COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Forty-second session

15 – 2 May 2006

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the initial report of TURKMENISTAN (C RC/C/TKM/1) Part I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before 5 April 2006

Data and statistics, if available

Please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age, minority and ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number and proportion of children under 18 living in the State party;

In light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide additional disaggregated data for 2004- 2006, on budget allocations and trends (in percentages of the national budget or GDP) regarding the implementation of the Convention, evaluating also the priorities for budgetary expenditures given to the following:

education (different types of education , i.e. pre-primary, primary and secondary education);

child care services, including day care centers;

health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care and other health care services for children);

programmes and services for children with disabilities;

support programmes for families;

GE.06-40449 the protection of children who are in need of alternative care including the support of care institutions;

programmes and activities for the prevention of and protection from child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child labour;

juvenile justice;

juvenile crime prevention and recovery and reintegration;

other social services.

Please also indicate the estimated expenses of the private sector, in particular for health and education.

With reference to children deprived of a family environment and separated from parents, please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age, minority and ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) for the last three years on the number of children:

separated from their parents;

placed in institutions;

placed with foster families and in kinship care;

adopted domestically or through inter-country adoptions;

abandoned by their families.

Please specify the number of children with disabilities, disaggregated by sex and age, covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005:

living with their families;

in institutions;

attending regular schools;

attending special schools;

not attending any school.

Please provide information on the number of children abducted from or to Turkmenistan.

With reference to child abuse, please provide disaggregated data (by age, sex, minority and ethnic groups and types of violations reported) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the:

number of reported cases of child abuse;

number and percentage of reports which have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up;

number and proportion of child victims that have received counseling and assistance in recovery.

Please specify the criteria for ‘poverty’ and indicate the number of children living below the poverty line. Please also specify the support for children living below the poverty line.

Please provide disaggregated data (including by sex, age, minority and ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on:

the enrolment and completion rates in percentages of the relevant group in pre-primary schools, in primary schools and in secondary schools;

rates of literacy under 18 years old;

rate of children completing primary and secondary school;

number and percentage of drop-outs and repetitions;

teacher student ratio.

Please provide disaggregated statistical data (including by sex, age, minority and ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) on early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), mental health problems (e.g. suicide rates, eating disorders, depression), drug use, alcoholand tobacco abuse covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005. Please also provide numbers of health professionals working in the health care services for children.

Please provide disaggregated statistical data (including by sex, age groups, minority and ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) on children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS .

Please provide appropriate disaggregated data (including by sex, age, minority and ethnic groups, urban and rural areas, and type of crime) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, in particular on the number of:

persons below 18 who have allegedly committed a crime, reported to the police;

persons below 18 who have been sentenced and type of punishment or sanctions related to offences including length of deprivation of liberty;

persons below 18 who have been tried as adults;

detention facilities for juvenile and their capacity;

persons below 18 detained in these facilities and the number of these detained in adult facilities;

persons below 18 kept in pre-trail detention and the average length of their detention;

reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of children occurred during their arrest and detention.

With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by sex, age, minority and ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number of:

children involved in sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography;

children trafficked in, out and within the country;

children referred to in a) and b) above who have received recovery and social reintegration treatments;

unaccompanied minors and asylum-seeking and refugee children, as well as the number of children awaiting expulsion;

children involved in labour who are under 16;

children affected by forced relocation.

B. General Measures of Implementation

Please indicate whether the Convention on the Rights of the Child has bee n invoked directly in domestic courts, and if so, please provide examples of such cases.

Please provide additional information on the implementation and content of any child rights policy and national plan of action and explain how such policies are devel oped. Please also explain how the Convention's implementation is coordinated across the action of different relevant ministries, including at state and local levels .

Please provide information on independent mechanisms for monitoring of the Convention's i mplementation in the State party (e.g. Ombudsman, National Human Rights Institution or Commissioner for children).

Please provide additional information on measures taken to improve the system for collection of disaggregated data on children under 18 in a ll areas under the Convention.

Please provide information on measures taken to ensure transparency and accountability, especially in the management of resources and in the provision of basic services.

Please inform the Committee on the mandate, functions and activities of the Turkmen National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (para.43 of the State party’s report).

Please indicate whether children in Turkmenistan have access to international sources of information, such as press or television, and to the Internet.

Please inform the Committee on what are the crimes prescribed by article 21 of the Criminal Code which sets out the criminal responsibility of children between 14 and 16 in particularly serious cases (para.53 of the State party’s report) .

Please inform the Committee on e fforts to provide training, information and to increase awareness on the Convention and on human rights in general.

Please indicate the role of non-governmental organisations in the implementation of the Convention as we ll as in the process of preparation of the State party report, if any.

Please indicate the issues affecting children that the State party considers to be priorities requiring the most urgent attention with regard to the implementation of the Convention.

Part II

Please provide the Committee with copies of the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all official languages of the State party as well as in other languages or dialects, when available. If possible, please submit these texts in electronic form.

Part III

Under this section, the State party is invited to briefly (3 pages maximum) update the information provided in its report with regard to:

New bills or enacted legislation

New institutions

Newly implemented policies

Newly implemented programmes and projects and their scope.

Part IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues (that does not contain issues already covered in Part I) that the Committee may take up during the dialogue with the State party. They do not r equire written answers . This list is not exhaustive as other issues might be raised in the course of the dialogue.

The State party's strategy to significantly strengthen the Convention's overall implementation with particular attention to the general prin ciples of the Convention (non-discrimination (art.2), the best interests of the child (art.3) and the right of the child to express his/her views and be heard (art.12)).

Budget allocations for children.

Measures taken to protect children from domestic violence, abuse and ill-treatment, including corporal punishment.

Freedom of expression and religion.

Free access to information.

Assistance to children with disabilities, including their recovery and social reintegration.

Access to health and health c are services; infant, child and maternal mortality.

Adolescent health, including reproductive health.

Standard of living, disparities and access to services.

Education, including curricula and duration of scholastic year.

Economic exploitation, inclu ding child labour.

Sexual exploitation and trafficking.

Administration of juvenile justice.

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