Committee on the Rights of the Child

List of issues in relation to the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of the Plurinational State of Bolivia *

1.The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 15 February 2022. 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

2.Please provide information on:

(a)The main outcomes of the 2016–2021 Multisectoral Comprehensive Development Plan – Plurinational Plan for Children and Adolescents and the entity responsible for coordinating the Plan’s implementation;

(b)The measures taken to ensure the protection of the rights of children in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and to mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic.

3.Please describe:

(a)The extent to which the new Directorate General for Children and Older Persons, under the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency, has the authority and the necessary resources to coordinate the implementation of government policies in favour of children;

(b)How coordination is ensured between the Directorate General for Children and Older Persons and the Directorate for Justice and Fundamental Rights, which is responsible for the juvenile justice system;

(c)How the 393 Offices for the Defence of Children and Adolescents established in 339 municipalities are effectively operating.

4.With respect to the 2,813 complaints received by the Office of the Ombudsperson between 1 January 2016 and 31 March 2018, please provide information on the services provided to child petitioners and the related administrative or judicial proceedings. Please also report on the mandate of and the resources allocated to the Office of the Ombudsperson’s special office for children’s rights.

5.Please provide information on obstacles to the implementation and operation of the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency’s child and adolescent information system. Please indicate whether the system will include information on all areas of the Convention.

6.Please provide information on the measures taken to prohibit and prevent any marriages or unions involving children under the age of 18, without exception, particularly in indigenous communities and rural areas.

7.Please provide information on:

(a)The investigations conducted into, and the prosecutions and judicial decisions resulting from, all allegations of torture or ill-treatment of children, as recommended by the Committee in 2009 (CRC/C/BOL/CO/4, para. 39);

(b)The follow-up provided in cases of violence against children (paras. 106 and 111);

(c)The current stages of the investigations into or prosecutions of the 1,535 cases of child rape reported by the Public Prosecution Service (para. 121);

(d)The handling of cases of violence, including sexual violence, against children during periods of confinement related to the COVID-19 pandemic;

(e)The public education campaigns carried out on the prohibition of corporal punishment and the negative effects of such punishment on children and the measures taken to promote positive, non-violent forms of discipline;

(f)The incidence of violence against children with disabilities.

8.Please provide information on the specific steps taken to:

(a)Work with at-risk families to prevent children from becoming victims of violence, including infanticide and sexual violence;

(b)Work with at-risk families to prevent children with immediate or extended families from being deprived of their family environment;

(c)Support families, and especially mothers of children with disabilities, in order to prevent the loss of family care;

(d)Ensure that children under 6 years of age are not deprived of their family environment;

(e)Ensure that a lack of financial resources does not prevent family reintegration and that the administrative and legal proceedings for reintegration are free of charge;

(f)Address the findings of the study on the situation of children deprived of parental care residing in reception centres in Bolivia that was conducted by the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Transparency;

(g)Increase the level of participation of children and ensure that their opinions are heard and their rights are taken into account in all sectors that affect them.

9.Please provide information on:

(a)The measures taken to ensure that reliable data are collected on children with disabilities and to harmonize the information system of the National Centralized Register of Persons with Disabilities, under the Ministry of Health, with the national population and housing census and the data of the National Committee on Persons with Disabilities;

(b)The study into the extent and causes of disabilities, recommended by the Committee in 2009 (CRC/C/BOL/CO/4, para. 52 (b));

(c)The actual access, particularly in rural areas, of children with disabilities to the early detection and intervention systems available throughout the country;

(d)The increases in human, technical and financial resources at the local level to support children with disabilities and their families;

(e)The systematic training of professionals working with children with disabilities, including on the rights of children with disabilities.

10.Please provide information on:

(a)Current measures to reduce undernutrition in children under 5, including children with disabilities in that age group, and to reduce obesity and overweight in children of all ages;

(b)The impact of the 2015–2020 Plan for the Prevention of Pregnancies in Adolescents and Young Persons and the measures under the Ministry of Health’s 2016–2020 Strategic Plan on Sexual and Reproductive Health that are specifically geared towards adolescents;

(c)Initiatives to increase the role of the community in sexual and reproductive health activities;

(d)The reductions in drug, tobacco and alcohol use among children and adolescents resulting from the Ministry of Health’s 2017–2020 National Mental Health Plan;

(e)The impact to date of the National Programme on Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDS in terms of reducing mother-to-child transmission and preventing the spread of HIV among adolescents and the measures taken to support the development and access to education of children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS;

(f)The measures taken to ensure that children have an adequate standard of living and to increase the water supply and improve sanitation and hygiene in isolated rural communities.

