1. Please indicate whether any study has been undertaken to review national legislation and its compatibility with the provisions and principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see para. 26 of the report). Please provide further information on the measures taken to bring legislation and practice into line with the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

2. Please indicate the status of the Convention vis-à-vis national legislation and the Constitution.

3. Has the Government considered the possibility of becoming a party to other major international human rights instruments?

4. With regard to the information provided in paras. 27, 31 and 33 of the report, please provide further information on the activities of the National Commission for Mothers and Children and indicate in what ways this mechanism ensures the coordination of the different ministries and organizations, including between national and provincial levels, involved in the implementation of all the principles and provisions of the Convention (see also paras. 99 and 158 of the report). Please further indicate if the Commission is also monitoring the implementation of the principles and provisions of the Convention (see para. 35 of the report).

5. Please provide information on the measures taken to develop mechanisms for the determination of appropriate indicators as well as the collection of statistical data and other information on the status of children as bases for designing programmes and policies to implement the Convention.

6. In light of the new economic policy please indicate what consideration is being given to the social needs of children, especially those belonging to the most vulnerable categories (see paras. 14 and 21 of the report).

7. With regard to information provided in paras. 14, 21 and 42 of the report, please provide more information about the implementation of article 4 of the Convention in regard to the allocation "to the maximum extent of (...) available resources" for the rights of the child.

8. With regard to the difficulties specified in para. 42 of the report, please provide further information on the measures adopted or envisaged to publicize the Convention, its principles and provisions among the adult population, including professional groups and community leaders as well as among children, and the active and appropriate means used to do so. Please indicate whether there is need for further technical assistance in this regard.

9. What measures have been taken, or are planned, to train professional groups such as: judges, lawyers, law enforcement officials, personnel working in institutions or other places of detention for children, teachers, health personnel and social workers, about the Convention on the Rights of the Child? In addition, what measures have been taken to raise the awareness of Government officials, legislators, NGOs and the mass media about the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

10. Please provide information on the minimum legal age for legal and medical counselling without parental consent, end of compulsory education, sexual consent, enlistment into the armed forces, and to give testimony before the court.

11. With regard to information provided in para. 45 of the report, please explain what is understood by "special cases" as regards children aged between 15 and 18 that are contracting marriage.

12. Please indicate to what extent the provisions of article 2 of the Convention are covered in national legislation with regard to all possible grounds for discrimination spelled out in that article.

13. In light of the information provided in para. 136 of the report, please provide information on measures taken to guarantee poor children adequate access to health care and indicate how the children from poor families will be protected in the case of health institutions demanding payment for treatment.

14. Please provide information on concrete measures taken to combat discrimination against girls and children in rural areas, including measures to eliminate and prevent behaviour and prejudice that might give rise to discrimination (see paras. 15 and 17 of the report).

15. Please provide further information on specific measures to remedy problems faced, particularly in the rural areas, in the field of basic services such as water and sanitation and to reduce the high rate of infant mortality (see paras. 46-48, 53 and 54 of the report).

16. With regard to the information provided in para. 178 of the report, please indicate the measures taken, besides those of a legislative nature, to ensure that children belonging to minority ethnic groups are not discriminated against.

17. Please indicate in what way the principle of the best interests of the child is taken into consideration in legislation as well as in judicial, administrative and other proceedings (see para. 51 of the report).

18. In light of the information provided in para. 52 of the report, please indicate what measures have been taken to raise the awareness of families and the public in general of the need to encourage children to exercise their right to participate in social life (see also para. 17 of the report).

19. Please provide information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure that all children are registered immediately after birth, including sanctions in case of non-registration or late registration. How is registration ensured particularly in rural areas? (see paras. 56-57 of the report).

20. Please provide further information on the steps that are being taken to encourage the publication of children's literature and on the measures envisaged to encourage their dissemination and availability to all children. (see para. 68 of the report).

21. Please provide information on any cases where censorship has been or is being exercised to protect children against the harmful influences of the media.

22. Please provide further information on the channels available, including membership of association, through which children may make their views known and have them taken into account (see paras. 71-73 of the report).

23. Please give clarification on the exercise of the right to freedom of religion, including with regard to minorities.

24. Please provide information on the occurrence of ill-treatment of children. Have specific programmes for the prevention of ill-treatment of children been developed at the central and local levels? Please specify if corporal punishment is allowed in schools. Do monitoring mechanisms function for the consideration of such violations ? Are there complaints procedures which can be used by children themselves against such abuses ? Have any cases of ill-treatment of children been submitted to the national courts?

