Committee on the Rights of the Child

Seventy-sixth session

11-29 September 2017

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the second periodic report ofVanuatu

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 15 June 2017. 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 provide information on the resources, including in terms of budget, allocated for the implementation of the National Child Protection Policy 2016-2026 and on the steps taken to renew and provide resources for child-related policies that have expired. Please also provide information on the measures that have been taken to implement the Family Protection Act of 2008 and to set up an independent monitoring body for children’s rights that can receive complaints.

2.Please provide information on the composition and resources available for the functioning of the National Children’s Committee and on its role in the implementation of the Convention. Please inform the Committee of the resources available for the position of Child Desk Officer appointed to coordinate all activities related to the Convention.

3.Please provide information on measures taken to harmonize the definition of the child contained in all relevant laws in accordance with the definition contained in the Convention, in particular measures taken to amend the Control of Marriage Act, which allows for girls to marry at the age of 16 years.

4.Please provide information on measures taken to adopt and implement legislation prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings. Please also provide information on any legislative and administrative measures taken to combat domestic violence and the physical abuse of children, including sexual abuse, as well as information on activities to raise the public’s awareness of child and sexual abuse.

5.Please provide detailed information on the measures taken to prevent and prohibit harmful practices against children, including child marriage and practices involving the exchange of children, especially girls, as compensation.

6.Please update the Committee on the measures taken to develop an alternative care policy and minimum standards of care and to establish a network of services and a functioning social welfare workforce. Please also provide an update on the measures taken to reduce informal adoption between families and to regulate and monitor domestic and intercountry adoption.

7.Please indicate the steps that have been taken to develop a policy on children with disabilities, to eliminate discrimination and social stigma against them and to facilitate their full inclusion into society. Please provide information on the measures implemented by the State party to ensure effective access by children with disabilities to health, inclusive education, social services and transport.

8.Please inform the Committee of the steps taken to address stunting, chronic malnutrition, low immunization coverage, particularly in rural areas and the outer islands, child mortality, poor access to drinking water and sanitation, and to ensure exclusive breastfeeding, sexual and reproductive health education and services for adolescents, including family planning, and safe abortion services.

9.Please provide information on the measures taken to increase enrolment in early childhood programmes, including in the outer islands. Please indicate the steps that have been taken to address the shortage of trained teachers, facilitate children’s access to non-formal education programmes, ensure a better quality of education, particularly in the outer islands, including at boarding facilities for girls, and raise the enrolment rate for boys.

10.Please provide information on the measures taken to develop a disaster-sensitive social protection system, include climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the school curriculum and strengthen child-sensitive natural disaster and emergency responses.

11.Please inform the Committee of the measures taken to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, to strengthen the care and protection of children engaged in labour and to promote children’s access to education.

12.Please provide information on any measures taken to develop comprehensive juvenile justice legislation, ensure that there are judges specialized in juvenile justice, provide training to all relevant actors, raise the age of criminal responsibility and extend the principle of detention as a last resort to children between 16 and 18 years of age. Please also provide information on the steps taken to keep juveniles in detention centres separate from adults.

Part II

13.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

14.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 the gross domestic product. In addition, please clarify whether there is a budget specifically for the implementation of the Convention.

15.Please provide information on measures taken, including any requests made for technical assistance, to establish a system of data collection and indicators consistent with the Convention. The data should be disaggregated, inter alia, by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic status. Please also provide information on measures taken to strengthen the Health Information System and the Vanuatu Education Management Information System by including key indicators for children. 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 sexual abuse and exploitation;

(b)Investigations into cases of sexual violence and rape and the outcomes of trials, including with regard to the penalties imposed on perpetrators and to the redress and compensation offered to victims;

(c)Trafficking in and sexual exploitation of children;

(d)Children arrested, prosecuted and convicted;

(e)Child marriage;

(f)The enrolment and completion rates, in percentages, of children in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools;

(g)The number and percentage of children who drop out of school and who repeat an academic year.

16.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographic 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)Placed in institutions;

(c)Placed with foster families;

(d)Adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions.

17.Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographic 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.

18.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.

19.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.