Committee on the Rights of the Child

List of issues prior to submission of the seventh periodic report of Norway *

1.The State party is requested to submit in writing the information requested below, of 21,200 words maximum, by 15 June 2024. The replies should take into consideration the Committee’s recommendations contained in its concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of the State party. The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Convention and its Optional Protocols during the dialogue with the State party.

I.New developments

2.The Committee requests the State party to provide:

(a)Information on the adoption or reform of laws, policies and programmes and any other type of measures taken, such as the creation or reform of institutions, that are significant for the implementation of the Convention, the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography;

(b)Information on the impact of measures taken to mitigate the adverse effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic;

(c)Any other information that the State party considers relevant and that is not covered in the replies to the questions below, including information on obstacles and challenges faced.

3.The Committee also requests the State party to 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 such measures promote the realization of children’s rights under the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto.

II.Rights under the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto

A.General measures of implementation (arts. 4, 42 and 44 (6))

Legislation

4.Please explain the measures taken:

(a)To incorporate the provisions of the Convention into all national legislation relevant for children, including welfare legislation and the Public Administration Act, and ensure that the new legislation is in alignment with the Convention;

(b)To review health legislation to better safeguard children’s rights, as requested by the parliament;

(c)To ensure that child rights impact assessments are an integral part of the preparation of all new legislation, regulations and policies affecting children;

(d)To consider ratifying the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure.

Comprehensive policy, strategy and coordination

5.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To eliminate regional disparities in the provision of services in the light of increased responsibilities and autonomy of local authorities, in order to ensure that services are of equally high quality throughout the State party, in line with the Committee’s previous recommendations;

(b)To ensure the cross-sectoral coordination of activities related to the implementation of the Convention, particularly at the local level.

Allocation of resources

6.Please describe the measures taken:

(a)To allocate sufficient budgetary resources for the implementation of children’s rights, on the basis of a comprehensive assessment of the budget needs for children, in particular children in disadvantaged situations;

(b)To ensure participation of the public, including children, in the preparation of local and national budgets.

Data collection

7.Please provide information on:

(a)Obstacles to ensuring that the State party’s data-collection system allows for the collection of data disaggregated by ethnicity, in line with previous recommendations of the Committee and other treaty bodies;

(b)Measures taken to ensure sufficient analysis of the situation of children exposed to intersecting forms of discrimination, including with regard to the rights of Sami children in the care of child welfare services, in the absence of data disaggregated by ethnicity or Indigenous origin.

Independent monitoring

8.Please provide information on the measures taken:

(a)To implement the Committee’s previous recommendations to provide the Ombudsperson for Children and/or the Norwegian National Human Rights Institution with the mandate to receive, investigate and address, in a child-friendly manner, complaints by children regarding violations of their rights;

(b)To ensure that children have access to child-friendly complaint mechanisms, including information on the investigation requested by the parliament in that regard.

Dissemination, awareness-raising and training

9.Please provide information on:

(a)Training for members of professional groups working for and with children, including personnel of childcare institutions, health personnel, members of the judiciary, social workers and law enforcement officials, on children’s rights;

(b)Awareness-raising programmes for members of policymaking bodies and municipal administrations and the general public on the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto.

Children’s rights and the business sector

10.Please describe the measures taken to ensure the legal obligations of business enterprises and their subsidiaries operating in or managed from the State party’s territory, including companies in the fossil fuel industry, regarding the rights of children in relation to international and national standards in the areas of, among others, human rights, the environment, health and labour.

B.General principles (arts. 2, 3, 6 and 12)

Non-discrimination

11.Please explain the measures taken:

(a)To combat and prevent expressions of racism and hate speech against Sami children and children belonging to minority groups, and strengthen awareness-raising campaigns aimed at combating discrimination against such children;

(b)To address the findings of the 2022 national survey of the Norwegian National Human Rights Institution on public attitudes towards Sami people and the five national minority groups in the State party;

(c)To address discrimination faced in particular by girls, asylum-seeking and migrant children, children with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children;

(d)To adopt an action plan for promoting gender equality and preventing ethnic discrimination, in line with the Committee’s previous recommendations;

(e)To identify the root causes of gender-based discrimination and violence, in particular in relation to girls, and conduct awareness-raising activities aimed at eliminating gender stereotypes.

