Committee on the Rights of the Child

Combined fifth to seventh periodic reports submitted by Estonia under article 44 of the Convention, due in 2023 *

[Date received: 18 May 2023]

I.New developments

1.Administrative reform took place in 2017, which altered the administrative-territorial organisation of cities and rural municipalities and set the minimum size of a local government at 5,000 residents. The purpose of the reform was to ensure the professional capability of local municipalities to organise functions arising from law and provide quality public services to all the residents of a local government. After the reform, there are 79 administrative units (before 2017 there were 213). This has had a positive impact on child welfare and protection services, which mainly lie in the responsibility of local municipalities.

2.Since 2017 the Barnahus (children’s house) model has been used for assisting sexually abused children and children behaving in a sexually abusive manner. After piloting the model in 2017 its development was prioritised and by the end of 2022 there were four children’s houses in different regions of Estonia, operated by a state agency – the Social Insurance Board (SIB). In 2022 the Child Protection Act was also amended to provide a clear legal basis for the children’s house services (Child Protection Act, §291).

3.Since 2017 there have been significant amendments to penal law related to the protection of children from violence and abuse. On 01.11.2022 many amendments to the Penal Code entered into force, notably the age of sexual self-determination was raised to 16 years with a Romeo and Juliet clause added (§145). In addition, the legal age of marriage is now unambiguously 18 since the possibility to contract marriage with the court’s permission from age 15 was repealed (Family Law Act, §1 section 3).

4.Since 2017 several amendments entered into force in children’s alternative care to promote family-based care, improve the quality of alternative care, and support care leavers more efficiently. In 2017 the arranging of adoption was transferred from the counties to the SIB, which increased the quality of the arranging of adoption.

5.In 2018 new rules on the treatment of juvenile offenders came into force with a focus on preventing problems and using educational and social interventions instead of punishment. The reform brought changes to the organisation of work of various agencies, to working practices in the treatment of juveniles and to the system of services, which has decreased juvenile offences and the number of minors in prison.

6.A reform of support systems for children with special needs has been initiated, based on the same goals as long-term care: to improve the quality and availability of social services, especially the integration of social and health services, reducing regional differences in the availability and quality of services, and increasing the capacity of local governments to provide these services. During the reform of the support system for children with special needs, services in the fields of healthcare, education, social protection and employment have been integrated to provide comprehensive support to families with a care burden. The aim is to consolidate assessments from different areas to reduce the care burden of the parent and to provide the parent with a single safe point of contact for initial advice and help.

7.In 2022 the national family mediation service was launched, which is intended for parents who are separated or going through a separation and have failed to agree on issues related to their underaged child(ren)’s living arrangements (such as access or maintenance).

8.From 2018 to 2022 the parental leaves and benefits system has been amended, with the aim of encouraging parents to combine work and family life and especially fathers to share more care responsibilities with mothers. The parental benefits system gives families the confidence to have children and ensures a replacement income for a parent raising a child under 3 years of age.

9.From 1 February 2023, several important changes to the payment of family allowances entered into force. The purpose of increasing family allowances is to more efficiently ensure families with children the partial reimbursement of expenses relating to the care, raising, and education of children.

10.The new Victim Support Act will be in force from 1 April 2023. All victim support services are also provided to children without the requirement of a commenced criminal procedure. Victim support services include psychosocial support and mental health assistance, women’s support centre service, sexual violence crisis support, restorative justice services, support for the abandonment of violence, and a service for victims of human trafficking.

11.Among the key reforms in progress impacting the future of education are the draft of the Early Childhood Education Act, the creation of state upper secondary schools (20 schools operating, 6 new schools in progress for 2023/24) as well as the transition to Estonian-language education.

12.Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, different measures were used to ensure the continuity of quality education provision as well as the safety and health of all. In the initial stages during the general lockdowns, the Ministry of Education and Research and the Education and Youth Board worked on assembling the necessary resources and guidance to support schools, parents and children, resources were mobilised to support the purchase of the necessary hardware to participate in distance learning, substitute teacher programmes were set in place, preparatory courses were offered for exam year students, etc. Later on, the Ministry of Education and Research developed an exit strategy to better coordinate efforts towards the mitigation of learning loss and provision of continuous education. This exit strategy initially involved four strands of activities for 2021–2025: a) mitigation of learning gaps caused by distance learning and alleviation of teachers’ workload; b) activities to support the mental health of learners and educational personnel; mitigation of the impact of the crisis by increasing green and digital skills through continuous education and retraining; c) research and other activities supporting crisis management.

13.At the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, a new family benefit for the parent of a child with special needs was implemented. The purpose of the benefit was to provide a replacement income for a parent who had to be temporarily away from work due to raising a child with special needs.

14.One of the next steps in the Estonian digital transformation is the development of event-based services, which make the consumption of public services as easy and convenient as possible. The government can take a step towards the person and significantly simplify their life by making unnecessary bureaucratic activities ‘invisible’ thus integrating services provided by different institutions into a coherent whole. Family benefits were the first event-based/proactive services – proactiveness in family benefits means that when a child is born in the family, the entry into the population register activates all of the following services – no application, no signing, the amount that the family is entitled to (the e-offer) needs to be confirmed with one click.

15.Another child rights-based event-based project is the ‘having a baby’ service. Once the future parent enters the child’s expected date of birth, this portal gives all the important information from the beginning of pregnancy to the age of 3, including various benefits, registration of the child’s birth and acceptance of paternity (paternity in general), parental leave, etc., links to articles, laws, etc. All the information will be calculated in a personalised way.

II.Rights under the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto

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

Legislation

16.The SIB performs state and administrative supervision over the implementation of the Child Protection Act, including the performance of child protection work in local municipalities. Each year the SIB carries out complex supervision proceedings in local municipalities based on risk assessments but also on complaints. The results show that the quality of local municipalities’ child protection work is uneven, but significant progress has been made since the adoption of the current Child Protection Act in 2016. The main concerns are related to the casework process and placing the child at the centre of the proceedings.

17.In 2020–2022 the Ministry of Social Affairs carried out and commissioned several analyses and studies on the quality and processes of child protection work to evaluate the implementation of the Child Protection Act, its impact on children and families, and the need for legislative changes. Based on this work a reform in child protection has been initiated and the proposal for draft law will be presented in April 2023. The proposal outlines the need to bring a more systemic approach to both the prevention and provision of assistance and services to children and families. This can be achieved by clarifying the tasks of local municipalities, supporting them in developing a modern and inclusive organisation where specialists can thrive and perform better results, and implementing a uniform child and family-centred casework model.

18.According to the Child Protection Act, local government shall create conditions for the performance of child protection work with the purpose of ensuring the performance of functions listed in the Act (§17 sections 1 and 2). Out of 79 local municipalities, 77 local municipalities have at least 1 child protection worker. The average total number of children per child protection worker in a local municipality is below 1000 for the third consecutive year (986 children per CPW in 2019, 965 in 2020, and 929 in 2021).

Comprehensive policy, strategy and coordination

19.For almost a decade Estonia had the Strategy of Children and Families 2012–2020 with the purpose of guaranteeing clear development trends in the state for supporting the well-being and coping of children and families. The aim of the strategy was to ensure that all children in Estonia can grow and live in a safe and human-friendly environment. The strategy includes the programme for children and families, currently valid for 2022–2025, which focuses on ensuring available and high-quality measures to increase the well-being of children and families to achieve the main goal, ie increasing the well-being of children and families and improving the quality of life, thereby promoting the birth of children. From 2023 the programme for children and families is incorporated in the new Estonian Welfare Development Plan 2023–2030, which focuses on five strategic objectives including well-being of children and families. The Welfare Development Plan will have yearly renewable operational programmes for each strategic objective.

20.Each year the indicators and activities planned in the programme for children and families are evaluated on whether the expected activities were carried out and whether they had the expected results.

21.The Ministry of Finance has launched the portal My Municipality which provides an overview of the state of services and development possibilities in each local government to direct local development based on this information, compare local governments’ service levels which contributes to sharing experiences, raising public awareness of the organisation of local services and increasing citizens’ informed involvement in the discussion of local priorities. Children’s well-being is one sub-section under social protection and encompasses data and information about management, employees and performance outcomes (for the average local municipality, and also individually for each local municipality). The portal is updated every year.

22.The Advisory Board of the Ombudsman for Children involves children in discussions on important issues that concern them and allows children to express their views and raise issues related to them. The Advisory Board supports the Chancellor of Justice in her activities as the Ombudsman for Children, including asking for opinions from children on different draft laws and policies. The Youth Council that acts under the Estonian Union for Child Welfare brings together active young people who give their feedback and ideas for laws and policies relating to them.

23.In 2022 a new amendment to the Child Protection Act entered into force (§13) stating that a new joint government commission for cross-sectoral prevention, the Prevention Council, will be created instead of the Council for Child Protection, the Council for Crime Prevention and the Government Commission for Drug Prevention. Previously, the prevention of legal violations and risky behaviour in Estonia was fragmented between institutions and mainly dealt with the consequences, instead of preventing risks. The new council includes the Minister of Social Protection, Minister of Health and Labour, Minister of Justice, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Education and Research, and Minister of Culture and its aim is to establish common foundations for the development of cross-disciplinary prevention together with an action plan to manage cooperation between different fields, shape drug, criminal and child protection policies and set strategic goals for this. The council thus has a strong mandate to establish and implement policies, including submitting proposals concerning the protection of children’s rights and ensuring the well-being of children to the Government of the Republic and other relevant institutions. Additionally, the research council that consists of representatives of universities, research institutions and experts in the field, is part of the steering group with the aim of ensuring that the programmes, interventions and services that are implemented in the country are evidence-based and in conformity with the agreed principles and long-term plans of prevention.

Allocation of resources

24.Budget allocations for children are presented in Chapter III (Statistical information and data). There have been no austerity measures regarding children.

Data collection

25.In 2019, the Chancellor of Justice, who performs the functions of the Ombudsman for Children in Estonia, started collecting and publishing a set of child well-being indicators on her website. The dashboard covers different areas such as education, law, health, social support, etc. The dataset is annually updated and so far the data covers the period of 2016–2020. The website also gives an up-to-date overview of the study reports published about children in Estonia. In spring 2021 the comprehensive article collection ‘Children in Estonian society’ covering various areas of child welfare was published. More than 40 experts participated in making the article collection. The structure of the volume is based on the basic principles of children’s rights.

26.The website My Municipality gives a systematised up-to-date evaluation and overview of the state of local governments’ services. The methodology covers 16 areas of which local governments are responsible for: pre-school education, youth work, basic education, housing and heating, mobility, waste management, water management, children’s welfare, social services for adults, public health and safety, crisis management, libraries, sport, culture, museum and governance. It provides the evaluation of the state of children’s welfare of each local government compared to others, thus also highlighting issues that may need additional attention so far. The children’s welfare topic is divided into the subtopics: management, employees and infrastructure, availability of information and performance. A total of 14 indicators about children’s well-being are covered under these topics. The initial version of the service monitoring methodology was developed by the Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) of the University of Tartu in cooperation with Geomedia OÜ by the end of 2018. More than a hundred experts from ministries and local governments, researchers and interest groups, NGOs, and the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities participated in the creation of the methodology.

27.Statistics Estonia has developed comprehensive dashboards focused on the well-being of children and young people that give a quick and convenient way to obtain visualised data. Age groups 0–17 or 0–15 and 16–24 are also represented in various data tables covering the whole population. There are seven indicators covered under the section of ‘Child well-being’ and these indicators cover topics such as poverty, housing conditions, expenditure of households with children, suicides, participation in formal childcare, infant deaths and deaths by cause of death. Depending on the data table and the relevance, data can be disaggregated by age, sex, disability, geographical location, national origin and socioeconomic background.

28.Knowledge-based design of policy measures for children and families and visible data about and from children in mainstream statistics, is established as one of the up-coming challenges in the Welfare Development Plan 2023–2030. We aim to develop and make accessible and visible a single and integrated dashboard that covers systematized data about the well-being and rights of children in different domains, eg children’s health (both physical and mental), social, educational and legal systems, and different levels (local and national).

29.Alternative care service for children without parental care was reorganised in Estonia in 2018, the service became organised by local governments. Alongside the Data Register of Social Services and Benefits (STAR) it was developed to support local governments in finding children the best possibilities of alternative care, to register children to services and places/families. This also provided an opportunity to obtain a complete statistical overview of children receiving alternative care services. Information on disabilities was also linked from another register (disability database) to the STAR. The STAR is being further developed to ensure more accurate and high-quality datasets for statistical overviews, but also as a good operational tool for child protection workers.

30.Data on children who are victims of violence is collected in the criminal justice system and through different services. The Ministry of Justice collects, analyses and regularly publishes data on registered crimes, including domestic violence (including violence against a child or affecting a child) and sexual violence (including the sexual abuse of children). The Child Helpline 116 111 collects data about children and adults contacting the helpline according to topics, one of which is ‘maltreatment’ with several sub-categories. In the last few years child maltreatment has been the most frequent reason for contacting the helpline. Recent amendments to the Child Protection Act will enhance collection and analysis of data regarding sexual abuse of children – since May 2022 local municipalities are obliged to notify the SIB (children’s houses, Barnahus) of all cases and suspicions of child sexual abuse. Thus, the SIB is able to obtain a comprehensive overview of such cases and to perform analyses for developing the support system for victims and targeting prevention and capacity-building activities.

