COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF SWAZILAND
Meeting Summaries
Report of SwazilandThe Convention on the Rights of the Child has not been implemented in full since its ratification in 1995, according to the initial report of Swaziland, contained in document CRC/C/SWZ/1. The main reason for the delay is that coordinating structures became dormant. In addition, it was unclear which Government Ministry had responsibility for coordinating children’s issues. It is planned that in the future national laws will be changed in order to comply with the Convention. The National Committee for Children and the Technical Working Group will recommend that key provisions of the Convention be included in the Constitution that is currently being drafted. Plans include consolidating laws on children’s rights, including those relating to special institutional structures for children, for example children’s courts.
Currently, equality is not guaranteed and Swaziland is presently reviewing its Constitution. Both customary and general law discriminate, particularly in terms of gender, age, nationality, education, occupation, income, political affiliation, religious differences, disability, location (urban/rural) and infrastructure. Both systems of law allow for girls to be married at an earlier age than boys. By custom, girls can marry at puberty whilst boys are thought to be too young to marry at this age. Under general law a girl can marry at 16 whilst a boy can only marry at 18. Girls are also subjected to the traditional custom of arranged marriages (kwendziswa) and may have to assume the position of the one who will bear children for her barren relative (inhlanti). Under both customary and general law, children born out of wedlock are deprived of certain rights, in particular inheritance from their fathers. These children are only entitled to paternal maintenance and are believed to be the responsibility of their mother and her family.
Introduction of Report
NOMATHEMBA DLAMINI, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said the HIV/AIDS pandemic was one of the most unprecedented challenges the country had every experienced. According to a 2004 report, the HIV prevalence rate among women attending antenatal care clinics was 42.6 per cent. The ugly face of the pandemic was its devastating effect on children, with the number of orphans and vulnerable children currently projected at well over 70,000, and that figure was projected to reach 120,000 by 2010. Closely linked with the HIV/AIDS pandemic was the high level of poverty, which stood at an alarming rate of 69 per cent. Children were the most affected and their rights were greatly compromised economically, legally and socially by the prevailing circumstances.
Notwithstanding those challenges, Ms. Dlamini said the Government had fully committed itself to implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2002, priority had been given to the preparation of the project on Social Protection of Vulnerable Children including orphans 10 to 18 years old. To implement the project, the Government had mandated the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to establish the Children’s Coordination Unit and allocated a sum of 10 million Emalangeni for the operationalization of the project.
Ms. Dlamini observed that, subsequent to the production of the present report, in July 2005, the Government of Swaziland had finalized and adopted the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. The Constitution had presented a further opportunity to address most of the children’s rights issues not previously covered in the country’s legal framework and in the initial report. Sections 29 to 31 specifically addressed children’s rights and abolished the status of illegitimacy. The Constitution also made a provision for the free education for all children at least up to the end of the primary level within three years of its commencement. As a starting point, since 2003, the Government had been providing grants to orphans and vulnerable children and in 2005 those grants had supported 65,548 such children.
In addition, Ms. Dlamini noted that the Government had embarked on a project to develop comprehensive draft legislation on children and sexual offences as well on domestic violence. Also, the Government and its partners had developed a children’s policy, which was before the Cabinet and was envisaged to be adopted before the end of the year. In recognition of the growing number of children with disabilities, the Government had sanctioned a national survey of all forms of disabilities in the country.
Finally, Ms. Dlamini said, in order to reduce morbidity and mortality among children, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had devised a strategy for reaching every child in the country with a basic child survival package in line with the Convention. The package included immunization; vitamin A supplements; regular de-worming; provision of insecticide-treated bed nets in malaria endemic areas; and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission plus other measures.
Questions and Comments by Committee Experts
ROSA MARIA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for Swaziland, said she regretted the long delay in preparing the report, which meant that much of the data was out of date. However, she welcomed the broad discussion that had apparently taken place in drafting the report and the cultural sensitivity that had been brought to its analysis.
Ms. Ortiz said that the Committee recognized the advances that Swaziland had achieved through the adoption of the Constitution in 2005, which brought important innovation in the rights of the child. Children’s rights were recognized and protected therein and the Constitution provided for the establishment of a children’s court as part of the Supreme Court. Also noteworthy were the adoption of a national policy to combat HIV/AIDS and a second National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children 2006-2010; investment in education; the breastfeeding policy, which had raised the number of newborns that were breastfed; the ratification of important international conventions, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; as well as community-level action to help children.
