COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORTS OF KAZAKHSTAN

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the combined second and third periodic reports of Kazakhstan on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing the reports, Madina Jarbussynova, Ambassador-at-large with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, said that considerable changes had taken place in Kazakhstan since its first report had been presented. Those had been years of rapid economic growth. Economic, social and political reforms that had been carried out in Kazakhstan had resulted in a considerable improvement in the well-being and quality of life of its citizens. Consequently, the overall environment with respect to children's rights had improved greatly. There were many new programmes and decrees relating to children's rights, including a strategy on gender equality (2006-2016); a strategy on countering drug abuse (2006-2014); and a programme on rehabilitation of disabled people (2006-2008). Last year, the draft law on ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in International Adoption had been prepared, and was now under consideration in the Parliament. The country's economic growth had also enabled the increase of funding directed towards social services and social protection of families and children, as well as for education, upbringing, health protection, culture, physical training and sports.

In preliminary concluding observations, Committee Expert Lothar Krappmann, who served as Rapporteur for the reports of Kazakhstan, commended Kazakhstan for the many activities it had launched to promote and protect children's rights; on the other hand, many problems persisted. Kazakhstan had solved a number of problems with regard to school buildings and their equipment. They had the money for such investments. However, innovations, reforms and the introduction of new patterns of problem solving with regard to family support, teaching methods, children's participation, juvenile justice, violence and sexual abuse and exploitation would take much longer, because such issues demanded not only money, but that attitudes be changed, and that might take a generation. In that regard, it was to be hoped that the existing cooperation with civil society organizations would be continued and intensified.

Other Experts raised a series of questions and made comments pertaining to, among other things, a lack of disaggregated data on vulnerable groups of children, including minority and refugee children, and children involved in drug abuse, prostitution, and child labour; what was being done to implement a national plan of action on children; education for migrant children; whether the recommendations of the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children were being implemented; what were the criteria for eligibility to social welfare for families; the status of plans to reform the juvenile justice system; widespread commercial sexual exploitation; and the situation of homeless children. An Expert, while he understood that corporal punishment was prohibited in institutional settings, such as schools and children's homes, was concerned by the apparently frequent reality of children being exposed to violence or ill-treatment in such settings.

The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Kazakhstan towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 8 June 2007.

The delegation of Kazakhstan also included Arkin Akhmetov, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and other representatives from the Permanent Mission in Geneva; Darya Klebanova, a member of Parliament of Kazakhstan; and representatives from the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of Children, the Commission for Human Rights, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Economic and Budget Planning, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.

As one of the 193 States parties to the Convention, Kazakhstan 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 reports and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.

When the Committee next reconvenes in public on Friday, 1 June, at 10 a.m., it will consider the initial reports of Guatemala with regard to how that country is implementing the Optional Protocol to the Convention on children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/GTM/1), and the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/GTM/1).

Reports of Kazakhstan

According to the combined second and third periodic reports of Kazakhstan (CRC/C/KAZ/3), in the period 2003-2006, the laws safeguarding the rights and interests of children in Kazakhstan were further refined with a view to bringing them more fully into line with the principles and provisions of the Convention, and creating the legal conditions for children’s social well-being. These efforts were furthered by the adoption of the Act on the Health-Care System, of 4 June 2003; the Act on Human Reproductive Rights and Guarantees for Their Realization, of 16 June 2004; and the Act on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, Child Neglect and Homelessness, of 9 July 2004, and others. In addition, State sectoral programmes in such fields as education, health care, poverty reduction, migration policy, demographic development and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities are aimed, inter alia, at implementing the national policy on the observance of the lawful rights and interests of children. Furthermore, a special body, the Committee for the Protection of Children’s Rights, was established within the Ministry of Education and Science in 13 January 2006 to coordinate the implementation of the Convention at the national and local levels, including by effectively coordinating activities between central and local authorities and cooperating with non-governmental organizations and other sectors of civil society.

During the reporting period, the legal mechanisms for protecting children’s interests were further developed. The Ombudsman’s powers to protect human rights were broadened and new functions were assigned to the office: participation in the judicial review of cases; handling of applications for review of the legality of judicial decisions; initiation of parliamentary hearings; and referral of petitions for the institution of criminal, civil or disciplinary proceedings. In addition, within the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner in Kazakhstan, there is a special section with responsibility for children’s rights. In 2006, a pilot project entitled “Protecting the rights of the child and establishing monitoring mechanisms” was launched. The goal of the project is to create a children’s rights ombudsman in every region of Kazakhstan. It is being implemented jointly with the central Government as part of the cooperation programme for 2005-2009. The key partners in the project include 90 representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ombudsman’s Office, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, the media, and 3,000 children aged 10-17 years.