31.Child well-being analysis and studies conducted in 2017–2022:

2017. The living standards of families with disabled children. (Summary in English).

2017. Increasing the effectiveness of child protection work at the local level and developing sustainability.

2018. Child’s rights and parenting (Summary in English). Regular follow-up study will be carried out in 2023/2024.

2019. Development and provision of support services for disabled children and encouraging the reconciliation of work and family life. (Summary in English).

2019. Children’s subjective well-being in a local and international perspective.

2020. Study of accessibility for children.

2020 Results of the OECD International Early Childhood Education and Child Wellbeing Survey (IELS) in Estonia. (Summary in English).

2021. Study of preschool education and childcare in Estonia.

2021. Opportunities for open youth work, hobby education and hobby activities to increase the social inclusion of young people, especially young people at risk of exclusion, and the needs for developing these opportunities opens in a new tab; slides introducing the study.

2022. A study to improve the system of timely identification and effective assistance of at-risk children: lessons from the life paths of children in a closed children’s institution.

2022. The effectiveness of interventions to prevent and reduce bullying and the experiences of educational institutions in their implementation.

2022. Supporting the transitions of students with special educational needs for smooth movement between education levels and types and to the labour market. (Summary in English).

2022. Analysis on modern child protection case management, data exchange and e-services.

2022. EU funded activities delivered between 2014–2020 and the amendments to the Social Welfare Act on the provision of Alternative care in Estonia. (Summary in English). Study about young people starting to live independently from alternative care, (Summary in English).

Independent monitoring

32.Visibility measures of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice include consultations with children, a website and Facebook account, publications, media articles, public events, and training sessions.

33.The Chancellor’s advisers consult with children through the Advisory Committee comprised of young people and by listening to children with particular life experiences. Consultations with children have concerned issues such as healthcare, working conditions, the digital world and climate justice. The Office of the Chancellor of Justice (the Office) has organised a photo hunt to collect children’s observations of problems in their local communities, along with a creative writing session of ‘recipes’ about what kind of parents children need. The Office also has regular meetings with major child and youth led organisations in Estonia. On the website there is a separate subsection introducing the mandate of the Ombudsman for Children and the rights of the child. The website is available in Estonian, Russian and English. The introduction of the rights of the child in all three languages is among the most frequently visited parts of the whole website. Child-friendly publications include booklets on the Ombudsman for Children, on the rights of the child, on child patients, and on contact with the police. Printed materials are distributed during school visits, public events and inspection visits. The website also leads to the Facebook site.

34.The Office’s largest reach-out events taking place annually are the film programme on the rights of the child as part of the youth film festival ‘Just Film’, and the event ‘With and For Children’ awarding merits to those children and adults who have significantly contributed to the well-being of children. The organising teams of both events also include young people under the age of 18. The Chancellor’s advisers regularly train child protection and social workers on the rights of the child, but training sessions have also been offered to judges, attorneys, prosecutors, police-, prison- and probation officers, paediatricians and family doctors, child psychiatrists and school psychologists, alternative care and youth workers, supervisory officials of the SIB, and medical and youth work students.

35.Complaints may be filed by children themselves or on behalf of children, by any means and in free format. In 2021, there were 258 complaints concerning rights of the child, mainly from parents. In 2017–2021, 34 complaints were filed by children. Complaints are primarily written in Estonian but also in Russian and in English. In addition, the Chancellor’s advisers talk directly with children (in Estonian, in Russian and in English, if needed) whenever paying an inspection visit to a children’s institution in order to discuss their lives and concerns. Every year the Office has meetings with hundreds of schoolchildren and in schools all over the country. The Office promotes the well-functioning child helpline (116 111) which is intended to be the first point of contact for children in need of assistance or asking for advice in child-related matters.

Dissemination, awareness-raising and training

36.Estonia is committed to making children’s voices heard and amplified. A network of children’s rights ambassadors, whose members participate in various projects (for example organising the international ISPCAN youth forum and expressing opinions in the press, participating in various committees, juries and in preparing the children’s report for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child), is in place. The network has pan-Estonian regional coverage for representing children’s opinions on various topics as well as on promoting and disseminating the rights laid down in the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

37.The international MAPChiPP project (Multi-disciplinary Assessment and Participation of Children in Child Protection Proceedings: training programme with modules and toolbox, international network) aimed at promoting child protection across disciplines was started in 2017 by the Estonian Union for Child Welfare. Since 2018, the NGO has been conducting ‘Working together for the child’ training sessions in municipalities to support the multidisciplinary cooperation network of specialists working with children at the local level. The training improves the skills of practical specialists working in various fields (eg social and health workers, the police, the justice system) and promotes multi-disciplinary cooperation in procedures relating to children. The project is supported by the Ministry of Social Affairs through strategic partnership.

38.Since 2016, the National Health Institute has offered free of charge in-service training for child protection workers. The training sessions are divided into basic training with a volume of 108 academic hours and additional training on the necessary topics. The basic training includes subjects such as: planning of prevention and community work, legal bases on children rights, court proceedings, custody and communication rights, guardianships, as well as the child’s well-being assessment, case management and communication with the family system, parents and child. There are ten additional training sessions in the programme to date and they have included subject areas such as intimate partner violence, supporting a child in foster care, child sexual abuse, the ‘Let’s Talk About Children’ method, and work with parents that use drugs. In 2022 child protection workers training needs analysis was carried out and new modules and subjects will be developed to better meet the needs and the expectations of children and families, with the aim of making in-service training compulsory for all child protection specialists. From 2023 the in-service training will be offered by SIB, combining both child protection and wellbeing implementation and training centre competencies.

39.Since 2020, the Estonian Union for Child Welfare also organises summer schools for child protection workers to provide an opportunity for further education in an informal environment, with an emphasis on media communication, mental health, supporting child-friendly child protection work and other topics necessary for the daily work of child protection workers.

40.The current curriculum in higher education for child protection work does not correspond to the specific needs of children and families. On the one hand, the curriculum must provide broad-based and theoretical knowledge in the field of social work, but it is also important that theoretical approaches and everyday practice are better integrated, which in turn supports entrance into the labour market or continuation of working there. Therefore, changes to the curriculum are planned.

41.The core of the national curriculum introduced in 2014 consists of eight overall competences that are to be cultivated during the study process. The emphasis has shifted from a teacher-centred approach to a student-centred one. To guarantee that the students will attain overall competences, an interdisciplinary approach has been introduced binding together individual disciplines through the study of common subjects to complement the individual subjects’ study and pedagogical aims. Competence is defined as a compilation of knowledge, skills, values and opinions, which ensures readiness to engage in lifelong learning and an ability to attain results in a chosen field.

42.General human values (honesty, caring, respect for life, justice, human dignity, respect for oneself and others) and social values (freedom, democracy, respect for the mother tongue and culture, patriotism, cultural diversity, tolerance, environmental sustainability, rule of law, solidarity, accountability, and gender equality) are emphasized as core values, throughout the curricula.

Cooperation with civil society

43.Since 2020, strategic partnership is a new form of cooperation with NGOs. Strategic partners support the achievement of the performance goals of the ministry’s governance area and contribute to policy implementation and design. Support is given to projects related to the promotion of children’s well-being, rights and inclusion. Application rounds are announced for specific topics, the aim is to provide long-term financing (minimum 2 years per round) and in addition to a meaningful action plan, the organisational development of the partner organisations is promoted.

Children’s rights and the business sector

44.The Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL) is a member of the advisory chamber and part of many activities in the project Wisely on the Internet. The ITL has always provided its support along with the funding request. Telia (one of the biggest telecommunication companies) and TalTech (Tallinn University of Technology) also participate directly in this initiative. ICT companies are also taking part in accessibility initiatives since in addition to people with special needs, they also focus on children, so that children can safely and age appropriately use products and services. In policy making, ICT companies represented by ITL are also involved in relevant law making, for example in drafting the proposal of the EU’s Regulation on the Prevention and Suppression of Child Sexual Abuse. In this field, larger communication companies also voluntarily implement preventive measures, which have been agreed upon with the Ministry of Justice.

45.In addition, there are a series of initiatives on safe behaviour on the Internet and bullying such as Telia’s Greatest Courage, Cyber Needle, Cyber Nut, Cyber Drill, Cyber Pin, the cyber security game SPOOFY, CGI Estonia (IT and business consulting services) talks about cyber security in schools, Money Wisdom Compass (Admiral Markets is one of the creators), and a game called CyberSec Stories created by Baltic Computer Systems and TalTech.

46.In 2017 cooperation ‘Nutikaitse 2017’ was agreed to, the initiators and signatories were the Certification Center (currently SK ID Solutions), the State Information System Board, Swedbank Estonia, SEB Bank, Telia Estonia, Elisa Estonia and Tele2 Estonia. The aim was to jointly increase the security awareness and usage skills of smart device users, developers and sellers, while creating opportunities for secure software to be easily available and user-friendly.

International cooperation

47.Estonia’s target is to contribute 0,33% of gross national income to development cooperation by 2030. In 2020 Estonia contributed 0,16% of gross national income. In 2021/22 Estonia reformed its development cooperation system. EstDev, the Estonian Centre for International Development, was created to bring more efficiency to the sector. Moreover, the structure in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was streamlined and the Department of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid was created. Both changes were made with the aim of bringing development cooperation more into focus and to enable the increasing of our ODA. In the coming years we foresee the rise of our development cooperation volumes, also partly due to the war in Ukraine. Estonia has been a steady supporter of Ukraine and is committed to continuing its aid.

B.Definition of the child (art. 1)

48.The Family Law Act was revised and §1 section 3 is repealed as of 01.11.2022 – the minimum age for marriage is now 18 years of age without exceptions.

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

Non-discrimination

49.The current scope of the application of the Equal Treatment Act differs depending on the grounds, providing wider protection against discrimination on the grounds of nationality (ethnic origin), race or colour. Discrimination on the grounds of religion or beliefs, age, disability and sexual orientation is prohibited in relation to work life and vocational training.

50.A bill amending the Equal Treatment Act to widen the scope of application of the Equal Treatment Act concerning discrimination of persons on grounds inter alia of age went successfully through the first reading in Parliament in February 2022. However, after that the bill stalled and there is no progress to report.

51.The Ministry of Social Affairs organised an equal treatment awareness campaign, which was carried out in January and February 2020. The campaign aimed to break down stereotypes and prejudices towards different minority groups, promote understanding and solidarity between different social groups, and reduce discrimination by setting an example. The campaign produced five video clips that were shown in both social and traditional media, radio clips disseminated on the radio, a photo bank, a street campaign, various articles on equal treatment and other PR activities in the media.

52.Through strategic partnership with the Estonian Human Rights Centre and Estonian LGBT Association, the Ministry of Social Affairs supports and finances the activities of the equal treatment network.

53.The parental programme Incredible Years for parents with children aged 2–8 years and the advanced programme for parents with children aged 4–12 years are offered through local municipalities and children’s mental health centres with state funding. The groups are offered both in Estonian and Russian. From 2022 the same training is also offered for parents who are in a state of migration, for example, due to war in their home country. These groups can hold up to one third of parents from the local Estonian community to help parents adjust with local conditions.

54.Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, many Ukrainian war refugees have arrived in Estonia and the number of unaccompanied minors has increased. Ukrainian war refugees who have received temporary protection have the right to receive the same services (eg alternative care), benefits and subsidies as Estonian residents.

55.Children who are victims of violence and trafficking are entitled to state-funded victim support services as well as child protection services. Based on the situation and specific needs of the child, the SIB and/or the local municipality provide essential services to the child including safe accommodation, health care and social services, including counselling and psychological help.

Best interests of the child

56.Information on the best interests of the child is disseminated to professionals in multiple ways: mailing lists, trainings, written guidelines both in electronic format and hard copy, video recorded training sessions, sharing and discussing case law. Some examples include: mailing list of prosecutors; mailing list of judges who are specialised on children and juveniles, mailing list of the Violence Prevention Agreement for every professional and organisation who wishes to participate, being engaged and receiving information on research, analysis, trainings, workshops, conferences, prevention campaigns, guidelines, calls for project proposals, new policies and initiatives etc; a separate web-page on child-friendly justice for children, their parents and caregivers and professionals in the justice and child protection systems (focuses on children regardless of their role in the justice process, also includes information on aspects that professionals working with the cases and being in contact with children must know); in the ‘Youth friendly justice’ project a comprehensive training programme has been created and training sessions are offered on topics providing holistic knowledge and skills for working with children in the justice and child protection system; video training materials on child-friendly justice have been created for reaching professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond (focus on general principles of child-friendly justice, professional work with juveniles, child-friendly healthcare and the EU directive on juvenile justice; a check-list/guideline for professionals on cultivating child-friendly justice routines and best practice.

