COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF VENEZUELA
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the second periodic report of Venezuela on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing the report, Yadira Hidalgo, Deputy Minister of Social Development and Social Protection of the Ministry for Social Participation and Protection of Venezuela, affirmed that the rights of the child were of the highest priority for the Venezuelan Government. Venezuela was at the forefront of those protecting the rights of the child, as evidenced in the recent reform of the Protection of Children and Adolescents Act, as well as the Law on Breastfeeding; the Law on the Protection of Children and Adolescents in Internet Cafes and Multimedia Game Rooms; and the Law on Refugees and Asylum-Seekers, among others.
Ms. Hidalgo said the Government's policy of social inclusion and combating poverty had made it possible to reduce economic and social inequality considerably. In 2002, 25 per cent of the population had been living in extreme poverty; in 2007, just 9.7 per cent were in that condition. In the field of education, Venezuela was close to realizing the goal of universal primary education, with a 91.9 education rate for 2005. Venezuela had also overcome gender inequalities with regard to primary and secondary enrolment, it was on track for achieving the Millennium Development Goals with regard to infant mortality, and progress had been made in combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and dengue.
In preliminary concluding observations, Committee Expert Rosa María Ortiz, the Committee Expert serving as co-Rapporteur for the report of Venezuela, commended Venezuela for the measures that had been established that had shown its strong commitment to the rights of the child. The reform of the Protection of Children and Adolescents Act appeared to bring a number of good changes, such as that with regard to the prohibition of corporal punishment in institutional settings, but it also appeared that the non-governmental organizations were going to lose their role in developing the policies related to children's rights. Moreover, cooperation mechanisms were lacking in Venezuela in the area of children's rights, and there was a need for greater coordination in this area, as well as to put in place monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the rights of children were being implemented. Moreover, there was a lack of transparency in the effect on children of political policies put in place, in particular information on how they had benefited, broken down by age group, gender, whether they were indigenous children, and other criteria. The Committee would recommend that all the information on State and national funds had to be very transparent.
Other Experts then raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, birth registration for children of foreign parents without papers; whether children had the right to information about reproductive health without the presence or consent of their parents; the high rate of teenage pregnancies; a lack of information in the report on sexual abuse and exploitation of juveniles; what systems were in place for children needing care; whether corporal punishment was still permitted in institutional settings; high dropout rates, in particular at the secondary level; statistics on school attendance for rural and indigenous children; facilities and funds for cultural and recreational activities; high suicide rates for teens; and what social programmes existed to help families. Experts were also concerned about age limits with regard to sexual consent (12 years) and marriage age, which were 16 for boys and 14 for girls.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of Venezuela towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 5 October 2007.
The delegation of Venezuela also included Gabriel Salazar Pineda, Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other members of the Permanent Mission, as well as representatives of the State Agency for Human Rights, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Commission for the Family, Women and Youth of the National Assembly, the National Council for Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights, the Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Ministry of Health.
As one of the 193 States parties to the Convention, Venezuela 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 on Monday, 1 October, at 10 a.m., it will consider the initial reports of Spain under the two Optional Protocols to the Convention (CRC/C/OPAC/ESP/1 and CRC/C/OPSC/ESP/1).
Report of Venezuela
The Venezuelan Government has been seeking alternative ways to meet the needs of the Venezuelan family, starting with children’s and adolescents’ welfare in accordance with the Convention, and especially the principle of comprehensive care, according to the second periodic report of Venezuela (CRC/C/VEN/2). The bodies in charge of policy on children and adolescents follow these guidelines, which are also set out in the Constitution, the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act, and the Radio and Television Social Responsibility Act, and backed up at the operational level by the Strategic Social Plan. Health promotion in this new structure is a crosscutting concern that runs through all activities that focus on the cycle of life, with children and adolescents remaining the priority. It is implemented through the Misión Barrio Adentro (Shanty-towns project) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, which takes the lead on primary health care, setting social policy through a new mode of public management based on the principles of equity, cost-free status, solidarity, accessibility, universality, co-responsibility and social justice. Venezuela intends, among others, to set up a national protection system comprising all the strategic agencies concerned with children, such as 266 Protection Councils, Councils for Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights, 321 Municipal Councils for Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights, Child and Adolescent Protection Courts, 245 Children’s Ombudsman’s Offices, which were set up in response to public demand, and several public institutions; establish 21 State Child and Adolescent Protection Funds and 159 Municipal Child and Adolescent Protection Funds; and set up a national child protection network made up of prosecutors specializing in cases involving children, a monitoring and appraisal system for policies that target children, and protection funds and institutions.