25. Please provide further information on the status of children born out of wedlock, in particular in the case where the mother, guardian or tutor does not make use of his/her right to apply for an affiliation decision (see para. 83 of the report)

26. In light of the information provided in para. 149 of the report, please indicate to what extent the State takes responsibility for parental education and if there are other family counselling services.

27. Please indicate what specific measures are being taken to safeguard the right of the child of divorced parents to be in contact with both father and mother. Are the views of the child taken into account in matters relating to the right of visit in case of separation of the parents ?

28. Please indicate if legal provisions on allowances are providing for the full support and upbringing of children. In addition, please indicate what possibilities there are for the single parent living with a child to get financial support from the State if the ex-spouse is evading the payment of maintenance (see paras. 78 (c) and 79 of the report).

29. In light of the information provided in para. 87 of the State report, please indicate what measures are in place or are envisaged to ensure the implementation of a legal framework for the effective protection of children in cases of intercountry adoption, and whether the State is planning to ratify the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. What is the present official position towards intercountry adoptions?

30. Is research undertaken into the problem of ill-treatment of children, including into social factors which influence such violations ? What legislative measures have been adopted or envisaged to protect the child against abuse and maltreatment within the family, as laid down in art. 19 of the Convention ?

31. Please provide further information on the situation of disabled children, including their access to education, training, health care services, preparation for professional life, leisure possibilities and activities aimed at eliminating prejudice and social rejection of disabled children (see para. 106 of the report).

32. With regard to the priorities, objectives and actions planned to improve basic health and welfare, please indicate what proportion of the national budget is allocated to health care and more specifically to child health care and, if possible, the level of international cooperation in the efforts to mobilize resources for the implementation of social programmes (see paras. 135-137 of the report). What are the Government's medium and long-term policies in order to ensure sustainable immunization programmes and adequate delivery care?

33. Please indicate what is the present situation for children with HIV-infection (see para. 135 of the report).

34. Please indicate what measures have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that there is an equitable distribution of medicines, medical equipment and professional personnel to all health units in rural and poorer urban areas (see para. 144 of the report).

35. With regard to iodine deficiency, please indicate the measures taken or foreseen to combat negative trends.

36. Please indicate what portion of the national budget is reserved for education and which portion of it is allocated to primary compulsory education. What are the major items in the education budget ?

37. Please provide further information on the measures and efforts that have been undertaken to facilitate primary school attendance for children in rural and remote parts of the country, where families are scattered over vast areas (see para. 101 of the report).

38. In light of the information provided in para. 109 of the State report, please provide further information on the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to encourage regular attendance at school and the reduction of drop-out rates, particularly for girl students (see also para. 108 (h)). Please also indicate measures taken to provide pre-school programmes and vocational training.

39. With regard to the information provided by the Government in paras. 103, 111 and 117 (a) of the report, please indicate if it has been considered to adjust the school curricula in order to incorporate human rights education, particularly about the Convention.

40. In light of the information provided in para. 160, please provide further information as to what extent the Government's policy towards refugee and displaced children is consistent with the principles and provisions of the Convention.

41. Please indicate the measures taken to prevent accidents due to "unexploded ordnances" (UXO) or landmines.

42. Please provide further information, in the light of articles 37, 40 and 39 of the Convention (see paras. 162-166), in particular on:

a) the use of arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time;

b) the possibility to have a prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as for challenging the legality of the deprivation of liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and of having a prompt decision thereon;

c) the right of the child alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the child's sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child's respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child's age and the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society;

d) alternative measures to institutional care made available to deal with such children in a manner appropriate to their well-being; and

e) the establishment of laws and procedures specifically applicable to children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law, in the light of article 40, para. 3 of the Convention.

43. With regard to the situation of children in prison, please provide additional information (see para. 167), in particular, on the following issues:

- the type of institutions which exist for the custody of young law offenders and specific rules for their treatment;

- the opportunities for the contact with families;

- the separation of child detainees from adults;

- the way the conditions in such institutions are monitored;

- the guarantees to ensure the periodic review of placement;

- the complaint procedures in cases of ill-treatment;

- the education and health facilities in these institutions.

44. Please provide further information on the way the legal provisions in the area of protection of children from economic exploitation, namely through labour, are effectively implemented. In addition please indicate if any difficulties have been encountered and if sanctions have been applied against violation of the law (see para. 168 of the report).

45. Please provide further information on the existence of concrete measures to combat the sale and use of drugs by children and to assist in their physical and psychological recovery (see para. 170 of the report).

46. In light of the information provided in para 174 of the report, please specify if any research has been undertaken to improve the knowledge on sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, including prostitution, pornography and incest. What measure have been undertaken or are envisaged to prevent and combat those types of sexual exploitation ?

47. Please indicate whether children may be taught in minority languages. Has the Convention been translated into the major minority languages ?