57.Private law trainings on the best interests of the child have included topics such as legal custody and parent-child attachment, interviewing a child in court proceedings, obligation to provide maintenance to a child, parental alienation as a form of domestic violence, state-funded family mediation services to facilitate cooperation between parents concerning the upbringing of their child and, by this, to ensure protection of the child’s interests and the child’s well-being.

58.Criminal law training sessions on the subject have included topics such as psychological aspects of domestic violence, treatment of minors and young adults in criminal proceedings, interviewing a child in criminal proceedings, interviewing a child in criminal proceedings (follow up is set to take place in 2023), and treatment of minors in court proceedings, which is a generalised training for all judges.

59.During the reporting period, children’s alternative care training has been renewed. The training includes various modules, eg child rights, child development, attachment, trauma and loss, abuse, child mental health, positive parenting, etc. The training is offered free of charge to both foster care institutions and children`s shelters. Foster families continue to be offered preliminary and basic PRIDE training, which has been adapted in Estonia.

60.Several additional trainings have also been offered, eg TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) training to raise trauma awareness of families, Sensoa Flag System training to prevent sexual violence, ART (Advanced Aggression Replacement Training) to support conflict resolution, a training to improve coping with children with special needs or with teenagers, etc. In addition, Incredible Year training has been offered to alternative care educators, family parents, and foster families to improve the skills of positive parenting.

61.In addition, a number of guidelines have been prepared in alternative care that support ensuring the best interests of the child. For example, the SIB has prepared a guide for local authorities on foster care family placement, an aftercare planning guide for service providers for local authorities and the young people themselves etc.

Respect for the views of the child

62.All specialists working with children in the social field (child protection workers, substitute care specialists and those conducting supervision) have received training and a great deal of attention has been paid to hearing children and child participation. Amendments to the Civil Procedure Code (§5521) entered into force in 2022, stating that the court personally hears a child in a matter concerning a child who is capable of holding their own opinions (before the age for hearing the child was 10 years).

63.In 2020, the Education and Youth Board was established as a government agency (merging the activities of the Youth Work Centre, Foundation Archimedes, Foundation Innove, Estonian Information Technology Foundation for Education). In the youth field, the Education and Youth Board promotes the implementation of youth policy and organises and develops Estonian youth work services, directs the development of the field, manages and develops the youth information service; works with monitoring and impact assessment in the field of youth and the development and implementation of the quality system of local government youth work; implements programmes and activities in the field of youth, which, by supporting youth participation and initiative, youth camps and smart youth work, reduces the risk of exclusion of young people and helps to find solutions for young people with NEET status.

D.Civil rights and freedoms

64.In Estonia, several steps have been taken to determine the number of persons without citizenship and to stop the increase in its number. In 2015, amendments to the Citizenship Act were adopted, which stipulated that a minor under 15 years of age who was born in Estonia (or who immediately after birth takes up permanent residence in Estonia together with their parent or parents) is granted Estonian citizenship by naturalisation as of the moment of their birth, provided their parents or single parent whom no state recognises under valid laws as its citizen have or has lawfully resided in Estonia for at least five years by the moment of the child’s birth. This has essentially stopped the increase of persons with undefined citizenship in Estonia. Upon reaching the age of 15, children (including children with undetermined citizenship) can apply for Estonian citizenship by themselves. As of 24.01.2023, 30 children with undetermined citizenship aged 15–17 lived in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit or right of residence.

65.Persons with undetermined citizenship are living in Estonia based on a residence permit, so they are legally staying in the country. All the same rights, freedoms and obligations are granted to them which are granted to third-country nationals staying in Estonia based on a residence permit. Information about residence permits is available in the Police and Border Guard Board´s databases and in the Population Register.

66.Estonia does not have a separate statelessness determination procedure stipulated in legislation, but a person’s citizenship (or lack thereof) is determined during other procedures (eg during the procedure for granting international protection or a residence permit). Possession or non-possession of citizenship is not an obstacle to obtaining international protection, residence permit or citizenship, if other conditions provided by law for obtaining them are met.

67.Estonia believes that its accession to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions will not provide benefits to persons with undetermined citizenship compared to their present status. The provisions of these conventions are less comprehensive than the rights currently enjoyed by residents of Estonia with undetermined citizenship. Regarding the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Estonia is of the opinion that every person has the right to freely choose their nationality, and the state cannot influence this choice. Estonia has constantly encouraged persons with undefined citizenship to choose between the citizenship of Estonia or another country, but making the choice is not mandatory. Nevertheless, Estonia will analyse the possibility of joining these conventions.

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

Freedom of the child from all forms of violence

68.Prevention of online sexual exploitation and abuse primarily works through providing information and knowledge on cyber-hygiene that is offered in school curricula in all levels of education. Cyberbullying can be prevented with the development of digital skills, critical thinking and media literacy. These skills and competences are part of the national curricula and taught as cross-curricular topics. The Education and Youth Board of Estonia has developed guidelines on how to prevent bullying at school, how to approach the topic in a classroom, and what background and other materials could be used by the teachers. Moreover, antibullying programme KiVa is implemented widely. The NGO Antibullying School receives financial support from the Ministry of Education and Research to develop the programme that includes training (to teachers, as well as parents and school communities, classes) and counselling.

69.In 2019–2021 international project TOOL4GENDER was carried out, and the aim was to raise awareness and educate specialists working in various fields (teachers, psychologists, social pedagogues, staff of training centres) about gender-based violence, its forms and spread, and thereby prevent cases of gender-based violence among 8–16 year olds. Online courses and study materials together with an online platform were developed and are freely available on the project’s web site.

70.The Violence Prevention Agreement 2021–2025, approved by the government, covers the prevention and combating of various forms of interpersonal violence. The main focus is on violence against children. The agreement sets out 14 measures for violence prevention, including: violence prevention in educational institutions, youth work, and hobby education and recreational activities; supporting children and young people who have problems with violence; prevention and reduction of domestic violence; prevention of sexual violence and human trafficking; prevention of violence in the digital world.

71.The Estonian Strategy for Internal Security 2020–2030 includes two measures/activities on violence: 1) a measure to prevent violence and reduce the risk of violence. Under this measure there are sub-measures to create a unified communication plan against domestic violence to enhance awareness, including a sub-measure to prevent the sexual exploitation of children, especially on the web; 2) a measure aimed at protecting violence victims. Under this measure there are sub-activities aimed at training the Estonian police force on issues of violence, how to deal with victims and how to better recognise domestic violence. There are also activities aimed at further developing the capacity for investigating sexual abuse cases online, the application of restorative justice etc.

72.All forms of child abuse, including corporal punishment, are prohibited under §24 of the Child Protection Act. Its implementation includes systematic development of parenting education and support, and the promotion of positive parenting. This is a task of the Estonian National Institute for Health Development with a dedicated budget under the programme for children and families. They share information, resources and support to parents via the Tark Vanem (‘Wise Parent’) webpage. They also coordinate nation-wide provision of the Incredible Years, including the basic programme for parents with children aged 2–8 years and the advanced programme for parents with children aged 4–12 years. The programmes are offered through local municipalities and children’s mental health centres with state and local funding, parents are engaged in the program either by child protection services or by their own application. The Institute also regularly holds social campaigns related to positive parenting. A social campaign in 2019–2020 ‘Take care of your own needs to be a happier parent’ reminded parents that to provide a safe environment for the child, they must take care of their own mental and physical health and partnership needs. In 2022, a social campaign ‘Rahunemispaus’ (‘A Break to Calm Down’) was launched that drew parents’ attention to the importance of taking time out to calm strong emotions and teaching children the same. In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs provides regular funding to several NGOs as strategic partners, among them the Estonian Union of Child Welfare which is also offering support to parents and promoting positive parenting.

73.An important aspect of strengthening protection of children against violence is to guarantee that all the problematic signs are noticed in time and thus reacted upon rapidly. The SIB has developed a new and easily usable tool for a preliminary assessment of the child’s needs. This preliminary assessment tool has the potential to be used by other specialists working with children as well (family nurses and doctors, teachers, police etc) with the aim of creating a common framework in assessing and reporting of children in need.

74.The domestic violence plan for 2019–2023 has had a positive effect on fighting violence against children and child abuse. A new domestic violence action plan for 2024–2027 is being drafted with a focus on prevention. MARAC model is implemented for the most serious cases of domestic violence, which helps to ensure that children involved in the cases receive the needed attention and assistance. As of 2024 the model is state funded.

75.There is a growing common understanding among specialists that children are victims of domestic violence even if they are not directly (physically) abused. Child protection services are usually notified of children involved in domestic violence cases. In 2020, a data and information exchange solution between the Police procedure information system (MIS) and STAR was launched, which helps the police and local government exchange information quickly and without duplicating activities.

76.The main avenues for seeking justice for children who are victims of abuse and neglect are Children’s helpline: number 116 111 and chat option www.lasteabi.ee, that runs 24/7 in Estonian, Russian, English; children’s house in 4 regions that is available to all children in Estonia; Sexual Assault Centres for medical and psychosocial assistance in the case of sexual violence in 4 different hospitals in Estonia; other victim support services by the SIB – a state-funded service for everyone, including children; victim support crisis helpline 116 006 and chat option www.palunabi.ee in four languages.

77.Reported and recorded crime is observed and published by the Ministry of Justice annually and periodically under ‘Crime in Estonia’. Research and analysis is conducted by various institutions, including the Ministry of Justice on the prevalence and incidence of all forms of violence. In 2015 and 2020 two surveys were conducted respectively among 16–19 year olds and 16–26 year olds to measure the prevalence of life-time sexual abuse among children and youth. The 2015 survey also mapped the prevalence of mental and physical abuse. A summary of the 2020 survey is available here.

Sexual exploitation and abuse

78.Prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse of children is one of the aims and measures of the Violence Prevention Agreement 2021–2025, that coordinates and guides prevention and awareness raising activities in all sectors of governance. The activities are compiled here. In recent years, specialists have been offered training on the Sensoa flag system and supporting tools for identifying and effectively reacting to signs of children’s harmful sexual behaviour. Every year Estonia draws attention to the End Sexual Abuse of Children day on 18 November by launching prevention videos and campaigns in social media and media. Using the e-lecture platform ‘Tagasi kooli’, the Ministry of Justice has broadcasted several e-courses for pupils both in Estonian and Russian on the prevention of sexual violence against children.

79.The Estonian Police has adopted guidelines to ensure the best protection of children and avoid any other harm to child victims. These guidelines set out how to act around and treat children, how to act when encountering a child in danger or a child in need, how to treat a child who is under investigation and many other important aspects. These guidelines also include how to best act with unaccompanied foreign minors.

80.In 2022 the Child Protection Act was amended to specify the task of the SIB in helping children in cases of sexual abuse in children’s houses (Barnahus). The main changes brought by the new regulation were adding children with sexually abusive behaviour to the target group of the children’s house and stipulating the obligation of local government units to inform the SIB immediately about all children who have been sexually abused or suspected thereof, or who behave sexually abusively.

81.Providing a specialised service to sexually abused children has increased the awareness of children, professionals working with children and the general public. The work of Barnahus, and also sexual assault centres in Estonia, since 2017 has contributed to increased reporting of sexual abuse and violence. In 2022 the Ministry of Justice published an overview of the investigations and prosecutions of recorded sexual offences.

82.Estonia has and will continue to take steps in order to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse both online and offline. Estonia plans to invest 750,000 euros in the years 2023–2027 to prevent children from becoming victims of sexual abuse online. This is also in accordance with the EU Strategy for a More Effective Fight Against Child Sexual Abuse.

83.An information campaign is being carried out to prevent children and young people from becoming victims of sexual abuse in cyberspace. Children’s awareness and skills on how to behave in the cyber world will be improved in order to avoid becoming victims of sexual abuse and blackmail in cyberspace. Interactive video clips in Estonian and Russian will be prepared in cooperation with children themselves. In addition, old materials will be adapted and new materials created on the topic of prevention of sexual abuse of children for teachers, youth workers, child advocates and police officers. Separately, the focus will be on materials intended for parents, to increase their awareness and skills in talking to children about this topic. Training sessions are also planned as part of the project (for example, for police officers and other professionals who work directly with children) to raise the awareness and skills of adults who encounter young people, to spot a young person who has become a victim of online abuse, to offer appropriate help and in turn to conduct prevention lectures on this topic.

84.The Estonian Union of Child Welfare belongs to the INHOPE network and is also running the whistle blower platform ‘Vihjeliin’, which enables internet users to provide information about material being distributed online which depicts illegal content – the sexual abuse or exploitation of minors and child trafficking. The aim is to harmonise the work in collaboration with the work done already by the Safer Internet team.

85.In Estonia there are web-constables – police officers that work on the Internet. In recent years the number of web-constables has increased. They respond to notifications and letters submitted by people via the internet and train children as well as adults on Internet security.

86.In 2021 the Ministry of Justice in cooperation with other stakeholders composed a list of recommendations for creating child-friendly environments and specially equipped rooms for child-friendly facilities. These recommendations have been taken into account in planning a new court house, composing and distributing boxes with child-friendly justice items for all county courts and adjusting other law enforcement child-friendly hearing and interview rooms. The box contains items that help create a cosy feeling for the child or young person during the procedure, such as toys, bottles of drinking water, snacks, knitting paper, drawing pencils and pictures to colour, a calming pop-it game and a magnetic construction kit. Furnishing the premises of the courthouse with objects that favour a child-friendly environment helps professionals working in the court in establishing contact with the child in the courthouse.

