COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDForty-third session11-29 September 2006

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTIONON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration ofthe third periodic report of ETHIOPIA (CRC/C/129/Add.8)

PART I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before 5 August 2006 .

A. Data and statistics, if available

1.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number and percentage of children under 18 living in Ethiopia.

2.In the light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide disaggregated data on budget allocations and trends (in absolute figures and percentages of the national and regional budgets) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 regarding the implementation of the Convention, evaluating also the priorities for budgetary expenditures given to the following:

(a)education (different types of education, i.e. pre-primary, primary and secondary);

(b)health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care, HIV/AIDS and other health-care services for children, including social insurance);

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(c)programmes and services for children with disabilities;

(d)support programmes for families;

(e)support for children living below the poverty line;

(f)protection of children who are in need of alternative care, including the support of care institutions;

(g)programmes and activities for the prevention of and protection from child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child labour;

(h)programmes and services for children belonging to minorities;

(i)programmes and services for abandoned children, including street children;

(j)juvenile justice and the reintegration of juvenile offenders; and

(k)programmes providing the necessary services and support for children victims of armed conflicts.

3.With reference to children deprived of a family environment and separated from parents, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number of children:

(a)separated from their parents;

(b)placed in institutions;

(c)placed with foster families; and

(d)adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions.

4.Please specify the number of children with disabilities, up to the age of 18, disaggregated by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, and urban and rural areas, covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005:

(a)living with their families;

(b)living in institutions;

(c)placed with foster care;

(d)attending regular schools;

(e)attending special schools; and

(f)not attending schools.

5.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on:

(a)rates of infant and child mortality;

(b)rates of immunization;

(c)rates of malnutrition;

(d)adolescent health, including early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and mental health.

6.With reference to child abuse, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, and types of child abuse reported) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the:

(a)number of reported child abuse cases;

(b)number and percentage of reports that resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up; and

(c)number and proportion of child victims who received counselling and assistance in recovery.

7.With reference to the right to education, please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, ethnic groups, urban and rural areas, immigrant children) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, in percentage of the relevant age group, on the:

(a)rates of literacy, under and over 18 years;

(b)rate of enrolment in pre-primary schools, primary schools and secondary schools;

(c)percentage of children completing primary and secondary education;

(d)number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions; and

(e)ratio teacher per children and number of children per class.

8.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) on drug use and alcohol,tobacco and other substance abuse for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005.

9.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) on the number of children:

(a)infected with HIV/AIDS;

(b)affected by HIV/AIDS;

(c)heading households due to HIV/AIDS; and

(d)orphans of HIV/AIDS living in extended families or institutions.

10.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (including by sex, age groups, type of crime) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, in particular on the number of:

(a)persons under the age of 18, who allegedly committed a crime, reported to the police;

(b)persons under the age of 18 who were charged with a crime and the number of those sentenced, and the type of punishment or sanctions related to offences, including length of deprivation of liberty;

(c)detention facilities for persons under the age of 18 in conflict with law, and those facilities’ capacity;

(d)persons under the age of 18 detained in these facilities and persons under the age of 18 detained in adult facilities;

(e)person under the age of 18 kept in pretrial detention, and the average length of their detention;

(f)reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of persons under the age of 18 that occurred during their arrest and detention;

(g)persons under the age of 18 tried and sentenced as adults.

11.With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number of children:

(a)involved in sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking, and the number of children provided with access to recovery and other assistance;

(b)involved in substance abuse, and the number of children who received treatment and rehabilitative assistance;

(c)involved in child labour;

(d)internally displaced; and

(e)unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee.

12.Please provide statistical data (disaggregated by sex, age groups, ethnic groups) of children:

(a)demobilized from armed groups;

(b)victims of landmines,

(c)who received counselling services; and

(d)reunited with their families and/or reintegrated within their communities.

B. General measures of implementation

1.The Committee would appreciate receiving information on activities meant to implement recommendations contained in the Committee’s previous concluding observations on the second report of Ethiopia (CRC/C/70/Add.7) which have not yet been fully implemented, in particular regarding paragraphs: 9(definition of the child); 10 (data collection); 16 (birth registration); 17 (HIV/AIDS); 18 (education); 19 (children in armed conflict); 23 (street children); and 20 (administration of juvenile justice).