Best interests of the child

12.Please explain the measures taken:

(a)To establish clear criteria and guidance for determining the best interests of the child for all authorities that make decisions affecting children, such as by integrating the principle into the guidelines regulating the development of all policies;

(b)To ensure that the right of children to have their best interests taken as a primary consideration is appropriately integrated into and consistently applied in all legislative, administrative and judicial proceedings and decisions and in all policies, programmes and international cooperation relevant to and having an impact on children, including in decisions concerning immigration, family reunification, deportation of parents who are foreign nationals and placement of children in foster care.

Respect for the views of the child

13.Please describe the measures taken:

(a)To ensure that children’s views and opinions are given due consideration in decisions concerning child welfare, asylum, expulsion and family reunification;

(b)To promote the meaningful participation of children within the community, at school and in the realm of local and national policymaking and decision-making affecting children;

(c)To ensure that the outcomes of youth councils and other types of participative bodies are systematically fed into public decision-making;

(d)To ensure the right to be heard of children in disadvantaged situations, including children with disabilities, children of a younger age and asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children, in decisions affecting them;

(e)To provide guidance, such as through a set of national guidelines, and relevant training to professionals working with and for children on ensuring that due weight is given to the views of children in administrative and judicial proceedings.

C.Civil rights and freedoms (arts. 7, 8 and 13–17)

Nationality

14.Please provide information on the progress made in implementing the Committee’s previous recommendations to adopt a legal definition of statelessness in line with international standards and establish safeguards to facilitate the acquisition of nationality for children who would otherwise be stateless.

Right to privacy and access to appropriate information

15.Please provide information on:

(a)Measures taken to protect the right to privacy of children in the digital environment, and the remedies available for children whose right to privacy has been violated;

(b)Regulations and safeguarding policies to protect the rights and safety of children in the digital environment and to protect them from harmful content, online risks and targeted or age-inappropriate advertising;

(c)Programmes to enhance the digital literacy of children, teachers, parents and caregivers, and to protect children from harmful information and material.

D.Violence against children (arts. 19, 24 (3), 28 (2), 34, 37 (a) and 39)

Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

16.Please provide information on:

(a)Guidelines and measures in place to ensure that children in police custody, child welfare institutions and mental health institutions are not subjected to ill-treatment, including disproportionate use of force, isolation, restraint, coercion and “shielding”;

(b)The availability of legal support and child-friendly and confidential complaint mechanisms for children who have been subjected to such forms of ill-treatment;

(c)Regulations on the use of stop-and-search checks against children.

Violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse

17.Please provide information on:

(a)Legislative amendments that have been adopted in order to strengthen protection for child victims of violence;

(b)Measures taken to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, including abuse, neglect, sexual exploitation, grooming and online violence;

(c)Procedures for the mandatory reporting of, multi-agency intervention in and investigation and prosecution of cases of violence, including abuse and sexual exploitation, against children, and measures to prevent the revictimization of such children and ensure that they are heard;

(d)The availability of child-friendly and multisectoral remedies and comprehensive support, including mental health services and rehabilitation, for child victims of violence that are tailored to children’s needs, and any actions taken in follow-up to the evaluation of Statens barnehus (children’s houses) in 2021;

(e)Protection of and support for children who are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation, including unaccompanied children, children with disabilities, Sami children and children belonging to minority groups, including Roma children;

(f)Capacity-building programmes for relevant professionals on preventing, reporting and addressing cases of violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse and domestic violence, affecting children;

(g)Treatment programmes for children exhibiting sexual behaviour of concern, including those who have committed sexual offences.

Harmful practices

18.Please provide information on:

(a)Awareness-raising programmes aimed at preventing child marriage and female genital mutilation;

(b)Support for children who are at risk of or have been subjected to honour-related criminal offences, forced marriage and female genital mutilation;

(c)The practice with regard to treatment of intersex children.

E.Family environment and alternative care (arts. 5, 9–11, 18 (1) and (2), 20, 21, 25 and 27 (4))

Family environment

19.Please provide information on:

(a)Assistance provided by municipalities and child welfare services to families to prevent separation, and measures taken to ensure the quality and availability of such services in all municipalities;

(b)Measures taken to ensure that children of separated parents maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, in accordance with their best interests;

(c)The evolution of policies and practices on child protection interventions during the reporting period.