87.There is a separate web-page on child-friendly justice for children that also includes information for parents, caregivers and specialists. Also, there is a separate platform where child victims can give feedback on how police, prosecutors, courts, victim support and Barnahus have provided support to them as victims of crime.

88.The SIB’s Victim Support and Prevention Services Department creates a safer life for all people in Estonia and for Estonian citizens abroad. Among others, they support victims of human trafficking, sexually abused and unaccompanied minors, etc, as well as people who want to abandon their own violent behaviour.

89.The number of reported sexual offences has increased two times over the past 10 years. This means that people are more aware of violence and ways of seeking help, and also reporting. Particularly in the case of children, sexual abuse is also reported by professionals who notice the signs of sexual abuse. Change in the prevalence of sexual abuse can be measured with surveys. The last survey among 16–26-year-olds was conducted in 2020.

90.In the Children´s House there has been a yearly increase of criminal proceedings in the cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of children. There has also been a yearly increase of children using the services provided by the Children´s House.

F.Family environment and alternative care

Family environment

91.In September 2022 a national family mediation service was launched. The family mediation service is intended for parents who share a common underage child or children and who have broken up or are in the middle of a break-up and have failed to agree on issues related to their child’s living arrangements (such as access or maintenance).

92.The outcome of the family mediation service is a parenting plan between the parents. Parents may reach a written plan between themselves or have it approved by the SIB. If the SIB approves the plan it becomes an enforceable title which means that if one party fails to follow the plan, the services of an enforcement agent may be enlisted. Even if the parents do not want to reach a written plan, family mediation should still be sought because the presence of a neutral mediator facilitates discussions over the child’s living arrangements and establishment of verbal agreements.

93.The state-funded family mediation service is governed by the Act on State-Funded Family Mediation Services and is organized by SIB and is free of charge for parents. This service is available everywhere in Estonia in Estonian, English and Russian.

94.Child support of up to 100 euros per month is paid by the state to children whose parent or parents do not fulfil the maintenance obligation. The support is paid during the court proceeding, additionally amendments entered into force that also grant the support during the enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings of the debtor in case the debtor does not fulfil the obligation to pay maintenance.

95.Since 2017 many amendments to support enforcement of child maintenance claims have been enforced:

If, during enforcement proceedings, a child maintenance debtor has not, within three months, made regular payments towards the child’s maintenance, and the enforcement agent’s attempts to collect such maintenance out of the debtor’s property have not been successful, the court may also, by order, revoke the following documents of the debtor, and restrain the issue of such documents for up to two years: 1) an Estonian citizen’s passport; 2) an alien’s passport; 3) a refugee’s travel document; 4) a temporary travel document; 5) a seafarer’s discharge book; 6) a certificate of record of service on an Estonian ship; 7) a diplomatic passport.

Moreover, if a maintenance debtor has not voluntarily handed over a vehicle or other property, the enforcement agent may enlist the assistance of a police officer to take control of such a vehicle or other property which is in the direct possession of the debtor. Additionally, when a person has to be identified before a monetary obligation owed to them is performed, and where performance of such an obligation is to be made in cash and its amount exceeds 5000 euros, the person subject to the duty to identify must, as a preliminary matter, establish whether they are dealing with a maintenance debtor. If this is the case, the person subject to the duty to identify refuses to perform their obligation to the maintenance debtor and, without delay, notifies an enforcement agent who is conducting proceedings on the maintenance claim of the debtor’s claim against them. The enforcement agent has the right to seize the claim.

96.The parental leaves and benefits system has been amended to support parents in taking care of children and in equally sharing family responsibilities. Generally, parents can use parental benefits for up to 605 calendar days until the child is 3 years old.

97.Maternity benefit is an individual right of the mother, meaning that only the mother is entitled to it and the other parent cannot use it. Fathers are entitled to a paternity benefit of 30 calendar days which can be used up to 30 calendar days before the estimated date of birth of the child up until the child attains three years of age. Paternity benefit is an individual right of the father.

98.Shared parental benefit is a right shared between the parents, ie it is up to the parents to decide who will start receiving the benefit. Shared parental benefit offers more flexibility to families. This change is important as it allows fathers to take leave earlier and be more involved in the child’s upbringing. Parents have the opportunity to use parental leave at the same time for up to 60 days, during which time both parents will be paid parental benefits. This way, both parents can care for the child at the same time.

99.The maximum allowed monthly income rate has increased remarkably. As of 1 March 2018 if the monthly income is smaller than half of the maximum benefit amount (2145,65 euros in 2023), then the parental benefit amount will not decrease.

100.Children with the highest risk of poverty are growing up in single-parent families. To alleviate poverty, from 1 January 2023, the support for a child of a single parent (child allowance is paid to children whose birth certificate does not have a father’s name) increased from 19.18 euros to 80 euros. In addition, to reduce poverty, we are developing a package of services that would help increase the number of children, in whose lives both parents participate. To support single parents on a similar basis, in coming years there is a plan to transfer a survivor’s pension from the pension scheme to the family benefits scheme. Reforming the survivor’s pension and transferring to the family benefits scheme will create an opportunity to support the children of the deceased parent equally.

Children deprived of a family environment

101.As of 2019, the average number of children per child protection worker in Estonia is 929, but the average number of children in each municipality does not fall below 1000 per full-time worker. Solutions to the shortage of qualified workforce problems are being addressed within the framework of the child welfare reform, which includes updating the basic and in-service training of child protection workers, creating a work support and mentoring system and popularisation of the profession.

102.New family mediators are constantly being trained, and the goal is to further expand the number of family mediators, who can provide services in Russian to support the Russian-speaking community.

103.Promoting family-based alternative care is one of the primary goals of the alternative care. Since 2017, several amendments to the law have been implemented to realize this goal regarding adoption and foster families.

104.In 2017, a national register of adopters was created and the organisation of adoption transferred from the counties to the SIB, to ensure a uniformly high quality of adoption arrangements. In 2018 support for children growing up in families was harmonised with children growing up in institutions, the preference for family-based care through organisation and coefficient-based funding was encouraged, and a requirement was set to prefer family-based care if alternative care is needed.

105.Training has been developed and offered for all family-based care providers (for foster families, guardian families, and adoptive families). In addition, individual and group support services have been developed and offered for all foster families.

106.Since 2020 an emergency foster family service has been piloted to provide short-term care, and a special care family service has been piloted for children with high care needs. In 2023 an intention to develop legislative changes will be completed, proposing additional changes to promote family-based foster care.

107.In 2018 the Social Welfare Act established general service quality principles that also extended to alternative care service and shelter services. The alternative care standard is being prepared and will be completed in the coming years.

108.In 2020 the obligation of an activity licence came into effect for the shelter service. Moreover, the requirements for the qualification and further education of the persons directly providing the service came into force. Shelter service providers are offered the same 160 hours of in-depth preparatory training as alternative care service providers.

109.Local governments are obliged to prepare a case plan for a child directed towards alternative care. The plan is reviewed at least once a year. In addition, the representative of the local government is obliged to visit the child in alternative care service at least twice a year to ensure the child’s well-being.

110.In 2018 the supervision of social services, including alternative care service, was transferred from county governments to the SIB. This ensured uniform supervision throughout the country. During this time, supervision has developed from formal supervision to more substantive supervision that takes into account the rights and well-being of children in alternative care. In the course of supervision, children are always talked to and also checked to ensure that they are provided with information and opportunities to contact, for example, a child protection specialist or the Ombudsman for Children.

111.In 2018 an aftercare service was created for young adults leaving alternative care. The service is needs-based and is provided on the basis of a case plan. The purpose of the service is to support continuation of studying and independent living. The components of the service are housing, covering personal expenses, and needs-based additional support and services. In the case of continuing learning, the aftercare service is provided up to 25 years of age. provision of support person service has been developed. Comprehensive instructions have also been prepared for local governments, service providers, and young people themselves.

112.In each prison furnished children’s play areas in the rooms that are used for meetings with children are in place. Furnished children’s corners are also in the entrance area to make it more comfortable for children to wait for their visit. In the case of long-term visits, all the necessary equipment (e. g. cot, bath, changing table, games, books etc) is provided in the meeting room. Prison officers have been trained to explain to the child, age appropriately, the process of visitation, for the child to have as positive experience as possible and to encourage future visits. The prison has also produced information material for the parent(s).

113.The establishment of the prison’s Mother and Child Unit and its continuous efforts to make it more child-friendly have taken into account various recommendations by the Chancellor of Justice over time. For example, child-friendly accommodation has been created for mothers, separate from other prisoners, including free access to private sanitary and washing facilities (e.g. the cell also has a bath) and to the kitchen (the cell doors are open 24 hours a day). There are also indoor and outdoor play facilities. Depending on the age of the child, childcare is provided either inside the prison or in a pre-school outside the prison. The prison also pays for the nursery and provides transport to and from the nursery. The possibility of a smooth transition to a free society is also guaranteed. Where necessary, the local authorities and child protection services will be involved at various stages to ensure that children’s rights are guaranteed at all times.

G.Children with disabilities (art. 23)

114.The organisation of studies for students with special educational needs is based on the principle of inclusive education, ie such students attend, as a rule, regular schools. If a student’s disability or disorder requires a highly specialised organisation of studies or support services, they are provided an opportunity to study in a special group or attend a special school. Parents can choose what suits their child better – a regular or special school. The trends in the state co-ordinated development of the organisation of studies for students with special educational needs are described in the relevant concept.

115.If it becomes apparent that a student has special educational needs, the co-ordinator for specialised studies initiates the necessary educational and psychological assessment and additional supportive measures are implemented. The services of special education teachers, psychologists or social pedagogues are made available to the student, if needed. The additional support measures most often implemented by schools include differentiated instruction in the classroom, extra help after classes, special-pedagogical help and speech therapy sessions in study support groups, and individual learning curriculum.

116.Children with disabilities have the same rights to receive services and support as children without disabilities. The family doctors’ monitoring system, in which 0–3-year-old children are regularly assessed, contributes to early involvement and detection. If the severity of the child’s disability is identified, he/she has a legitimate basis to receive rehabilitation services and aids at a discounted price. Everyone has equal access to health services and inclusive education.

H.Basic health and welfare

117.Mental health in general, with a strong focus on children and youth, has risen to the centre of public attention during recent years, leading to the adoption of the long-awaited mental health strategy – Green Paper of Mental Health – by the government in spring 2021. The strategy is addressing the gaps in the current system and growing need for mental health interventions and services.

118.The increase of mental health problems in children and youth has been a trend since 2010, recorded by the regular survey Health Behaviour of School Children. In 2018, 40% of the children aged from 11 to 15 reported symptoms of depression. The Estonian National Mental Health Study, carried out from 2020–2022, identified that the risk of depression and anxiety disorder is almost two times more prevalent in 15–24 years old than in the general population. The same study revealed, as did the regular surveys of the State Office during the pandemic, that the COVID-19 crisis had the greatest impact on youth.

119.Addressing the mental health problems in children and youth, strong emphasis has been put on prevention, supporting the development of socio-emotional skills, parental education and promoting safe environment in schools. To support parents, the National Institute for Health Development runs the website tarkvanem.ee, where up-to-date evidence-based parenting know-how is presented in an easy, understandable way. The Institute also implements Incredible Years that is highly appreciated and demanded among parents and the strategic goal set for 2030 is to make the program available in every municipality and ensure it reaches vulnerable groups.

120.The promotion of mental health in schools comprises of mental health issues integrated into the school curricula, supported by the training of teachers, and various extra-curricular activities voluntary for school. There are two evidence-based programmes available in Estonia – the Good Behaviour Game and anti-bullying programme KiVa. There are two initiatives giving schools the opportunity to measure children’s welfare and mental health and offer advice and support accordingly – Clanbeat and Helgeapp. The variety of trainings on mental health available for schools is large, including training on self-regulation methods based on mindfulness, work with traumatised children, suicide prevention etc. In 2023 the evidence-based suicide prevention programme Youth Aware of Mental Health will be implemented in Estonia.

121.Estonia’s education system has built-in tools for supporting children in need: care is either provided on-site in the school or brought in for cases of need (school nurse, social pedagogue, school psychologist, special pedagogue, case coordinator etc).The current challenges are to provide the educational system with the personnel needed to provide that care, particularly in remote areas, and to enhance cooperation with the social and health system. The Ministry of Social Affairs also funds the counselling services provided by NGOs such as peaasi.ee and others.

122.Estonia’s health system provides free access to health care to all children at their will. Until 2021 there was an exception for psychiatric care – children needed their parent’s consent unless the case was defined urgent by the medical professional. In 2021 that barrier was removed, and children can turn to a psychiatrist at their own initiative. The main point of entry to the health system is still a family doctor, who treats milder cases and can refer a patient further to specialists such as a psychologist, clinical psychologist and psychiatrist. The main challenge for the health system in supporting children’s mental health is the lack of specialists. The Ministry of Social Affairs has taken several initiatives to tackle the problem – from 2021 the ministry provides additional finances for the training of specialists. The ministry has also started the revision of services for mental health with an aim to broaden and strengthen the lower-intensity services such as support groups, peer-counselling etc. The ministry has also opened a call for local governments to provide mental health services for their residents.