Presentation of Report

MADINA JARBUSSYNOVA, Ambassador-at-large with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, said that considerable changes had taken place in Kazakhstan since the time its first report had been presented. Those had been years of rapid economic growth and, according to the World Bank's classification, Kazakhstan now belonged to a group of middle income countries. Economic, social and political reforms that had been carried out in Kazakhstan had resulted in a considerable improvement in the well-being and quality of life of its citizens. The Government had been continuously providing support to vulnerable groups of the population. Consequently, the overall environment with respect to children's rights had improved greatly. Indeed, protection of the rights and best interests of children was paramount to national policy, as clearly evidenced in the annual address of the President, on 28 February 2007, in which he established additional goals and targets aimed at further changes with respect to the system of social support for children and mothers.

General provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child had been continuously integrated into Kazakhstan's legislation, including, among others, a Law on Public Health Care of July 2006, and amendments and additions to the Civil Code adopted in January 2007. Moreover, Ms. Jarbussynova highlighted new state programmes and government decrees relating to children's rights, including a strategy on gender equality (2006-2016); a strategy on countering drug abuse (2006-2014); and a programme on rehabilitation of disabled people (2006-2008). With specific regard to children, an interagency working group charged with the development of new legislation on marriage and the family had been formed under the Ministry of Justice. Last year, the draft law on ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in International Adoption had been prepared and was now under consideration in the Parliament. Ratification would provide for protection of children's rights after adoption and would also strengthen control over living conditions of the children adopted by foreign citizens.

The country's economic growth had enabled the increase of funding directed towards social services and social protection of families and children, as well as for education, upbringing, health protection, culture, physical training and sports, Ms. Jarbussynova underscored. In 2003, social expenditure amounted to 11.18 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), as compared with 11.84 per cent in 2006. As of 1 October 2006, the level of expenditures directed towards social services amounted to 58.32 per cent of the budget.

To further protect the rights and interests of children, a programme "Children of Kazakhstan" was being developed for 2007-2011, which would determine the basic State policy in that sphere. To implement that programme, Ms. Jarbussynova said that $84 million would be allocated in 2007-2011. Also, the Government had annually raised the funding of mother and child health care programmes: in 2006, nearly $16.1 million more had been allocated for mother and child health care activities than the previous year. Budgeted items in 2006 included $8 million for provisions of pharmaceuticals to children and adolescents for regular check ups and out-patient treatment of chronic diseases; $5 million for pharmaceuticals for children under five years of age; $5 million for provision of iodine and iron supplements for pregnant women; $31 million for preventive medical examinations of women of reproductive age, including control and recovery services; and $854,000 for the purchase of medicines to treat HIV-infected children with AIDS in South Kazakhstan. Also in 2006, $1.6 million had been allocated for rehabilitation and health improvement, recreation activities for orphans, children from ecologically adverse regions, children from disadvantaged and large families, and talented children from various regions in Kazakhstan. Some $2 million had been allocated for the same purposes in 2007. Also, it was planned to allocate some $74 million for construction of mother and child health care facilities.

Ms. Jarbussynova announced that, in January 2006, the Government had set up a Committee on the Protection of the Rights of the Child under the Ministry of Education and Science, to coordinate activities and promote protection of the rights and legitimate interests of children. Recently, the divisions of the Committee had been established in every region of the country. Today, nine ministries and state agencies, 275 non-governmental organizations and civil society bodies were dealing with children's issues in the country, and during the reporting period the Government had increased its cooperation with international organizations in the sphere of child protection. In addition, an Interministerial Commission on Minors' Affairs and Protection of Their Rights was being set up under the Government.

On children deprived of parental care, Ms. Jarbussynova said that, in 2006, the Ministry of Education and Science had developed a plan for monitoring children's homes and boarding schools for orphans and children deprived of parental care. Analyses had shown that in the majority of institutions, nearly all the necessary conditions for education and upbringing of children had been created. There was also a programme "Hope" to try and help keep children with their single young mothers. Today, of more than 51,000 orphans and children deprived of parental care, 18,000 were institutionalized. More than 31,000 were placed under kinship care and 1,791 children were brought up by foster families. During the last eight years, 20,000 children had been adopted by Kazak citizens, and 729 children had been adopted by foreign families.