Ms. Ortiz observed, however, that there was no provision in the Constitution for conflict in the dual legal system and that that left children’s rights vulnerable in a number of important areas, including the definition of the child, marriage age, and age of sexual consent, among others.
Ms. Ortiz pointed out the lack of up to date data in the report, including on the infant mortality rate – where statistics dated back to 1997 – as well as a lack of information on teen pregnancy, teen sexually transmitted diseases, international adoptions, children in foster homes, AIDS orphans, and others.
She noted that, while section 29 of the Constitution made important contributions to children’s rights by prohibiting child labour in dangerous jobs, and in protecting them against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, yet it had retained “moderate” corporal punishment as a means of correction.
The floor was then given to Experts for further questions. One Expert said that she would like further details on the Government’s proposed plans to bring legislation in line with the Convention. Another Expert asked whether and when Swaziland would accede to the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the rights of children in armed conflict and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. He was also concerned by the lack of clarity in minimum ages for criminal responsibility and marriage age. Noting that corporal punishment was legal in the home, as well as in the educational, correctional and penitentiary systems, an Expert asked to what extent such punishment was actually practised. Another Expert asked which government agency was responsible for gathering statistics on children’s rights?
Regarding the Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan, an Expert said he would appreciate information on how children were benefiting from that plan. Also, there were two separate projects for orphans and vulnerable children – a Social Protection of Vulnerable Children including orphans project, and a national Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children for 2006-2010. He wanted to know how those two programmes were related and which government agency was responsible for carrying them out.
Response by Delegation to Questions
The delegation of Swaziland affirmed that the Government had prepared the report in consultation with all stakeholders, including the private sector, non-governmental organizations, communities, United Nations agencies and others. Admittedly, the report was weak on statistics. Swaziland was aware of the problem and private donors were currently funding the Statistics Unit to be able to provide more comprehensive data.
Regarding the conflict of laws owing to the dual legal systems, the delegation noted that cases had been decided that clarified the position. Common law and statutory law were held to override customary or traditional law. In terms of incorporating the Convention into domestic legislation, the current plan was to do this on a piece-by-piece basis. The Children’s Bill was an example of that process, and it was hoped that it would be adopted this year. The Bill to amend the Marriage Act, to amend marriage age, was another. It was hoped that before the first quarter of the coming year that Swaziland would ratify the two Optional Protocols to the Convention.
The question of the definition of the child had been debated in various forums in Swaziland, which was incorporated in the Bill on Children’s Rights. It had been agreed that a child should be defined as a person from 0 to 18 years.
The delegation affirmed that it was the Coordinating Unit of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare which was responsible for all activities affecting children. That Unit was also responsible for statistics regarding children and for reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
On the issue of child labour, children 15 years old were allowed to work for four hours after school.
Clarifying the different roles of the mechanisms for the protection of vulnerable children, the delegation said that the National Plan of Action focused on children’s issues like the right to food, participation, education, etc., whereas the Social Protection of Vulnerable Children was a project that targeted health issues and life skills for street children.
Questions by Committee Experts
Further questions were asked by Experts, including what was being done at the community level to address children’s issues. An Expert, while welcoming the idea of a children’s parliament, echoed that sentiment by further highlighting the need for children’s input in their everyday environment, and asked what was being done to bring children’s concerns into play at every level in all institutions? Several Experts expressed concern about the role of the Coordination Unit. One Expert felt that it was too broadly mandated, whereas another felt that it appeared to blend a coordinating role with an implementing one.
Response by Delegation
Responding, the delegation of Swaziland said that the Coordinating Unit’s role was to bring together all the different agencies. It would start by identifying issues, but the Unit would also coordinate the planning and design of those activities to be undertaken, as well as monitor and analyse the programmes and activities undertaken.
The delegation noted that Swaziland had a decentralized policy that created structures at the local and the chieftain level. The Chiefs were already aware of the National Policy of Action. The Chiefs were tasked with reporting on progress in their communities regarding children on a quarterly basis. That policy was already in motion.
