protection of Children in Republika Srpska, the Entity-level Laws on Protection against Violence within the Family, the State and Entity-level Laws on Criminal Procedure and the Application of Criminal Penalties, the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Social Care and Child Protection in the District of Brčko.

5.The following institutions had been created: the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, the Office of the Ombudsman of the Republika Srpska, the Commission on Human Rights, the Educational Assessment Standards Agency, the Group for the Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings, the Sub-Group for the Prevention of Trafficking in Children and the Council for Children.

6.Since 2001, awareness-raising activities about the rights of the child and cooperation with NGOs, which had significantly increased in number, had been boosted. Many seminars, workshops and conferences had been organized and a range of surveys and research work had been devoted to various themes with a bearing on the rights of the child. During the same period, the authorities had adopted several strategy documents, including the Action Plan for Children 2002–2010, the Mid-Term Development Strategy for 2004–2007, the Action Plan for the Educational Needs of Roma and Other National Minorities and the Strategy against HIV/AIDS. The media had paid increased attention to the rights of the child, and contributed to making them better known, but their activities remained relatively limited and not well-targeted. Much remained to be done in the sphere of public education.

7.Bosnia and Herzegovina could no longer be content to protect the most vulnerable categories of children, such as the children of displaced persons and refugees, and intended to apply global standards and work towards the full implementation of all the provisions of the Convention, including those concerning the right to rest and leisure and the right to participate in cultural life and the arts.

8.Ms. Aluoch asked for details of the process by which the Convention on the Rights of the child had been integrated into domestic legislation and on the enforceability of the Convention by the national courts. She also wished to know whether the Government would agree to examine the possibility of withdrawing its reservation in relation to paragraph 1 of article 9, if the Committee made a recommendation to that effect in its concluding observations. Given that no independent mechanism for monitoring the Convention had existed when the initial report was prepared, it would be helpful to know if the Council for Children, set up in 2002 to implement the Action Plan for Children 2002–2010, was now fulfilling that function. She would like to have details of who the members of the Council were and how they had been appointed, and would like to know whether there were plans to establish a Children’s Ombudsman.

9.The explanations of the definition of the child in the present report were not always very clear, and it would therefore be helpful to know, for example, whether the dispensation which could be granted by a court to a minor over the age of 16 to contract marriage was a simple exception or whether it had any effect on the age of majority, which was set at 18 years. It would also be helpful to have clarification of the age of criminal responsibility and of the sort of penalties which could be imposed on minors; of the age at which education ceased to be compulsory; of the age at which a child could consult a lawyer or receive medical treatment without parental consent; and of the minimum age for purchasing cigarettes and alcohol.

10.She asked what measures were being taken to ensure that parents were aware of the deadline of 60 days within which they were required to register the birth of a child, and whether there were ways of registering a birth once the deadline had passed.

11.Ms. Khattab asked what the reaction of the Government would be were the Committee to recommend in its concluding observations that it should create a ministry for children. Given the complex structure of the State, the Committee would need clarification if it was to be able to make recommendations which were targeted and capable of being implemented within the existing framework.

12.It seemed that a significant proportion of the resources allocated for children in various spheres was used to cover administrative expenditure connected with the functioning of the State. The figures given in the written replies did not make it possible to form a clear idea of the amount and distribution of budgetary resources. As some sources had criticized a lack of transparency over public expenditure, it would be helpful to include in future periodic reports a simpler and clearer description of the budget.

13.The report did not contain any statistical data on children affected by social exclusion or drugs or who were victims of sexual exploitation. Nor did it contain comprehensive data on the numbers of minors who were victims of crime or who were in conflict with the law. She would appreciate it if the delegation could provide details on those points and indicate whether measures were being taken to improve the system for data collection and for establishing statistics at national level.

14.Many children were unable to benefit from free social and medical cover because their parents were unemployed and lacked the means to pay regular contributions, and it was therefore necessary to know whether measures were being taken to remedy the situation.

15.The frequent cases of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, religion, political affiliation, social standing (in particular status as a displaced or repatriated person), gender or disability were cause for acute concern. The measures which had been taken appeared to have had only a limited effect. The media, in particular, had played a negative role by nurturing prejudices and discriminatory behaviour. The Committee therefore wished to know whether the Government planned to take tougher action to combat discrimination, and if so, by what means. There was certain information referring to segregation in schools, where children were separated according to their ethnic origin. Adopting a common programme within the context of a reform of the educational system would contribute, not only to simplifying the current structures, but also to placing all children on a footing of equality. In that connection, it would be helpful to know what progress had been made with the initiative launched by the competent ministries in the two Entities, aimed at establishing a common basis in the sphere of education.