123.Estonia is developing a cross-sectoral approach to prevention and has implemented several activities to support children’s social skills and self-regulation and reduce risk taking behaviour. In addition, the National Institute for Health Development is providing evidence-based information via special internet web-pages on alcohol, tobacco and drugs (these webpages are also available in Russian). Since November 2022 a 24-hour support line on drugs, which in case of children co-operates with children’s helpline, is available. Specific campaigns for children related to drugs are not carried out as they are not supported with evidence. In addition, EUPC trainings that have been designed specifically to provide essential prevention knowledge to decision-, opinion- and policy-makers about the most effective evidence-based prevention interventions and approaches, is offered across government agencies and local municipalities.

124.In 2022 in co-operation with several organisations (ministries, surveillance authorities, representatives of schools and pupils, the WHO) an action plan was developed to prevent and decrease nicotine use of children. The action plan will be implemented in the upcoming years. In addition, during the last decade in the course of implementation of comprehensive and evidence-based alcohol and tobacco policies, several changes have been made in regulations to decrease the visibility and attractiveness of the products, including to children and young people.

125.In all regions, ambulatory treatment and counselling services are available for children and young people with addiction problems. In Tallinn, stationary services are also available. In addition, young people with addiction problems (target group 13–18-year-old persons and their close ones) are offered treatment at Torujõe Youth Home (provides counselling and also 24-hour services).

126.The development and provision of rehabilitation services for children with addiction problems is based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The closed children’s institution service is a temporary 24-hour support for a child, whose behaviour is a threat to her/his own (or someone else’s) life, health, and development. It is also for children whose arrest is replaced. In addition to the voluntary rehabilitation service in the Torujõe Youth Home, help and services for children with addiction and behavioural problems are also provided in the Tallinn Centre for Children in Risk (incl stationary).

127.Currently a Green Paper on Nutrition and Physical Activity is being drafted, which also focuses on tackling childhood obesity. Balanced school meals are available to most children free of charge. The regulation that sets the requirements for school meals is being updated to bring the requirements into line with the latest nutritional recommendations. In addition, a food re-formulation plan to lower consumption of sugar, salt and fat is under development (expected to start implementation from the second half of 2023).

128.In 2022 a guideline was compiled to the Association for Estonian Broadcasters (AEB) on how to market to children (food and drinks, with the of supporting the balanced nutrition of children). The AEB has compiled and adopted the self-regulation (entered into force 01.01.2023). based on this guideline, criteria proposed by WHO have also been taken into account.

129.All children, including those from a disadvantaged background and disabilities have access to sexual and reproductive health services. There are free counselling centres all over Estonia for the youth of both sexes (until 26-year-old persons even if they are not covered with health insurance). In addition, anonymous counselling via the Internet is provided (in Estonian and Russian). It is possible to get help for transgender children from the paediatrician or the Medical Expert Committee, and the Committee’s service is financed from health insurance starting from 2022.

130.Since 2022, the home visitation programme is also being tested. The service is carried out by trained midwives, it offers a high-quality, integrated and accessible support system to support the well-being of young children and their families. Evidence-based and validated assessment tools (Calgary and EPDS) are being used to assess and evaluate the mother’s mental health and risks for the unborn baby. Early perceived risks are mitigated, and the family is supported in many ways through additional home visitations until the baby reaches the age of 1 year.

131.The main national health strategy – The National Health Action Plan 2020–2030 – is implemented through three programmes: one focussing on healthy choices, the second on health supportive environment and the third on people centred health care. The following principles are considered in the planning and implementation: life cycle based, decreasing of inequalities, evidence-based, engagement of communities, health in all policies. Therefore, the needs of children are covered in our strategic planning, implementation and also in the evaluation of policies and programmes.

I.Education, leisure and cultural activities

132.The drop-out rate from primary education remains low. To tackle the drop-out rates, educational subsidies for municipal and private schools and study places in state schools are guaranteed. Its purpose is to create conditions for fulfilling the school obligation and to reduce dropout rates and interruption of studies. The state has provided educational support to the owners of municipal and private schools, guaranteed study places in state schools and supported the implementation of IBO (International Baccalaureate Organisation) curricula, prison education and European School development. Educational support includes support for the acquisition of educational materials to contribute to the creation of a diverse and meaningful learning environment and the differentiation of learning according to the learner’s needs.

133.Additionally, to support youth inclusion, a Youth Guarantee Action Plan has been created and approved by the government for its implementation. Both the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Research plan and implement various measures to support young people in the NEET situation and at risk of the NEET situation.

134.The main goal of the transition to Estonian-language education is to provide all children, regardless of their mother tongue, the opportunity to acquire quality education in Estonian, which supports the shaping of Estonian national identity, increases social integration and reduces educational and socio-economic segregation. This is also for the benefit of learners. A completely Estonian-language educational environment ensures better opportunities for further education, for coping in the labour market and for sharing a common information and value space.

135.In classes where the language of instruction is entirely Estonian, Russian is no longer a compulsory subject. When students’ mother tongue is different from Estonian and where there are at least ten students speaking the same mother tongue in school, they would study their mother tongue and culture two lessons per week from the 1st grade onwards, if the students and their parents request it. Teaching of mother tongue and culture starts from the 1st grade and plays an important part in the development of a student’s identity.

136.Enrolment to teacher education university programmes has increased over the years. Developing the new generation of teachers is one of the top priorities of the Ministry of Education and Research. The ministry will increase the number of student places for teacher training by 342. To fill student places, students will also be offered special scholarships to help them reach graduation and start their professional careers. In addition to teacher training, there is a need to increase flexibility in the provision of the knowledge and skills needed to start a career as a teacher, and for this, different micro-credential programmes will be developed in cooperation with universities by 2023.

137.The current Preschool Child Care Institutions Act has been in force since 1 February 2018. Preschool education is not compulsory in Estonia, however municipalities are obliged to guarantee a place in a preschool institution of the child’s residence for all children between 1.5 and 7 years of age.

138.Children attending early childhood education have guaranteed access to speech therapists and special education teachers. Local governments and early childhood education also use the services provided by regional counselling centres (speech therapists, special education teachers, psychological and social-pedagogical counselling).

139.The national curriculum for early childhood institutions follows child-centred active learning methods. The goal of pre-school education is to support the children’s individuality, creativity and learning through play. Children whose home language is other than Estonian will receive state support to learn Estonian from the age of three onwards. In addition, methods of teaching foreign languages to Estonian-speaking children of pre-school age are developed.

140.Comparative international studies indicate that Estonian early childhood institutions have created good conditions for child-centred learning and teaching in co-operation with families. Estonian early childhood education places emphasis on teaching values, including supporting children’s well-being and safety, preventing bullying and developing tolerance, caring, honesty and courage in children.

141.The Estonian Vocational Training Action Plan 2022–2030 has been prepared based on the recommendation of the Council of the European Union and the Estonian Education Development Plan 2022–2035. In the development of vocational education and training, the Ministry of Education and Research cooperates closely with the central and professional associations of employers, contractor organisations, other ministries and educational institutions that organise vocational education and training, also in close cooperation with the labour market and continuous learning, digital transformation, teachers and heads of educational institutions, study and career guidance, adult education and the school network.

142.All the major partners are brought together by the Vocational Training Advisory Board, whose main task is to advise the Ministry of Education and Research and educational institutions on strategic planning in the field of vocational education, organisation of the network of educational institutions, planning and financing of training areas, and other important issues. The ministry’s partner in implementing the strategic objectives of vocational education is the Estonian Society for the Development of Vocational Training.

143.One of the cross-curricular topics in basic and upper-secondary education is environmental and sustainable development. In the process of developing the curricula, the learning outcomes and content of the environmental topic were updated in the curricula for 2021–2022. The formation of a natural scientific worldview and the valuing of the principles of sustainable development are also reflected in vocational education curricula.

J.Special protection measures

Asylum-seeking, refugee and unaccompanied children and children in situations of migration

144.As a general practice asylum seeking children, refugee children and unaccompanied children are not detained. Although national legislation provides the possibility to accommodate an unaccompanied minor to the accommodation or detention centre, it has not been the case for years. The Tallinn Circuit Court has specified that detention of a minor is justified only in extreme circumstances, as something truly extraordinary, such as a serious threat to public order (suspicion of terrorism, impossibility to be separated from a person whose detention in a detention centre is unavoidable etc).

145.Alternatives to detention are provided. An unaccompanied minor shall be provided substitute care service (incl accommodation) by the SIB during his/her stay in Estonia. There are no specific alternatives to the administrative detention for unaccompanied minors, but there are general alternatives brought out in the Obligation to Leave and Prohibition on Entry Act.

146.Estonia follows the Reception Conditions Directive in the provision of reception conditions. The families in need are referred to the reception centre. If the families have the means or relatives to stay in private housing, then they need to apply for separate permission from the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board. In the reception centre an obligatory health check is undertaken for both adults and children. Needs-based health services, including mental health, are provided throughout the stay in reception centre. Children aged 7–17 are obliged to attend school and children between 1.5–6 (incl) can attend local kindergarten, which is strongly encouraged. Children have access to a playground and age-appropriate activities in the centre.

147.Dependent on the reception centre, families are provided a cash allowance which is tied with subsistence benefit levels. Should there be a need, child protection is notified, and relevant counselling and help is provided. Once the family receives international protection, they have the same rights and obligations as all other Estonian residents (access to education, labour market, social services and benefits etc). One-time financial support is provided once the family moves out from the reception centre. Aged out minors have the opportunity to use the support independently from the rest of the family.

148.An unaccompanied child is immediately temporarily placed in a Safe House – a place where emergency care is provided to children who are separated from their families. In the Safe House the child is interviewed by a specialist from the SIB and a case plan is made. After a short term stay at the Safe House, the child moves on to alternative care (foster home or foster family).

149.Special needs and vulnerabilities of all asylum seekers including children are assessed on a regular basis. It is a compulsory part of the asylum procedure starting from making the application until the end of the proceedings. Since 2020 the Police and Border Guard Board has been using an assessment tool for assessing the vulnerabilities of asylum seekers. The tool is also used on the border. The tool contains a checklist for aspects necessary to identify whether the person is in a vulnerable situation. The assessment is performed in written form and is recorded in the database. The assessment is shared with the accommodation centre. We are also looking into adopting vulnerability assessment tools developed by UNHCR and/or EUAA.

150.Proceedings with children and especially unaccompanied children and other vulnerable groups are prioritised. Considering the best interests of a child is a legal requirement in Estonia (Child Protection Act §21). The best interest of the child is also a primary consideration in all actions carried out by the Police and Border Guard Board.

151.The system of guardianship and legal representation is organised as provided by the asylum procedures directive and reception conditions directive. The Police and Border Guard Board is obliged to undertake efforts to trace family members of the child as soon as possible. In 2022 a joint training session on the rights of the child and guardianship of UAC together with Police and Border Guard Board and SIB was carried out.

152.All unaccompanied minors are under the guardianship of the local municipality. As legal guardians are nominated for children in due time, then they are also responsible for assisting in questions of residence permits, applying for international protection etc.

153.Free legal counselling is provided throughout the asylum procedure for the child and child’s guardian who represents the child in the administrative proceedings. There are 3 counsellors specialised in the asylum proceedings (since 2018) and 7 counsellors who are specialised in all other forms of legal stay (since 2017). These advisers have been recruited by the Police and Border Guard Board. They provide information by phone, email, Skype and by direct meetings.

154.Free legal counselling and representation is granted on the basis and in accordance with the procedure provided for in the State-funded Legal Aid Act. The Bar Association has established an obligation for lawyers representing minors under the state-funded legal aid procedure to undergo additional training, and since 2021, lawyers can only represent minors under if they have undergone training related to children’s developmental psychology, questioning of children and children’s rights.

155.The body monitoring the guardianship is the civic court.

Sale, trafficking and abduction of children

156.An overview of the trafficking crimes throughout the years and for 2021 can be found here. The number of trafficking crimes has been relatively stable, a slight rise has been found due to several cases involving the same persons, either victims or perpetrators. In 2022 out of 6 registered trafficking crimes 5 involved children, either they were forced to steal from the shops, or they were sexually exploited or forced to send revealing pictures/videos of themselves under threats.

157.In 2019 the last update was made to the guidelines of referral and identification of victims of trafficking. A special chapter dedicated to the children is included. Since 2021 the state coordinates all the services offered to trafficking victims including children.

158.In recent years no children who are victims of trafficking have needed rehabilitation and reintegration assistance, but the readiness to offer those services is in place. However, child victims of trafficking crimes are usually notified to the local government’s child protection services as children in need of assistance.