Regarding children’s right to be heard, which was being incorporated at the national level through the children’s parliament, the delegation noted that in 95 per cent of the Chiefdoms they had revived a tradition of the social centre, a structure in which family problems were discussed. That structure was very important for allowing children to participate and for children’s voices to be heard.
On the issue of birth registration, the 27 per cent figure was not one that represented the whole country. That figure pertained only to those children who were orphaned and vulnerable. In 2005 a national campaign for birth registration was launched, and 17,000 children were registered under that programme.
The delegation said corporal punishment was still practised. Research had been undertaken and the results had been distributed to as wide a number of stakeholders as possible, including to Chiefs and households, to debate the issue and suggest better alternatives. A non-governmental organization was currently spearheading a programme to promote positive discipline. The Ministry of Education was considering removing corporal punishment from its current policy, but there was no agreement among educators as of yet.
The delegation noted that when the community child protectors were selected, the children were present at participated. At the Chiefdom level, parents could go to the Chief to report any case, which would be heard by a committee that included members of the local police.
Further Questions by Experts
Ms. Ortiz said she was struck by the way the Chiefs and community structures had been incorporated into the issue of children’s rights. Were there also programmes in place to assist families on the economic and psychosocial levels at the community level? Was there a network for child protection provided by non-governmental organizations?
Turning to health issues, an Expert wondered what was being done to address the issue of teenage pregnancies and the implications such pregnancies had for girls’ education. Regarding HIV/AIDS, she wished for confirmation of her understanding that all children and pregnant mothers currently received free antiretroviral drugs and that psychosocial care and counselling were also freely available to all who needed them. She also was concerned to hear about programmes to ensure access to clean drinking water.
An Expert noted that school was not currently compulsory, even though it was now free. It also appeared that teaching was not child-centred and that human rights education was not part of the curricula. Another Expert wondered about children’s right to play and resources and programmes being allocated for recreation.
Response by Delegation
The delegation said that they did not have enough data on children with disabilities. Swaziland had recently commissioned an international survey on children with disabilities, which was the first step in establishing a policy on the subject.
The reason why children in foster care had dropped so dramatically, despite the increase in the number of “dumped” children that were abandoned every week, was owing to the combination of HIV/AIDS and poverty, the delegation confirmed. There was extreme vulnerability among even the extended family, so they refused to foster children.
Questions by Experts
The replies by Swaziland indicated that 1,000 children were in registered care, but the report cited that there were 70,000 vulnerable children and AIDS orphans. What happened to the other 69,000, the delegation asked? Also, it was well known that in countries with such extensive AIDS pandemics there was a high number of child-headed households. Had the Government any plans to target such families?
Response by the Delegation
Indeed, the number of child-headed households was growing in Swaziland, the delegation said. There was a life-skills programme to assist such children. There was also a programme known as the women’s regiment, in which women neighbours were assigned a number of households to visit every day to ensure that the children were well and to stand in the place of the mother, such as teaching hygiene and looking after their education. There was also a new nationwide programme that provided funds for the communities to help grow food, specifically for provision to those child-headed households. Moreover, in terms of housing, another programme, supported by the Global Fund, ensured the building of structures for such families. While there were no current figures, in 2002 it was estimated that there were 10,000 such child-headed households, 90 per cent of which were reached by the programmes mentioned.
The delegation noted that there was very little data on substance abuse among children in Swaziland. As previously mentioned, the Government was currently enlisting the help of outside partners to address that gap. Despite a lack of figures, however, it was clear that substance abuse among children was high. Schools had requested educational programmes on drug abuse and group therapy. Some educational programmes had been launched and a draft bill on tobacco was hoped to address part of that problem.
Regarding refugees, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was working on normalizing the records of stateless children. In June 2005, the Government had met with the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees with a view to drafting legislation on the issue.
The delegation noted that there was currently only one children’s detention centre in the country. They were, however, actively mobilizing to construct more, which would contain vocational training centres to assist in integrating children into the community.
While there was currently no human rights Ombudsman or any plans to institute one, the delegation pointed out that there were plans for the establishment of a national Human Rights Commission.
The delegation confirmed that all HIV positive children were treated free of charge, and that their families also received free psychosocial support. They were aiming to attain universal access for everyone to such treatment and they had reached their UNAIDS “three by five” targets on time in 2005.