16.Ms. Lee wished to know whether the Government was in a position to state, given the complex structure of the country, that all children within its national territory enjoyed an identical degree of protection, and whether it had the capacity to exert influence over those decisions of the two Entities which related to defining policies and strategies to secure implementation of the Convention.

17.It would be helpful to have supplementary information on the number of inhabitants and students in the Brčko District, among others, and to know whether the State party intended to carry out another census of the population, which would reveal the demographic changes caused by the civil war.

18.She asked if the delegation could confirm or deny reports that mothers who did not have the necessary resources to meet maternity hospital fees were not permitted to register their child.

19.Ms. Ouedraogo asked about the position was in relation to the 5,060 newborn children for whom the registration procedure had not been completed, and what the Government intended to do to ensure that all the children of the country, including the Roma, obtained a birth certificate. She also wished to know whether the Government intended to provide better protection for the right of children to private life (which was often disregarded by doctors, in the school system and in the media), whether children were sheltered from information which could present a threat to their development and, more particularly, whether a censorship committee had been created to oversee the content of films, articles in the printed press and the media in general. She also wished to know whether campaigns to promote reading had been carried out and whether children had easy access to libraries.

20.Bearing in mind the paucity of information in the report on torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the Committee wished to know whether such practices occurred frequently in the State party, whether corporal punishment was widespread and, if it was, what the State party was doing to combat it and the police brutality of which young offenders would appear to be victims.

21.Ms. Smith asked why the State party had paid so little attention in its report to the problem of discrimination and what measures it intended to take to ensure that the registration services registered the children of migrants and refugees on the same basis as other children in the country.

22.She stressed that freedom of expression and respect for the opinions of the child were two different things and asked, referring to paragraph 59 of the report, in what respect “the wish of a minor” was to be taken into account in a procedure for the recognition of paternity.

23.The Committee also wished to know whether teachers had been made sufficiently aware of the need to listen to their pupils, and whether pupils were invited to take part in decisions which affected them in their schools. In that regard, the question arose whether the fact that the rights and responsibilities of parents were “personal and absolute”, as indicated in the report, meant that within the culture of the State party it was normal for parents to exercise a very strong degree of authority over their children, in despite of the opinions of children themselves.

24.Ms. Vuckovic- Sahovic asked whether the State party intended to establish a central public body responsible for the activities needed to implement the Convention, which were currently distributed among several ministries, including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Human Rights, and whether it had adequate human and financial resources for that.

25.Supplementary information on the position of the Roma would be welcome, including their demographic weight within the State party, whether there was a strategy for integrating them into the education system and what access they had to health care. It would be particularly helpful to know their exact status within the State party, the Constitution of which guaranteed protection only to the constituent peoples, including whether they had the status of a minority.

26.Given that in Republika Srpska religious instruction was compulsory, the Committee wished to know whether pupils who were not affiliated to any religion were able to decline to take the courses concerned or to study instead the history of religions, for example.

27.Mr. Kotrane asked whether the Convention had yet been invoked before the national courts, and whether the reservation entered in relation to the first paragraph of article 9 of the Convention was not an indication that, from a cultural perspective, little attention was paid to the status of children within the family, as was also suggested by the fact that the State party had not ratified a number of international instruments dealing with the status of children, including the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. It would also be interesting to know whether a child below the age of 14 who was guilty of a theft or a crime could or could not be prosecuted.

28.Mr. Filali wished to know whether there was a plan to reform the administration and make it simpler. That would make it easier to implement the Convention, since the distribution of tasks and resources did not seem very well coordinated as things stood.

29.The question arose whether the State party was committed to the creation of a culture of peace, based on programmes to raise awareness of tolerance and aimed at bringing communities together and fostering national reconciliation. In that context, it had to be deplored that the children of refugees and displaced persons suffered discrimination in areas including health and education.

30.Mr. Krappman noted that the country was still suffering from the consequences of the civil war and that the very structure of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a stopgap solution. National reconciliation seemed to him impossible as long as there continued to be what had been described as a culture of impunity, as demonstrated by the fact that those responsible for atrocities committed during the war remained at liberty. Holders of political office and senior posts in the administration, and parents themselves, must face up to their past if they wanted to ensure the well-being of the younger generation.

31.Mr. Siddiqui asked what contribution the State party would expect from the international community if, in order to secure the harmonious coexistence of all population groups, a decision was taken to simplify its State structure.