159.Work in preventing human trafficking has been carried out for years, starting already with vocational schools. Estonian anti-trafficking experts together with vocational students meet on a yearly basis to discuss various types of human trafficking, for instance sham marriages and sexual exploitation. The experience with the vocational schools worked as a solid base to build youth campaigns on human trafficking. The ‘Back to School’ initiative in 2020 was used to reach out to schools and disseminate information to children aged 15–18. Two video lessons were made (in Estonian and Russian). Moreover, lectures and other materials were added to the e-school site E-koolikott. In 2023 a new initiative to raise the knowledge on human trafficking of gymnasium students (one third of all) during the years 2023–2029 starts. The positive experience on preventing trafficking of children is also shared in the recent round up report of the Council of Baltic Sea States, including awareness raising of the law and media students in Tallinn and Tartu University.

Administration of child justice

160.In 2018 offence proceedings for children and young people were updated to foster the implementation of restorative justice. The preparations for these changes began in 2015 due to domestic and international trends of making specialised juvenile justice systems more child-friendly, incl guaranteeing the fundamental rights of children during the proceedings and increasing the use of non-penal measures.

161.The most important changes included: the police and prosecuting authorities decide the scope of intervention in each individual case, the use of restorative justice measures is more popular; the number of options has increased to have more possibilities for imposing a measure on a child or young person based on their needs; the number of minors in prison has dropped (2020 and 2021 maximum 5 minors in prison); the attitudes of the parties to the proceedings towards the measures of restorative justice is positive; the inclusion and significance of the youth workers in the proceedings has grown; the need for cross-sectoral networking has increased and it is used more widely; the SIB offers services designed for juvenile offenders at the national level (including ‘Out of the Circle’, conflict resolution, consultations for closed child care institutions, social rehabilitation services, multi-dimensional family therapy, and the local governments).

162.Although it is used very rarely, a minor who is 14 years of age or older may be in custody during pre-trial proceedings for up to 2 months. Where the person to be committed in custody is a minor, the pre-trial investigation judge assesses, with particular thoroughness, any potential adverse impacts that such a person’s committal in custody would entail.

163.Moreover, according to the CCP §131 (3-2), where a minor is committed in custody, the court may order the minor’s committal to be substituted by placement in a closed children’s institution. But it can also happen that if the minor who has been committed in custody and who violates the conditions of their stay in a closed children’s institution may, based on a corresponding report of the Head of the institution, and with the permission of the court, be transferred to a prison to serve their custody (§131 (3-3). According to the Imprisonment Act §12, men and women; minors and adults; imprisoned persons and persons in custody, are held separately from each other. Nevertheless, the Imprisonment Act §12 (5) also stipulates that exceptions from this rule may be made if it is necessary in connection with studies, work or other activities, or if segregation of a minor from adults is contrary to the interests of the minor. For example, if there is only 1 minor who is in custody and only 1 minor who is imprisoned, then it may be to their interests that they are not held separately from each other. Or, if there are no minors in custody and only 1 minor who is imprisoned, then it may be in the interests of the minor to be held together with young adults, to avoid isolation.

164.The relevant section of the Imprisonment Act regarding education in the context of pre-trial detention (pre-trial detention and custody are used as synonyms) is § 93(4), and in the context of imprisoned persons §84 (and §34-36).

165.The relevant section of the Imprisonment Act regarding health in the context of pre-trial detention is §93(6), and in the context of imprisoned persons §14(1-1), §49, §49-1, §52, §53.

166.The relevant sections of the Imprisonment Act regarding correspondence and telephone calls in the context of pre-trial detention are §28 and §29, and in the context of imprisoned persons §96 and §97.

167.By the decision of the Board of the Bar Association, three training courses were determined for the year 2021, the completion of which is mandatory for lawyers who represent minors under state legal aid in custody, communication rights and guardianship matters, as well as in criminal cases. As of 31 December 2021 127 lawyers have fulfilled this obligation. The topics of these training sessions are as follows:1) children’s rights; 2) questioning of children, 3) developmental psychology of the child. In the State Legal Aid information system, orders related to children are only distributed to lawyers who have completed the aforementioned trainings.

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

168.The ‘sale of children’ is criminalised in the Penal Code §173.

169.‘Child pornography’ is criminalised in the Penal Code §175-1 and §178.

170.Children are not criminalised for consensual sharing of self-generated sexual images (Penal Code §175, §175-1, §178, §145-1 and §179).

171.Children between the ages of 14 and 18 are explicitly protected from sexual exploitation in prostitution and their use in pornographic performances and materials (Penal Code §175-1 and §178).

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

172.The Committee recommendation was that Estonia should ban the handling of firearms for children under the age of 18 years in general. We would like to explain that according to the law, the shooting instructor can train anyone older than 12 years with a parent’s permission and under the supervision of the instructor. Estonian Defence League complies with the law and they are not carrying out military training for children under 18 years but rather teaching other specifics such as orienteering, hiking and surviving in nature. For further clearance the Estonian Defence League Act enacts that junior members cannot be invited to participate in military trainings.

173.Regarding the independent complaint mechanism, training for the junior members is done by professional instructors and with the permission of parents. The independent complaint mechanism functions under the Ombudsman for Children.

M.Optional Protocol on a communications procedure

174.Further analysis is required before Estonia can take a position on ratifying the third Optional Protocol.

III.Statistical information and data

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

Table 1. Expenses or budget (thousand euros) of Ministry of Social Affairs for the protection of children’s rights

Group of services/year	2017 *	2018 **	2019	2020	2021	2022 budget	2023 budget
Organisation and development of alternative care	15 734 , 32	16 924 , 10	17 384 , 52	21 170 , 05	22 950 , 31	22 603 , 85	24 100 , 01
Providing and developing services for children with special needs	15 798 , 42	19 612 , 90	21 630 , 63	19 747 , 53	21 062 , 70	23 187 , 73	20 715 , 67
Organisation and development of child protection	1 073 , 04	890 , 75	1 503 , 07	1 901 , 31	2 158 , 67	2 403 , 85	2 192 , 45
Victim support services for children and families	31 , 92	378 , 66	544 , 65	701 , 64	848 , 18	1 248 , 40	1 842 , 45
The family reconciliation service							1 636 , 48
Providing and developing services for at-risk children and young people	858 , 89	1 073 , 20	1 928 , 37	2 662 , 10	3 350 , 21	3 566 , 39	4 431 , 33
Developing parenting skills	849 , 07	525 , 10	892 , 69	705 , 55	962 , 75	927 , 26	1 157 , 50
TOTAL expenses (Ministry of Social Affairs) for the protection of children ’ s rights	34 345 , 67	39 404 , 70	43 883 , 94	46 888 , 18	51 332 , 82	53 937 , 46	56 075 , 88
The proportion of (Ministry of Social Affairs) children ’ s rights expenses from the State Budget	0 , 37%	0 , 37%	0 , 39%	0 , 39%	0 , 39%	0 , 38%	0 , 33%
Expenditure budget in the State Budget	9 375 547	10 530 461	11 257 689	12 083 411	13 303 715	14 253 281	16 838 947

* year 2017 is not comparable, because of methodology

** until year 2019 the value added tax is calculated within expenses

Source : Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs

Table 2. Expenses or budget (thousand euros) of Ministry of Education and Research for the protection of children’s rights *

Group of services/ year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022 initial budget	2023 budget*
Youth centres	18 545	14 267	15 503	16 072	16 509	17 230	12 401
Pre-primary education (kindergartens)	292 917	334 021	389 441	393 516	410 720	474 109	16 762
Basic education (ISCED 1 and 2) and upper secondary school (ISCED 3)	304 303	389 751	574 654	607 942	632 659	707 269	834 017
Education not definable by level	48 877	68 095	77 378	78 922	84 104	90 279	10 972
TOTAL expenses (Ministry of Education and Research) for the protection of children ’ s rights	664 641	806 134	1 056 975	1 096 452	1 143 993	1 288 887	874 152
The proportion of (Ministry of Education and Research) children ’ s rights expenses from the State Budget	7 , 09%	7 , 66%	9 , 39%	9 , 07%	8 , 60%	9 , 04%	5 , 19%
Expenditure budget in the State Budget	9 375 547	10 530 461	11 257 689	12 083 411	13 303 715	14 253 281	16 838 947

* 2017 – 2022 budget includes expenses by the local governments.

2023 budget includes expenses by the Ministry of Education only.

Source : Estonian Ministry of Education and Research

B.Definition of the child (art. 1)

Table 3. Population 1 January by age and sex, thousand persons

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Age/year, gender	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
0 – 2	21 , 72	20 , 36	21 , 95	20 , 27	22 , 05	20 , 48	21 , 89	20 , 69	21 , 43	20 , 55	20 , 90	20 , 01
3 – 6	30 , 06	28 , 50	29 , 04	27 , 70	28 , 86	27 , 55	29 , 15	27 , 52	29 , 33	27 , 40	29 , 75	27 , 78
7 – 10	31 , 20	29 , 63	31 , 86	30 , 31	31 , 60	30 , 05	30 , 86	29 , 40	30 , 17	28 , 68	29 , 25	27 , 95
11 – 14	26 , 68	25 , 47	27 , 84	26 , 27	29 , 32	27 , 52	30 , 55	28 , 65	31 , 22	29 , 69	31 , 81	30 , 36
15 – 17	18 , 68	17 , 50	19 , 00	17 , 89	18 , 88	18 , 14	19 , 47	18 , 87	20 , 37	19 , 39	21 , 45	20 , 09
Total 0 – 17	128 , 34	121 , 45	129 , 69	122 , 43	130 , 70	123 , 75	131 , 92	125 , 13	132 , 52	125 , 71	133 , 15	126 , 18
Percentage of the population	20 , 8%	17 , 4%	20 , 9%	17 , 5%	20 , 9%	17 , 7%	21 , 0%	17 , 9%	21 , 0%	18 , 0%	21 , 0%	18 , 1%

Source : Statistics Estonia

Table 4. Population aged 0–19 by country of citizenship, thousand persons

Citizenship /year	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Estonia	263 , 60	266 , 51	269 , 08	269 , 91	270 , 88
EU country ( excl Estonia)	1 , 79	1 , 90	2 , 02	2 , 12	2 , 27
Non-EU country	9 , 32	9 , 64	10 , 18	10 , 52	11 , 05

Source : Statistics Estonia

Table 5. Population aged 0–19, 1 January, by county*, thousand persons

County (City)/year	2018	2019	2020	2021
Harju	128 , 30	131 , 04	133 , 41	134 , 94
Tallinn	86 , 36	87 , 44	88 , 15	88 , 30
Hiiu	1 , 48	1 , 50	1 , 49	1 , 46
Ida- Viru	25 , 34	24 , 97	24 , 59	23 , 98
Jõgeva	5 , 35	5 , 32	5 , 29	5 , 21
Järva	6 , 03	6 , 01	6 , 01	5 , 99
Lääne	3 , 97	3 , 96	4 , 04	4 , 06
Lääne-Viru	12 , 33	12 , 37	12 , 37	12 , 33
Põlva	4 , 65	4 , 65	4 , 63	4 , 67
Pärnu	17 , 77	17 , 94	18 , 12	18 , 12
Rapla	7 , 15	7 , 25	7 , 37	7 , 35
Saare	6 , 12	6 , 18	6 , 22	6 , 26
Tartu	35 , 28	35 , 93	36 , 63	36 , 96
Tartu City	22 , 50	22 , 52	22 , 69	22 , 52
Valga	5 , 58	5 , 53	5 , 48	5 , 45
Viljandi	9 , 18	9 , 19	9 , 18	9 , 23
Võru	6 , 79	6 , 80	6 , 76	6 , 69
County unknown	0 , 10	0 , 02	0 , 03	0 , 09
Whole Estonia	275 , 40	278 , 65	281 , 62	282 , 78

*The place of residence is the place of residence stated in the Population Register, if it is left unmarked, the persons will be categorised under “ County unknown ”

Source : Statistics Estonia

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

Table 6. Suicides by sex and age group (0–19)

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Age group / year, gender	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls
0–9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10–14	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	2	1	0
15–19	3	2	7	3	5	3	7	5	3	5
Total 0–19	6	11	9	15	9

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database

Table 7. Intentional self-harm by sex and place of residence (aged 0–17)

