1. With regard to information provided in paragraph 6 of the report, please provide some up-dated information on the review of the national legislative framework undertaken to bring legislation into line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

2. With regard to information provided in paragraph 8 of the report, please indicate the measures undertaken by the authorities to overcome existing difficulties to fully implement legislation. Is international assistance needed in this regard?

3. With regard to the implementation of the Convention, please indicate existing or foreseen mechanisms to coordinate the activities of relevant Ministries among themselves as well as between the local and central authorities.

4. With regard to information provided in paragraph 6 (e), please indicate whether indicators have been developed and disaggregated data collected concerning the status of all children, including the most vulnerable groups. What difficulties were encountered in the collection and use of these data and indicators for the design of policies and programmes for the effective implementation of the Convention? Is international assistance needed in this regard?

5. Please provide further details on existing or foreseen mechanisms, both at central and local levels, for the monitoring of the implementation of the Convention. Please also indicate what consideration has been given to the establishment of an Ombudsperson for children's rights or a similar independent monitoring body.

6. With regard to information provided in paragraph 11 of the report, please indicate if the Plan of Action referred to has been adopted. Please also specify the ways in which children's rights have been incorporated in the Policy on Persons with Disabilities.

7. With regard to information provided in paragraph 16 (b) of the report, please give further details on the composition, resources and powers of the Inter-Ministerial Committee appointed to ensure the implementation of the measures outlined in the National plan of Action (NPA). What are the first results obtained by this Committee?

8. Please specify the percentage of the budget, both at central and local levels, that is allocated to children's programmes.

9. In light of article 4 of the Convention in regard "to the maximum extent of (...) available resources" for the rights of the child, please explain which safeguards exist to ensure that children are not adversely affected during the current difficult economic period and the trend towards decentralization.

10. With regard to information provided in paragraphs 17 to 20 of the report, please indicate what further measures have been taken, or are planned, to train professional groups such as: judges, lawyers, law enforcement officials, army officials, government officials including at the local level, personnel working in institutions or other places of detention for children, health personnel and social workers, about the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, please indicate what measures have been taken to raise the awareness of Government officials, legislators, non-governmental organizations and the mass media, as well as children themselves, about child rights.

11. Please provide more details about the process of preparing the report, especially the extent to which the non-governmental organizations were involved.

12. With regard to information provided in paragraph 22 of the report, please indicate the age of sexual consent for boys.

13. Please indicate the measures undertaken by the authorities to harmonize in the light of the principles and provisions of the Convention statutory law with common law, especially in the fields of legislation applicable in cases of marriage and criminal liability.

14. Please explain how the legislation relating to minimum age of employment and the prohibition of hazardous or harmful work is being applied in practice.

15. With regard to information provided in paragraph 32 of the report, please indicate if the authorities envisage to take appropriate legislative measures regarding the right to non-discrimination as recognized in article 2 of the Convention.

16. Please also provide additional information on the measures foreseen or undertaken to prevent and combat discrimination against institutionalized children, abandoned children, orphans, children born out of wedlock, girls, children with disabilities, children belonging to minorities, children living in rural areas, especially in terms of access to education, health care and other social services.

17. Please provide further information on the ways in which the principles of the "best interests of the child" and the respect for the views of the child" (arts. 3 and 12 of the Convention) are reflected in legislation, or actions undertaken by social welfare institutions, courts of law and administrative authorities. Please also provide some examples of implementation of these principle by courts and/or administrative bodies.

18. Please indicate the concrete measures that have been taken to further sensitize public opinion to the need to encourage children's participatory rights.

19. With regard to information provided in paragraph 40 of the report, please specify what is understood by "enemy aliens".

20. Please explain what recent measures have been taken by the State Party to ensure that children are protected from any kind of harmful information, including violence and pornography.

21. 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? What specific legal provisions exist to protect children from being ill-treated in their homes or boarding institutions? 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?

22. With regard to information provided in paragraph 47 of the report, please specify what is understood by "unruly and depraved".

23. With regard to information provided in paragraph 48 of the report, please specify how the principle of the "best interests of the child" (art. 3) and the provisions of articles 37 and 40 are taken into account when a child is "sentenced to be detained during the State's pleasure".

24. Have any cases been reported of children who have been the victims of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment? If so, please provide information on such cases. Please further indicate the measures taken and resources committed for implementing the provisions of article 37 (a) of the Convention.

25. Please indicate to what extent the State Party takes responsibility for parental education and if there are other family counselling services. Please also provide information on the measures and programmes undertaken or foreseen by the Government to prevent early pregnancy.

26. Please further 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

27. In light of information provided in paras. 8 and 156, please provide information on the measures undertaken or foreseen by the State party to prevent and combat domestic violence, including sensitization campaigns and law-enforcement. Please also indicate efforts undertaken against the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary means in the family.