32.Mr. Zermatten asked about the accuracy of the impression conveyed by some NGOs that violence in the family was culturally accepted, not only within the family itself, but also within society; that in effect mothers were often forced to tolerate violence towards themselves or their children, so as to avoid any threat to the rock-solid family unit; and whether the delegation had disaggregated data on such matters. It would also be interesting to know whether programmes had been put in place to raise awareness of those problems, as they offered the only means of eliminating that evil, and above all of refuting the conventional wisdom that corporal punishment was beneficial both to children and to family life.

33.Ms. Anderson asked whether the National Action Plan for Children and the Mid‑Term Development Strategy specifically targeted children living below the poverty line. Could the delegation also supply updated information on demining activities within the country?

The meeting was suspended at 11.20 a .m. and resumed at 11.35 a .m.

34.Mr. Nagradic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) reminded the Committee that the constitutional structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was to say the least complex, derived from the Dayton Peace Accords, which were still in force. Under the Accords the State was made up of two political Entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, peopled mainly by Bosnians and Croats, and the Republika Srpska, the population of which was essentially Serb. The term “Federation” in the name of one of the two Entities no doubt contributed to confusion in the mind of the international community. Since 2000, there had in addition existed what was known as the Brčko District, a special administrative district about which the report had little to say because it had only just been created when the document was drafted. Bosnia and Herzegovina had formed part of Yugoslavia until independence in 1992.

35.Bosnia and Herzegovina had ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993. In the first instance, two separate reports for the Committee had been drafted by the two Entities. It was only later, with the creation of the Ministry for Human Rights at the level of the central State, that the two reports had been merged and a single report produced in the name of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A number of areas of responsibility lay essentially within the competence of the Entities or the cantons, and some responsibilities had only recently been transferred to the State with the creation of joint coordinating institutions, in an effort to respect the constitutional arrangements.

36.Even if the constitutional structure were to be simplified, the situation on the ground would continue to be extremely complex, reflecting the cultural, religious and ethnic diversity of the country. In addition to the three constituent peoples, Bosnians, Croats and Serbs, there were 17 minorities recognized by law, as well as persons exercising their right not to claim affiliation with any particular people. There were four large religious groups within the country (Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Jews), alongside some smaller religious groups such as Baptists and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Those matters were governed by the Law on Freedom of Religion, passed in 2004.

37.The position on religious instruction differed between the two Entities. In the Republika Srpska, religious instruction was compulsory, provided that the parents and the child consented, and dealt principally with Orthodox religion. Islam and the Catholic religion could also be taught in certain establishments which had teachers with the necessary skills. The overall position was that religious instruction took different approaches in different regions, and even in different schools. Instruction of that kind was supplemented by teaching about the history of the country’s regions, which was dealt with in the context of subjects such as sociology and also in a newly-introduced subject entitled “Democracy and Human Rights”.

38.The process of reconciliation would take time, and there had to awareness-raising, as the authorities knew full well. The Government and Parliament had agreed a number of measures and instruments dealing with the consequences of the conflict, and more particularly of the years 1992–1995, in the different parts of the country. The country was organizing itself for a future in which reconciliation would be plain to see, and the best way of achieving that was to strengthen the State institutions.

39.It was in that spirit that the Council for Children, a consultative body responsible for coordinating all activity for implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, had been expanded. The Council was attached to the Council of Ministers, but also included representatives from the ministries of the Entities and from the non-governmental sector. The Press Council, created in 2003, was responsible for preparing guidelines for the media on the implementation of the Convention and compliance with the Code of Professional Standards for Journalists. The Council for Children was currently engaged with Save the Children Norway in preparing a draft code of ethics on behaviours towards children, the contents of which would include the question of abuse and its prevention.

40.The Roma were recognized as a minority, but their exact numbers were unknown, as the last census dated back to 1991, when Bosnia and Herzegovina was still part of Yugoslavia; major migratory movements had occurred since, especially during the war. Moreover, the Roma were strongly opposed to any form of registration, so that it was their way of life itself which prevented them from figuring in the statistics. According to estimates by the 40 or so Roma NGOs or NGOs working with Roma in the country, they numbered between 30,000 and 60,000, which would make them the largest minority.

41.Roma children were in a more difficult situation than other children in the country, and efforts were being made to eliminate prejudice towards them. The Council of Ministers had adopted a planning framework for resolving the problems of the Roma four years previously, and, in 2004, had approved a document entitled the “Meeting the Educational Needs of Roma and Other National Minorities”. That had resulted in a plan of action, implementation of which had begun at the start of the current school year and which would be subject to monitoring and undergo a week-long evaluation at a meeting of the Roma Council. The meeting was expected to result in a global strategy in support of the Roma, to which Roma organizations would be invited to respond. It had to be recognized, however, that there was a genuine vicious circle here since, because of their lack of qualifications, the majority of Roma were unemployed, and so did not have the means to send their children to school, with the result that the children in turn were unable to obtain qualifications.