Further Questions by Experts
An Expert said that according to his reading of the statistics provided, over 90 per cent of the children in Swaziland did not complete 12 years of schooling. What plans were in place to address that situation? Another Expert noted an encouraging statistic in the report, which said that the budgetary allocation for education was equal to 7 per cent of the gross domestic product. He wondered if that were true for health as well.
Regarding the status of child protection instruments, an Expert asked when the Coordination Unit would be set up, what status it would have, and when the national policy on the protection of children, elaborated in 2003, would be implemented.
Response by Delegation
The delegation noted that more funds were allocated for education than for health. Regarding the figure that only 10 per cent of children completed secondary education, she felt that was too low and would have to come back with updated statistics.
Regarding water and sanitation, there was a school programme on sanitation. Neighbourhood care points and clinics were required to have proper sanitation facilities. At the community level, rural health motivators visited households to talk about health issues, including proper waste disposal.
In terms of the right to play, recreation was compulsory in schools and certain hours and facilities were set aside for recreation. Community centres also provided facilities for children to play, the delegation confirmed.
The difficulty with recruiting teachers was that their numbers were being decimated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It was a serious, serious problem, the delegation underscored. They were trying to make up for this by training programmes and recruiting, but it was not as yet filling the gap.
The delegation confirmed that siSwati was prohibited in public schools and that education was conducted in English only. It was recalled that all government business was carried out in English and that this policy was to force children to learn English so that they could fully participate in all areas of society.
Regarding the Coordination Unit, the delegation explained that it would be under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, but that it would indeed be semi-autonomous. The semi-autonomous status allowed the staff of the Unit to be of a higher level than would otherwise be the case. The Unit would be operational within this financial year. Regarding the national policy on children, it was before the Cabinet now.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
ROSA MARIA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for Swaziland, said that she felt the dialogue today had been a very useful one. She noted that much work and effort had been undertaken by Swaziland, much of which deserved the Committee’s welcome and congratulations. However, much remained to be done. There were many victims of bureaucratic delays and an apparent lack of political will to address the situation of children.
A functional system of protection had to be set up for children. The children’s bill and the bill on sexual abuse needed to be urgently passed and the two Optional Protocols also had to be ratified. Swaziland needed to work quickly, and Ms. Ortiz suggested that perhaps Parliament should set up a committee to address childhood issues.
Most important, Ms. Ortiz felt, was that people needed to understand why these changes had to take place and it had to be translated into a change in how people in Swaziland regarded children’s rights. Swaziland’s cooperation plans with UNICEF and UNESCO in the area of children appeared to be fraught with more difficulties than the national plans themselves, which indicated to her that they lacked coordination. She felt that there was not a sufficient will to address the problems: there were a lot of proposals, but not enough concrete action. It was true that the issue of training of professionals was being addressed, but it was not enough. All professionals had to be trained in the area of children’s rights and how it affected their professions.
Ms. Ortiz said that there was a good deal being done at the community level, but not enough preventative work undertaken, in particular to help girls. She would like to see more action undertaken by the Government to prove its commitments to the rights of children.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CRC06044E
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the initial report of Swaziland on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing the report, Nomathemba Dlamini, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country had had a devastating effect on children, and the poverty level stood at an alarming rate of 69 per cent. Notwithstanding those challenges, the Government had fully committed itself to implementing the Convention. In 2002, priority was given to the preparation of the project on Social Protection of Vulnerable Children, and the Government had allocated a sum of 10 million Emalangeni for its operationalization. In July 2005, Swaziland had finalized and adopted the Constitution, sections 29 to 31 of which specifically addressed children’s rights and abolished the status of illegitimacy. The Constitution also made a provision for the free education for all children up to the end of the primary level.
In preliminary concluding remarks, Committee Expert Rosa María Ortiz, country Rapporteur, noted that much work and effort had been undertaken by Swaziland, which deserved the Committee’s welcome and congratulations. However, much remained to be done. A functional system of protection had to be set up for children. The children’s bill and the bill on sexual abuse needed to be urgently passed and the two Optional Protocols to the Convention also had to be ratified. Swaziland needed to work quickly, and she suggested that Parliament set up a committee to address childhood issues. Most important, people needed to understand why these changes had to take place and it had to be translated into a change in how people in Swaziland regarded children’s rights.
Other Committee Experts contributed to the debate by raising questions pertaining to plans to bring their legislation in line with the Convention; whether and when Swaziland would accede to the Optional Protocols to the Convention; the lack of clarity in minimum ages for criminal responsibility and marriage age; corporal punishment, which was legal in the home, as well as in the educational, correctional and penitentiary systems; and clarification on the role of the Coordinating Unit, as well as which government agency was responsible for gathering statistics on children’s rights.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Swaziland towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 29 September.
Also representing the delegation of Swaziland were Newman Ntshangase, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Swaziland to the United Nations Office at Geneva, as well as other representatives from the Government and from the Permanent Mission of Swaziland in Geneva.
As one of the States parties to the Convention, Swaziland is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of that treaty. The delegation was on hand during the meetings to present the report and answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When Chamber A of the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 19 September, it will take up the initial report of Congo (CRC/C/COG/1). Chamber B will review the report of Syria on the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in the morning, and the report of Denmark on that Optional Protocol in the afternoon.
Report of SwazilandThe Convention on the Rights of the Child has not been implemented in full since its ratification in 1995, according to the initial report of Swaziland, contained in document CRC/C/SWZ/1. The main reason for the delay is that coordinating structures became dormant. In addition, it was unclear which Government Ministry had responsibility for coordinating children’s issues. It is planned that in the future national laws will be changed in order to comply with the Convention. The National Committee for Children and the Technical Working Group will recommend that key provisions of the Convention be included in the Constitution that is currently being drafted. Plans include consolidating laws on children’s rights, including those relating to special institutional structures for children, for example children’s courts.
Currently, equality is not guaranteed and Swaziland is presently reviewing its Constitution. Both customary and general law discriminate, particularly in terms of gender, age, nationality, education, occupation, income, political affiliation, religious differences, disability, location (urban/rural) and infrastructure. Both systems of law allow for girls to be married at an earlier age than boys. By custom, girls can marry at puberty whilst boys are thought to be too young to marry at this age. Under general law a girl can marry at 16 whilst a boy can only marry at 18. Girls are also subjected to the traditional custom of arranged marriages (kwendziswa) and may have to assume the position of the one who will bear children for her barren relative (inhlanti). Under both customary and general law, children born out of wedlock are deprived of certain rights, in particular inheritance from their fathers. These children are only entitled to paternal maintenance and are believed to be the responsibility of their mother and her family.
Introduction of Report
NOMATHEMBA DLAMINI, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said the HIV/AIDS pandemic was one of the most unprecedented challenges the country had every experienced. According to a 2004 report, the HIV prevalence rate among women attending antenatal care clinics was 42.6 per cent. The ugly face of the pandemic was its devastating effect on children, with the number of orphans and vulnerable children currently projected at well over 70,000, and that figure was projected to reach 120,000 by 2010. Closely linked with the HIV/AIDS pandemic was the high level of poverty, which stood at an alarming rate of 69 per cent. Children were the most affected and their rights were greatly compromised economically, legally and socially by the prevailing circumstances.
Notwithstanding those challenges, Ms. Dlamini said the Government had fully committed itself to implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2002, priority had been given to the preparation of the project on Social Protection of Vulnerable Children including orphans 10 to 18 years old. To implement the project, the Government had mandated the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to establish the Children’s Coordination Unit and allocated a sum of 10 million Emalangeni for the operationalization of the project.
Ms. Dlamini observed that, subsequent to the production of the present report, in July 2005, the Government of Swaziland had finalized and adopted the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. The Constitution had presented a further opportunity to address most of the children’s rights issues not previously covered in the country’s legal framework and in the initial report. Sections 29 to 31 specifically addressed children’s rights and abolished the status of illegitimacy. The Constitution also made a provision for the free education for all children at least up to the end of the primary level within three years of its commencement. As a starting point, since 2003, the Government had been providing grants to orphans and vulnerable children and in 2005 those grants had supported 65,548 such children.
In addition, Ms. Dlamini noted that the Government had embarked on a project to develop comprehensive draft legislation on children and sexual offences as well on domestic violence. Also, the Government and its partners had developed a children’s policy, which was before the Cabinet and was envisaged to be adopted before the end of the year. In recognition of the growing number of children with disabilities, the Government had sanctioned a national survey of all forms of disabilities in the country.
Finally, Ms. Dlamini said, in order to reduce morbidity and mortality among children, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had devised a strategy for reaching every child in the country with a basic child survival package in line with the Convention. The package included immunization; vitamin A supplements; regular de-worming; provision of insecticide-treated bed nets in malaria endemic areas; and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission plus other measures.
Questions and Comments by Committee Experts
ROSA MARIA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for Swaziland, said she regretted the long delay in preparing the report, which meant that much of the data was out of date. However, she welcomed the broad discussion that had apparently taken place in drafting the report and the cultural sensitivity that had been brought to its analysis.
Ms. Ortiz said that the Committee recognized the advances that Swaziland had achieved through the adoption of the Constitution in 2005, which brought important innovation in the rights of the child. Children’s rights were recognized and protected therein and the Constitution provided for the establishment of a children’s court as part of the Supreme Court. Also noteworthy were the adoption of a national policy to combat HIV/AIDS and a second National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children 2006-2010; investment in education; the breastfeeding policy, which had raised the number of newborns that were breastfed; the ratification of important international conventions, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; as well as community-level action to help children.
Ms. Ortiz observed, however, that there was no provision in the Constitution for conflict in the dual legal system and that that left children’s rights vulnerable in a number of important areas, including the definition of the child, marriage age, and age of sexual consent, among others.
Ms. Ortiz pointed out the lack of up to date data in the report, including on the infant mortality rate – where statistics dated back to 1997 – as well as a lack of information on teen pregnancy, teen sexually transmitted diseases, international adoptions, children in foster homes, AIDS orphans, and others.
She noted that, while section 29 of the Constitution made important contributions to children’s rights by prohibiting child labour in dangerous jobs, and in protecting them against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, yet it had retained “moderate” corporal punishment as a means of correction.
The floor was then given to Experts for further questions. One Expert said that she would like further details on the Government’s proposed plans to bring legislation in line with the Convention. Another Expert asked whether and when Swaziland would accede to the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the rights of children in armed conflict and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. He was also concerned by the lack of clarity in minimum ages for criminal responsibility and marriage age. Noting that corporal punishment was legal in the home, as well as in the educational, correctional and penitentiary systems, an Expert asked to what extent such punishment was actually practised. Another Expert asked which government agency was responsible for gathering statistics on children’s rights?
Regarding the Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan, an Expert said he would appreciate information on how children were benefiting from that plan. Also, there were two separate projects for orphans and vulnerable children – a Social Protection of Vulnerable Children including orphans project, and a national Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children for 2006-2010. He wanted to know how those two programmes were related and which government agency was responsible for carrying them out.
Response by Delegation to Questions
The delegation of Swaziland affirmed that the Government had prepared the report in consultation with all stakeholders, including the private sector, non-governmental organizations, communities, United Nations agencies and others. Admittedly, the report was weak on statistics. Swaziland was aware of the problem and private donors were currently funding the Statistics Unit to be able to provide more comprehensive data.
Regarding the conflict of laws owing to the dual legal systems, the delegation noted that cases had been decided that clarified the position. Common law and statutory law were held to override customary or traditional law. In terms of incorporating the Convention into domestic legislation, the current plan was to do this on a piece-by-piece basis. The Children’s Bill was an example of that process, and it was hoped that it would be adopted this year. The Bill to amend the Marriage Act, to amend marriage age, was another. It was hoped that before the first quarter of the coming year that Swaziland would ratify the two Optional Protocols to the Convention.
The question of the definition of the child had been debated in various forums in Swaziland, which was incorporated in the Bill on Children’s Rights. It had been agreed that a child should be defined as a person from 0 to 18 years.
The delegation affirmed that it was the Coordinating Unit of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare which was responsible for all activities affecting children. That Unit was also responsible for statistics regarding children and for reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
On the issue of child labour, children 15 years old were allowed to work for four hours after school.
Clarifying the different roles of the mechanisms for the protection of vulnerable children, the delegation said that the National Plan of Action focused on children’s issues like the right to food, participation, education, etc., whereas the Social Protection of Vulnerable Children was a project that targeted health issues and life skills for street children.
Questions by Committee Experts
Further questions were asked by Experts, including what was being done at the community level to address children’s issues. An Expert, while welcoming the idea of a children’s parliament, echoed that sentiment by further highlighting the need for children’s input in their everyday environment, and asked what was being done to bring children’s concerns into play at every level in all institutions? Several Experts expressed concern about the role of the Coordination Unit. One Expert felt that it was too broadly mandated, whereas another felt that it appeared to blend a coordinating role with an implementing one.
Response by Delegation
Responding, the delegation of Swaziland said that the Coordinating Unit’s role was to bring together all the different agencies. It would start by identifying issues, but the Unit would also coordinate the planning and design of those activities to be undertaken, as well as monitor and analyse the programmes and activities undertaken.
The delegation noted that Swaziland had a decentralized policy that created structures at the local and the chieftain level. The Chiefs were already aware of the National Policy of Action. The Chiefs were tasked with reporting on progress in their communities regarding children on a quarterly basis. That policy was already in motion.
Regarding children’s right to be heard, which was being incorporated at the national level through the children’s parliament, the delegation noted that in 95 per cent of the Chiefdoms they had revived a tradition of the social centre, a structure in which family problems were discussed. That structure was very important for allowing children to participate and for children’s voices to be heard.
On the issue of birth registration, the 27 per cent figure was not one that represented the whole country. That figure pertained only to those children who were orphaned and vulnerable. In 2005 a national campaign for birth registration was launched, and 17,000 children were registered under that programme.
The delegation said corporal punishment was still practised. Research had been undertaken and the results had been distributed to as wide a number of stakeholders as possible, including to Chiefs and households, to debate the issue and suggest better alternatives. A non-governmental organization was currently spearheading a programme to promote positive discipline. The Ministry of Education was considering removing corporal punishment from its current policy, but there was no agreement among educators as of yet.
The delegation noted that when the community child protectors were selected, the children were present at participated. At the Chiefdom level, parents could go to the Chief to report any case, which would be heard by a committee that included members of the local police.
Further Questions by Experts
Ms. Ortiz said she was struck by the way the Chiefs and community structures had been incorporated into the issue of children’s rights. Were there also programmes in place to assist families on the economic and psychosocial levels at the community level? Was there a network for child protection provided by non-governmental organizations?
Turning to health issues, an Expert wondered what was being done to address the issue of teenage pregnancies and the implications such pregnancies had for girls’ education. Regarding HIV/AIDS, she wished for confirmation of her understanding that all children and pregnant mothers currently received free antiretroviral drugs and that psychosocial care and counselling were also freely available to all who needed them. She also was concerned to hear about programmes to ensure access to clean drinking water.
An Expert noted that school was not currently compulsory, even though it was now free. It also appeared that teaching was not child-centred and that human rights education was not part of the curricula. Another Expert wondered about children’s right to play and resources and programmes being allocated for recreation.
Response by Delegation
The delegation said that they did not have enough data on children with disabilities. Swaziland had recently commissioned an international survey on children with disabilities, which was the first step in establishing a policy on the subject.
The reason why children in foster care had dropped so dramatically, despite the increase in the number of “dumped” children that were abandoned every week, was owing to the combination of HIV/AIDS and poverty, the delegation confirmed. There was extreme vulnerability among even the extended family, so they refused to foster children.
Questions by Experts
The replies by Swaziland indicated that 1,000 children were in registered care, but the report cited that there were 70,000 vulnerable children and AIDS orphans. What happened to the other 69,000, the delegation asked? Also, it was well known that in countries with such extensive AIDS pandemics there was a high number of child-headed households. Had the Government any plans to target such families?
Response by the Delegation
Indeed, the number of child-headed households was growing in Swaziland, the delegation said. There was a life-skills programme to assist such children. There was also a programme known as the women’s regiment, in which women neighbours were assigned a number of households to visit every day to ensure that the children were well and to stand in the place of the mother, such as teaching hygiene and looking after their education. There was also a new nationwide programme that provided funds for the communities to help grow food, specifically for provision to those child-headed households. Moreover, in terms of housing, another programme, supported by the Global Fund, ensured the building of structures for such families. While there were no current figures, in 2002 it was estimated that there were 10,000 such child-headed households, 90 per cent of which were reached by the programmes mentioned.
