Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixtieth session

29 May–15 June 2012

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the consideration of the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Viet Nam (CRC/C/VNM/3-4)

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information, if possible before 1 March 2012.

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

Part I

In this section, the State party is requested to submit its responses to the following questions (30 pages maximum).

1.Please indicate whether the State party envisages amending its 2004 Law on Protection, Care and Education of Children to bring it intofull conformity with the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

2.Please provide updated information regarding the current institutional framework and coordinating body for the implementation of children’s rights under the Convention, including at the local (commune) level.

3.Please provide information on the evaluation, if any, of the National Programme of Action for Vietnamese Children (2001-2010) and its results, as well as on the programme for the current period and if it takes the Committee’s recommendations into consideration.

4.Please provide updated information on the steps taken by the State party to establish an independent mechanism, in conformity with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris Principles), to monitor the fulfilment of children’s rights under the Convention.

5.Please provide information on whether the State party has a unified system for data collection and analysis with a child-rights focus covering all groups of children.

6.Please provide information regarding the measures taken by the State party to preparea comprehensive plan on awareness-raising and education about children’s rights among society at large, in particular children, including children from ethnic minority groups and those living in rural areas. Please also provide information regarding training on the Convention, legislation and policies on children’s rights delivered to all professionals working with and/or for children.

7.Please inform the Committee on the measures taken to eliminate both direct and indirect discrimination against children in vulnerable situations, particularly children of religious and ethnic minorities, children in migration situations, children with disabilities, children with HIV/AIDS and children living in rural or isolated areas or in the suburbs of large cities, particularly with regard to access to social, health and educational services.

8.Please inform the Committee of any plans to include in the legislation an explicit requirement that the principle of the best interests of the child be applied in all individual decisions concerning children madeby courts and administrative bodies.

9.Please inform the Committee on measures taken to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment at home, in schools and in institutions.

10.Please provide detailed information regarding measures taken to prevent abuse and neglect of children, especially with regard to management of the child protection system, definitions of abuse and neglect, awareness-raising, promotion of good parenting, reporting mechanisms, interventions and follow-up of the child and his or herfamily.

11.Please provide information on the measures taken to provide sufficient support to families to ensure that all children, including children with disabilities, can live and be raised in their families. Please also inform the Committee of any measures taken to establish community-based services and support to avoid the institutionalization of children, and of any plan for the deinstitutionalization and reintegration of children with disabilities.

12.Please provide information on the implementation and evaluation of the Strategy for Protection and Care for People’s Health (2001-2010) and the National Strategy on Nutrition (2001-2010). Please inform the Committee whether strategies for the current period are in place, including on safe drinking water and sanitation. Please also inform the Committee on the implementation of the strategy to resolve the problem of undernourishment, particularly of ethnic minorities and children in remote rural areas.

13.Please provide information on the quality and effectiveness of education, especially regarding regional and ethnic disparities, including the use of minority languages in primary education. Please provide the Committee with information on whether the definition of inclusive education is incorporated into the law and on the measures taken by the State party to provide inclusive education forchildren with disabilities.

14.Please provide information on the elaboration and implementation of the national action plan on juvenile justice and its compliance with the Convention.

15.Please provide detailed and updated information on the situation of children in drug detention centres, including measures taken to protect their rights and to monitor any violations of such rights.

16.Please provide information on measures taken and challenges faced in child labour inspections and monitoring mechanisms in the formal and informal sectors. Please also provide information on any plan to prohibit child labour in hazardous occupations and on the existence of a monitoring system of compliance.

Part II

In this section the Committee invites the State party to briefly (three pages maximum) update 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

1.Please provide statistical data on the number of children with disabilities in the State party, disaggregated by, inter alia, age, sex, type of disability and origin, and on the percentage of children with disabilities attending regular education institutions.

2.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data (disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, geographic location, and socio-economic status) for the period 2008–2011 on:

(a)Child poverty;

(b)Malnutrition and breastfeeding;

(c)Access to water;

(d)Maternal and infant mortality rate;

(e)Unmet needs, especially with regard to children and pregnant women with HIV;

(f)Enrolment, repetition and dropout at all levels of education.

3.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.