Committee on the Rights of the Child
Seventy- second session
17 May-3 June 2016
Item 4 of the provisional agenda
Consideration of reports of States parties
List of issues in relation to the combined third to fifth periodic reports of Bulgaria
The State party is requested to submit, in writing, additional, updated information, if possible before 1 March 2016 (10,700 words maximum).
The Committee may take up any aspect of children’s rights set out 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.
1.Please inform the Committee of cases in which national courts have invoked the rights contained in the Convention, either as a ground for a case or as interpretative guidance for domestic legal provisions.
2.With reference to paragraph 14 of the State party’s report (CRC/C/BGR/3-5), please clarify the current status of the draft Child Act, which would provide for the establishment of the commission on the rights of the child as a coordinating body. Please inform the Committee which body is currently responsible for coordinating activities in the area of children’s rights.
3.With reference to paragraph 20 of the State party’s report, please inform the Committee about the outcome ofthe evaluation of the implementation of the National Strategy for Children(2008-2018)since 2010.
4.Please inform the Committee whether the State party’s budgeting process specifies budget allocations for children in the relevant sectors and agencies, including indicators and tracking systems at all levels, as well as targeted budget allocations for children in marginalized and vulnerable situations, such as Roma children, children with disabilities, migrant children and children of refugees and asylum seekers.
5.Please inform the Committee about the measures taken to prohibit and eradicate the continuing discrimination against Roma children, children in alternative care, including in institutions, children with disabilities, migrant children, refugee and asylum-seeking children and children living in remote areas.
6.Please inform the Committee of the outcomes of investigations into cases involving deaths of children with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities in institutions. Please also indicate the measures taken to prevent injuries and traffic accidents involving children.
7.Please clarify the legal safeguards with respect to the right of children to be heard in civil, criminal and administrative proceedings. Please explain what the established mechanisms and procedures are to hear the child’s opinion, especially in matters that have a direct impact on him or her.
8.Please inform the Committee of the measures taken to identify child victims of neglect and abuse in institutions, foster care and families, as well as to prevent sexual abuse of children, especially girls, in particular sexual abuse resulting from cohabitation and child marriages.
9.Please inform the Committee of the existing programmes and policies to support families in disadvantaged situations, including through financial support, in order to prevent separation of children from such families. Please also provide information on the monitoring and assessment mechanisms employed prior to the separation of children from their parents.
10.Please inform the Committee of the progress made to implement the unified financial standard for foster care as part of the I Have a Family Too project. Please also provide information on the number of foster care families that receive support under the project. Please explain the structure and conditions in family type placement centres and how such institutions are different from care institutions.
11.Please clarify the policies and procedures for identifying and registering children with disabilities in order to respond to their individual needs and provide information on the support and assistance provided to families with children with disabilities and measures taken for their effective inclusion in mainstream schools.
12.Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure maternal and infant health services, especially for Roma families, as well as on the availability of general health services for Roma children, in particular immunization and dental health services.
13.Please provide the Committee with up-to-date information on the status of the plan for implementation of the 2013-2020 strategy for prevention and reduction of the share of students dropping out of or leaving the education system prematurely. Please also provide information on whether the plan includes measures to prevent Roma girls from dropping out.
14.Please clarify the criteria and mechanisms relating to the placement of children in closed correctional facilities under the Juvenile Delinquency Act and for the review of placement in correctional facilities, as well as for the monitoring of conditions in order to prevent abuse and violence against children.
15.Please provide information on the procedures and mechanisms established to protect unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and to prevent detention of asylum-seeking families with children in reception centres. Please also provide information on the status of the implementation of the National Plan for Integration of Refugees.
16.Please clarify the mechanisms for identifying child victims of trafficking and provide information on measures taken to provide such children with adequate protection, as well as physical and psychological support.
17.Please inform the Committee of the statusof and fundingfor the implementation of the National Strategy for Roma Integration of 2012. Please also provide information on measures taken to provide for the rights of Roma children, including the rightto education and to information in their native language and their cultural rights.
18.As a follow-up to its concluding observations on the initial report of the State party under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/BGR/CO/1), please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s recommendations, especially with regard to amending legislation to incorporate the provisions of article 3 of the Optional Protocol concerning all elements of child pornography and the sale of children for adoption.
19.As a follow-up to its concluding observations on the initial report of the State party under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/BGR/CO/1), please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s recommendations, especially with regard to criminalizing the recruitment and involvement of children in hostilities,as well as establishing and exercising extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes under the Optional Protocol. Please also provide information concerning rehabilitation and reintegration for asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children who may have been recruited or used in hostilities abroad.
Part II
In this section, the Committee invites the State party to provide a brief update (no more than three pages) on the information presented in its report regarding:
(a)New bills and laws, and their respective regulations;
(b)New institutions and their mandates, and 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 consolidated budget information for the past three years on budget lines regarding children and social sectors, by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and gross national product, and geographic allocation.
2.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data, disaggregated, inter alia, by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic status, for the past three years, on:
(a)Cases of neglect and abuse, especially in institutions and alternative care settings;
(b)Roma children in regular schools and classes;
(c)Children working in the informal sector and children in street situations;
(d)Asylum-seeking and migrant children in reception centres;
(e)Children in detention facilities and penitentiary institutions, including closed correctional facilities;
(f)Parents, guardians or staff of care institutions accused, indicted and/or convicted of child abuse, including sexual abuse and corporal punishment;
(g)Child victims of trafficking and abduction.
3.Please provide data, disaggregated, inter alia, by age, sex, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographic location, regarding the situation of children deprived of a family environment. Please indicate, for the past three years, the number of children:
(a)Separated from their parents;
(b)Living in child-headed households;
(c)Placed in institutions;
(d)Placed with foster families;
(e)Adopted domestically or through intercountry adoptions.
4.Please provide data, disaggregated, inter alia, 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)Not attending school;
(g)Abandoned by their families.
5.Please provide data, disaggregated, inter alia, by age, sex, socioeconomic background, geographic location and ethnic and national origin, for the past three years, on:
(a)The enrolment and completion rates, in percentages, of the relevant age groups in pre-primary schools, in primary schools and in secondary schools;
(b)The number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions;
(c)The teacher-pupil ratio.
6.Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report that may have been superseded by more recent data or that may have been affected by new developments.
7.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.