Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty-fifth session

13 September–1 October 2010

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues related to the consideration of the second periodic report of Burundi (CRC/C/BDI/2)

The State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information (a maximum of 30 pages), if possible by 2 August 2010 .

The Committee may take up all aspects of children ’ s rights contained in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party.

Part I

1.Please indicate whether the State party is considering establishing a mechanism for implementing the provisions of the Convention. If so, please specify the overseeing body as well as the human and financial resources to be allocated to the mechanism so that it may fulfil its role vis à vis all the ministerial departments and bodies responsible for implementing children’s rights in the provinces, municipalities and “collines” (hills) (CRC/C/BDI/2, paras. 52 and 53).

2.Please specify the status of the draft legislation on the establishment of a national human rights commission. Please also indicate whether the commission will have a unit specifically devoted to children.

3.Please provide information on the progress made in creating a centralized mechanism responsible for collecting data on the implementation of the Convention across the State party’s territory (CRC/C/BDI/2, para. 54).

4.Please clarify the process and criteria used by the State party to identify civil society partners likely to become involved in designing public policies, strategies and action plans, particularly in areas relevant to children.

5.With regard to the principle of non-discrimination, please provide the following information:

(a)Specific measures adopted by the State party allowing children full enjoyment of their rights without being discriminated against, in particular:

Children with disabilities

Albino children

Street children

Refugee and asylum-seeking children

Children born to mothers in prison

Orphaned and vulnerable children

Children belonging to minority groups

(b)Measures taken to do away with discriminatory legislative provisions targeting girls in matters of inheritance, and to amend legislation relating to transmission of citizenship to children born to a foreign father and a Burundian mother (CRC/C/BDI/2, para. 144).

6.Please indicate the measures adopted to guarantee the registration of births (CRC/C/BDI/2, para. 134).

7.Please indicate all measures aimed at putting in place a health policy for children during the State party’s reconstruction period and, more specifically, the measures taken to reduce the infant mortality rate by at least 50 per cent. In addition, please provide detailed information on the mechanisms for guaranteeing medical follow-up for children over the age of 5 (CRC/C/BDI/2, paras. 48 and 81).

8.Please indicate the measures taken to eliminate physical and psychological violence against children, especially corporal punishment and sexual violence, including within the family, at school or in detention centres.

9.Please provide information on The National Commission for the Rehabilitation of Disaster Victims provided for in the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi, especially measures to rehabilitate child victims of the armed conflict, including child soldiers, exploited children and child victims of abuse (CRC/C/BDI/2, paras. 64, 66, 70 and 302–305).

10.Please indicate the measures to implement the action plan concerning a juvenile justice system, especially with a view to:

(a)Setting up legal protection for youth within the Ministry of Justice and its education services;

(b)Training for justice professionals dealing with juveniles, particularly criminal investigation officers, prosecutors and judges;

(c)Separating children from adults in detention centres and not treating them as adults;

(d)Protecting young children living in prison with their mothers.

11.Regarding the right to education, please indicate:

(a)Progress made by the State party on ensuring primary and secondary schooling for all children on its territory;

(b)Whether the feasibility study on the free primary education, begun in 2003, has been completed;

(c)Measures taken to ensure that schools are a peaceful place for all children, including with regard to peer violence and inter-ethnic relations.

12.Please inform the Committee about the procedures put in place to allow children to participate in judicial and administrative processes, and more particularly to express their views and to be heard.

Part II

In this section, the State party is invited to explain briefly (in three pages or fewer) the information provided in its report concerning:

New draft laws or legal texts

New institutions, their functions and funding

Recently implemented policies and programmes as well as action plans recently carried out, their scope and funding

Recent ratifications of human rights instruments

Part III

Data and statistics, where available

1.Please provide for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 updated statistics on the number of people under the age of 18 who were tried as adults. Kindly also provide the Committee with data on known cases of abuse or ill-treatment inflicted on children in the course of their arrest and/or during detention, as well as the follow-up to these cases.

2.Please provide for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 data on budget allocations and trends (in absolute figures and percentages of the national, municipal and “collines” budgets) allocated to implementation of the Convention in the areas of education (number of teachers per school, average class size and number of students per class), health, and social and child protection services.

3.Please provide for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 disaggregated comparative data (by sex, geographical area and age) on the number of children subjected to sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking and sale, and, of these, the number provided with recovery and reintegration services.

4.Please provide for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 disaggregated comparative data (by sex, geographical area and age) on the number of children subjected to economic exploitation, including children employed as domestic workers and children exposed to hazardous activities, and on the number of children living on the streets in both urban and rural areas.

5.The State party is welcome also to define the fields it deems important with respect to implementation of the Convention.