The basic law that protects the rights of children and adolescents is the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act. To comply with the demands of the Convention, the Venezuelan Government set up the National Council for Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights to oversee the national child protection system. This is a public body with its own legal personality, and it functions completely independently from other public bodies. Its purpose is to deliberate, advise and audit, and it comprises representatives of both the public sector and civil society. It upholds children’s and adolescents rights through “comprehensive care”, sharing responsibility with the State, civil society and families. It functions on the basis of respect for and encouragement of administrative decentralization. The Government is also setting up an Office of the Ombudsman, incorporating a special office to deal with cases involving children and adolescents.
Presentation of Report
YADIRA HIDALGO, Deputy Minister of Social Development and Social Protection of the Ministry for Social Participation and Protection of Venezuela, affirmed that the rights of the child were of the highest priority for the Venezuelan Government. Since the coming to power of President Hugo Chávez, following free elections in 1999, a social and Bolivarian revolution had been put in place, which led the fight against poverty, inequality and social exclusion which Venezuela had been submerged in, as a product of neo-liberal policies that had been applied during the first half of the twentieth century. With the support of the vast majority of the people, Venezuela had left behind the failed system of representative democracy of the past for a participatory and proactive democracy in which male and female citizens, and in particular children and adolescents, took direct part in building the political, social and economic policies of the State.
The process of construction of the new Republic had not been easy, Ms. Hidalgo underscored. On the one hand, the effects of capitalism and its neo-liberal policies had submerged Venezuela in extreme poverty which had been a major task to overcome: 20.3 per cent of the population had been living in situations of extreme poverty; 20 per cent without access to clean drinking water; and there had been an unemployment rate of 17 per cent. Those were only some of the social problems the new Government had inherited.
Ms. Hidalgo said that the National Identity Programme "I Am" had allowed for progress in guaranteeing the individual's right to an identity, by facilitating birth registration of children, in particular for indigenous groups, by means of the establishment of hospital birth units. For 2007, 95 per cent of children had their birth certificates.
As for basic legislation in this area, Ms. Hidalgo noted that article 78 of the Constitution expressly recognized children and adolescents as full rights-holders. The Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act was the primary legislation implementing the provisions of the Convention. The Law on Municipal Councils provided for participation of children from the age of 15 years in decision-making. The Radio and Television Social Responsibility Act included children over the age of 12 in its users organization, which vetted programming.
Ms. Hidalgo said that, in the past few years, the Government had adopted the necessary measures to establish and consolidate a solid national system for the protection of children and adolescents, by setting up and implementation of administrative and judicial bodies. The Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act defined the role of state bodies, municipalities and civil society organizations dealing with children and adolescents in this area. Venezuela was in the forefront of those protecting the rights of the child, as evidenced in the recent reform of the Protection of Children and Adolescents Act, which had been adopted by the National Assembly, as well as the Law on Breastfeeding; the Law on the Protection of Children and Adolescents in Internet and Multimedia Gamerooms; the Law on the Protection of Families, Motherhood and Fatherhood; the Law Protecting Lactating Mothers; and the Law on Refugees and Asylum-Seekers; all of which formed part of the legislation undertaken to protect children and adolescents.
As for judicial proceedings, the Government had carried out comprehensive reforms in the area of juvenile justice, Ms. Hidalgo stressed, notably guaranteeing the right to be heard before a judge, simplifying the proceedings and making them more uniform, and strengthening alternative measures for conflict resolution, as well as modernizing the structure of the Juvenile Protection Tribunal.
The Government had taken on the commitment of fighting poverty and exclusion, and therefore was increasing commitment to social investment, Ms. Hidalgo noted. The percentage of gross domestic product devoted to social development had climbed to 13.2 per cent in 2006, for 15 consecutive trimesters there had been an average of 9 per cent growth, minimum monthly salaries of $ 286.7 were the highest in Latin America, and the unemployment rate as of June 2007 had fallen to 8.3 per cent. According to the United Nations Development Programme, the human development index for Venezuela had gone from just under 0.7 per cent in 1999 to close to 0.8 per cent in 2001. As a consequence of the coup d'état and the oil industry sabotage it had fallen again in 2003, but in 2004 it had risen over 0.8 per cent, surpassing the human and development index averages for Mexico, Cuba, Brazil and Panama. The policy of social inclusion and combating poverty had made it possible to reduce economic and social inequality considerably. In 2002, 25 per cent of the population was living in extreme poverty; in 2007, just 9.7 per cent were in that condition.