42.On the latter point, as on other points, the delegation would have liked to have been able to say that all obstacles would be removed in the very near future, but that required resources that Bosnia and Herzegovina currently lacked because the difficult economic situation was a major obstacle to the full implementation of the legislation that it had passed. That was why Bosnia and Herzegovina was most grateful to bodies such as UNICEF, the Council of Europe and the European Commission for the support that they were providing.

43.Ms. Duderija (Bosnia and Herzegovina) explained that under the Constitution international instruments ratified by Bosnia and Herzegovina formed part of its domestic legal order and took precedence over national legislation. The standards enshrined in the international instruments that had been ratified had been incorporated in all the laws passed over the past four years. The judicial system was now entirely independent of the executive and was underpinned by a reformed police force. The courts were beginning to enforce the Convention effectively, and it had already been invoked on a number of occasions in areas not dealt with in domestic law, especially on the initiative of the Office of the Ombudsman, which had a department with responsibility for children.

44.Bosnia and Herzegovina applied the definition of the child which appeared in the Convention, with the exception of the age of criminal responsibility, which was set at 14 years. Minors aged between 14 and 18 could have criminal-law penalties imposed on them, especially in cases of serious crimes, but those aged under 14 could be subject only to corrective measures or, as provided for in the new 2003 Code of Criminal Procedure, to social measures. The resources needed to allow young offenders and their parents to benefit from programmes of social support were often lacking, but the good level of cooperation established in that area over recent years with NGOs and the centres for social work had made it possible to overcome that problem.

45.In the context of coordinated planning by the two Entities, the joint measures adopted included the Action Plan for Children, the Plan for the Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings, the Anti-Poverty Strategy and the Strategy against HIV/AIDS. By the year’s end, the institution responsible for promoting gender equality was also due to finalize a plan for the protection of girls that provided for special measures of protection for certain categories of girls, including refugee girls and girls living in rural areas.

46.The registration of births had been a serious problem before and since the war: the formalities were supposed to be completed within 60 days after a birth, but it was impossible for many women to get to registration offices. For that reason, with help from the international community, and in particular a grant from the European Union, arrangements to register all inhabitants not already on the register were being implemented. That was part of a project for introducing simplified procedures, which should allow all inhabitants to receive an identity document.

47.Ms. Radic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) said that a new cycle of primary education, extending the duration of compulsory education to nine years, had been introduced at the beginning of the 2004–2005 school year, implementing the Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education of July 2003. The new cycle was operating for the moment alongside the eight-year cycle maintained in parallel in certain cantons. The age of enrolment in the primary cycle would therefore be 5 or 6 years from now on, depending on the canton.

48.The solutions chosen in relation to religious instruction differed between Entities and between cantons. Article 11 of the Law on Freedom of Religion placed an obligation on schools to encourage dialogue between religions and prohibited any measure likely to result in restrictions on freedom of religion. The legislation encouraged study of the different religions, and it was on that basis that pupils were able to take a course of religious instruction if they or their parents so wished. Children who chose not to take a course of religious instruction were not to be treated differently or discriminated against in any way. The local authorities were required to set out in detail the content of the courses of religious instruction, which were determined by the ministries responsible with the help of a variety of religious communities and were currently governed by some 20 to 30 cantonal laws. Religious instruction was optional, but if pupils elected to take it the marks they obtained counted towards their overall results. The study of other religions already figured in other subjects within the curriculum. Many schools, including those in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, were teaching the history and culture of religions and the various religious groups, including the group to which their pupils belonged, as a compulsory subject.

49.Reliable data on the costs of public and private education would from now on be available in a document on the public service in Bosnia and Herzegovina which had been prepared in fulfilment of a memorandum of understanding concluded with the European Commission. The financial analysis that it contained should produce recommendations designed to guarantee the transparency, fairness, effectiveness and long-term financial viability of the eight sectors dealt with in the document, which included education.

50.Ms. Khattab asked whether preschool education was still non-existent in rural areas.

51.The high figures for the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and narcotic drugs among adolescents were worrying. Although the proposal for the development of a national strategy put to the Council of Ministers by the Council for Children had been approved, it was surprising that the former should have made the Ministry of Civil Affairs responsible for coordinating the strategy, as the new and innovatory approach mentioned in the written replies, which involved curbing demand, placing the emphasis on prevention and raising children’s awareness of the problems, was not on the face of it a matter for that Ministry. She asked for details of the measures taken to combat HIV/AIDS, the figures for which were a cause of concern and showed that risk behaviour among adolescents occurred frequently.

