COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDForty-third session11-29 September 2006

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTIONON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the considerationof the initial report of SAMOA (CRC/C/WSM/1)

Part I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before 5 August 2006

A. Data and statistics, if available

1.Please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age groups, islands) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number and proportion of children under the age of 18 living in Samoa.

2.In the light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide additional disaggregated data for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 on budget allocations and trends (in absolute figures and percentages of the national budget or gross domestic product) allocated to the implementation of the Convention, evaluating also the priorities for budgetary expenditures given to the following areas:

(a)education (different types of education, i.e. pre-primary, primary and secondary);

(b)health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care and other health-care services for children);

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(c)programmes and services for children with disabilities;

(d)support programmes for families;

(e)support for children living below the poverty line;

(f)protection of children who are in need of alternative care, including the support of care institutions;

(g)programmes and activities for the prevention of and protection from child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child labour;

(h)programmes and services for street children and abandoned children; and

(i)juvenile justice and the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders.

Please also indicate the expenses of the private sector, in particular for health and education.

3.With reference to children deprived of a family environment and separated from parents, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age groups, and by islands) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number of children:

(a)separated from their parents;

(b)placed in institutions;

(c)placed with foster families; and

(d)adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions.

4.Please specify the number of children with disabilities, disaggregated by sex, age groups, and islands, for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005:

(a)living with their families;

(b)in institutions;

(c)attending regular schools;

(d)attending special schools; and

(e)not attending schools.

5.With reference to child abuse, please provide disaggregated data (by age, sex, islands, and types of abuses reported) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the:

(a)number of reports received per year;

(b)number and percentage of reports per year that resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up; and

(c)number and percentage of child victims who received counselling and assistance in recovery.

6.Please specify the criteria for “poverty” and indicate the number of children living below the poverty line.

7.Please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age groups, and by islands) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on:

(a)enrolment, attendance and completion rates in percentages of the relevant group in pre-primary schools, in primary schools and in secondary schools;

(b)number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions; and

(c)ratio of teachers to students.

8.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, and by islands) on infant and child mortality, malnutrition, early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), suicide, and drug, alcohol, tobacco and other substance abuse, for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005. Also, please provide numbers of health professionals working in the health-care services for children.

9.Please provide disaggregated statistical data for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 (by sex, age groups, and by islands) on the number of children, if any, who are:

(a)infected with HIV/AIDS;

(b)affected by HIV/AIDS;

(c)heading households due to HIV/AIDS; and

(d)orphans of HIV/AIDS living in extended families or institutions.

10.Please provide appropriate disaggregated data (including by sex, age groups, islands, and type of crime) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, in particular on the number of:

(a)persons under the age of 18 who have allegedly committed a crime, reported to the police;

(b)persons under 18 who have been sentenced and type of punishment or sanctions related to offences including length of deprivation of liberty;

(c)detention centres for juvenile offenders under 18, and their capacity;

(d)persons under 18 detained in these facilities and minors detained in adult facilities;

(e)persons under 18 kept in pretrial detention and the average length of their detention;

(f)reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of persons under 18 during their arrest and detention; and

(g)persons under 18 tried and sentenced as adults.

11.With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by sex, age, and islands) per year for 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number of:

(a)children sexually exploited, including through prostitution, pornography and/or trafficking;

(b)street children and number of children who received assistance;

(c)child victims who received recovery, counselling and other forms of assistance;

(d)children under the age of 15 who are employed, or working; and

(e)children abusing alcohol and/or using narcotics and drugs, and the number of children who received assistance.

B. General measures of implementation

1.Please indicate whether the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been invoked directly in domestic courts, and if so, please provide examples of such cases.

2.Please provide information on the activities of the Law Reform Commission and on other measures taken for a comprehensive review of all legislation to ensure compatibility with the Convention.

3.Please provide information on the system of data collection and whether it covers all persons under the age of 18 and all areas referred to in the Convention.

4.Please provide updated information on the National Coordinating Committee on the Rights of the Child (NCCRC), its mandate, resources and activities, both at national and local levels.

5.Please provide updated information on activities to increase awareness and knowledge of the Convention among the public at large, in particular children and parents, and on training programmes for teachers, social workers and other professionals working with and for children.

6.Please provide updated information on the cooperation between the State party and the international community, including non-governmental organizations, in the efforts to implement the Convention.

7.Please indicate the issues affecting children that the State party considers to be priorities, requiring the most urgent attention with regard to the implementation of the Convention.

Part II

Please provide copies of the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all official languages of the State party as well as in other languages or dialects, when available. If possible, please submit these texts in electronic form.

Part III

Under this section, the State party is 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 programmes and projects, and their scope.

Part IV

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

1.Reservations;

2.Plan of action and coordination;

3.Budget allocations for children;

4.Non-discrimination;

5.Birth registration;

6.Corporal punishment in the family;

7.Children deprived of family environment, alternative care and adoption;

8.Child abuse, neglect, and domestic violence;

9.Children with disabilities;

10.Adolescent health;

11.Education;

12.Alcohol and other substance abuse;

13.Sexual exploitation, child labour and street children;

14.Administration of juvenile justice; and

15.Environmental problems and capacity to respond to natural disasters.

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