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/></td> <td> <p style="font-size:1.4em;">United Nations</p> </td> <td> <p> <span style="font-size:2em;">CRC</span>/C/LBR/CO/2-4</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <p style="font-weight:bold;font-size:2em;">Convention on the Rights of the Child</p> </td> <td> <p>Distr.: General</p> <p>13 December 2012</p> <p>Original: English</p> </td> </tr> </table> <div class="content"> <p style="font-weight:bold;font-size:1.2em;">Committee on the Rights of the Child</p> <h2>Concluding observations on the combined second to fourth periodic reports of Liberia, adopted by the Committee at its sixty-first session (17 September-5 October 2012)</h2> <p>The Committee considered the consolidated second to fourth periodic reports of Liberia (CRC/C/LBR/2-4) at its 1728th and 1729th meetings, held on 18 September 2012 (see CRC/C/SR.1728 and 1729), and adopted, at its 1754th meeting, held on 5 October 2012, the following concluding observations.</p> <h2>I.Introduction</h2> <p>The Committee welcomes the submission of the consolidated second to fourth periodic reports of the State party, as well as the written replies to its list of issues (CRC/C/LBR/Q/2-4/Add.1). The Committee appreciates the presence of a very high-level and multi-sectoral delegation and the positive dialogue, which enabled the Committee to gain a better understanding of the situation of children in the State party. </p> <h2>II.Follow-up measures undertaken and progress achieved by the State party</h2> <p>The Committee welcomes as positive the following legislative measures: </p> <p>(a)The Children s Law of 4 February 2012 designed to domesticate the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the national legal system;</p> <p>(b)The Education Reform Act of 8 August 2011;</p> <p>(c)The Anti-Corruption Law of 21 August 2008;</p> <p>(d)The Act to amend the Penal Code of 17 January 2006, known as the Rape Law; </p> <p>(e)The Act to Ban Trafficking in Persons within the Republic of Liberia of 14 June 2005, known as the Anti-trafficking Law; and</p> <p>(f)The Independent National Commission on Human Rights Act of the Republic of Liberia of 11 March 2005. </p> <p>The Committee also welcomes the ratification or accession to the following international and regional human rights instruments:</p> <p>(a)Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in July 2012;</p> <p>(b)International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in September 2004 and its second Optional Protocol in September 2005;</p> <p>(c)Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in September 2004;</p> <p>(d)Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol in September 2004; </p> <p>(e)African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in August 2007; and</p> <p>(f)Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in December 2007;</p> <p>The Committee appreciates the State party s efforts to put in place policies and plans aimed at promoting child rights, in particular the following measures:</p> <p>(a)National Plan of Action for the Prevention and Management of Gender-based Violence (2011-2015);</p> <p>(b)National Plan of Action against Human Trafficking (2008);</p> <p>(c)National Policy on Girls Education (2006);</p> <p>(d)National Youth Policy for Liberia: A Framework for Setting Priorities and Executing Actions (2006); and</p> <p>(e)Education Sector Master Plan 2000-2010 and the Action Plan 2004-2015: Education for All.</p> <p>The Committee commends the establishment of a Criminal Court mandated to handle gender-based violence cases in 2008, as well as the creation of the Women and Children s Protection Section within the Liberian National Police service in 2005.</p> <h2>III.Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Convention</h2> <p>The Committee notes that years of political instability followed by a 14-year civil war that ended in 2006 led to severe destruction of physical and social infrastructure, disruption of governmental and social institutions, displacement of the vast majority of the population internally and externally as well as severe loss of human capital, all of which constitute obstacles to the full implementation of the Convention.</p> <h2>IV.Main areas of concern and recommendations</h2> <h3>A.General measures of implementation (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6, of the Convention)</h3> <h3>The Committee s previous recommendations </h3> <p>While welcoming the State party s efforts to implement the concluding observations on its previous report (CRC/C/15/Add.236, 2004), the Committee regrets that some of the recommendations contained therein have not been fully addressed.</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee urges the State party to take all necessary measures to address those recommendations from the concluding observations of the initial report under the Convention that have not been implemented or sufficiently implemented, particularly those related to legislation, coordination, non-discrimination, harmful practices and juvenile justice.</p> <h3>Legislation </h3> <p>The Committee welcomes the enactment of the Children s Law in February 2012. However, it remains concerned that the State party has not undertaken a complete review of its legislation in order to harmonize it with the Convention, and that some provisions of the existing legislation and customary law are not consistent with the principles and provisions of the Convention, in particular those relating to the minimum age for marriage, adoption, and juvenile justice.</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee recommends that the State party ensure the full and effective implementation of the Children s Law. It reiterates its recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add.236, para. 10, 2004) that the State party undertake a comprehensive review of all domestic legislation to ensure full conformity with the principles and provisions of the Convention, and in the meantime ensure that in case of conflict, the Children s Law prevails over all statutory and customary legislation. </p> <h3>Comprehensive policy and national plan of action</h3> <p>The Committee notes the adoption of several policies and plans relating to children, notably the National Health and Social Welfare Plan, the National Plan of Action against Trafficking, the National Youth Policy for Liberia and the National Youth Action Plan and the National Social Protection Policy and Strategy. However, it reiterates its concern (CRC/C/15/Add.236, para. 11, 2004) about the lack of a comprehensive policy to guide the implementation of the Convention as a whole and the lack of a clear mechanism such as a national plan of action on children to link the implementation of the various child-related