1. Upon ratification, Pakistan made a reservation according to which the provisions of the Convention shall be interpreted in the light of principles of Islamic laws and values. In para. 31 of the report, it is recognized that "practically no provision of the Convention comes into direct conflict with any of the major precepts of Islam, barring the matter of adoption for which an appropriate provision has already been made in the Convention". (See also para. 37 of the report). Having this in mind and in the spirit of the World Conference on Human Rights, which encouraged States to consider reviewing any reservation with a view to withdrawing it, (A/CONF.157/23, II.para, 5) please provide information on whether the Government is considering the need of maintaining such reservation or the intention of withdrawing it.

2. Please provide information on the process followed to prepare the report, including with regard to the involvement of non-governmental organisations.

3. What further concrete measures have been taken to ensure that the principles and provisions of the Convention are made widely known to adults and children alike (report paras. 47, 155, 167, 170, 178b), 181)? What specific training has been conducted including for professional groups working with and for children?

4. In the light of the different mechanisms intervening in the field of welfare policies for children, including the National Programme of Action, please indicate:

a) in what ways these mechanisms ensure the coordination of their activities, including between federal and provincial levels, to promote all the rights of the child recognized by the Convention and monitor their implementation (report paras. 33, 44, 49, 59e, 93, 99, 174, 178a), 188, 191);

b) in what way these mechanisms relate to the non-governmental organisations in the country, at the national, provincial and local level (report paras. 47, 160 and 174) and how popular participation is ensured?

5. What concrete measures have been taken, or are foreseen, to make the report on the implementation of the Convention widely available to the public at large, in the light of article 44, para. 6 of the Convention?

6. What is the status of the Convention in relation to the Constitution, federal and provincial law? Can the provisions of the Convention be invoked before the courts? (report para. 34).

7. Please indicate any development occurred following the process of compilation of existing legislation, mentioned in para. 35 of the report (see also paras. 36, 89a), 159, 171, 172, 182 and 183), as well as measures taken in the light of the Islamabad Declaration on Survival, Protection and Development of Children, which proposed the establishment of a committee "for monitoring and speeding up implementation of legislation concerning rights of the child".

8. Please provide information on the way the situation mentioned in para. 23 of the report is in conformity with the Convention, with the principle of equality before the law recognized by the Constitution of Pakistan and with para. 31 of the report.

9. Please describe steps taken to implement article 4 of the Convention, namely in regard to the allocation "to the maximum extent of the available resources", to ensure the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.

10. Please indicate what proportion of the national, federal and provincial budget, is allocated to social expenditure for children, namely in the light of the "first call for children", recognized in para. 52 of the report (see also paras. 47b), 51, 59, 65, 162, 184, 185).

11. What share of international assistance is devoted to the implementation of the Convention (para. 185 of the report)?

1. Please provide information on the minimum legal age for criminal responsibility, depravation of liberty, capital punishment, life imprisonment and to give testimony before the court.

2. What is the age for the end of compulsory education and its relation to age of employment, namely in light of paras. 30 and 42 of the report and articles 1, 28, 29 and 32 of the Convention?

3. In cases where the girl child is treated differently by the law, as referred to in paras. 19, 20, 24 and 38, to what extent is article 2 of the Convention taken into consideration (See also report para. 69)?

4. In what cases is the criteria of attainment of puberty used by the law and to what extent may it preclude the realization of the rights of the child recognized by the Convention (paras. 24 and 158 of the report)?

Non-discrimination (Art. 2 of the Convention)

1. Please provide information on the way the principle of non-discrimination, recognized by article 2 of the Convention, is fully reflected in national law (report para. 175).

2. Which measures have been taken to reduce disparities between rural and urban areas and to ensure the implementation of the Convention to the most disadvantaged groups of children, including children belonging to minorities or indigenous communities, refugee children and disabled children?

3. What steps have been taken to prevent and eliminate discriminatory attitudes or prejudices and to ensure an effective protection against discrimination, in particular towards the girl child (See article 2 of the Convention)?

4. What measures have been taken to ensure the use of disagregated indicators on the basis of age group, gender, rural and urban categories, as mentioned in paras. 93 and 96 of the report, and which have been the results for policy making?

Best interests of the child (Art.3 of the Convention)

5. In what way is the principle of the best interests of the child, recognized by article 3 of the Convention, reflected in legislation or other actions undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law or administrative authorities?

6. Please indicate what measures have been adopted to ensure, to the maximum extent possible, the survival and development of the child in the light of article 6 of the Convention.

Respect for the views of the child (Art. 12 of the Convention)

7. Please provide information on the ways in which the principle of respect for the views of the child is reflected in all matters affecting the child, including in legislation, judicial and administrative proceedings.

