Lists of Issues - CRC - Argentina - CRC/C/Q/ARG/2 (2002)

List of issues : Argentina. 14/06/2002.

CRC/C/Q/ARG/2. (List of Issues)

Convention Abbreviation: CRC
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
31st session
Pre-sessional Working Group
10-14 June 2002

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

List of Issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of
the second periodic report of Argentina(CRC/C/70/Add.10)

PART I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if available, before 9 August 2002:

A. Data and statistics

1. Please provide disaggregated data (by gender, age, indigenous groups, urban or rural areas) covering the period between 1999 and 2001 on the:

a) number and proportion of children under 18 living in the State party;
b) number and proportion of children belonging to indigenous groups;
c) rates of infant and child mortality;
d) proportion of children affected by acute and chronic malnutrition;
e) proportion of children living in poverty;
f) number of children adopted;
g) number of children who disappeared during the military regime (1976-1983) and of those who have been found.

2. In light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide additional information and disaggregated data (by age and gender) on the amount and proportion of national budget, devoted to children at central and local level, preferably in the last 3 years (2000-2002), to:

a) education (different types of education, i.e. primary and secondary education);
b) health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care and other health care services for children);
c) services and programmes for children with disabilities;
d) support programmes for families;
e) the protection of children who are in need of alternative care including the support of care institutions;
f) programmes and activities for the prevention of and the protection from child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child labour;
g) juvenile justice.

Please also indicate the percentages of these allocations derived from international sources and its connection to expenses for children's rights.

3. With reference to child abuse, please provide disaggregated data (by age, gender and types of violations reported), on the:

a) number of individual complaints received per year in the last three years;
b) number and percentage of reports which have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up.

4. Please provide disaggregated data (including by gender, age, indigenous groups and urban/rural areas) covering the period between 1999 and 2001 on the enrolment and completion rates in percentages of the relevant group:

a) enrollment in percentage of children in pre-primary schools, in primary schools, and in secondary schools;
b) percentage of enrolled children completing primary and secondary schools;
c) number and percentage of drop-outs;
d) ratio teacher per children;
e) percentage of children enrolled in private schools.

5. Please specify the number of children with disabilities, disaggregated by sex and age:

a) living with their families;
b) in institutions;
c) attending regular schools; and
d) attending special schools.

6. Please provide disaggregated statistical data (including by gender, age, indigenous group and region) on adolescent health, including early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse covering the period between 1999 and 2001.

7. Please provide appropriate disaggregated data (including by gender, age, indigenous group and type of crime) covering the period between 1999 and 2001, in particular on the number of:

a) minors, who have allegedly committed a crime, reported to the police;
b) minors who have been sentenced and type of punishment or sanctions;
c) detention facilities for juvenile delinquents and their capacity;
d) minors detained in these facilities and minors detained in adult facilities;
e) minors kept in pre-trail detention and the average length of their detention;
f) reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of children occurred during their arrest and detention.

8. With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by gender, age, urban/rural areas) per year between 1999 and 2001 on:

a) the number of children involved in sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking;
b) the number of children involved in sexual exploitation who received rehabilitation treatments;
c) the number of children involved in child labour who are under 14.

B. General Measures of Implementation

1. The Committee would appreciate receiving information on recommendations contained in the Committee's previous concluding observations (CRC/C/15/Add.35, paras.14-21, 15 February 1995) which are not yet implemented, in particular the ones related to coordination (para.15) and budgetary resources (para.16).

2. Please provide information on whether steps were undertaken to establish a mechanism at the national, regional and local levels for ensuring the implementation of the Convention, for coordinating policies relevant to children and an independent body for monitoring progress achieved. Further please provide additional information on the National Council for the Minor and the Family, including recent evaluations of its activities and budgetary resources. Finally, please provide additional information on the establishment of a Children's Ombudsman.

3. Please provide information on the status and contents of the draft law on the integral protection of the rights of the child, approved in November 2001 by the Chamber of Deputies, and of the draft law on the criminal responsibility of juveniles.

4. Please provide additional information on how governmental institutions cooperate with non-governmental organisations, especially with reference to the participation of representatives of civil society in the design and implementation of policies and programmes for children.

5. Please provide information on whether a rights-based Plan of Action in favour of Children is going to be developed. Further, please provide information on measures to prevent and combat poverty affecting children.

PART II

Please provide 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, whenever appropriate, to briefly (3 pages maximum) up-date the information provided in its report with regard to:

- new bills or enacted legislation
- new institutions
- newly implemented policies
- newly implemented programmes

PART IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues that the Committee intends to take-up during the dialogue with the State party. THEY DO NOT REQUIRE WRITTEN RESPONSES. This list is not exhaustive (and does not contain issues already covered in Part I) as other issues might be raised in the course of the dialogue.

The dialogue with the State party might include issues such as:

1. The implementation in practice (e.g., in court decisions, in decisions by administrative bodies, in developing national and local policies on children's issues) of the general principles of the Convention: non-discrimination (art.2), the best interests of the child (art.3), the right to life, survival and development (art. 6) and the right of the child to be heard (art.12).

2. Legislation, policies and programmes implemented to prevent discrimination, social exclusion and respect for all rights of the most disadvantaged groups of children, in particular children belonging to poor households, the ones living in rural areas, children with disabilities and indigenous children.

3. Difference between the minimum age for marriage of boys and girls.

4. Police brutality against children and measures taken to eradicate this phenomenon.

5. The situation of abuse and neglect, including sexual abuse within the family, and domestic violence. Additional information on the work carried out by the National Council for the Minor and the Family. Strategies developed to prevent child abuse and mechanisms established to adequately assist both the victims and perpetrators of abuse. Further, the use of corporal punishment in families, schools, care and other institutions and whether alternative disciplinary measures have been developed to prevent and combat this practice.

6. Children who are institutionalised as a measure of protection in accordance with the Law on Guardianship (Ley de Patronato, Act No.10.903).

7. Availability, quality and efficiency of health care services for children, in particular in rural areas. Family planning services provided to adolescents. The status and situation of children with disabilities.

8. The issue of children who disappeared during the military regime. Measures taken to assist those who have been found.

9. Impact of measures taken to encourage regular attendance at school and to reduce the number of children not attending secondary school, in particular among children belonging to more disadvantaged groups, and other efforts to make the school a true instrument for social mobility.

10. Measures taken to implement policies and programmes to combat child labour. Steps undertaken to increase the minimum age for admission to employment to 15.

11. The scope of sexual exploitation of children as well as measures taken to prevent and combat this phenomenon.

12. The limitation of the enjoyment of the human rights of children belonging to indigenous groups.

13. With respect to the system of administration of justice, issues regarding the treatment of children aged between 16 and 18, pre-trial detention, use of the Law on Guardianship (Ley de Patronato, N.10903) and deprivation of liberty when not used as last resort, conditions of juvenile centres and the conformity of legislation and practice in the area of juvenile justice with international juvenile justice standards.