Committee on the Rights of the Child
Seventy-fourth session
16 January-3 February 2017
Item 4 of the provisional agenda
Consideration of reports of States parties
List of issues in relation to the combined second to fourth periodic reports of Antigua and Barbuda
The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 1 June 2016. 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 inform the Committee about measures taken by the State party to harmonize its domestic legislation with the Convention, in particular the Family Court Bill, the Juvenile Justice Bill and the Children (Care and Adoption) Bill. Please provide information on the functioning of the National Child Protection Reform Committee and on the measures taken to implement the National Child Protection Policy.
2.Please inform the Committee about measures taken, including the provision of technical assistance, to establish an independent mechanism for monitoring children’s rights, in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles).
3.Please provide information on measures taken, including with regard to legislation and public awareness programmes, to eliminate discrimination against groups of children in vulnerable situations, particularly migrant children and children with disabilities. Please indicate whether the State party is taking measures to provide migrant children with full access to free medical care and primary and secondary education.
4.Please provide updated information on legislative and other measures taken to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings and to raise public awareness about the issue. Please also provide information on the corporal punishment reportedly carried out at the Boys’ Training School and elsewhere, the number of trained staff employed at the school and the practices and procedures in place to protect children from violence at the Boys’ Training School.
5.Please provide up-to-date, detailed information on specific measures adopted to prevent and protect children from sexual abuse, particularly incest, and on measures taken to provide child support in Barbuda. Please provide clarification with respect to the Sexual Offences Act and the Criminal Code regarding sexual intercourse with a person under 14 years of age. Please provide information on measures taken to combat sex tourism and the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
6.Please inform the Committee about any specific measures taken to provide appropriate care and protection to children deprived of a family. Please explain the measures taken to establish safe houses or places of alternative care for children, especially boys, who are removed from their family environment because of neglect, abuse or homelessness. Please provide information on measures taken to establish a central authority to handle adoption cases.
7.Please provide information on the special educational needs of children with disabilities and on measures taken to implement inclusive education for them, and on any specialized institutions for children who have a mental impairment. Please indicate the amount of regular assistance provided to families of children with disabilities, including financial and other forms of support.
8.Please provide updated information on measures taken, including awareness-raising campaigns and rehabilitation and prevention programmes, to combat alcohol and drug abuse by children. With reference to the information provided in paragraph 293 of the State party’s report (CRC/C/ATG/2-4), please provide information on the findings and any follow-up intervention programmes conducted in the wake of the survey on drug abuse among school children that was conducted in April 2013.
9.With reference to the information provided in paragraph 248 of the State party’s report, please provide the Committee with updated information on educational programmes aimed at rehabilitating children in conflict with the law.
10.Please provide the Committee with updated information on the development of rehabilitation facilities for abused children and any efforts taken to separate children in need of protection from children in conflict with the law.
11.Please provide information on the measures taken to raise the age of criminal responsibility to an internationally accepted level and to increase the protection of children in the juvenile justice system up to the age of 18. Please also provide information on legislative measures, including the revision of the Training Schools Act, to prohibit any form of life imprisonment. In addition, please provide information on the practical and legislative measures taken to keep juveniles in detention centres separate from adults and to try them in specialist juvenile courts.
Part II
12.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
13.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on the budget lines regarding children in the fields of education, health, social services and child protection by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and gross national product. Noting that the budget allocated to health and education has declined since 2013, please indicate measures taken to ensure that government expenditure in those two areas are prioritized. Please clarify whether there is a budget specifically for the implementation of the Convention.
14.Please provide information on measures taken, including requests for technical assistance, to establish a system of data collection and indicators consistent with the Convention. Please also 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)Child victims of abuse, including victims of sexual abuse and exploitation;
(b)Investigations into cases of sexual violence and rape, and the outcomes of the trials, including the penalties for perpetrators and redress and compensation offered to the victims;
(c)Trafficking in children and sexual exploitation;
(d)Children arrested, prosecuted and convicted;
(e)Child marriage;
(f)The enrolment and completion rates, in percentages, of the relevant age groups in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools;
(g)The number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions.
15.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographical location 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)Living in child-headed households;
(c)Placed in institutions;
(d)Placed with foster families;
(e)Adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions.
16.Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographical 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.
17.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.
18.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.