8. What steps have been taken to encourage the participatory rights of the child?

1. In the light of articles 7, 8, 13 to 17 and 37a) of the Convention and the relevant chapter of the General Guidelines regarding the form and content of initial reports, adopted by the Committee, please provide information on the way each one of the civil rights and freedoms are recognized by law and implemented in practice, including by the administrative and judicial bodies, both at the federal and provincial levels (report paras. 34 and 153 to 157).

2. In particular, what concrete measures have been taken to prevent the occurrence of cases of ill-treatment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of children and to investigate such cases? What complaint procedures can be used, including by children themselves, against such violations?

In the light of the relevant chapter of the General Guidelines adopted by the Committee and articles 5, 18 paras. 1-and 2, 9, 10, 27 para. 4, 20, 21, 11, 19, 39 and 25 of the Convention, please provide specific information on the implementation of each of these provisions (report paras. 11, 13, 30, 140 and 141).

In the light of articles 6 para. 2, 23, 24, 26, 18 para. 3, 27 paras. 1 to 3 and the relevant chapter of the General Guidelines adopted by the Committee, please provide specific information on each of these provisions, including on:

a) the special measures taken to overcome the inadequacy of special education services for disabled children, mentioned in para. 136 of the report;

b) the situation of disabled children with respect to the promotion of their dignity, self-reliance and active participation in the community, as well as their effective access to training, health care and rehabilitation services and preparation for employment;

c) the existence of training programmes for those who are responsible for the care of the disabled;

d) the practical measures taken to prevent and eliminate discriminatory attitudes against the disabled.

In the light of articles 28, 29 and 31 of the Convention and the relevant chapter of the General Guidelines adopted by the Committee, please provide information on the implementation of these provisions and in particular on:

a) how the right to education is ensured on the basis of equal opportunity between boys and girls and what special measures have been adopted to reduce existing disparities (report paras. 69, 118, 119, 122 and 123);

b) what measures have been taken to encourage regular attendance at school and the reduction of drop-out rates (report paras. 122 and 123);

c) what measures have been taken to ensure the inclusion of the rights of the child in the school curricula, as mentioned in para, 168 of the report, and what results have been achieved;

d) what measures have been undertaken to ensure that primary education is made compulsory and available free for all children (report para. 131);

e) the way the aims of education, as envisaged by article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are given due consideration;

f) what measures have been adopted to ensure support by the State to the efforts made at the family and community level in the framework of education.

Please provide specific information, in the light of the relevant chapter of the General Guidelines adopted by the Committee on:

a) children in situations of emergency (articles 22, 38 and 39 of the Convention) namely, as regards special protection to be granted to refugee children (para. 175 of the report) on:

1) the measures taken to ensure the enjoyment by refugee or asylum-seeking children of the rights recognized by the Convention, including at the level of school enrolment and birth registration;

2) the number of refugee and asylum-seeking children presently in Pakistan, their origin, successes and difficulties in providing them with protection and assistance,

b) children in conflict with the law (articles 37, 40 and 39 of the Convention) in particular on:

- the prohibition of capital punishment and life imprisonment without possibility of release;

- the prohibition of unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of liberty;

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

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

- the measures taken to ensure that children deprived of liberty are treated with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of their age;

- the opportunity for the child deprived of liberty to maintain contact with the family;

- the measures taken to implement article 40 of the Convention, including the safeguards ensured to the child alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law;

- the establishment of laws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law;

- the training ensured to the professional groups dealing with children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law, including judges, lawyers and law enforcement officials;

- the measures taken to promote the child's re-integration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society.

c) children in situations of exploitation (articles 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 39 of the Convention) and in particular on:

1) the legal minimum ages established for the different activities and their compatibility with the Convention, namely in the case of work in the mines, hazardous employment and where the child is carrying an occupation "with the help of the family or in a school established, assisted or recognized by Government", as considered by the Employment of Children Act 1991, section 3 (Annex I to the report and paras. 20, 30, 39 and 44 of the report);

2) the measures and strategies adopted to eradicate child labour (report paras. 30, 45 and 139);

3) the way child labour inspection is currently functioning, the bottlenecks to its full effectiveness and the main measures envisaged to remedy existing difficulties and gaps (report paras. 43 and 44);

4) the way child labour in agriculture and in the informal sector is inspected (report paras. 30 and 138);

5) what is meant by "labour camps" mentioned in para. 50j) of the report, what measures have been adopted formally to eliminate them, what is the situation of the children concerned, and in what way are the rights recognized by the Convention enjoyed by them, including at the level of rehabilitation (see also report-paras. 88 and 89);

6) the measures taken to eliminate forced labour, the difficulties encountered and the results achieved including at the legislative level (report paras. 88 and 89).

d) children belonging to a minority or an indigenous group (article 30 of the Convention), in particular on the measures taken to ensure their right to enjoy their own culture, profess and practice their own religion or to use their own language.