The delegation noted that there was very little data on substance abuse among children in Swaziland. As previously mentioned, the Government was currently enlisting the help of outside partners to address that gap. Despite a lack of figures, however, it was clear that substance abuse among children was high. Schools had requested educational programmes on drug abuse and group therapy. Some educational programmes had been launched and a draft bill on tobacco was hoped to address part of that problem.
Regarding refugees, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was working on normalizing the records of stateless children. In June 2005, the Government had met with the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees with a view to drafting legislation on the issue.
The delegation noted that there was currently only one children’s detention centre in the country. They were, however, actively mobilizing to construct more, which would contain vocational training centres to assist in integrating children into the community.
While there was currently no human rights Ombudsman or any plans to institute one, the delegation pointed out that there were plans for the establishment of a national Human Rights Commission.
The delegation confirmed that all HIV positive children were treated free of charge, and that their families also received free psychosocial support. They were aiming to attain universal access for everyone to such treatment and they had reached their UNAIDS “three by five” targets on time in 2005.
Further Questions by Experts
An Expert said that according to his reading of the statistics provided, over 90 per cent of the children in Swaziland did not complete 12 years of schooling. What plans were in place to address that situation? Another Expert noted an encouraging statistic in the report, which said that the budgetary allocation for education was equal to 7 per cent of the gross domestic product. He wondered if that were true for health as well.
Regarding the status of child protection instruments, an Expert asked when the Coordination Unit would be set up, what status it would have, and when the national policy on the protection of children, elaborated in 2003, would be implemented.
Response by Delegation
The delegation noted that more funds were allocated for education than for health. Regarding the figure that only 10 per cent of children completed secondary education, she felt that was too low and would have to come back with updated statistics.
Regarding water and sanitation, there was a school programme on sanitation. Neighbourhood care points and clinics were required to have proper sanitation facilities. At the community level, rural health motivators visited households to talk about health issues, including proper waste disposal.
In terms of the right to play, recreation was compulsory in schools and certain hours and facilities were set aside for recreation. Community centres also provided facilities for children to play, the delegation confirmed.
The difficulty with recruiting teachers was that their numbers were being decimated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It was a serious, serious problem, the delegation underscored. They were trying to make up for this by training programmes and recruiting, but it was not as yet filling the gap.
The delegation confirmed that siSwati was prohibited in public schools and that education was conducted in English only. It was recalled that all government business was carried out in English and that this policy was to force children to learn English so that they could fully participate in all areas of society.
Regarding the Coordination Unit, the delegation explained that it would be under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, but that it would indeed be semi-autonomous. The semi-autonomous status allowed the staff of the Unit to be of a higher level than would otherwise be the case. The Unit would be operational within this financial year. Regarding the national policy on children, it was before the Cabinet now.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
ROSA MARIA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for Swaziland, said that she felt the dialogue today had been a very useful one. She noted that much work and effort had been undertaken by Swaziland, much of which deserved the Committee’s welcome and congratulations. However, much remained to be done. There were many victims of bureaucratic delays and an apparent lack of political will to address the situation of children.
A functional system of protection had to be set up for children. The children’s bill and the bill on sexual abuse needed to be urgently passed and the two Optional Protocols also had to be ratified. Swaziland needed to work quickly, and Ms. Ortiz suggested that perhaps Parliament should set up a committee to address childhood issues.
Most important, Ms. Ortiz felt, was that people needed to understand why these changes had to take place and it had to be translated into a change in how people in Swaziland regarded children’s rights. Swaziland’s cooperation plans with UNICEF and UNESCO in the area of children appeared to be fraught with more difficulties than the national plans themselves, which indicated to her that they lacked coordination. She felt that there was not a sufficient will to address the problems: there were a lot of proposals, but not enough concrete action. It was true that the issue of training of professionals was being addressed, but it was not enough. All professionals had to be trained in the area of children’s rights and how it affected their professions.
Ms. Ortiz said that there was a good deal being done at the community level, but not enough preventative work undertaken, in particular to help girls. She would like to see more action undertaken by the Government to prove its commitments to the rights of children.
For use of the information media; not an official record
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