Kazakhstan wished to de-institutionalize and develop alternative forms of care for orphans, such as kinship care, foster care, adoption, family-type children's homes and villages, Ms. Jarbussynova stressed. To that end, the "SOS Kinderdorff" network had been initiated by the First Lady of Kazakhstan, whereby nine children's villages had been established, with 592 children, and two new villages would be opened next year. Also, in March 2007, the Government had allocated nearly $50 million to pay allowances to families who brought up other children, thereby reducing the number of institutionalised children by approximately 30 per cent. Moreover, financial support of disadvantaged families with children was provided through the system of targeted social assistance. As of 1 January 2007, such assistance had been rendered to some 333,100 disadvantaged citizens (of which, some 207,500 children) at a cost of $27 million.

To provide social rehabilitation of children with deviant behaviour, 569 minors had been placed into 10 special educational institutions in 2006. There were 1,890 adolescents registered with the Ministry of Internal Affairs as habitual alcohol users, and 1,430 adolescent drug abusers. Among others, special efforts were being taken to target adults who had involved children in drug abuse or the commission of crimes. In 2006, 165 adults had been brought to administrative responsibility. To make criminal legislation for minors more humane, amendments to the codes of criminal law, criminal procedure and criminal sentencing were planned. There was also a three-year pilot project on the development of a juvenile justice system which was being carried out in two districts of the country. Under that programme investigators had started to use restorative punishments more frequently, including placement of children under parental control or house arrest. Since its implementation there had been a steady decrease in the number of accused minors sentenced to arrest: from 33.3 to 16.6 per cent in one district, and from 41.8 to 15.6 per cent in the other.

Questions by Experts

LOTHAR KRAPPMANN, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Kazakhstan, very much liked the numerous references in the report to the relevant paragraphs of the first report, as well as frequent references to the concluding observations of the Committee. That was a demonstration that Kazakhstan was involved in a continuous process and dialogue with the Committee. Also noteworthy was the outstanding economic growth in the country, and the evidence in the report and in the presentation today that that economic development had already had a positive impact on a number of problems that were related to unemployment, poverty and lack of services.

Mr. Krappmann noted that Kazakhstan's report did not give figures for children defined as persons under 18 years old. Did that mean that many statistical data about children in the report and in the written replies referred to children up to the age of 15 only, or did they include 18 and 19 year olds? Those differences might sometimes considerably change the picture.

Regarding the legal status of the Convention in domestic law, Mr. Krappmann, while noting that ratified international treaties were directly applicable in Kazakhstan, said that there was also a 2005 law on international agreements which stated that "in case of any conflict ... international treaties shall be subject to amendments, suspension or their termination." Could the delegation please clarify how that related to the Convention and the obligation it put on State parties to adapt its legislation to it.

Another obstacle to implementation of the Convention was ineffective coordination, Mr. Krappmann pointed out. The Committee was glad to learn that the Government had established a Committee for the Protection of Children's Rights in January 2006. However, that Committee had been established under the Ministry of Education and Science, and he wondered if that Committee was able to coordinate activities with regard to the whole range of rights enshrined in the Convention. He also wondered whether the Committee had been equipped with the financial and personnel resources to fulfil that task.

An effective instrument to push implementation would be a national plan of action. The report noted that a national programme "Children of Kazakhstan 2006 to 2011" had been drafted, and that it addressed a broad range of child protection issues and the infrastructure of protection. However, it was unclear if that programme had been approved. In addition, Mr. Krappmann wondered whether there were any plans to upgrade that programme so that it could become a comprehensive national plan of action for children's rights?

Finally, while noting the absolute increase in budgetary allocations for children's issues in Kazakhstan, which had more than doubled from 2003 to 2006, that development had to be related to overall GDP growth. Kazakhstan's GDP had almost doubled, whereas the increase in the education, health and welfare budget had only increased from 11.18 to 11.84 per cent of GDP. Also, while the GDP percentage share of the education budget was 10 per cent higher, the social security budget had been cut by 7 per cent of GDP. Mr. Krappmann said that, with more money available, on the one hand, and a lack of a considerable shift of the portion of GDP allocated for children on the other, it seemed to be a relatively modest improvement.

Another Expert said regarding the national human rights institutions, the National Human Rights Commission was not able to consider individual complaints, and did not comply with the Paris Principles. With regard to the Ombudsman's Office, subsequently established in 2004, while noting the information that there was a section of that office dealing directly with children's issues (since 2006), that institution also had lacunae: it lacked the ability to investigate prisons or other state institutions, and it did not have an independent budget. Both of those institutions fell short of the Paris Principles guidelines for independent national human rights institutions. Was Kazakhstan planning to establish a truly independent human rights monitoring and complaint mechanism in the near future?

Other Experts then raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, documentation for refugee children or children living in remote areas; when would the draft law on equal rights and equal opportunities be enacted, and did it cover all forms of discrimination; whether the gender equity plan had been implemented, and whether it contained a special focus on the girl child; a lack of disaggregated data on vulnerable groups of children, including minority and refugee children, and children involved in drug abuse, prostitution, and child labour; treatment of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in Kazakhstan, in particular with regard to legal rights; why the Convention had never been directly invoked before the domestic courts; whether non-governmental organizations actively participated in drafting Kazakhstan's report, or had merely provided statistics; a lack of a specific crime of torture in the domestic law; more information on the status of the national plan of action on children, including whether public consultations had been held on that subject; and more information on children belonging to minority groups.

An Expert objected to the use of the term "social orphans" for those with living parents that were under institutional care and she asked the Government to reconsider the use of that term. Another Expert echoed that sentiment with regard to the term "illegitimate" children, which she felt was harmful and discriminatory.

Response by the Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that, with regard to statistical data on children, in the past data had been gathered for the age groups 0 to 9, 9 to 15 and 15 to 18. However, the State statistics agency, UNICEF and other partners, had this year begun a joint project to harmonize data with international standards, and the Convention in particular.

On the legal status of the Convention in cases where there was a conflict between it and national law, the delegation confirmed that, according to the Constitution, ratified international legal instruments had precedence over domestic law. The 2006 provision cited today, which had given precedence to domestic law, had been removed by the Parliament in 2007. Moreover, a new law was being drafted to provide for international treaties to be invoked directly in domestic courts, and it should be in force by next fall.

The delegation clarified that the Committee on the Protection of Children's Rights, despite being attached to the Ministry of Education and Science, had a wide mandate. Whereas last year there were only 20 members, there were now 45 members, and at the regional offices there were now 350 children's rights specialists.

Regarding the budget for the national programme "Children of Kazakhstan" (2007-2011), the Government had already approved 10 million tenge for that programme next year. The delegation confirmed that it was indeed foreseen that the programme would be converted into a national action plan.

On the national human rights machinery, the delegation said the National Human Rights Commission was an advisory body providing advice to the President. Its main task was to develop state policy in the field of human rights. Some 14 of its members were from civil society and the non-governmental organization sector. That body more or less corresponded to the Paris Principles. For individual complaints, the Commission referred them to the appropriate mechanisms or tribunals. The National Human Rights Ombudsman had 15 permanent staff and was financed by a separate, independent budget line out of the State budget. It was likely that special legislation would be adopted to bring it in line with the Paris Principles.

The right of children to express their views was taken into account in the courts in Kazakhstan. Children had the right to express their views as of the age of 10, but it was contemplated that that age would be lowered given the accelerated development of children these days.

The delegation noted that registration of births was mandatory throughout the country, including births of children born in rural areas and refugee children. If there was no official state authority in the territory, such registration could be performed by local officials. Over 300,000 children had been born in Kazakhstan last year, and all of them had received the appropriate birth certificates. All the certificates were the same, whether for nationals or foreigners, the delegation added.

On gender equality, the law on gender equality had been adopted last November, the delegation said. It was in line with European legislation in that sphere, and discussions on implementation were currently under way in Parliament.

All persons with disabilities, including children, received the necessary medical care and other assistance required, the delegation affirmed.

For children with HIV/AIDS, a programme had been drafted in conjunction with UNICEF, among others, to address that situation.

Further Questions by Experts

During the second round of questions, the Rapporteur wished for information about measures to address the worrying long-term repercussions of the nuclear test at the site of the Semipalatinsk region and to the ongoing health impact of the Aral Sea disaster. Had the Clinical and Rehabilitation Centre started to work? Had the screening of the population potentially affected by radiation been completed, and with what results? Did all children living in the Aral Sea region now have access to clean drinking water?

Noting the high quality educational system, and the high rate of children attending secondary school, Mr. Krappmann was concerned to know more about the small percentage of secondary school dropouts, and also what the rate of completion of secondary education was. He was also concerned by a provision for 15 year olds to leave the compulsory education system with the permission of their parents. Also, given that there was a programme to provide free textbooks to certain groups of children, it would appear that other children had to pay for them. Were there other hidden costs in the free compulsory education system? Finally, what teacher training and continuing education programmes were there for teachers?