11.Please indicate:

(a)The measures taken to promote early childhood education;

(b)The reasons why students drop out of school and the measures taken to prevent them from doing so at all levels;

(c)The impact of the production-oriented social and community-based education model and the “bilingual nests” of the Plurinational Institute of Language and Culture in terms of guaranteeing indigenous children’s right to education;

(d)The measures taken to promote inclusive education and increase the number of children with disabilities in mainstream education;

(e)The measures taken to prevent discrimination, violence and bullying, including cyberbullying, in schools, particularly when pregnant adolescents or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex children or adolescents are the targets;

(f)The measures taken to provide free, safe and sufficient recreational spaces for children and to promote children’s participation in cultural activities;

(g)The measures taken to improve the level of education and ensure that all children receive an adequate level of education and have access to the necessary educational materials, programmes and the Internet at school, especially in rural schools and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

12.Please provide information on:

(a)The measures taken to guarantee indigenous children’s access to indigenous lands and clean land and water and to prevent racism against the indigenous population;

(b)The referral of cases reported through the community-based strategy for the protection of children and adolescents living within an indigenous original campesino jurisdiction and the types of violations of indigenous children’s rights involved (para. 233).

13.Please provide information on:

(a)The impact to date of the measures taken to prevent child labour, particularly among Guarani children in the Chaco region and especially in the informal economy and in rural regions; the measures taken to prevent children from working in the worst forms of child labour and/or becoming victims of debt bondage or forced labour; the steps taken to adopt a national policy on the eradication of child labour; and the impact of the work of the 14 new labour inspectors responsible for investigating cases of child labour;

(b)The measures taken to address the sexual exploitation of children in mining areas and in tourism;

(c)The impact of the measures taken to fight the smuggling and trafficking of children and the measures taken to protect children, particularly children in street situations and children in situations of criminality and/or forced begging;

(d)The impact of the implementation of the national model (2014) and the protocol (2016) on preventive measures and care for children in street situations;

(e)The registration of children born in the State party to Venezuelan parents and the access of Venezuelan migrant children to health services and education.

14.Please explain why the age of criminal responsibility was reduced from 16 to 14 and report on the impact of the measures taken to prevent the prolonged use of pretrial detention for adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age.

15.Please report on the steps taken to prepare and submit the initial reports under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Part II

16.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 the following:

(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

17.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on the budget lines regarding children and the social sectors, indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and the gross national product. Please also provide information on the geographical allocation of those resources.

18.For the following questions, please provide, if available, updated statistical data for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographical location and socioeconomic status.

19.Please provide statistical data, in accordance with paragraph 17 above, on the number of:

(a)Child deaths caused by abuse and neglect, suicides and accidents, including road accidents;

(b)Complaints, investigations, prosecutions and sentences related to the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, including within the family;

(c)Adolescent pregnancies, including information on whether the pregnancies were terminated or carried to term;

(d)Children and adolescents who abuse substances, with an indication of the type of abuse.

20.Please report, in accordance with paragraph 17 above, on the number of children deprived of a family environment:

(a)In alternative care facilities;

(b)In foster families;

(c)Who have been adopted.

21.Please provide data, disaggregated by type of disability and in accordance with paragraph 17 above, on the number of children with disabilities who are or who have been:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living with foster families;

(c)Living in institutions;

(d)Attending regular primary schools;

(e)Attending regular secondary schools;

(f)Attending special schools;

(g)Out of school;

(h)Abandoned by their families.

22.Please provide data, disaggregated by the type of offence and in accordance with paragraph 17 above, on the number of children who:

(a)Have been arrested;

(b)Have been referred to diversion programmes;

(c)Have been placed in pretrial detention;

(d)Are serving a prison term. Please also indicate the length of the terms.

23.Please provide information on how a child rights-based approach is integrated into the planning, implementation and monitoring of measures for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including with regard to the participation of children and data collection, and how those measures promote the realization of children’s rights under the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto.

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

25.In addition, the State party may list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority.