COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONSIDERS SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF TOGO

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today considered the second periodic report of Togo on that country’s efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing the report, Saayo Boyoti-N’Dadiya, Minister for Social Affairs, the Advancement of Women and the Protection of Children of Togo, said Togo was eager to protect the rights of its children. It had deployed efforts to achieve progress in the protection of the rights of children. Although much remained to be done, there was a political will to continue the work.

Ms. Boyoti-N’Dadiya said the Government had set up a national committee for the integration of victims of trafficking and the committee was also engaged in the fight against trafficking in children. The authorities had also adopted a National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in children and child labour.

In preliminary remarks, Committee Expert Awa N’Deye Ouedraogo, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Togo, thanked the delegation for the successful dialogue which had enabled the Committee to understand the difficulties facing the State party. She said the Committee had taken due note of the efforts deployed by Togo to implement the rights of the child. There was a need, however, to maintain the national policy and a national plan of action focusing on the rights of the child.

Joyce Aluoch, the Committee Expert who also served as country Rapporteur, said the Committee would put in its final concluding observations the concerns expressed during the dialogue on issues such as violence in schools and the family, harmful practices affecting the child, child prostitution, disparities in the treatment of children in different regions, the danger of early marriages, the positive steps taken towards HIV/AIDS, and juvenile justice.

Other Committee Experts also raised a number of questions pertaining to, among other things, trafficking in children and prostitution, the fate of street children, early marriages, birth registration, children born out of wedlock, corporal punishment, children with disabilities, children with HIV/AIDS, and child labour.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Togo towards the end of its three-week session, which will close on 28 January.

The delegation of Togo was also composed of representatives from the Directorate-General for the Protection of the Child and the National Committee on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Child.

As one of the 192 States parties to the Convention, Togo is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. The delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.

When the Committee reconvenes at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, 25 January, it is scheduled to take up the third periodic report of Bolivia (CRC/C/125/Add.2).

Report of Togo

The second periodic report of Togo, contained in CRC/C/65/Add.27, describes the efforts of the State party to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It says that Togo has taken into account the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child formulated following consideration of the initial report. The two main institutions responsible for the promotion and protection of children are the Ministry for Social Affairs, the Advancement of Women and the Protection of Children and the National Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Children’s Rights.

The report notes that efforts have been made to uphold the general principles of the Convention, including in the areas of non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, participation, survival and development. Several measures have been taken with a view to upholding the principle of non-discrimination. In the area of inheritance, the Individuals and Family Code refers expressly to respect for customary practices, but most such practices discriminate between girls and boys in this area. The Code is now being amended to make it gender-neutral, and the preliminary draft of a children’s code takes the same approach.

With regard to information that is harmful to children, there are undoubtedly shortcomings in the functioning of the administrative arrangements for controlling, for example, pornography, the report says. To remedy this situation, the Government has organized special meetings to alert video club owners to the dangers of distributing certain violent or pornographic films. However, the sheer abundance of information, through the Internet and multimedia, makes it difficult for the authorities or families to monitor the situation.

Presentation of Report

SAAYO BOYOTI-N’DADIYA, Minister for Social Affairs, the Advancement of Women and the Protection of Children of Togo, said Togo was eager to protect the rights of its children. Since the submission of Togo’s initial report, Government efforts had been deployed to achieve progress in the protection of the rights of children. Although much remained to be done, there was a political will to continue the work.

Ms. Boyoti-N’Dadiya said the Government had set up a national committee for the integration of victims of trafficking. The same committee was engaged in the fight against trafficking in children. The authorities had adopted a National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in children and child labour.

The Government had also taken measures to harmonize laws in line with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Minister said. Currently, the whole legal system was being reviewed to be consistent with international treaties. The Government had also taken into consideration the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflicts and the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitution.

Questions by Committee Experts

JOYCE ALUOCH, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Togo, commended the State party for the measures it was currently taking, particularly the set up of the national commission for the protection of the rights of the child and the adoption of the National Plan of Action on trafficking and child labour.

The report was prepared in accordance with the general guidelines of the Committee, Ms. Aluoch said. Did non-governmental organizations participate in the preparation or was it prepared only by the National Committee on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Child? Did the Committee receive complaints from children? Was the National Plan of Action a unified, right-based strategy?

Ms. Aluoch said the report lacked a compilation of data; no comparative update was included in the text. The legal definition of the child was not fully reflected. Which State body coordinated the implementation of the Convention? Did courts quote and apply the provisions of the treaty, as enshrined in the Constitution. Had the new act resolved discrimination against girls? Togolese law provided for the father to transmit his nationality to his child, but did the new act confer the same right to the mother?

The Rapporteur said Togo had ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, but what was the Government itself doing against the widespread child labour in the county? Only few births were registered within the time limit of 30 days; the registration fee was high; and a birth certificate was necessary for entry into primary school. What measures were taken to resolve the whole extended problem of birth registration?

AWA N’DEYE OUEDRAOGO, the Committee Expert who also served as country Rapporteur, commended the State party for submitting its second periodic report and for its effort to implement the provisions of the Convention. However, Togo was unable to fully implement the Convention due to the high rate of unemployment, indebtedness and the large number of refugees in the country. The development of the informal sector of the economy instead of the formal section had also affected the nation’s economy. Little progress had been made in the field of child rights because of the economic, social and political situation. The report was also short and lacked information on several points.

Togo did not ratify any of The Hague conventions pertaining to the protection of the rights of the child, including the United Nations convention on statelessness, Ms. Ouedraogo said. The State party was still expected to ratify the two Optional Protocols to the Convention.

She said that the Government apparently intended to overhaul the Committee on the Protection and Promotion of the Child; what had been done in that area? Was there a plan to adopt a new national plan of action? Corporal punishment was still widely practiced in the family and in educational institutions. What measures were taken to replace it by other non-violent means of discipline?

Another Expert said children with disabilities were discriminated against to the extent that some of them were killed. What had been done to prosecute those who killed such children? What measures had been taken to protect children with HIV/AIDS from discrimination and from being thrown out of school?

What measures were taken to combat the widespread corruption in the country that might also affect the rights of the child through the diversion of funds aimed for children, an Expert asked. Did courts take into consideration customary laws? There was a report about difficulties among the ministries in coordinating the activities relating to children. What was the level of cooperation with non-governmental organizations?

Another Expert said that children in Togo were considered the property of their parents; what measures did the Government take to change that attitude?

Children could not form any associations of their own but they could join adult associations, an Expert noted. The Committee against Torture had deplored the existence of cases of torture and extrajudicial killings. What measures were taken against the illegal use of force or to check its use?

Another Expert asked about the steps taken to fight female genital mutilation and early marriages.

An Expert said 50 per cent of Togo's population was living below the poverty level. What national strategy was adopted to alleviate poverty? The Government should take other factors affecting the rights of the child while adopting a global strategy against poverty. The situation of early marriages was worrying to the Committee; what measures were taken to improve this situation.

Trafficking in children was a serious problem affecting Togolese children, another Expert said. Children had been victims of trafficking hiding behind the guise of international adoptions and they were not protected because of the State party’s failure to ratify The Hague convention on inter-country adoption. The report had indicated that juvenile justice was suffering from the lack of resources and magistrates. If the situation of resources was understandable, the lack of magistrates was not. Togo had been independent since 1960 and should be able to train adequate jurists in juvenile justice.

Other Experts also raised questions pertaining to the sale of children, police investigations, access to education and social services, indictment of children, rehabilitation of victims of child trafficking and child labour, the fight against malaria, and children deprived of family environment, among other things.

Response by Togolese Delegation

The National Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Child would be structured to receive child complaints after it became an independent institution, the delegation said.

Asked about the age of criminal responsibility of a child, the delegation said the current minimum age of 13 years would be raised in the near future.

With regard to registration of births, advocacy efforts were being undertaken to make birth registration and the granting of certificates free of charge, the delegation said. At present, parents had to pay fees for birth certificates. A campaign was underway to raise awareness to encourage parents to register new births within 30 days. Health centres and traditional midwives were also encouraged to announce new births.

On the treatment children with disabilities, the delegation said the Government had changed its strategy in dealing with the subject by approaching traditional healers and community dealers to ensure that they did not harm those children. Those healers who did harm to children with physical deficiencies, on the pretext of healing them, were prosecuted.

Togolese legislators held a meeting with the Togolese branch of UNICEF on the need to adopt a policy for children and to draft a children’s code, the delegation said. The members of the police had also been informed on the rights of the child, through various means of awareness raising programmes.

Corporal punishment had been banned as a disciplinary measure in schools and other educational institutions, the delegation said. The Ministry of Education had taken the necessary steps to implement the ban. In 2004, in the capital Lome alone, 6 cases involving violence by teachers against children had been transferred to courts.

No difficulties existed between the ministries in the field of coordinating children's policies, the delegation said. There were also no major difficulties in the Government's work with non-governmental organizations.

Half of Togo’s population lived below the poverty threshold, the delegation said. Aware of the situation of poverty, the Government had put in place a strategy with the view to eliminate poverty in the country.

The measures taken against prostitution were not enough, the delegation said, adding that on the spot visits to certain locations had been carried out by the authorities and a number of pimps had been arrested. Children who were involved in prostitution were returned to their families.

The problem of street children did not relate only to Togolese children but also to children entering the country from neighbouring countries, the delegation said. Street children of foreign origin were handed over to their respective consular representatives while the Togolese were integrated into schools. Children above school age were provided with vocational training in areas of their interest.

Togo was contemplating the ratification of The Hague conventions on the protection of children and the process would be intensified once the delegation returned home, the delegation said.

Children born out of wedlock might not enjoy the same rights as children born to married parents, the delegation said. However, parents contributed to the well-being of the child in all cases.

Tradition was the cause for the perpetuation of early marriages in the country, the delegation said. However, such marriages were considered null and void before the national law.

The movement of children was under the surveillance of the national committee whose members were scattered throughout the villages to prevent trafficking of children, the delegation said. The surveillance committee prevented illegal overseas adoptions and acts of kidnapping of children inside the country.

An Expert asked whether the Government was making efforts to protect children from exploitation as domestic workers, to which the delegation said that although child labour was prohibited for children under 15 years, the problem could only be tackled through persuasion and awareness promotion. If a child domestic worker was removed from a family in Lome, the same child could move to another town, and the problem would remain unsolved. The Government had, however, adopted a three-year plan to deal with domestic service involving children.

The Government had made further efforts to ban female genital mutilation, the delegation said. A number of women practicing the operation had been provided with other income generating activities.

The situation of access to safe drinking water had been improved during 2003 and 2004, as compared to the situation in 2001, the delegation said. Diseases related to unsafe drinking water had also decreased.

Maternal mortality rate was very high in Togo, the delegation said; however, efforts were being made by the Government to reduce the infant and maternal mortality rate. In the health area, vaccination had become obligatory and mothers were expected to present such certificates when they took their children in for medical consultations.

Much had been done to prevent malnutrition, which was also related to poverty, the delegation said. In that connection, the Ministry of Social Affairs conducted weekly courses for mothers on nutrition.

Asked if the Government encouraged breastfeeding, the delegation responded by saying that most mothers in the country practiced an exclusive six-month breastfeeding period after a child was born. Awareness raising programmes on breastfeeding were also carried out in all health centres.

Preliminary Remarks

AWA N’DEYE OUEDRAOGO, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Togo, thanked the delegation for the successful dialogue, which had enabled the Committee to understand the difficulties faced by the State party. The Committee had taken due note of the efforts deployed by the State party to implement the rights of the child. There was a need, however, to maintain the national policy and a national plan of action geared towards the rights of the child. The national council for children should be able to function independently and autonomously in order to play a good role in the implementation of the rights of the child.

Ms. Ouedraogo said there was a great gap in data collection, which was essential to determine the efforts in various areas and to assess the progress made in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention. The children’s parliament should be able to function correctly to reflect children’s concerns. The Government should also adopt an integrated strategy to alleviate poverty. The situation of violence against children should be taken seriously. In order to improve the health sector, qualified staff should be trained. The Government should also look at education seriously and should find adequate solutions to the whole problem related to the national education system.

JOYCE ALUOCH, the Committee Expert who also served as country Rapporteur, said the Committee would put in its final concluding observations the concerns expressed during the dialogue. Such observations would concern issues related to violence in schools and the family, harmful practices affecting the child, child prostitution, disparities in the treatment of children in different regions, the danger of early marriages, the positive steps taken towards HIV/AIDS, and juvenile justice, among other things.


Note : For use of information media; not an official record

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