Turning to the field of education, Ms. Hidalgo highlighted that Venezuela was close to realizing the goal of universal primary education, with a 91.9 scholarization rate for 2005. It had also overcome gender inequalities with regard to primary and secondary enrolment. For the school year 2002-2003, 98.4 per cent of all girls and 97.2 per cent of all boys were enrolled in primary school, for example.
The reduction of infant mortality was another area in which Venezuela was on track for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In addition, progress had been made in combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and dengue. For example, for 2001, the HIV/AIDS level was 52.69 per 100,000 inhabitants, which had fallen to 17.42 per 100,000 inhabitants by 2004.
Ms. Hidalgo said that those advances had been made possible by the elaboration of sectoral plans, or "missions". The Food Mission, established in 2003, guaranteed permanent access by the population, and in particular the most vulnerable groups among them, to the basic food needed for survival. The focus was on boys and girls, persons living in poverty, those over the age of 65, those suffering from malnutrition, the disabled and women with high risk pregnancies. As of July 2007, the Food Mission had helped an average of 13 million persons a year through the Mercal network (a national network of popular markets which sells basic food products at subsidized prices), and 900,000 by means of Food Houses that had been set up for that purpose.
Ms. Hidalgo said that, while Venezuela was proud of its accomplishments in this area, it was aware there were areas where more work was needed. In particular, despite its efforts to rectify the situation, the lack of a comprehensive system for protection and promotion of children's rights was recognized. Venezuela was committed to correcting that situation, and to putting in place a comprehensive plan for children, as well as a coordinated plan for follow-up on its international commitments, in particular for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Questions by Experts
JEAN ZERMATTEN, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Venezuela, highlighted a number of positive achievements that had been made in the area of children's rights in Venezuela since it had presented its last report in 1999. At the national level, Venezuela had adopted numerous laws, plans, and campaigns, and had established numerous institutions and bodies for child protection, including in the Constitution, the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act, the Community Council Law of 2006, the Law on Social Responsibility for Radio and Television, and a Law on Persons with Disabilities. At the international level, it had acceded to a number of relevant human rights instruments, including both Optional Protocols to the Convention, on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
If progress had been made, still many of the Committee's recommendations had not been sufficiently implemented or followed up, notably in the areas of discrimination, in particular against girls and indigenous people; adoption; dissemination; and training.
The primary legislation in Venezuela in this area was the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act. That Act brought about a new approach for children, but apparently it was being reviewed for reform. In that connection, Mr. Zermatten wished to know more about the specific concrete changes that that reform entailed. It was also therefore unclear whether the new version of the Act was compatible with the Convention.
Mr. Zermatten asked whether the Convention could be directly invoked by the domestic courts, and asked for examples, if any, of cases in which the Convention had been cited.
Noting that Venezuela had a National Development Plan (2001-2007) and a Strategic Road Map for 2004, he said there did not appear to be any comprehensive national action plan for children. In that context, Mr. Zermatten said there were sectoral plans or "missions" to further the development and protection of children and adolescents, in areas such as educational, nutrition, poverty and health. How were those sectoral plans harmonized with the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act? Were those plans controlled by a single coordinating body, such as the National Council for Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights?
Mr. Zermatten was concerned about the statistics provided by the delegation. There was a lack of statistics on children at risk, such as minority children and street children. In addition, there were a number of inconsistencies, as in the number of criminal cases brought against minors and the number of convictions. Finally, there were some numbers that were frankly not credible, such as the figure cited for handicapped children that were institutionalised in 2007 – 51 out of 145,000 handicapped children.
Turning to the judicial system, while much information had been given, there did not appear to be information on the situation of the child where children were victims, Mr. Zermatten said.
As for freedom of information, Mr. Zermatten said the Committee had been astonished at the decision not to renew the licence for Radio Caracas, and asked for an explanation.
ROSA MARÍA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert serving as co-Rapporteur for the report of Venezuela, acknowledged the enormous progress that Venezuela had in this area since it had last come before the Committee.
The new law – the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act – agreed with the values and the approach of the Convention. However, coordination was critically important to ensure that the various institutions, policies and programmes set up recently would be effective in the implementation of children's rights, as set out in the Convention. In that context, she asked for more information on the coordination activities of the National Council for Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights. It did not appear that there was any body in place to ensure implementation of the Convention or follow-up to the Committee's observations, nor a national plan for implementation.
Other Experts then raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, birth registration for children of foreign parents without papers; a lack of meaningful children's television programmes, and the need for State support for such programmes; whether there was a religious component in national education and if children were free to choose their religion; whether children had the right to information about reproductive health without the presence or consent of their parents; and whether Venezuela planned to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and the Convention on Persons with Disabilities.