County	Gender/year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Harju	Boys and girls	83	84	123	128	155
Boys	31	24	37	37	33
Girls	52	60	86	91	122
Hiiu	Boys and girls	0	1	2	3	1
Boys	0	1	0	0	0
Girls	0	0	2	3	1
Ida- Viru	Boys and girls	21	17	16	27	19
Boys	5	8	5	10	4
Girls	16	9	11	17	15
Jõgeva	Boys and girls	2	6	7	8	4
Boys	2	2	3	3	0
Girls	0	4	4	5	4
Järva	Boys and girls	3	3	10	7	7
Boys	0	1	3	3	0
Girls	3	2	7	4	7
Lääne	Boys and girls	3	1	1	3	2
Boys	1	1	0	1	0
Girls	2	0	1	2	2
Lääne-Viru	Boys and girls	10	9	14	6	14
Boys	3	1	0	2	3
Girls	7	8	14	4	11
Põlva	Boys and girls	5	3	1	4	9
Boys	1	0	1	1	1
Girls	4	3	0	3	8
Pärnu	Boys and girls	14	14	8	5	17
Boys	3	0	2	0	0
Girls	11	14	6	5	17
Rapla	Boys and girls	3	6	5	13	15
Boys	0	3	1	2	1
Girls	3	3	4	11	14
Saare	Boys and girls	4	3	7	2	4
Boys	1	1	3	1	1
Girls	3	2	4	1	3
Tartu	Boys and girls	25	23	29	25	29
Boys	5	4	5	8	6
Girls	20	19	24	17	23
Valga	Boys and girls	2	8	3	9	6
Boys	1	3	1	3	0
Girls	1	5	2	6	6
Viljandi	Boys and girls	2	13	6	8	6
Boys	0	4	2	3	2
Girls	2	9	4	5	4
Võru	Boys and girls	5	5	5	3	7
Boys	2	1	0	2	0
Girls	3	4	5	1	7
County unknown	Boys and girls	0	0	3	2	0
Boys	0	0	1	1	0
Girls	0	0	2	1	0
Living outside Estonia	Boys and girls	1	0	1	0	1
Boys	0	0	0	0	1
Girls	1	0	1	0	0
Place of residence unknown	Boys and girls	0	0	1	0	0
Boys	0	0	1	0	0
Girls	0	0	0	0	0
Whole Estonia	Boys and girls	182	196	240	253	295
Boys	55	54	64	77	51
Girls	127	142	176	176	244

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database

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

Table 8. Number of under 15-years children with undetermined citizenship

Year	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Children under 15-years with undetermined citizenship	111	91	73	55	48

Source : Estonian Ministry of the Interior

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

Table 9. Number of victims in violent crimes registered in 2018–2022 *

Year	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Crimes of violence (Penal Code):	Victims under 18	All victims	Victims under 18	All victims	Victims under 18	All victims	Victims under 18	All victims	Victims under 18	All victims
§ 113. Manslaughter	0	38	2	29		32		19		16
§ 114. Murder	2	19	1	8		23	2	12		5
§ 115. Manslaughter in provoked state						1
§ 117. Negligent homicide	0	10	0	4		3		5		5
§ 118. Causing serious health damage	5	81	1	68	3	52	1	60		42
§ 119. Causing serious health damage through negligence	3	12		1		1	1	2	1	7
§ 119 1 . Participation in fight				1
§ 120. Threat	48	462	31	373	22	274	25	237	33	311
§ 121. Physical abuse	338	2646	198	1715	163	1424	179	1351	318	2141
§ 123. Placing in danger	1	2				1		2		1
§ 133. Trafficking in human beings	0	1	2	5	5	8	1	4		6
§ 133 2 . Pimping	0	3				1
§ 135. Hostage taking	0	1
§ 136. Unlawful deprivation of liberty	3	18	11	30	3	17	5	15	2	7
§ 141. Rape	33	103	34	86	24	76	36	83	30	90
§ 141 1 . Act of sexual nature against will	2	2	4	8	20	43	19	42	19	46
§ 142. Satisfaction of sexual desire by violence	2	5			2	3			1	2
§ 143. Compelling person to engage in sexual intercourse or other act of sexual nature	1	3	1	1
§ 143 1 . Compelling person to satisfy sexual desire	0	1
§ 143 2 . Sexual intercourse or other act of a sexual nature using influence	0	0	10	15	5	11	7	21	4	11
§ 144. Sexual intercourse with descendant	3	7	3	8	4	6	7	13	6	10
§ 145. Sexual intercourse or other act of sexual nature with child	27	49	18	33	16	33	21	40	36	63
§ 145 1 . Buying sex from minors	12	14	7	11	6	15	7	16	22	40
§ 200. Robbery	12	118		98	12	87	9	102	6	74
§ 263. Aggravated breach of public order	62	432	46	282	22	184	16	146	39	205

* Age is given at the time of registration of the crime

Source : Estonian Ministry of Justice

Table 10. The proportion of crimes involving child victims and/or child witnesses out of all domestic violence crimes

Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Proportion	Approx. 30%	Approx. 25%	29%	27%	27%	26%

Source : Estonian Ministry of Justice

Table 11. Number of victims in offences against minors registered in 2018–2022

Offences against minors (Penal Code) /year	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
§ 175. Human trafficking with respect to minors	34	16	26	16	5
§ 175 1 . Requesting access to child pornography and watching thereof	4	6	4	4	0
§ 178. Manufacture of works involving child pornography or making child pornography available	42	22	28	29	42
§ 178 1 . Agreement of sexual purpose for meeting with child	5	0	0	0	0
§ 179. Sexual enticement of children	83	77	92	48	85
§ 182. Inducing minor to consume alcohol	74	90	49	57	71
§ 182 1 . Sale of alcohol to minors and purchase of alcohol for minors	0	12	3	7	3

Source : Estonian Ministry of Justice

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

Table 12. Payment of subsistence allowance to families with children, 2017–2021

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Number of families with children, who received subsistence allowance (during the year)	4 411	3 597	3 254	3 265	2 833
from them families with one adult	2 938	2 453	2 288	2 228	1 959
Number of children in families, who received subsistence allowance (during the year)	8 652	6 616	6 042	6 008	5 162

Source : Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs

Table 13. Number of children separated from their family (during year)

County (City)/ year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Harju	79	73	91	102	77
Tallinn	59	49	57	39	64
Hiiu	2	4	0	0	0
Ida- Viru	54	92	54	32	23
Jõgeva	9	8	10	6	3
Järva	3	8	7	4	6
Lääne	4	7	0	2	0
Lääne-Viru	18	5	20	8	23
Põlva	12	7	13	7	7
Pärnu	11	12	12	21	23
Rapla	7	3	17	13	23
Saare	5	5	0	0	2
Tartu	32	28	29	49	41
Valga	8	13	19	26	7
Viljandi	16	7	9	2	7
Võru	7	15	11	12	13
Whole Estonia	267	287	292	284	255

Source : Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs

Table 14. Substitute care for children without parental care (the number of persons aged 0–19 at the end of year)

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
number of persons aged 0 – 19 in institutional care	968	899	797	800	787
number of persons aged 0 – 19 in family/community-based care.	1 552	1 552	1 532	1 477	1 426
Proportion of family-based care	61 , 6%	63 , 3%	65 , 8%	64 , 9%	64 , 4%

Source : Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs

Table 15. Substitute care for children without parental care (mainly aged 0–19) in institutional care, average days of stay in care, number and proportion of persons with disability in institutional care

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Total number of children in institutional care (at the end of year)	968	899	797	800	787
average days of stay per year (by persons in care during the year)	307 , 7	301 , 9	308 , 0	307 , 8	309 , 5
number of persons with disability in institutional care (at the end of year)	403	394	359	344	335
Proportion of persons with disability in institutional care (at the end of year)	41 , 6%	43 , 8%	45 , 0%	43 , 0%	42 , 6%

Source : Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs

Table 16. Substitute care for children without parental care (mainly aged 0–19) in family-based and community-based care, number and proportion of persons with disability in family-based and community-based care

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Total number of persons in family-based and community-based care (at the end of year)	1 552	1 552	1 532	1 477	1 426
number of persons with disability in family-based and community-based care (at the end of year)	…	…	…	217	212
Proportion of persons with disability in family-based and community-based care (at the end of year)	…	…	…	14 , 7%	14 , 9%
Number of persons in foster care	161	124	133	145	146
… with disability in foster care	…	…	…	23	27
Number of persons on guardianship care	1 391	1 428	1 399	1 332	1 280
… with disability on guardianship care	…	…	…	194	185

Source : Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs

G.Children with disabilities (art. 23)

Table 17. Number of children with disability (age 0–17, at the end of the year)

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Number of children with disability (age 0 – 17, at the end of year)	12 896	13 928	12 949	10 125	9 808
Disability severity:
Moderate	5 000	5 133	4 372	3 660	3 934
Severe	7 164	7 986	7 768	5 796	5 253
Profound	732	809	809	669	621
Disability type
intellectual (not including mental illness)	1 861	2 361	2 971	3 341	3 457
mental illness	393	275	509	559	612
language and speech	1 201	1 449	1 301	1 009	1 097
Hearing	254	265	282	269	244
Visual	160	156	146	120	113
Mobility	937	938	936	605	489
Combined	3 957	4 442	3 888	2 474	2 302
Other	4 133	3 929	2 879	1 748	1 494
type missing	…	113	37	…

Source : Estonian Social Insurance Board

Table 18. Number of children with disability (age 0–17, at the end of year)

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Total number of children with disability	12 896	13 928	12 949	10 125	9 808
Number of children with disability in foster care	…	…	…	23	27
Number of children with disability on guardianship care	…	…	…	186	173
Number of children with disability in institutional care	367	360	341	322	316
Proportion of children with disability living in institutional care	2 , 8%	2 , 6%	2 , 6%	3 , 2%	3 , 2%

Sources : Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Insurance Board .

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

175.All children in Estonia have health insurance.

Table 19. Number of pediatric professionals specialised in medicine for young children and adolescents.

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
School doctor	5	4	4	7	7
Child and youth psychiatrist	11	12	20	21	18
Pediatric surgeon	17	16	17	17	17
Paediatrician	154	147	148	138	136
School nurse	281	290	299	307	312
Children ’ s nurse	299	289	297	282	282

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database

Table 20. Women given birth by age group and place of residence

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
County/Year, age	10 – 14	15 – 17	18 – 19	10 – 14	15 – 17	18 – 19	10 – 14	15 – 17	18 – 19	10 – 14	15 – 17	18 – 19	10 – 14	15 – 17	18 – 19
Harju	0	11	65	1	19	53	0	11	47	2	15	52	0	8	25
Hiiu	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ida- Viru	0	13	24	0	10	27	0	13	33	0	13	29	1	8	16
Jõgeva	0	5	5	0	0	5	0	4	5	0	1	6	0	4	7
Järva	1	4	13	0	2	8	0	1	8	0	1	10	0	1	8
Lääne	0	1	12	0	2	6	0	0	6	0	2	3	0	1	6
Lääne-Viru	0	12	13	0	3	21	0	5	16	0	4	10	0	4	15
Põlva	0	1	6	0	1	6	0	2	6	0	0	3	0	1	1
Pärnu	0	7	15	0	4	26	0	9	25	0	1	15	0	4	18
Rapla	0	1	7	0	0	6	1	2	6	0	1	5	0	2	0
Saare	0	2	2	0	2	4	0	3	2	0	1	4	0	2	3
Tartu	0	8	29	1	6	31	1	3	19	0	5	20	0	5	15
Valga	0	3	10	0	2	5	0	0	4	0	2	13	1	2	2
Viljandi	0	3	11	0	4	14	0	3	9	0	4	11	0	4	11
Võru	0	2	7	0	6	5	0	2	9	0	4	5	0	4	3
Living outside Estonia	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Whole Estonia	1	73	221	2	61	217	2	58	195	2	54	186	2	50	130

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database

Table 21. Frequency of using cannabis during last 12 months, 15 and 16 y/o (%)

	Boys and girls	Boys	Girls
Has not used	83 , 6	81 , 3	85 , 8
1 – 2 times	7 , 5	7 , 7	7 , 2
3 – 5 times	3 , 7	3 , 8	3 , 5
6 – 9 times	1 , 8	2 , 2	1 , 5
10 – 19 times	1 , 6	2 , 3	0 , 9
20 or more times	1 , 8	2 , 7	1 , 1

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD)

Table 22. Frequency of using inhalants during last 12 months, 15 and 16 y/o (%)

	Boys and girls	Boys	Girls
Has not used	94 , 1	95 , 1	93 , 2
1 – 2 times	4	4 , 3	3 , 7
3 and more times	1 , 9	0 , 6	3 , 1
3 – 5 times	,,	,,	,,
6 – 9 times	,,	,,	,,
10 – 19 times	,,	,,	,,
20 or more times	,,	,,	,,

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, ESPAD

Table 23. Frequency of being drunk by sex and age, 2017/2018 school year (%)

		11 y/o	13 y/o	15 y/o
0 times	Boys and girls	96 , 7	88 , 2	59 , 9
Boys	94 , 9	88 , 5	56 , 9
Girls	98 , 6	87 , 8	62 , 7
1 time	Boys and girls	2 , 2	5 , 5	12 , 9
Boys	3 , 4	4 , 8	13 , 9
Girls	0 , 9	6 , 2	11 , 9
2 or more times	Boys and girls	1 , 1	6 , 4	27 , 2
Boys	1 , 7	6 , 7	29 , 2
Girls	0 , 5	6	25 , 4

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, ESPAD

Table 24. Frequency of being drunk by economic situation, 11, 13, 15 y/o, 2017/2018 school year (%)

	Good	Average	Poor
0 times	82 , 5	81 , 3	81 , 2
1 time	7 , 5	6 , 4	6 , 9
2 or more times	9 , 9	12 , 3	11 , 9

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, ESPAD

Table 25. Frequency of being drunk by nationality, 11, 13, 15 y/0, 2017/2018 school year (%)

	Estonians	Non-Estonians
0 times	80 , 9	84 , 1
1 time	6 , 9	6 , 9
2 or more times	12 , 3	9