28. What concrete steps are the authorities taking to reduce the number of early marriages?

29. With regard to information provided in paragraphs 73 to 75 of the report, please explain what further legal and other types of measures have been taken by the State party to fully comply with the requirement of article 21 of the Convention. Please also indicate if the State is considering the ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

30. Please provide further information on the kinds of institutions existing to provide alternative care to children, the number of children under such care, the coverage they provide for children who are in need of care and the procedures in place for monitoring the conditions in the institutions. What systems and procedures exist for the monitoring of those alternative care institutions? Finally, please indicate if any step has been taken or is foreseen to ensure that staff working in such institutions are sufficiently trained and are informed about the Convention.

31. Please provide information on the guarantees in place to ensure the periodic review of placement of children in institutions.

32. Please indicate if the State Party has taken measures or is envisaging to do so to prevent and reduce the abandonment of children and, if so, please explain the obstacles encountered and achievements obtained.

33. With regard to information provided in paragraphs 83 to 91 of the report, please provide up-dated information on the major achievements obtained through the recently established programmes in regard to family environment.

34. Please indicate if any comprehensive study has been undertaken on the occurrence of sexual abuse within and outside of the family. Please explain how the Sexual Offences Act 1986 is implemented and how it relates specifically to children (para. 78). Finally, please indicate measures taken or foreseen, such as information campaigns, for the prevention of sexual abuse against children and the treatment and rehabilitation of victims.

35. With regard to information provided in paragraphs 92 to 94 of the report, please specify how the Health Sector Reform Programme is benefiting children both as to access to and quality of health services.

36. Please indicate the major results of the 1995 National Health Needs Survey with regard to children and the measures and programmes the survey generated.

37. With regard to information provided in paragraph 98 (a) of the report, please provide additional information on the legislative measures taken recently to protect children with disabilities. Please also provide updated information on training programmes provided to personnel involved in the care/education of children with disabilities (para. 99).

38. With regard to information provided in paragraphs 101 to 103 of the report on HIV/AIDS issues, please provide updated information on recent trends and on measures taken by the State Party to prevent and combat this phenomenon and assist affected children.

39. Please indicate the measures taken recently to prevent and combat alcohol and drug abuse among children as well as among adults. Also mention existing rehabilitation facilities in this regard.

40. With regard to information provided in paragraph 106, please provide detailed information on the "safety net" schemes. How many children benefit from this support system and what are the eligibility criteria applied?

41. Please provide additional information on the drop-out rates, the measures undertaken to reduce them and the availability of alternative education programmes as well as programmes for vocational training or special education for children living and/or working on the street.

42. How is full access to education ensured for children living in rural areas, children belonging to minority groups, children with disabilities and children living in poverty?

43. Please specify if measures have been taken or are foreseen to train school managers and teachers on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

44. With regard to information provided in paragraph 136 of the report, please provide up-dated information on the restructuring of the education system. Has a study on the quality of education been envisaged?

45. Please specify if corporal punishment in school is prohibited by law.

46. With regard to information provided in paragraph 137 of the report and relating to the review of the school curricula, please specify what consideration has been given to the incorporation of human and children's rights education including on understanding, peace and tolerance, into the national curriculum.

47. With regard to information provided in paragraph 147 of the report, please explain why persons of 16 and 17 years of age do not benefit from the protection in place for young persons. Is the State Party considering amending its criminal and penal systems in the light of the provisions and principles of the Convention?

48. With regard to information provided in paragraph 150 (d) of the report, please explain what legal and other measures the Government has taken to clearly prohibit corporal punishment and whipping as a sentence that can be imposed by courts on children.

49. Please provide further information, in the light of articles 37, 40 and 39 of the Convention (see para. 148), 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.

50. With regard to the situation of children in prison, please provide additional information, in particular, on the following issues:

- the conditions in prison, especially with regard to overcrowding;

- the separation of child detainees from adult ones;

- 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, health and other facilities in these institutions.

51. Please provide updated information with regard to the implementation of the recommendations made in 1994 by the Inter-ministerial Committee referred to in paragraph 154 of the report.

52. With regard to information provided in paragraph 29 of the report, please indicate the measures undertaken or foreseen to raise and harmonize the age of criminal responsibility.

53. Please provide further information on the existing or foreseen mechanisms to monitor existing laws regarding minimum age of employment. Are these provisions (paras. 164 and 165) effectively implemented? What are the major difficulties encountered?

54. Please indicate if the government of Trinidad and Tobago is considering ratification of ILO Convention No. 138 regarding minimum age of employment.

55. Please supply further information on the existence of concrete measures and programmes to prevent and combat exploitation of children, including:

- the sale and abuse of narcotic drugs;

- sexual exploitation, including prostitution and child pornography;

- sale and trafficking of children.

In this regard, please indicate whether the State party is taking into account the recommendations formulated in the Agenda for Action adopted at the Stockholm World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

56. In light of article 39 of the Convention, please provide further information on existing measures and programmes for psychological recovery and social reintegration of children victims of economic, sexual or any other forms of exploitation.