plans. </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee recommends that the State party develop a comprehensive national policy on children, in consultation with children, civil society, community and traditional leaders, for the overall reali z ation of the principles and provisions of the Convention and its Optional Protocols; as well as a national plan of action on children, linked to the national budget, on the implementation of the Convention and the Children s Law and application of the national policy. </p> <h3>Coordination</h3> <p>The Committee notes that the Children s Protection and Development Unit, upgraded to the status of a Division in 2008 under the Ministry of Gender and Development, has responsibility for overall coordination of activities to implement the Convention in the State party. The Committee regrets the lack of information on the resources allocated to the Division, while noting that its parent Ministry receives one of the lowest budgetary allocations from the national budget. It is seriously concerned about the lack of capacity and authority of the Children s Protection and Development Division to carry out policy level and strategic coordination among the various ministries and between the national and provincial levels on child rights-related matters. The Committee notes that a National Child Well-being Council is mandated by the Children s Law; however it is concerned that the Council has not yet become operational and its mandate clarified with regard to other institutions.</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;"> The Committee urges the State party to reinforce the coordination by ensuring that an appropriate body with high status, sufficient authority, clear mandate and adequate human, technical and financial resources is designated to effectively coordinate action for children s rights across different sectors and from the national to the county and municipal levels. To this effect, the State party should take into account the Committee s general comment No. 5 (2003) on the general measures of implementation for the Convention (CRC/GC/2003/5) . The Committee recommends that the State party expedite the operationalization of the National Child Well-being Council with a clear mandate and adequate human, financial and technical resources.</p> <h3>Allocation of resources</h3> <p>While noting that Liberia was one of the countries in Africa that performed fairly in 2006-2008 in allocating resources to sectors that benefit children, the Committee remains concerned that national budgetary resources for the implementation of the Convention remain very insufficient. It is also concerned that the heavy dependency on donor funding of the social sectors benefiting children is not sustainable. Furthermore, the budgeting process in the State party does not allow for clear identification of the resources allocated to children, and prevents the tracking of expenditure on children and the evaluation of its impact. </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee recommends that the State party in planning its future budgets take into account its recommendations during the d ay of g eneral d iscussion in 2007 on  Resources for the Rights of the Child  Responsibility of States and specifically:</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">(a) A llocate adequate budgetary resources for children to the maximum extent possible in accordance with article 4 of the Convention and article III (2) of the Children s Law and in particular increase the budget allocated to the social sectors benefiting children, including from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief resources;</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">(b) I nitiate a budgeting exercise that utilizes a child rights approach to ensure strategic allocations from the State budget to implement children s rights, and implement a tracking, monitoring and evaluation system for the allocations and their use; </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">(c) C onduct a comprehensive assessment of children s needs; define strategic budgetary lines that provide clear allocations for those areas that progressively address the persistent disparities in indicators such as gender, disability and geographical location affecting children s rights; and ensure that those budgetary lines are protected even in situations of economic crisis, natural disasters or other emergencies; </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">(d) C onduct regular budget impact assessments with respect to children s rights utilizing the tracking system to assess how investments in any sector may serve the best interests of the child, while ensuring that the differential impact of such investments on girls and boys is measured; and</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">(e) C onsider seeking technical assistance from, inter alia, the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF). </p> <h3>Corruption</h3> <p>While commending the State party on the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Act in 2008 and the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Commission, the Committee is highly concerned that corruption remains pervasive in the State party, as recognized by the State Party s delegation. Corruption continues to divert resources that could otherwise improve the implementation of the rights of the child and weakens the efficiency and efficacy of budgetary allocations for children.</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee urges the State party to take immediate measures to combat corruption and strengthen institutional capacities, including trained investigators and prosecutors and the Anti-Corruption Commission, to effectively detect, investigate and prosecute corruption.</p> <h3>Data collection</h3> <p>The Committee notes the State party s intention to create a central data collection system in areas concerning children together with the Child Protection Network. However, it reiterates its concern about the lack of information and the inability to access disaggregated data about children on most areas covered under the Convention (CRC/C/15/Add/236, para. 19, 2004), in particular children in poverty, children subjected to violence, children with disabilities, children deprived of a family environment and children engaged in child labour.