Children deprived of a family environment, and adoption

20.Please provide information on:

(a)Any assessments of how child welfare services make and implement decisions regarding care orders, visitation, adoption and reunification of children with parents, with a view to ensuring that such decisions are based on the best interests of the child;

(b)Measures taken:

(i)To ensure that children are placed in alternative care only as a measure of last resort, that such decisions are based on the needs and best interests of the child and are subject to adequate safeguards, that siblings are not separated, and that placements are periodically reviewed;

(ii)To address disparities among regions regarding children subjected to alternative care measures and emergency placements, and the disproportionate frequency of placements of migrant children and children belonging to minority groups, including Roma and Romani/Tater children;

(iii)To ensure that decisions to place children with “serious behavioural issues” in alternative care are in line with the principles of the Convention;

(iv)To monitor the quality of care provided to children in residential care institutions, and to ensure that all children placed in alternative care receive interdisciplinary assessments and appropriate services, including health services, in line with the relevant decision taken by Parliament in 2022;

(v)To ensure that children in care have regular contact with their families in line with the recommendations of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir);

(vi)To improve the availability and quality of foster care for children, and to prevent frequent transfers of children in foster care, in line with the strategy launched in 2022;

(c)The timeline, results and follow-up for the planned commission of inquiry into allegations of illegal international adoptions, and measures taken to ensure that all international adoptions comply with the Convention, to prevent illegal international adoptions and to provide remedies and support for victims;

(d)Policies aimed at supporting children displaced from Ukraine due to the armed attack by the Russian Federation.

Children of incarcerated parents

21.Please describe the measures taken to ensure that children of incarcerated parents receive psychological and social support and that they maintain personal relations with their parents, including through regular visits and contact.

F.Children with disabilities (art. 23)

22.Please explain the measures taken:

(a)To eliminate disparities among municipalities in the provision of health and support services for children with disabilities, and to ensure access to such services for all children with disabilities, including children belonging to ethnic minority groups;

(b)To prevent the institutionalization of children with disabilities and ensure their access to family and community-based services, including respite-care services;

(c)To strengthen specialized mental health services for children with disabilities, including children with psychosocial disabilities and children in child welfare institutions.

G.Basic health and welfare (arts. 6, 18 (3), 24, 26, 27 (1)–(3) and 33)

Health and health-care services, mental health and adolescent health

23.Please provide information on:

(a)Resources allocated for health services for children, including mental health services, on the basis of the individual needs of municipalities, in line with the Committee’s previous recommendations;

(b)Measures taken to ensure the availability of qualified paediatric health professionals in all municipalities and to address long waiting lists faced by children;

(c)Access by children who do not have a regular residence status and asylum-seeking children to primary and mental health services;

(d)Measures taken to facilitate access by children with mental health issues to quality psychological and psychiatric care in all municipalities;

(e)Measures taken to address the incidence of suicide and other self-harming behaviours, and the causes thereof, including among children in reception centres and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children;

(f)Legal safeguards for protecting the rights of children placed in involuntary mental health care;

(g)The monitoring of diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among children, and the availability of support from specialized mental health professionals;

(h)Measures taken to prevent substance abuse among children and to ensure that children have access to appropriate health and support services, including accessible and youth-friendly treatment for drug and alcohol dependence.

Impact of climate change on the rights of the child

24.Please explain the measures taken:

(a)To reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the State party’s international commitments and consider the impact of climate change on the rights of the child in the State party’s energy policy, including in relation to plans to expand oil and gas extraction;

(b)To invest in alternative energy and establish safeguards to protect children, both in the State party and abroad, from the negative impacts of fossil fuels;

(c)To ensure that children’s needs and views are taken into account in the development and implementation of national policies and programmes on climate change and alternative energy;

(d)To promote children’s awareness of and preparedness for climate change;

(e)To ensure children’s environmental health, including by protecting them from exposure to environmental toxins and high levels of lead.

Standard of living

25.Please describe the measures taken:

(a)To ensure that children in low-income households benefit from poverty-reduction policies and that children participate in the development of such policies;

(b)To assess the impact of measures to combat poverty, including child benefits and municipal housing schemes;

(c)To ensure the application of a child rights-based approach, including the principle of the best interests of the child, to the implementation of policies and programmes to combat poverty.