Other Experts asked further questions on topics including, among others, programmes to ensure standards of protection for children; education for migrant children; what steps were being taken to implement the recommendations of the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children; what were the criteria for eligibility to social welfare for families; and the status of plans to reform the juvenile justice system.

With regard to the mention in the reports that every year approximately 10,000 homeless children were found, an Expert wondered what measures had been taken to ensure the right to adequate housing for children. Also, what monitoring mechanisms were there to ensure implementation of the action plan on the prevention of the worst forms of child labour (2005-2007), and what evaluations had been carried out on the efficacy of that plan? Also of concern was that, despite the many laws and programmes to deal with the situation in Kazakhstan, according to the report there were still, according to the report, "alarming levels" of violence against women; commercial sexual exploitation was widespread; and cases in which women were trafficked had become commonplace. And yet, the report noted that in recent years, only a negligible number of such cases reached the courts. Did that mean there was effective impunity for the perpetrators of crimes of violence against women and children?

An Expert, while he understood that corporal punishment was prohibited in institutional settings, such as schools and children's homes, was concerned by the apparently frequent reality of children being exposed to violence or ill-treatment in such settings. As an example, in the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children, it had been reported that 28 per cent of children in children's homes in Kazakhstan were regularly subjected to violence, and in Kazakhstan's periodic report itself, it was acknowledged that 185 prison authorities had been sanctioned for inappropriate treatment of children. What was being done to address that problem? He was also concerned that abandoned children might be held in juvenile detention centres or remand centres, which was inappropriate.

An Expert was concerned by conflicting statistics and information regarding children with disabilities in Kazakhstan in the report, including information that there were 47,600 children under 16 with disabilities in the country, and a few paragraphs later that, at present, there were over 120,000 children with some form of disability in the country. Another major discrepancy in the report was a stated intention of mainstreaming disabled children into the regular education system, and a statement that children with disabilities would be treated at two new planned boarding schools.

Response by Delegation

Responding to those and other questions, the delegation, on the issue of the radiation pollution in the Semipalatinsk region, said that groups had been set up to study the conditions in the region and as a result effective measures had been taken to stabilize the situation. Annual surveys were carried out on women and children, with screening and the identification of risk groups. There was also a comprehensive programme to deal with the mitigation of the effect of water pollution in the area, and water pipelines had been cleaned over long distances. A children's hospital had been set up, with specialized assistance provided by the radiation medicine institute. On 1 July, a national centre for assistance to children would be opened in Astana.

On school statistics, 87 per cent of the children who entered first grade completed secondary education. Textbooks were provided free in boarding schools to orphans and other categories of children, whereas other children could buy them. With economic growth, resources for provision of textbooks were now available, but they had not fully solved the problem yet. Another problem was the content of the textbooks. Next year, Kazakhstan would be moving on to a 12-year cycle of education, in keeping with international standards, and that would require a total reworking of the curricula and textbooks. Regarding the 1 million pre-school children in Kazakhstan, there was a new Presidential directive to ensure pre-school education for all children in the country. Indeed, pre-school education had increased by over 60 per cent over the level that was provided last year, with some 108 new kindergartens. The Government was also working to make pre-school education, which was funded by local budgets, free, and in some regions it was completely cost-free, the delegation observed.

Over the past year Kazakhstan conducted a wide-ranging campaign to legalize and regularize the situation of migrant workers illegally in the country, the delegation said. As for accession to the Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Government was currently looking at whether domestic legislation could be harmonized with that instrument.

Regarding the problem of child labour, the delegation said the Government had launched a campaign to raise awareness about the worst forms of child labour. In August, together with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and non-governmental organizations, a special social project was planned for monitoring of child labour in Almaty. Also, together with the ILO and UNICEF, an international conference would be held on this issue, where it was hoped special recommendations and decisions would be formulated on further concrete action that could be taken on the issue.

On alternative care arrangements for children, the delegation agreed that institutional care should be a last resort, and even foster care was only used when it was impossible to place a child with a "kinship" family. It was true that whereas there was a project to make payments to foster families for caring for children, there was as yet no such plan for kinship families. However, the Committee on the Protection of Children had brought up this issue at a recent session of Parliament and a draft project was in the works that would provide 60 billion tenge for payments to extended family who took in and cared for children.