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, ESPAD

Table 26. Frequency of being drunk during last 30 days among 15–16 y/o, by sex, 2019 (%)

	Boys and girls	Boys	Girls
Not even once	91 , 5	92	91 , 1
1 – 2 times	7	6 , 5	7 , 4
3 – 5 times	0 , 9	0 , 9	0 , 9
6 – 9 times	0 , 4	0 , 4	0 , 4
10 – 19 times	0 , 1	0 , 2	0 , 1
Over 20 times	0 , 1	0	0 , 1

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, ESPAD

Table 27. Frequency of being drunk during last 12 months among 15–16 y/o, by sex, 2019 (%)

	Boys and girls	Boys	Girls
Not even once	34,3	38,8	30,1
1 – 2 times	22,7	21,5	23,8
3 – 5 times	14,8	13,2	16,2
6 – 9 times	10,8	10,8	10,9
10 – 19 times	9,4	8,7	10
20 – 39 times	4,8	3,9	5,6
Over 40 times	3,2	3,1	3,4

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, ESPAD

Table 28. Overweight/obese by sex and age, 2017/2018 school year

	11 y/o	13 y/o	15 y/o
Boys and girls	17,7%	17,2%	16,4%
Boys	21,0%	21,2%	19,7%
Girls	5,0%	13,2%	13,3%

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)

Table 29. Overweight/obese children by place of residence, 2017/2018 school year, all ages

Harju, Rapla	15,3%
Ida- Viru , Lääne-Viru	17,8%
Järva , Pärnu,Viljandi	19,2%
Tartu, Jõgeva, Põlva, Valga, Võru	17,2%
Hiiu , Saare , Lääne	26,0%

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, HBSC

Table 30. Overweight/obese children by economic situation, 2017/2018 school year, all ages

Good	13,9%
Average	17,5%
Poor	20,7%

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, HBSC

Table 31. Overweight/obese children by nationality, 2017/2018 school year, all ages

Estonians	17,5%
Non-Estonians	16,0%

Source : The Health Statistics and Health Research Database, HBSC

Table 32. Number of youth counselling services available for children and young people until age of 26

Whole Estonia	Tallinn	Tartu	Pärnu	Viljandi	Paide	Haapsalu	Rapla	Põlva	Saaremaa	Valga	Võru
17	4	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	2

Source : The Estonian Sexual Health Association (https://seksuaaltervis.ee)

176.The main poverty indicators used in Estonia are the absolute and the at-risk-of-poverty (relative poverty) indicators. The absolute poverty rate shows the proportion of persons with an equivalised disposable income below the absolute poverty threshold (subsistence minimum), which is calculated on the basis of expenditure. The absolute poverty threshold comprises three primary components of expenditure: reference food basket (excluding alcohol and tobacco products), housing expenses, and personal non-food items.

177.The relative poverty rate shows the proportion of persons with an equivalised disposable income below the relative poverty threshold. In Estonia, as in all other EU countries, the relative poverty threshold is set at 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income after social transfers.

178.The relative poverty rate of children decreased to 13.6% in 2021 (income year). Estonia is one of the few countries where the relative poverty rate among children is lower than that of the overall population. For example, based on the Eurostat data, in 2021 (survey year, income year is 2020) there are nine other EU countries where the relative child poverty is lower than the corresponding indicator for the entire population.

179.Moreover, the absolute poverty rate of children 0–17 years of age decreased from 2.5% in 2017 to 1.3% in 2021.

Table 33. Share and number of children in poverty and poverty thresholds, 2017–2021 (income years; survey years 2018–2022)

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
At-risk-of-poverty rate, %
Total population	21,9	21,7	20,7	20,6	22,8
0–17	15,2	17,2	15,2	15,5	13,6
Absolute poverty rate, %
Total population	2,7	2,2	2,3	2,2	1,4
0–17	2,5	1,6	2,5	2,7	1,3
Number of children in poverty
Children in relative poverty, thousands	38,2	43,8	38,9	40,3	..
Children in absolute poverty, thousands	6,4	4,1	6,5	6,9	..
Poverty thresholds, euros
Monthly at-risk-of-poverty threshold, euros	527	573	611	631	763
Monthly absolute poverty threshold, euros	207	215	221	220	234

.. number of children in poverty in 2022 will be published in March 2023.

Source : Statistics Estonia, Estonian Social Survey 2018–2022 (income years 2017–2021)

180.In terms of households with children, the highest poverty rate is in households with a single parent. The poverty of couples with three or more children has decreased so much over the years that in 2021 their relative poverty rate was the lowest among households with children.

Table 34. At-risk-of-poverty and absolute poverty rate by household type, 2017–2021 (income years; survey years 2018–2022)

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
At-risk-of-poverty rate, %
Household with children, total	13,7	15,2	14	14,2	13
Adult and child(ren)	39	35,1	27,3	36,6	32,7
Couple with one child	9,9	11,6	9	9,8	10,3
Couple with two children	11,5	15,1	12,2	13,2	9,3
Couple with three or more children	14,7	15	16,8	14,1	5,3
Other household with children	9,9	10,3	14,4	8,9	14
Absolute poverty rate, %
Household with children, total	2,2	1,5	2,3	2,2	4,2
Adult and child(ren)	7,8	4,6	5,3	6,1	..
Couple with one child	..	..	1,5	1,1	1,2
Couple with two children	2,8	1,6	2,8	2,6	..
Couple with three or more children	2,3	1,6	3	1,9	..
Other household with children	..	..	..	..	..

.. Unreliable data due to small size of the observations.

Source : Statistics Estonia, Estonian Social Survey 2018–2022 (income years 2017–2021)

181.The depth of relative poverty can be characterised by the poverty rate upon different poverty thresholds: 40%, 50% or 70% of median equalised income (relative poverty is officially calculated at 60% of median income). The relative poverty threshold at 40% of median equalised income distinguishes the persons with the lowest resources living in relative poverty. Statistics Estonia data shows a positive change – the share of children whose equalised disposable income is less than 40% has decreased between 2017 and 2021 (from 5.3% in 2017 to 4.5% in 2021). Moreover, there is a decrease of those whose income comprises of less than 50% of median.

Table 35. At-risk-of-poverty and absolute poverty rate among children by different poverty thresholds, 2017–2021 (income years; survey years 2018–2022)

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
At-risk-of-poverty rate, %
40% of median income	5,3	5,3	5,4	6	4,5
50% of median income	9,2	10	9,2	10,6	8,6
60% of median income	15,2	17,2	15,2	15,5	13,6
70% of median income (not in relative poverty)	23,4	24,4	21,3	23,7	19,8
Absolute poverty rate, %
Up to 80% of the absolute poverty threshold (direct poverty)	1,3	1,2	1,8	1,9	0,8
80 – 99% from the absolute poverty threshold (poverty endangering area)	1,3	..	0,7	0,7	..
100 – 125% from the absolute poverty threshold (not in absolute poverty, at-risk-of-poverty area)	2,1	2,1	1,3	1,6	..
Over 125% from the absolute poverty threshold (not in absolute poverty, poverty-risk-free area)	95,4	96,3	96,1	95,7	97,9

.. Unreliable data due to small size of the observations.

Source : Statistics Estonia, Estonian Social Survey 2018–2022 (income years 2017–2021)

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

Table 36. Number and proportion of children who have dropped out of school ,

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Basic school	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.25%
Upper-sec	0.8%	1.6%	1.2%	0.7%	0.9%

Source : Estonian Education Information System

Table 37. Distribution of students who need special and enhanced support in general education in 2017–2022 by study form

Study form / Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Special school for SEN students	39,3%	35,1%	36,5%	35,0%	31,6%	29,2%
Special class	33,3%	31,8%	32,4%	32,9%	34,0%	34,6%
Mainstream class	27,4%	33,1%	31,1%	32,1%	34,4%	36,2%

Source : Estonian Education Information System

Table 38. Number and proportion of children attending early childhood education

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Number of children in early childhood education	66 895	65 935	66 330	66 375	66 979	68 983
Proportion (3 – 7) %	91.2	91.3	91.1	91.6	91.2	91,6

Source : Estonian Education Information System

Table 39. Number of children in public and private schools, including religious schools.

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Basic school TOTAL	126 384	129 317	131 095	132 050	132 965
Basic: private	7 539	8 355	9 094	9 701	10 418
Basic: municipal	116 787	119 048	120 207	120 505	120 585
Basic: state	2 058	1 914	1 794	1 844	1 962
Upper-sec TOTAL	26 893	27 333	27 639	28 779	29 611
US: private	1 353	1 449	1 444	1 577	1 744
US: municipal	21 708	21 285	21 244	22 024	21 611
US: state	3 832	4 599	4 951	5 178	6 256

Source : Estonian Education Information System

Table 40. Number and share of young (from 15 to 24 years) persons neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET), thousand persons.

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Number of NEETs, thousands	12,0	12,3	8,6	12,2	13,4	13,4
Males	5,4	6,9	4,1	6,2	7,4	8,5
Females	6,6	5,5	4,5	6,0	6,0	4,9
Share of NEETs in corresponding group of persons, %	9,4%	9,8%	6,9%	9,7%	10,9%	10,7%
Males, %	8,4%	10,8%	6,6%	9,6%	12,1%	13,6%
Females, %	10,5%	8,9%	7,3%	9,8%	9,7%	7,8%

Source : Statistics Estonia

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

Table 41. Number of asylum-seeking and refugee children by country

Citizenship	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Total
Afghanistan			1		6	4	11
Albania	1		2				3
Armenia			1		2		3
Azerbaijan		2					2
Bangladesh		2					2
Egypt		3					3
Eritrea			2	2	2		6
Georgia	8					1	9
India		1					1
Iraq	5		1		1		7
Iran	1	1	1				3
Yemen			1		2		3
Kosovo	1		1				2
Pakistan		3	1				4
Palestine		1					1
Sri Lanka	5						5
Syria	2	1	5	4		1	13
Tajikistan				1	1	1	3
Turkey			10		3	1	14
Ukraine	7	6	3			121	137
Belarus	4				2	3	9
Russia	3		7	2		46	58
Total	37	20	36	9	19	178	299

Source : Ministry of the Interior

Table 42. Number of asylum-seeking and refugee children, disaggregated by gender

2017	2017 Total	2018	2018 Total	2019	2019 Total	2020	2020 Total	2021	2021 Total	2022	2022 Total
F	M		F	M		F	M		F	M		F	M		F	M
4	5	9	3	2	5	6	8	14	1	1	2	4	1	5	10	5	15
3	3	6				1	2	3				1	1	2	4	6	10
1		1	1		1	1		1				1		1	7	4	11
				1	1		1	1	2		2				1	3	4
1		1	1		1										4	7	11
1	1	2	1		1	1		1					1	1	8	4	12
							1	1				1	1	2	4	6	10
1	1	2				1		1				1		1	6	5	11
2	1	3				2		2							6	7	13
1	3	4	1		1					1	1				6	5	11
2		2		3	3		3	3	1		1	1	1	2	5	5	10
1		1					1	1					1	1	4	8	12
1		1	1	1	2	1		1		1	1				6	8	14
1		1				2	1	3				2		2	2	5	7
						1	1	2							1	3	4
												1	1	2	7	3	10
	1	1	1	1	2					2	2				2	6	8
1	2	3		3	3		2	2							1	4	5
20	17	37	9	11	20	16	20	36	4	5	9	12	7	19	84	94	178

Source : Ministry of the Interior

Table 43. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

Citizenship	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Total
Afghanistan						2	2
Total	0	0	0	0	0	2	2

Source : Ministry of the Interior

Table 44. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, disaggregated by age and gender

	2022
Age/Sex	F	M	Total
16		1	1
17		1	1
Total		2	2

Source : Ministry of the Interior

182.There are no asylum-seeking and refugee children, and children in situations of migration, who have been detained, including in transit centres.

183.In 2017 and 2018 there are no children involved in registered trafficking cases (Penal Code §133), in 2019 there are 2 out of 5 cases, in 2020 19 out of 20 cases, and in 2021 5 out of 6 cases, where children are involved.

184.All children have access to rehabilitation services. Children assisted: in 2019 1 boy, in 2018 7 minors (5 girls, 2 boys), in 2017 4 girls.

185.In all the cases that have resulted in sanctions, perpetrators are of Estonian origin and penalties vary from 3–4 years of imprisonment for the trafficking crimes.

186.In 2018 youth justice reform took place in Estonia. In the last five years, the number of juveniles in prison has decreased 6 times. At the end of 2021, there were 5 minors in prison, one of them convicted and 4 in pre-trial detention. In previous years the numbers were accordingly 5 in 2020 (3 convicted, 2 in pre-trial detention), 15 in 2019 (9 convicted, 6 in pre-trial detention) and 14 in 2018 (10 convicted, 4 in pre-trial detention).

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

187.There have been no reported cases of sale of children during the reporting period. Purchasing sex from minors is criminalised (Penal Code §145¹) and in 2017–2020 the registered cases are 142 crimes in total.

188.Crimes of purchasing sex from children (Penal Code §145¹) have been sent to court on the years 2017 to 2021 in 99 cases and terminated by the prosecutor’s office in 29 cases.