COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF BELIZE REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH CONVENTION

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning concluded its consideration of the report of Belize on how that country implements the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In its preliminary observations, the Committee recommended that Belize take all necessary measures to reform existing laws and to enact new ones which would strengthen the rights of its children. It also recommended that it ratify important human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The Committee will offer its final observations and recommendations towards the end of its three-week session which will conclude on 29 January.

As one of 191 States parties to the Convention, Belize must submit periodic reports to the Committee on the measures it undertakes to implement the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 19 January, it will take up the initial report of Guinea. It will also meet at 3 p.m. this afternoon in private to discuss its methods of work.


Discussion

In response to numerous questions raised by Committee experts during yesterday's meeting and today, the members of Belize's delegation said that with the slogan of "breast is best", the Government and non-governmental organizations had been conducting an awareness-raising campaign among mothers. Since 1991, a non-governmental organization had been engaged in this task and had been able to raise the rate of breast-feeding of children from birth to three months by up to 80 per cent. However, because of the lack of financial resources, the organization had ceased its activities. At present, the rate of breast-feeding was a little less that 50 per cent. The report of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), however, showed that only 24 per cent of infants in Belize were exclusively breast-fed for their first three months, which contributed to the increase of severe mal-nutrition.

With regard to the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, the delegation said that from 1986 to 1996 there were 494 persons registered with HIV infection and 186 persons registered with the AIDS virus. Nevertheless, a comprehensive survey of the overall situation of HIV/AIDS should be carried out to officially identify the number of persons involved, added the delegation. According to a report by UNICEF, the incidence of HIV/AIDS was considered to be severely under reported. Belize now had the second highest per-capita HIV infection rate of Central America after Honduras.

Concerning teenage pregnancy, the delegation said that the use of contraceptives was widely accepted among teenagers to avert pregnancy. However, as it was the case in most English-speaking Caribbean Islands, the rate of child pregnancy in Belize was high. In some regions of Belize where a conservative view of the use of contraceptives prevailed, the rate of pregnancy was even higher.

The delegation also said that most pregnant teenage girls were prompted to drop out from school because of the stigma and the treatment they encountered from their school mates. In order to allow them to complete their education, the Government had placed those teenage girls in a separate school where they were treated normally. The rate of adolescent pregnancy in Belize was reported to be one of the highest in the Caribbean and Central America and the Government envisaged strengthening family planning initiatives, added the delegation.

A question was asked if there was a harmful traditional practice involving children to which the delegation said that there was no such practice, except for corporal punishment which was still in vigour.

The Government of Belize had a serious shortage of qualified psychiatrists and psychologists to treat abused and traumatized children, the delegation said. In most rehabilitation shelters where abused children were kept, the absence of specialized skills did not allow the effective redress for those victims. However, the Government was making efforts to train more professionals in the field, the delegation added.

Concerning the ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on the legal minimum age to take employment, the delegation said that the Government attached great importance to that Convention and it was making the necessary consultations to ratify it. The Government believed that children should not be involved in lucrative employment.

The delegation said that primary education in Belize was free and compulsory for all children aged from 5 to 14 years. However, the main problem faced by the Government was the high drop-out rates from primary schools. In 1990, pre-school education participation had been 30.9 per cent but the figure had dropped to 24 per cent in 1997. In addition, early primary school repetition was significantly high as a result of the lack of appropriate preparation in pre-school classes, added the delegation.

In order to combat domestic violence, the Government of Belize had put in place a programme to adjust the level of violence in the family and around schools, the delegation went on to say. In many cases, boys were involved in violence on the street while girls seriously pursued their education. The high number of enrolment of girls in the University, 65 per cent, demonstrated that girls were active in education while boys found themselves roaming the streets. The Government had established a Conscious Youth Development Programme (CYDP) to involve adolescents in social activities, the delegation said.

With the close collaboration of the World Bank, the Government of Belize was putting in place a primary education project in which physical facilities and educational policies were being developed, the delegation said. The project was also involved in increasing the number of trained teachers to cope with the ever increasing number of students. A shift system was also introduced to reduce overcrowding of classrooms, said the delegation.

Regarding street children, the delegation said that the concept of street children in Belize was different from other countries' situation where such children lived in the streets. In Belize, children could been seen walking in the streets even during school hours but they lived in their parents's homes.


Preliminary Observations and Recommendations

The Committee said that as in the cases of other countries, Belize was faced with the task of respecting and implementing the rights of children. However, Belize's children had the hope that the new Government would make their lives better with priority measures it would undertake. Improving the situation of Belize's children was a challenge to the new Government and to the new Minister of Human Development, Women and Youth.

The Committee recommended that Belize take all the necessary measures to reform laws and to enact new ones which would strengthen the rights of its children. It also recommended that it ratify important human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Moreover, it recommended that Belize ratifies ILO Convention No. 138 on minimum age for employment.

The Committee recommended that the Government take all the necessary steps to strengthen the Ombudsman’s office so that it could effectively deal with the concerns of children. It recommended that data collection be carried out to identify the needs of children. It also recommended that the Government raise the minimum age of marriage and criminal responsibility; make available educational facilities; and improve the quality of education and health.