2.Please provide more information on the efforts undertaken by the State party to further harmonize domestic law with the provisions and principles of the Convention, as well as what steps have been taken to adopt a Children’s Bill.

3.Please provide information on steps taken to publish the Convention in the official Gazette. Furthermore, please provide information on cases, if any, where the Convention has been directly invoked in domestic courts, and if so, please provide examples of such cases.

4.Please inform the Committee which authority is charged with the responsibility of coordinating children’s rights in the country, and include information on its mandate, financial and human resources.

5.Please advise the Committee whether an evaluation was made of the previous National Plan of Action (NPA) for Children and how previous shortcomings have been addressed in the new NPA adopted in 2004. Please also provide information on budget allocations and the stage of implementation of the NPA.

6.Please inform the Committee of the measures taken by the State party at the central level to ensure the implementation without discrimination of the rights of the child as stipulated in the Convention, regardless of local and ethnic regulations.

7.Please provide updated information on the mandate and resources made available to the National Human Rights Commission and the Ombudsman. Please also specify whether the National Human Rights Commission can receive individual complaints.

8.The Committee is concerned at information on the excessive use of force and large-scale arbitrary arrests directly affecting children, in particular those belonging to vulnerable groups such as street children and ethnic minorities, in the context of post‑election demonstrations in 2005. Please inform the Committee what measures the State party has taken to investigate such serious violations of children’s rights.

9.The Committee notes the presence of some 175,000 refugees from neighbouring countries (State party report, paragraph 223). Please provide further information on the support given to refugee children, in particular the education facilities and health services available, as well as the legal provisions and guarantees applicable.

10.The Committee notes the absence of information on the situation of ethnic minorities in the State party report, and requests further information in this respect.

11.Please provide updated information on efforts to disseminate the Convention, the State party report and the previous concluding observations of the Committee (CRC/C/15/Add.80).

12.Please provide updated information on efforts made to provide training on, and awareness of, the Convention and human rights in general, to children, parents, teachers, social workers and other professionals working with and for children.

13.Please provide updated information on the cooperation between the State party and the international community including non-governmental organizations, in the efforts to implement the Convention and on regulations applicable to the work of non‑governmental organizations.

14.Please indicate the issues affecting children that the State party considers to be priorities, requiring the most urgent attention with regard to the implementation of the Convention.

PART II

Please provide the Committee with copies of the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all official languages of the State party as well as in other languages or dialects, when available. If possible, please submit these texts in electronic form.

PART III

Under this section, the State party is to briefly (3 pages maximum) update the information provided in its report with regard to:

new bills or enacted legislation;

new institutions;

newly implemented policies;

newly implemented programmes and projects, and their scope.

PART IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues (which does not contain issues already covered in Part I) that the Committee may take up during the dialogue with the State party. They do not require written answers . This list is not exhaustive as other issues might be raised in course of the dialogue:

1.Non-discrimination in general, and in particular discrimination against girls, children with disabilities, children living in poverty, children born out of wedlock, internally displaced children, refugee and asylum-seeking children, children belonging to ethnic minorities, children in conflict with law, and children living in rural areas;

2.Respect for the views of the child;

3.Corporal punishment in the family, schools and other institutions;

4.Child abuse, neglect, and domestic violence;

5.Adoption and family reunification;

6.Social security and standard of living, in particular high levels of poverty;

7.Quality of education, in particular high levels of illiteracy and the lack of trained teachers;

8.Internally displaced and refugee children;

9.Children affected by armed conflict, in particular landmines, and the availability of rehabilitation;

10.Economic exploitation and child labour;

11.Street children;

12.Sexual exploitation and trafficking;

13.Administration of juvenile justice, inter alia, imposition and execution of all forms of torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; alternatives for detention, in particular pretrial detention, adequate legislation; and recovery and social reintegration services; and

14.Children belonging to ethnic minorities.

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