Experts were concerned about age limits with regard to sexual consent – 12 years – and marriage age, which was 16 for boys and 14 for girls. Noting that the marriage age for girls could be lowered by a judge if the girl was pregnant, and given the very low age for sexual consent, those provisions appeared to invite early marriages, an Expert observed.
An Expert was concerned by reports of violence, including extrajudicial killings, violence in prisons, kidnappings, rape, harassment and sexual abuse, in particular in poor neighbourhoods, and wondered what steps Venezuela was carrying out to combat that violence and to mitigate its effects on children.
Response by the Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that, with regard to the status of the Convention, the Constitution ensured that it was directly applicable, as necessary and it served to buttress other legislation. Children could bring cases under the Convention directly in the courts themselves.
The Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act was being reformed on the administrative and procedural levels. The National Assembly had adopted the reforms, but they had not yet entered into law. The reforms sought to ensure that the provisions of the Convention were fully incorporated. For example, with regard to corporal punishment, in addition to previous provisions, Venezuela had added the right of children to good treatment, and had included an explicit prohibition of corporal punishment within the educational system. Administratively, the reform sought to make up for the shortcomings of the decentralization of many children's rights institutions, to ensure greater linkages in the system, more coherence, as well as coordinated and structured public policy in this area, by putting it under the Executive Branch.
As for questions on the rights of foreigners and birth registration for children born of foreigners, the delegation noted that the reform of the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Organization) Act was ongoing. But the doors were open for people to come. Venezuela was the only country in Latin America that had agreed to resettle 400 refugees.
On the issue of non-governmental organization involvement in the promotion and protection of the rights of children, the delegation stressed that, what the Venezuelan Government meant by the participation of civil society in children's rights was based on the whole notion of the Bolivarian proactive and participatory democracy, that is, participation of individuals at the grass-roots level via structures set up for them to do so, such as the Municipal Councils.
Further Questions by Experts
During the second round of questions, the Rapporteur wondered if the border with Colombia created a drugs' threat to children. He also asked about the street children phenomenon, in particular if there was any data on how many such children there were, and if there had been an evaluation of the pilot project being carried out in this area (Comprehensive Care Plan for Street Children pilot project in Libertador Municipality).
The co-Rapporteur, on the issue of adoptions, wondered what technical teams existed to put the adoption measures in place into practice. Also, what was the timeframe for putting through adoption documents, and what measures, if any, were in place to induce judges to process adoption cases in a timely fashion.
Other Experts asked further questions on topics including, among others, high maternal and neonatal mortality rates; the high rate of teenage pregnancies; a lack of information in the report on sexual abuse and exploitation of juveniles; whether the proclaimed policy that no child would be put into care owing to poverty was in effect now; what systems were in place for children needing care, such as foster care and group homes; concern that institutions for children in care were large, and if there were plans to set up smaller centres; and whether corporal punishment was still permitted in institutional settings, given that reforms to the Children's Act were not yet in force.
On education, an Expert, while acknowledging the progress made by Venezuela in this area, was concerned about the high dropout rates, beginning in primary school, but in particular in secondary school, where there was only 30 per cent attendance. There had also been no data on the enrolment rates and school participation of indigenous and rural children, and it had been reported that the rates were low for those sectors. In addition, there was concern about needed reform in the areas of the curriculum, in particular whether human rights was included in it; teacher training; and textbooks; and more information was requested on any planned reforms in this area. An Expert was concerned about afterschool activities for children, and wondered if there was a policy for children's recreational and cultural activities as well as facilities and funding for them.
An Expert asked for more information on the exact nature of the "missions", or sectoral plans, which appeared to be temporary structures within an unclear chain of authority created to push through innovative reforms. In that connection, would it be able to institutionalize those missions?
An Expert asked about high suicide rates for teens; and what social programmes existed to help families, in particular with regard to education on issues such as child abuse. On issues related to the involvement of children in armed conflicts, an Expert asked what was the minimum age for recruitment in the armed forces; what safeguards existed to ensure that small arms did not fall into the hands of children; and a response to information received that some refugee children in Venezuela, former child soldiers, faced a danger of being re-recruited into militias or armies outside the country. On juvenile justice, an Expert asked how long a minor could be held in pre-trial detention coming before a judge; what specific protection measures existed for children in deprivation of liberty situations; and whether prison officials dealing with children received special training. An Expert asked about the graphic in the report that showed that 80 per cent of children held in the justice system were being held legally, and 20 per cent were not being held legally, and she asked for clarification on that. On health, an Expert was concerned about declining rates of child immunization, and recalled that in 2006 there had been a measles outbreak. There also appeared to be high child malnutrition and infant mortality rates in Bolivar Province.