H.Education, leisure and cultural activities (arts. 28–31)

Education, including vocational training and guidance

26.Please provide information on:

(a)The timeline for completing the road map for the universal design of all school buildings in the State party, and measures taken to ensure that all children with disabilities benefit from inclusive education, including through the provision of specialized staff, reasonable accommodation, teaching materials adapted to the educational needs of children with disabilities, and educational psychological counselling;

(b)Measures taken to improve learning outcomes and address rising school dropout rates, particularly among migrant children, children belonging to minority groups and children in alternative care, and school absenteeism or “school refusal” among children who have been subjected to bullying, children with disabilities and children with mental health issues, and ensure that such children are supported to finish their education;

(c)Access by asylum-seeking children to early childhood education and upper secondary education;

(d)Measures taken to combat violence in schools, including bullying, cyberbullying and online violence, and discrimination on the grounds of race, migration status, sexual orientation or gender identity in the school context;

(e)Legal regulations for the use of coercion by teachers and educational staff in schools, investigations of allegations of excessive use of coercion, and training for teachers on addressing disturbances in school through the use of non-violent and child-sensitive approaches;

(f)Measures taken to improve the quality of Sami-language education, in line with the recommendations of the Office of the Auditor General of Norway;

(g)Whether human rights education has been incorporated into mandatory school curricula.

Rest, leisure, recreation and cultural and artistic activities

27.Please update the Committee on measures taken to guarantee the right of children with disabilities, children from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds and children belonging to ethnic and religious minority groups to engage in age-appropriate and accessible recreational activities, sports, cultural life and the arts.

I.Special protection measures (arts. 22, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37 (b)–(d) and 38–40)

Asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children, including unaccompanied children

28.Please provide information on:

(a)Measures taken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendations, including with regard to:

(i)Ensuring that children and their families are placed in reception centres for the shortest time possible;

(ii)Preventing the detention of children on the basis of their immigration status and the deportation of children and their families back to countries where they are at risk of irreparable harm;

(iii)Automatically reassessing the temporary residence permits of unaccompanied children, issuing residence permits of a longer duration and ensuring that all decisions regarding residence permits are based on the best interests of the child;

(iv)Ensuring the provision and quality of care provided to unaccompanied children above 14 years of age;

(v)Strengthening investigations regarding the whereabouts of missing unaccompanied children and preventing such disappearances from reception centres.

(b)Any assessments of the impact on children with respect to the removal of the “reasonableness” requirement from the Immigration Act in 2016;

(c)Age determination procedures and the application of such procedures if a child’s age is in doubt.

Children belonging to minority or Indigenous groups

29.Please update the Committee on measures taken:

(a)To combat discrimination, hate speech and violence against Sami children and children belonging to minority groups, including Roma and Romani/Tater children;

(b)To ensure that children belonging to Indigenous or minority groups are aware of their rights under the Convention, including the right of Sami children to Sami-language education;

(c)To ensure the right of Sami children on the Fosen peninsula to enjoy their culture, following the 2021 Supreme Court judgment regarding the human rights of reindeer herders on the peninsula.

Trafficking

30.Please explain the measures taken:

(a)To harmonize the application of the definition of trafficking across all municipalities;

(b)To ensure the identification, referral and recovery of children who are victims of trafficking, including digital trafficking, and their access to support services, including interpretation services.

Administration of child justice

31.Please provide information on:

(a)Legislative and administrative measures taken to ensure child-friendly justice for children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law, including through child-friendly criminal proceedings, legal representation at all stages and child-friendly information on their rights;

(b)Measures taken to prevent delays in, and ensure cross-sectoral cooperation for, the effective use of “juvenile sanctions” for children accused of criminal offences, and to extend their applicability to asylum-seeking children;

(c)The practice regarding preventive detention for children and young people who committed offences before they turned 18 years of age, and on progress in implementing the Committee’s previous recommendation to discontinue preventive detention for children;

(d)Legal safeguards in place for children undergoing mental health assessments in criminal cases, and measures taken to ensure that forensic mental health assessments of children facing criminal charges are conducted by experts who have been trained on the particular needs and rights of children;

(e)Measures taken to ensure that, in cases where detention is unavoidable, children are not held together with adults;

(f)The implementation of the amendments, made in 2012, to the Execution of Sentences Act to limit the use of isolation on children.

J.Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

32.Please explain the measures taken:

(a)To criminalize all forms of the sale of children, in line with articles 2 and 3 of the Optional Protocol, and ensure that all offences are punishable by appropriate criminal sanctions;

(b)To prevent and address the online sale of children for the purpose of sexual exploitation and abuse, including legislative measures on the obligations of Internet service providers;

(c)To establish extraterritorial jurisdiction over offences covered by the Optional Protocol without the criterion of double criminality;

(d)To ensure that children who are victims of sexual exploitation abroad and in the context of travel and tourism can bring claims under the Tort Liability Act.

