Committee on the Rights of the Child

Seventy-eighth session

14 May-1 June 2018

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the fifth and sixth periodic reports of Norway

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 16 February 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 provide updated information on the ongoing review of the Child Welfare Service Act so as to ensure it is fully compliant with the provisions of the Convention (see CRC/C/NOR/5-6, para. 137), particularly with regard to the practices of the Child Welfare Service and in the light of cases that have been brought to the European Court of Human Rights.

2.Please provide further information on the impact of the Giant Leap programme in ensuring consistent application of the provisions of the Convention across all municipalities; the budget allocated for services available to children by each municipality; and the measures adopted to correct the “very large differences … between municipalities vis-à-vis staffing and coverage”, and on their impact (see CRC/C/NOR/5-6, paras. 4, 11 and 149).

3.Please provide further information on the measures taken to strengthen the role of the Ombudsman for Children “so that it is able to provide better assistance” (see CRC/C/NOR/5-6, para. 18). Please also clarify what measures have been taken to establish complaints mechanisms which are effective and accessible to children.

4.Please provide information on the integration of the principle of the best interests of the child in all laws relevant to children and on the measures taken to ensure that training and awareness-raising efforts on the Convention are systematically provided to all professionals working with and for children in all settings at national, municipal and local levels, and that information on children’s rights is included in the school curricula at all levels as well as in college and university curricula in all fields that deal with children and families.

5.Please provide information on the scope and causes of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children, children from ethnic and national minority groups and from indigenous groups, such as Sami children, and migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking children. Please indicate what measures are being taken to combat such discrimination, including those targeting staff in institutions that deal with children, such as schools and child welfare services (see CRC/C/NOR/5-6, para. 34).

6.Please provide information on the measures taken to address discrimination against children with disabilities in accessing inclusive education, vocational training and recreational opportunities throughout the State party and in a manner that is conducive to the achievement of the child’s fullest possible social integration and individual development.

7.Please provide information on the measures taken to strengthen the effectiveness of youth councils at municipal and local levels to ensure the participation of children in decision-making processes on matters that concern them. Please further provide information on initiatives or measures being taken or envisaged to ensure that all children have the opportunity to effectively participate in decision-making processes in schools and communities.

8.Please clarify what measures have been taken to examine the educational objectives and practices of religious communities with respect to their compatibility with the child’s right to a holistic, human rights-oriented education (see CRC/C/NOR/CO/4, para. 27). Please also provide further information on why the subject of religion, philosophies of life and ethics in schools was replaced by Christianity, religion, philosophies of life and ethics in 2015 and on the content and objectives of the new subject (CRC/C/NOR/5-6, para. 69).

9.Please provide further information on the measures taken to prevent, identify and address violence against and abuse of children, including the availability of 24/7 helplines accessible to all children. Please also provide updated information on the measures taken to combat violence against children, including Sami children, in particular girls, the ongoing investigations of those cases and the health and social services provided to those child victims.

10.Please provide further information on the measures taken to effectively implement the guidelines and guidance on the treatment of mental disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) throughout the State party (see CRC/C/NOR/5-6, para. 191) and on other measures adopted to address the overprescription of psychostimulant drugs to treat children diagnosed with ADHD (see CRC/C/NOR/CO/4, para. 43).

11.Please provide further information on the reasons behind the increase in the number of children and adolescents who are placed outside the home by child welfare services, as opposed to receiving assistance in the home (CRC/C/NOR/5-6, para. 148), and clarify what measures are being taken to counter that trend.

12.Please provide further information on the measures taken to expand the scope of Child Welfare Services to cover unaccompanied asylum-seeking children over 15 years of age; to improve and clarify the regulations for the arrest and detention of children in immigration cases (see CRC/C/NOR/5-6, para. 338); to establish alternatives to the detention of children prior to deportation; and to address the issue of the increasing number of unaccompanied children who have disappeared from reception centres.

13.Please provide information on the progress achieved in implementing the Committee’s previous recommendation under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, in particular to ensure that the Penal Code covers all acts and activities related to “producing, distributing, disseminating, importing, exporting, offering, selling or possessing for the above purposes child pornography” (see CRC/C/OPSA/NOR/CO/1, para. 16).

14.Please provide information on the progress achieved in implementing the Committee’s previous recommendation under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, in particular that of adopting measures to identify children who have been recruited or used in hostilities abroad and ensure that they are provided with adequate support and supervision as well as adequate psychological and psychiatric care (see CRC/C/OPAC/NOR/CO/1, para. 19).

Part II

15.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

16.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.

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

(a)Children in migrant and refugee situations;

(b)Children and adolescents who abuse substances and alcohol;

(c)Reported cases of children subjected to involuntary admission and treatment in psychiatric institutions;

(d)Children who have been treated with psychostimulant drugs for symptoms of ADHD/attention deficit disorder (ADD).

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

(a)Children living in alternative-care settings;

(b)Unaccompanied children disappearing from asylum centres;

(c)Children subjected to sexual abuse.

19.Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographic location, for the past three years, on 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)Out of school;

(g)Abandoned by their families.

20.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data disaggregated by age, sex, type of offence, ethnic and national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic status, for the past three years, on children in conflict with the law who have been:

(a)Arrested;

(b)In pretrial detention;

(c)In detention;

(d)Placed in diversion programmes.

21.Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report that may have become outdated by more recent data collected or other new developments.

22.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.