Regarding violence against women and children, the delegation noted that Parliament was currently considering a bill on the prevention of domestic violence, and it was hoped that this year it would finally be adopted.

Turning to the issue of juvenile justice, the delegation said that just two weeks ago the President had proposed that the Constitution be amended to create specialized courts for juveniles. Within the year, two juvenile courts would be established in two different districts, including all the requisite related services such as advocacy, social services, the prosecutor's office and the police, which would have to be tailored to that system.

In terms of guaranteeing adequate housing to children, the delegation noted that a draft code on family and marriage was due to be adopted in the last quarter of 2007. That draft code had an extensive section on property rights and provided for the guarantee of the right to adequate housing. In addition, a housing project was being designed to ensure that young families with children, or single parent households would receive low-cost housing. There were also projects to address cases where families did not have appropriate or sufficient housing.

With regard to the system of temporary detention centres for the rehabilitation of children, the delegation said that such centres were for rapid processing. The children in such centres were generally homeless children. At the centres an attempt was made to clarify the children's situations, including identifying who they were and where they came from. Some adolescents in the centres came from other countries, but there were also just children who had either been abandoned or left their former homes. The minimum stay in the centres was between three and five days, and the maximum stay was 45 days. From the temporary centres, the children were usually sent to foster care or State homes. Pilot projects were planned in a number of regions to ensure that such centres put an emphasis on rehabilitation.

A bill on refugees was currently before Parliament, which was in line with international standards on the subject, the delegation said.

In terms of the criminalization of acts of torture, the delegation noted that Kazakhstan had ratified the Convention against Torture in 1998. In 2002, following recommendations by the Committee against Torture, an article had been introduced into the Criminal Code defining acts of torture and setting out penalties for the commission of such acts.

A system of children's reception centres was available in all regions of the country to assist children in need, the delegation said. In 2006 some 2,000 children turned to those centres for various issues. In addition, in conjunction with UNICEF, the Government was planning to establish a toll-free 24-hour hotline, with the number "105", which children could call day or night to get help.

In terms of prosecution for trafficking, last year four criminal cases had been brought to court and sentences had been handed down, the delegation said. The measures that had been put into place seemed to be working. Together with ILO, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection had established the National Coordination Council to eradicate trafficking and sexual exploitation. This June, an inter-State training programme for the police on trafficking and sexual exploitation would be held together with assistance from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Ministry of the Interior and the National Police were also working closely with non-governmental organizations, such as the Crisis Centre, to raise awareness.

On health issues, the delegation said that the statistical growth in incidence of disease among children and pregnant women in Kazakhstan had been owing to the greater detection of such illness, as comprehensive screening and check up programmes had been put in place. In terms of breastfeeding, the number of children who were breastfed up to the age of six months had doubled in the reporting period. Regarding psychiatric care, some 40,000 children in the country had psychological problems, including serious disorders. All of those children received treatment with the ultimate goal of their social rehabilitation.

A programme on prevention of violence against children had been launched in 2003 in conjunction with UNICEF. In terms of the impact of that programme, the delegation noted that there had been 149 cases of cruel treatment against children brought in 2003, whereas in 2006, and up to 2007, there had been only 67 cases. The preventive measures, together with the contributions of non-governmental organizations and international organizations were producing results. In terms of encouraging non-violent behaviour, special courses on avoidance of violent behaviour had been introduced, and in many educational institutions there were conflict centres to address situations of conflict between students, among students and teachers, and between students and parents.

Preliminary Concluding Observations

LOTHAR KRAPPMANN, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Kazakhstan, in preliminary concluding remarks, thanked the delegation for the responses to the Committee's questions which had demonstrated that Kazakhstan was aware of all kinds of issues, problems and shortcomings, and that they also had plans of action, strategies and programmes. On the one hand, he commended Kazakhstan for those activities; on the other hand, many problems persisted.

The implementation process was a time-consuming process, Mr. Krappmann observed. Kazakhstan had solved a number of problems with regard to school buildings and their equipment. They had the money for such investments.

Mr. Krappman was afraid, however, that innovations, reforms and the introduction of new patterns of problem solving with regard to family support, teaching methods, children's participation, juvenile justice, violence and sexual abuse and exploitation would take much longer, because they demanded not only money, but that attitudes be changed, and that might take a generation.

Such implementation did not seem possible without close cooperation with civil society. There were positive indications that such cooperation existed, and Mr. Krappmann hoped that that cooperation would be intensified.

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