52.The Committee was concerned at acts of violence against repatriated people and refugees, who numbered a million, and against their possessions, places of worship and distinctive religious symbols. Since Bosnia and Herzegovina was a signatory to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, the Committee was extremely concerned at the provision of the Law on Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina under which, in the event of the immediate threat of or in time of war, the members of the Presidency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina were able to call up 16 year-olds, and clarification on that point was therefore desirable.

53.Ms. Aluoch regretted the absence, apart from some vague information contained in the written replies, of information about the training given to judges assigned to the juvenile chambers which were to be found in all courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the absence of special youth courts. In that connection, she would like to have details of the worrying increase in youth offending mentioned in the report, which also stated that for the past four years the courts had avoided ordering placement in closed educational centres because of problems posed by the application of that kind of measure. The Committee accordingly wished to know whether alternative options existed, or whether the 30 or so minors for whom the courts had in fact ordered measures of that nature had simply been released because there were no facilities to take them. If that were the case, it could be a partial cause of the steep increase in youth offending. Finally, it was worrying to read in the written replies that youth offenders were imprisoned with adults in the two Entities and the Brčko District, as that exposed them to bad influences.

54.Ms. Lee asked for details of the reasons why ever-increasing numbers of children were being placed in institutions, including children who had parents. She would like to know why, according to the disaggregated data on page 9 of the written replies, so many children’s psychological development was held back or their family circumstances constituted an obstacle to their development, and whether those concerned were children deprived of their parents or placed in institutions.

55.According to reports by UNESCO, the number of teachers lacking the necessary qualifications was increasing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, raising the question of whether there might be a link between that phenomenon and the high rates of absenteeism and educational abandonment, especially at primary level.

56.Mr. Krappmann said that the percentage of poor children in the State party was probably higher than the 20 per cent average mentioned in a World Bank report, since in most countries children suffered more greatly from poverty than the rest of the population because parents were obliged share their income with their family, which brought per capita income down below the poverty line. Even if little more could be done financially under the national budget for families in economic difficulty, the question arose of what measures were envisaged to raise the standard of living for children and their families. The same question arose in relation to the measures envisaged to offset the disadvantages experienced by children in that situation.

57.It would be interesting to know what the authorities intended to do to combat dropping out of school, which had reached alarming proportions, and to help young school leavers who were not finding employment.

58.Mr. Liwski emphasized that the organization of the health system posed problems of coordination between the central body responsible for public health policy and the 10 cantons and 84 local authorities of the Federation. The issue was how the system of primary health care was organized at local level and how the central body ensured that it worked properly with, among other things, the requisite funding, access to technical assistance and monitoring. The report indicated that health insurance covered only a tiny percentage of the child population, bearing out the claim from some quarters 59 per cent of the children of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not benefit from it. The question was whether changes to the structure of health insurance would make it possible to expand coverage.

59.Turning to the child allowance, it seemed insufficient to provide the necessary cover. Could the delegation be more precise in relation to the data on that subject at paragraph 214 of the report, and explain whether the allowance had a particular function in relation to child victims of the war, and if so, what that function was?

60.The Committee also wished to know more about breastfeeding, which involved 8 per cent of babies, and about policy on adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health and their mental health. Information on the suicide rate among adolescents in recent years would be helpful. He would like to have details about the vocational training of health teams, including the legal aspects.

61.It would be good to know to what extent article 39 of the Convention, dealing with physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration, was applied, particularly to child victims of war; the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina had to be encouraged to ensure that children born during and after the war benefited from active policies setting in place arrangements founded on the principles of justice, aid and redress.

62.Ms. Ouedraogo was concerned by the paucity of resources available for dealing with the cases of refugees and displaced persons and improving their living conditions, including in collective shelters where children lived alongside the chronically sick. As the shelters were to be dismantled, the Committee needed to know what plans there were for rehousing their occupants and for improving conditions for refugees and displaced persons in general. Since cases of sexual exploitation of and violence against children had been reported in the camps, resettlement seemed the best solution. She asked what arrangements were envisaged to harmonize legislation on refugees and displaced persons at the level of the two Entities and the cantons and put it into actual practice.

63.The Committee also wished to know if there were arrangements to have the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes adopted by the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the context of legislation, and to impose penalties on those contravening it, and whether measures were envisaged to ensure that the legislation on maternity protection was observed in practice and to compel employers to comply with it. It would also be interesting to know whether the Government intended to educate the population about best practice in connection with breastfeeding.

The meeting rose at 1 p.m.