Committee on the Rights of the Child

Concluding observations on the combined fourth to sixth periodic reports of Cambodia *

I.Introduction

1.The Committee considered the combined fourth to sixth periodic reports of Cambodia at its 2588thand 2589thmeetings, held on 5 and 6 May 2022, and adopted the present concluding observations at its 2630th meeting, held on 3 June 2022.

2.The Committee welcomes the submission of the combined fourth to sixth periodic reports of the State party and the written replies to the list of issues, which allowed for a better understanding of the situation of children’s rights in the State party. The Committee expresses its appreciation for the constructive dialogue held with the multisectoral, high-level delegation of the State party.

II.Follow-up measures taken and progress achieved by the State party

3.The Committee welcomes the various legislative, institutional and policy measures to implement the Convention, including the adoption of the Law on juvenile justice, the action plan to prevent and respond to violence against children, the action plan for improving childcare, and the policies on child protection in schools and on inclusive education. It notes with appreciation the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in 2012, and accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, in 2013.

III.Main areas of concern and recommendations

4.The Committee reminds the State party of the indivisibility and interdependence of all the rights enshrined in the Convention and emphasizes the importance of all the recommendations contained in the present concluding observations. The Committee would like to draw the State party’s attention to the recommendations concerning the following areas, in respect of which urgent measures must be taken: corporal punishment (para. 26), sexual exploitation and abuse (para. 28), children deprived of a family environment (para. 32), education, including vocational training and guidance (para. 42), economic exploitation, including child labour (para. 46), and administration of child justice (para. 50).

5. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure the realization of children ’ s rights in accordance with the Convention, the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, throughout the process of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It urges the State party to integrate all targets of the Sustainable Development Goals in its national framework, and to ensure the meaningful participation of children in the design and implementation of policies and programmes aimed at achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals as far as they concern children.

A.General measures of implementation (arts. 4, 42 and 44 (6))

Legislation

6. Recalling its previous recommendations, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Expedite the adoption of a comprehensive child protection law that covers all principles and provisions of the Convention; establish a comprehensive legal framework for the referral and delivery of child protection services, the roles and responsibilities of each government entity, and the role of social workers; and allocate appropriate human, technical and financial resources for its implementation;

(b) Ensure the effective implementation of existing legislation in compliance with the Convention;

(c) Strengthen the knowledge of the judiciary, prosecutors and lawyers on the domestic legal status and the applicability of the Convention in court proceedings.

Comprehensive policy and strategy

7.The Committee recommends that the State party develop and adopt, with the full participation of children and civil society, a comprehensive policy on children that succeeds the national action plan on child development for 2016–2018, with a comprehensive implementation strategy, a mechanism for monitoring and evaluation, and sufficient human, technical and financial resources.

Coordination

8. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Strengthen the authority of the Cambodia National Council for Children and ensure it has adequate human, technical and financial resources for the effective monitoring and coordination of all activities related to the implementation of the Convention across all sectors, at the national, district and local levels, including the implementation of the various action plans on children ’ s rights;

(b) Strengthen the capacity of women and children consultative committees and the commune committees for women and children, including through the allocation of sufficient financial resources, to integrate children ’ s rights into subnational development plans.

Allocation of resources

9. Recalling its general comment No. 19 (2016) on public budgeting for the realization of children ’ s rights, the Committee reiterates its previous recommendations and urges the State party to:

(a) Increase allocations of financial, human and technical resources for the implementation of all legislative measures, policies, plans and programmes for children, including the national strategic development plan for 2019–2023, and for qualified social workers and other child protection professionals ;

(b) Utilize the ongoing reform of public finance management to introduce a system for tracking and ensuring the efficient use of budgetary allocations for the realization of children ’ s rights;

(c) Conduct regular assessments of the distributional impact of government investments in sectors supporting the realization of children ’ s rights and identifying measures to address any disparities between girls and boys, with particular attention to children with disabilities, children belonging to minority groups and children living in poverty;

(d) Strengthen mechanisms for ensuring transparent and inclusive budgeting allowing children, civil society and the public to participate in all stages of the budgetary process, including formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and roll out children ’ s consultations on planning and budgeting to all districts;

(e) Combat corruption and strengthen institutional capacities to effectively detect and investigate cases involving corruption and prosecute those responsible.

Data collection

10. The Committee welcomes the creation of the child protection information management system in 2019 and recommends that the State party:

(a) Develop a long-term strategy for the effective operation of the child protection information management system, including by allocating sufficient resources; establish a framework for regular reporting and monitoring; and integrate child rights indicators into the National Information System managed by the National Institute for Statistics;

(b) Ensure that data collected on children ’ s rights covers all areas of the Convention and its Optional Protocols, disaggregated by age, sex, disability, nationality, geographic location, ethnic origin and socioeconomic background, in order to facilitate analysis on the situation of all children, especially in the areas of violence, children with disabilities, health, children in street situations, child labour and child justice;

(c) Ensure that data and indicators on children ’ s rights are shared among the ministries concerned and used for the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes and projects for the effective implementation of the Convention ;

(d) Strengthen the capacity of the National Institute of Statistics and relevant professionals to collect data on children ’ s rights .

Independent monitoring

11. Recalling its previous recommendations, the Committee recommends that the State party expeditiously establish an independent mechanism for monitoring children ’ s rights that is in full compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and is able to receive, investigate and address complaints by children in a child-friendly manner.

Dissemination, awareness-raising and training

12. The Committee welcomes the incorporation of children ’ s rights in the school curriculum and recommends that the State party:

(a) Strengthen its awareness-raising programmes, in cooperation with civil society organizations and through greater media and social media engagement, to ensure that the Convention is widely known by children, parents and the general public;

(b) Encourage the media to ensure sensitivity to children ’ s rights, and implement all public outreach activities in a child-friendly manner and with the active involvement of children;

(c) Include mandatory modules on the Convention in training programmes for civil servants, law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, teachers, social workers, health professionals and other professionals working with and for children at national and local levels.

Cooperation with civil society

13. Noting with deep concern the Law on associations and non-governmental organizations , the Committee reminds the State party of the important role of independent civil society organizations and human rights defenders, including child human rights defenders, in promoting the human rights of children, and urges the State party to:

(a) Ensure that civil society organizations and human rights defenders, including child human rights defenders, are able to promote children ’ s rights and exercise their right to freedom of expression and opinion without being subjected to harassment or disproportionate pandemic-related restrictions, including by amending the Law on associations and non-governmental organizations ;

(b) Promptly and thoroughly investigate all allegations of intimidation of human rights defenders, including child human rights defenders, and their families, and ensure that they have adequate access to justice and are protected from harassment, intimidation, retaliation and violence.

Children’s rights and the business sector

14. Recalling its general comment No. 16 (2013) on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children ’ s rights, and its previous recommendations, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Establish and implement regulations to ensure that the business sector, in particular the manufacturing and tourism industries, complies with international and national human rights, labour, environment and other standards, part