Committee on the Rights of the Child

Eighty-first session

13–31 May 2019

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the second periodic report ofCabo Verde

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 15 February 2019. 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.In the light of the adoption in 2013 of the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA, Law No. 50/VIII/2013), please inform the Committee about the approval of the draft regulation, as mentioned in paragraph 14 of the State party report. Please also provide information regarding the minimum age of marriage and any distinction in rights and protection provided to children up to 11 years and children between 12 and 17 years, as established in article 4 (a) and (b) of the Statute.

2.Please provide information about:

(a)The existence, implementation and results of a comprehensive policy and strategy for children’s rights, and how the Institute for Children and Adolescents implements its mandate;

(b)The measures taken to create the Child and Adolescent Observatory within the National Commission for Human Rights and Citizenship;

(c)The entity or entities responsible for receiving and processing complaints about child rights violations.

3.Please provide information on measures taken to combat patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes concerning the roles of women and men that have a negative impact on girls’ right to non-discrimination, and measures taken to prevent child marriages. Please provide information about measures taken to identify, prevent and address cases of female genital mutilation of girls and the negative effects of polygamy on children in migrant communities.

4.Please inform the Committee about measures taken to address complaints of police brutality against children as a form of extrajudicial punishment, including to duly record and investigate complaints, to prosecute and sanction perpetrators, and to provide compensation to child victims. Please clarify whether corporal punishment of children has been criminalized and provide detailed information about measures taken to effectively address and sanction incidents of corporal punishment in the family and schools, beyond sensitization activities.

5.With regard to the family environment, please indicate the actions taken to promote the equal responsibility of mothers and fathers in raising their children, measures taken to support single-parent families, and steps taken to monitor and address incidents of domestic violence and abuse. Please also provide detailed information on the response provided to the 5,554 cases of abuse recorded between 2006 and 2015, in particular the judicial measures with regard to perpetrators and recovery and rehabilitation of victims (CRC/C/CPV/2, para. 79).

6.Please provide information on the situation of children in alternative care, both in centres and foster care, detailing the procedure for placement and reintegration into the family environment; the accreditation of the service providers; the monitoring process of the children’s situation; and the mechanism available to children to make confidential complaints and how they have access to it.

7.Please provide information on measures taken to prevent perinatal infections, anaemia, acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases, in particular of children under 5 years of age, and anaemia of pregnant women. Please also provide information on the availability, at the municipal level and in all islands, of sexual and reproductive health education, services and contraceptives for adolescent girls and boys to prevent teenage pregnancies, in addition to the information provided in the State party report (paras. 109–124).

8.Please provide information about measures taken to ensure access to pre-primary education to all children and to prevent repetition and reduce dropout rates in secondary education. Please inform the Committee on measures taken, and the results thereof, to provide and encourage access to the regular education system to children with disabilities, and to train teachers and school staff on inclusive education.

9.Please provide information on measures taken to prevent and address all forms of violence, including sexual violence, in schools. Please inform the Committee on measures taken to include in the compulsory school curricula age-appropriate and gender-sensitive education on sexual and reproductive health and rights for girls and boys, and to ensure that pregnant teenagers and mothers are able to continue their education.

10.Please inform the Committee about measures taken:

(a)To ensure that the minimum age for work applies to all children, including those working in the informal economy;

(b)To eliminate child labour as identified in the 2012 survey on child labour;

(c)To assist the 18 potential forced labour child victims removed by the Institute for Children and Adolescents.

11.Please inform the Committee about measures taken to prohibit and criminalize the use, procurement or offering of children under 18 years of age for prostitution or pornographic purposes.

12.With regard to juvenile justice, please inform the Committee about measures taken for diversion and the provision of non-custodial measures; to use deprivation of liberty only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time for children under 18 years of age; to provide children with legal assistance throughout criminal procedures; to ensure that children are held separate from adults at all times; and to provide access to confidential and child-friendly complaint mechanisms.

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 (CRC/C/CPV/2) 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 budget lines relating to 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 provide information also on the geographic allocation of those resources.

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

(a)Reported cases of police brutality against or ill-treatment of children, number of investigations and prosecutions carried out, and sanctions issued;

(b)The number of cases of abuse or violence against children, including in the form of corporal punishment, with additional information on the type of assistance offered to child victims and the follow-up given to such cases, including prosecutions and the sentences imposed;

(c)The number of cases of child marriage;

(d)The number of teenage pregnancies;

(e)The number of child victims of trafficking, and the number of investigations and prosecutions conducted and the outcome of the trials, indicating the sentences handed down to perpetrators and the redress and compensation afforded to victims;

(f)Reported cases of child labour received by the child emergency centres, protection and reintegration centres and the National Office for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour, and the number of investigations and prosecutions carried out and sanctions issued.

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

(a)Separated from their parents;

(b)Placed in institutions;

(c)Placed with foster families;

(d)Adopted in Cabo Verde and abroad.

17.Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic and national origin, geographic location, socioeconomic status and type of disability, 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.

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

(a)Arrested;

(b)Placed in pretrial detention;

(c)Placed in detention;

(d)Placed in diversion programmes.

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

20.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.