K.Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict

33.Please explain the measures taken:

(a)To raise the minimum age of voluntary participation in the Home Guard to 18 years of age;

(b)To conduct capacity-building activities for relevant professionals and public awareness-raising activities on the Optional Protocol;

(c)To establish a mechanism for the early identification of refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant children who may have been recruited or used in hostilities abroad, and ensure their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration;

(d)To repatriate children who are nationals of the State party from camps in the Syrian Arab Republic and reintegrate them into society.

III.Statistical information and data

34.The statistical information and data provided by the State party should cover the period since the consideration of its previous reports on the implementation of the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto. The data should be disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, type of disability, geographical location and socioeconomic status, as well as by year or other relevant time frame.

35.The provision of tables setting out trends over the reporting period is recommended, and explanations of, or comments on, significant changes that have taken place over the reporting period should also be provided.

A.General measures of implementation (arts. 4, 42 and 44 (6))

36.Please provide information on the budget lines regarding children and social sectors, indicating the amount allocated to each budget line and its proportion in terms of the total national budget.

B.General principles (arts. 2, 3, 6 and 12)

37.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on cases of discrimination affecting children, prosecutions brought before the courts under legislation governing non-discrimination, and sanctions imposed on perpetrators.

C.Civil rights and freedoms (arts. 7, 8 and 13–17)

38.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on:

(a)Stateless children;

(b)Information and communications technology-related violations of children’s rights and cases that have been investigated and prosecuted.

D.Violence against children (arts. 19, 24 (3), 28 (2), 34, 37 (a) and 39)

39.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on:

(a)Children who have been victims of violence, including abuse, neglect and sexual exploitation in and outside the home, in schools and in alternative care settings, the cases that have been reported to the authorities, investigated and prosecuted and the sanctions that have been imposed on perpetrators, further disaggregated by type of offence;

(b)Children who have had access to protective measures and multidisciplinary remedies for children who are victims and witnesses of violence.

E.Family environment and alternative care (arts. 5, 9–11, 18 (1) and (2), 20, 21, 25 and 27 (4))

40.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on:

(a)Children of separated parents who are not in direct contact with both parents, and the reasons for the lack of contact with one parent;

(b)Children in child welfare and mental health institutions, the number of such institutions and their size and the length of stay;

(c)Children adopted domestically and internationally.

F.Children with disabilities (art. 23)

41.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on:

(a)Children with disabilities receiving support services;

(b)Children with disabilities living with their families;

(c)Children with disabilities living in residential care and the length of stay;

(d)Children with disabilities attending regular schools and separate schools;

(e)Reported cases of violence and abuse, including sexual violence, perpetrated against children with disabilities, the number of investigations and prosecutions carried out and the sentences imposed on perpetrators.

G.Basic health and welfare (arts. 6, 18 (3), 24, 26, 27 (1)–(3) and 33)

42.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on:

(a)Children diagnosed with a mental illness;

(b)Children who attempted or died by suicide;

(c)Drug abuse among children;

(d)Children living below the poverty line.

H.Education, leisure and cultural activities (arts. 28–31)

43.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on:

(a)Dropout and absentee rates in secondary education;

(b)Bullying, sexual harassment and violence in schools.

I.Special protection measures (arts. 22, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37 (b)–(d) and 38–40)

44.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, and further disaggregated by accompanied or unaccompanied status, on:

(a)Asylum-seeking and refugee children who have resettled in the State party;

(b)Unaccompanied children in asylum reception centres, care centres and child welfare institutions;

(c)Children who have disappeared from asylum reception centres.

45.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, and further disaggregated by type of violation reported, on:

(a)Reported cases of children involved in trafficking, and cases that have resulted in sanctions, with information on the country of origin of the perpetrator and the nature of the penalties imposed;

(b)Child victims of trafficking who have been provided with access to rehabilitation programmes.

46.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, and further disaggregated by type of crime, on:

(a)Children in pretrial detention and detention facilities and length of stay;

(b)Children referred to diversion and non-custodial sentencing options;

(c)Preventive detention sentences imposed on young people for offences committed before they turned 18;

(d)Children detained together with adults.

J.Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

47.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on:

(a)Cases of the sale of children and child sexual abuse material that have been reported, investigated and prosecuted and that have led to sanctions;

(b)Child victims of such crimes who have been provided with recovery assistance or compensation.

K.Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict

48.Please provide data, disaggregated as described in paragraph 34 above, on:

(a)Asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children entering the State party from areas where children may have been recruited or used in hostilities;

(b)Children within the State party’s jurisdiction who have been recruited or used in hostilities abroad.