</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee encourages the State party to set up a comprehensive data collection system with the support of its partners and to analyse the data collected on children as a basis for assessing progress achieved in the realization of child rights and to help design appropriate policies and programmes to implement the Convention. The data collection should focus in particular on the aforementioned children. The data should also be disaggregated by age, sex, geographic location, ethnicity, nationality and socio-economic background to facilitate analysis on the situation of all children. </p> <h3>Independent monitoring</h3> <p>While noting the amendments made in 2005 and 2009 to the Independent National Commission on Human Rights Act, the Committee reiterates its concern (CRC/C/15/Add.236, para. 15, 2004) that the Commission continues to be ineffective and lacks an explicit mandate to investigate children s complaints. It is further concerned that this lacuna has negative consequences on children s enjoyment of their rights, particularly in rural and remote areas.</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee urges the State party to strengthen the capacity of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights to bring it into full compliance with the Paris Principles and reflect its general comment No. 2 ( 2002 ) on the role of independent human rights institutions in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child (CRC/GC/2002/2) . The State party should ensure that the Commission has a mechanism accessible to all children under the age of 18 years, empowered to receive and investigate complaints of violations of child rights in a child-sensitive manner. The Commission should be equipped with adequate human, financial and technical resources to properly discharge its responsibility, and effectively address child rights violations, especially in rural and remote areas. </p> <h3>Dissemination and awareness-raising</h3> <p>The Committee is concerned at the low level of awareness and knowledge of the Convention among professionals working with and for children, as well as among the general public, including children, largely due to the fact that the Convention is not available in local languages or in versions accessible to all and in child-friendly versions. </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee recommends that the State party ensure effective dissemination of the Convention, including through translating the Convention into local languages and making it available in accessible and child-friendly versions. T he State party should also increase its efforts to raise awareness among the general public, community and traditional leaders and children (including children who are out of school), about the rights provided for in the Convention.</p> <h3>Training </h3> <p>While commending the increase in the amount of training provided to the child welfare committees, the Committee remains concerned that training is ad hoc, dispersed and not systematic; and in particular that judges and other personnel involved in juvenile justice are not trained on how to deal properly with young persons in conflict with the law. </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee recommends that all professional groups working for and with children be adequately and systematically trained on children s rights, including law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors, teachers, health workers, social workers and personnel working in all forms of alternative care.</p> <h3>Cooperation with civil society</h3> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The State party is encouraged to strengthen its cooperation with civil society for the implementation of the Convention and the Children s Law, including the development and monitoring of the implementation of policies, legislation and the National Plan of Action for Children. The Committee recommends that the State party consider strengthening the capacity of civil society in order to allow it to effectively discharge its duties, including funding local non-governmental organizations ( NGOs ) to support activities in communities where the State is not present. </p> <h3>Child rights and the business sector</h3> <p>The Committee regrets that multinational companies in the country, notably those operating in the rubber and steel producing industries, are operating in the absence of clear regulatory frameworks to ensure that international human rights, labour, environment and other standards are adhered to in order to protect workers and families and communities affected by their activities. In particular, the Committee is concerned that children are being engaged by their families in hazardous work in order to meet production quotas imposed by the companies, yet data on child employment is not collected and analysed for remedial action. It is also concerned that issues related to relocation affecting families and communities in mining areas, such as compensation for private properties to be left behind, new lands for housing, farming, and settlements, and access to other natural resources for income and subsistence, are not discussed with or communicated to the persons concerned, nor are they disclosed to the public.</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">The Committee recommends that the State Party establish and implement regulations to ensure that the national and transnational business sector complies with international and national human rights, labour, environment and other standards, particularly with regard to child rights, and in light of Human Rights Council resolutions 8/7 of 18 June 2008 (para. 4(d)) and resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011 (para. 6(f)). In particular, it recommends that the State party:</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">( a) Expedite the revision of the Labour Act with a view to fully incorporat ing ILO Convention 182 into national law regarding the prohibition of hazardous work by children and regulating child labour in compliance with the Convention; </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">( b) Require assessments, consultations and disclosure by companies on plans to address environmental and health pollution, as well as on the human rights impact of measures such as relocation of communities or establishment of production quotas;</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">( c) Collect data on children engaged in hazardous work in private companies, disaggregated by age, sex, geographic location, ethnicity, socio-economic background and type of work and analysed for policy formulation to prevent the occurrence of violations and provide effective remedies when they occur; and</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">( d) Take into account the United Nations Business and Human Rights Framework adopted unanimously in 2008 by the Human Rights Council to promot e child rights in the context of business.</p> <h3>B.Definition of the child (art. 1 of the Convention)</h3> <p>While noting as positive that the legal age of marriage has been set at 18 years for both boys and girls in the Child