COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Twenty-fifth session
Pre-sessional Working Group
5-9 June 2000
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 Finland
(CRC/C/70/Add.3)
GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
(arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6 of the Convention)
1. Please provide examples on how the principles and provisions of the Convention incorporated in the 1995 amendments to the Constitution Act were taken into account in subsequent legislation on children issues.
2. In the light of the Committee's previous recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.53, paras. 22 and 23), please indicate whether measures were envisaged and/or taken to develop coordination mechanisms between various ministries, as well as between central authorities and local authorities (municipalities), for the implementation of comprehensive policies for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.
3. With reference to the information provided in paragraph 10 of the report, please provide additional information on the mandate and activities of the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman in charge of child issues. Please also indicate whether consideration has been given to the establishment of an integrated monitoring mechanism or system to ensure that all children in all municipalities benefit to the same extent from basic social services and to the establishment of a focal point on child issues within the administration.
4. In the light of article 4 of the Convention and the Committee's previous recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.53, para. 21), please provide additional information on the measures taken to ensure budget allocations to the "maximum extent of [...] available resources" for the rights of children, in particular with the view of increasing budgets of local authorities for activities regarding children. Please also specify the percentage of national budget allocated to international cooperation and development assistance programmes for children living in developing countries.
5. With reference to the information provided in paragraph 20 of the report, please indicate whether measures were taken and/or envisaged to provide more resources and coordination in the elaboration of child-oriented indicators and data. Further, please describe the extent to which these indicators and data are used in the formulation of policies and programmes for the effective implementation of the Convention.
6. Please provide information on any additional measures taken and/or envisaged to ensure that the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are disseminated at all levels of society. In the light of the Committee's previous recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.53, para. 24), please indicate if the Convention was translated also in the Roma language. Additionally, please provide further information on efforts made to provide periodic training and retraining programmes on the rights of the child for professionals working with children, in particular social workers, teachers, law enforcement officials and judges. With regard to information provided in paragraph 44 of the report, please also provide additional information on whether the described measures have been implemented.
7. Please indicate whether governmental departments, at central and local levels, were involved in the process of preparation of the present report. Further, please describe whether the State party's initial report, the summary record of discussions of the State party's initial report and the Committee's concluding observations on the State party's initial report were translated and disseminated in the national and minorities languages, debated at the Parliament and had been the subject of discussions with appropriate non-governmental organizations.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
(arts. 2, 3, 6, 12 of the Convention)
8. With reference to the information provided in paragraph 35 of the report, please provide additional information on the content and the impact of the Government national programme for the organization of social welfare and health-care services in the years 1998-2001, particularly concerning the attention given to "risks related to the welfare of linguistic and cultural minorities".
9. With reference to the information provided in paragraphs 45 and 46 of the report, please provide additional information on the role of the expert participating in the decision-making process in cases before county administrative courts. In particular, please indicate who appoints the experts, what is his or her professional background, whether the experts are active in all cases involving children or only specific ones and whether the expert represents the child.
10. With reference to the principle of respect for the views of the child (article 12 of the Convention), please provide additional information on whether the view of children, including children below 12, is taken into full consideration in child custody cases and access disputes taken to court. Please provide also information on the implementation of the right of the child to express his or her views and opinion (articles 12 and 13 of the Convention) and freedom of association (article 15 of the Convention), in the school environment.
FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
(arts. 5, 18, para. 1 and 2, 9-11, 27 para. 4, 20-21,
19 and 25 and 39 of the Convention)
11. Please indicate the causes for the constant increase in the number of children placed outside their families. Further, with reference to the information provided in paragraph 103 of the report, please indicate what measures have been taken to promote foster care as an alternative for placement in children's homes. Please also provide information on the accessibility and effectiveness of family and child guidance clinics with a view to preventing placement of children outside their families.
12. Please indicate whether efforts are taken to accelerate the procedure for family reunification in order to reduce possible negative impacts on children during the process.
13. With reference to the information provided in paragraph 128 of the report, please indicate whether measures to detect and possibly prevent violence against children within families were envisaged and/or taken. Further, please indicate whether measures were taken into consideration to make services provided for cases of domestic violence more child-friendly.
BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
(arts. 6, para. 2, 23, 24, 26 and 18 para. 3 and
27, paras. 1-3 of the Convention)
14. In the light of the Committee's previous recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.53, para. 27), please indicate whether appropriate measures were undertaken to prevent the institutionalization of mentally-ill children in the same facilities as adults. Additionally, please provide more information, including disaggregated data, on the various types of mental health problems, in particular disruptive behaviour and attention deficit disorders; the number of child psychiatrists and psychologists and the ratio of psychiatrists and psychologists to child patients; the availability and access to psychiatric treatment and support for children, in particular in the sparsely populated areas of northern and eastern Finland. Further, please indicate the main causes of mental health problems among children, the main strategies of its prevention and whether appropriate measures were taken to address the shortage of child psychiatrists and psychologists. Please also provide information, including statistical data, on the rates and causes of suicide among young people and on whether measures taken to prevent this phenomenon were related to the causes.
15. With reference to the information provided in paragraph 151 of the report, please provide information on the implementation of the 1997 plan concerning the promotion of health and its impact. With reference to the information provided in paragraph 153 of the report, please provide more specific information on the subsidies to promote health of young people with the aim, inter alia, to reduce smoking, promote mental health and prevent venereal diseases. In particular, please indicate the amount of the subsidies provided, to which organizations they were provided and what were the effects.
EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
(arts. 28, 29, 31 of the Convention)
16. In the light of the Committee's previous recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.53, para. 28), please indicate whether appropriate measures were undertaken to decrease the high rates of school drop-outs among Roma children.
SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
(arts. 22, 30, and 32-40 of the Convention)
17. Please provide disaggregated data (e.g. gender, country of origin, age, etc.) on unaccompanied minors applying for asylum and indicate whether efforts were undertaken to ensure adequate resources and training for representatives of unaccompanied minors. Please also provide further information on the special education services for immigrant and minority children and on whether adequate resources were allocated for these services.
18. With regard to the situation of children in detention centres/prisons, please provide additional information on:
(a) the way the conditions in detention centres/prisons are periodically monitored;
(b) the guarantees to ensure the periodic review of placement;
(c) whether there are complaint procedures to deal with issues such as ill-treatment which are independent from the authorities of detention and correction institutions and their effectiveness;
(d) the education, health and social facilities in detention centres/prisons;
(e) services for the recovery and rehabilitation of children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law and their effectiveness.
19. In the light of the Committee's previous recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.53, para. 27), please provide additional information on the measures undertaken to combat efficiently the phenomenon of drug abuse and on whether the welfare service system is able to deal with the growing need for services among youth. Further, please provide additional information on drugs, tobacco and alcohol-related prevention education and information.
20. With reference to the information provided in paragraph 337 of the report, please indicate what measures were envisaged to maintain the Sami and Roma children's cultural identity, in particular in the social services structure.