Response by Delegation
Responding to that second round of questions and others, the delegation said that the "missions" represented State policies to address persons excluded from the State programmes that were already in place. As the current programmes were structured, for example, in the area of education, it was still impossible for children who could not read and write to join the education system. The education missions filled that gap. The health missions, such as the Misión Barrio Adentro or "neighbourhood mission", targeted those areas, such as remote rural areas, where traditional health care had not reached. The funding for those missions came from the oil sector, where, under the new policy, the Government was now receiving 30 per cent of royalties from foreign companies, as opposed to 2 per cent before.
As for the children who had come to Venezuela as part of the armed movement to overthrow the Government last year, those children had been returned to their countries of origin, in accordance with the provisions set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the delegation said.
On the issue of children with disabilities, the National Council for the Rights of Disabled People coordinated policy in this area, and a research project "Action and Reflection" attended to people with disabilities to determine the reasons for those disabilities; to provide guidance to teachers and families in care; and to undertake preventive measures.
In terms of deprivation of liberty for minors, that was only allowed for certain serious offences, such as murder, aggravated theft, armed robbery, drug-related offences and vehicle theft. Aside from those crimes, juveniles were not deprived of their liberty under any circumstances, the delegation stressed. There was a provision for pre-trial detention for juveniles who were caught in flagrante delicto. In such cases, the minor had to come before a judge within 24 hours. After that it was up to the public prosecutor's office to determine if an investigation should continue. Sanctions for minors were principally of an educational nature, the delegation underscored.
There had been isolated cases of police abuse of minors, but that was not a practice of the Venezuelan police, the delegation affirmed. From 2004 to 2006, there had been 130 cases where police had committed punishable offences against juveniles. Of those, 100 cases were in the investigation stage, 20 had been handed over for trial, 9 cases were being tried and one was at the sentencing stage.
For the Protection of Children and Adolescents Act, anyone under the age of 12 was considered a child, and not responsible under the same regime. Only for adolescents (i.e., those over 12) could deprivation of liberty be ordered. Not more than 500 adolescents were currently deprived of their liberty in Venezuela, the delegation said, but those deprivations were legal. The figure in the report showed the number of cases in which a judge had subsequently ruled that the deprivation had not followed Venezuelan law, and the adolescents being held had been released. The maximum sentence for an adolescent was five years, and, at the request of counsel, that sentence could be reviewed every six months.
Turning to issues regarding indigenous children, the delegation noted that a number of measures were in place targeting indigenous children. It was possible for children to make complaints directly to the Children's Ombudsman, and it was planned that by next year there would be an additional 40 educational ombudsmen in the indigenous sector (there were 6 now).
The procedure for international and national adoptions was set out in the 2002 law, which was in keeping in the rules of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention in this area, the delegation said.
A directive of September 2006 set out requirements for the placement of children without parental care, including the training and sensitization of those working in this area. More than 50 lead agencies dealing with children's protection had been involved in the process of developing that policy.
As for the high number of children in institutional settings, that was a legacy of the prior regime, the delegation underscored. Over 30,000 children and adolescents had simply been dumped into institutions in the 1990s, including children whose parents could not afford to care from them. The current Government was working hard to try and better those children's situation, and to get them out of the institutions, by tracing their families and helping those families to be able to care for their children.
Currently, there were only 2,007 children and adolescents being maintained in care settings, the delegation continued. That had been the result of State policy focusing on strengthening the family, given the prior policies and the wide institutionalization of children among a wide range of groups, the delegation underscored. That policy also applied to children with disabilities, and the State made programmes and funding available to do that. In Venezuela such children fell under the Ministry of Education's special needs section, and received care from specialists in specialized schools. There were 180,202 children with special needs who were benefiting from such special education programmes.
On involvement of children in armed conflict, the delegation observed that there was no compulsory recruitment in Venezuela. They had a policy of voluntary recruitment, but the minimum age for such recruitment was 18.
On the issue of coordination of children's policies and programmes, the delegation said Venezuela was very close to a solution, and in future it should be able to submit their reports on time and to provide statistics that gave a true picture of the situation on the ground with regard to children's rights in Venezuela.
One of the problems regarding provision of accurate statistics or information involved the manipulation of the media, the delegation stressed. For example, yesterday, 26 September, a widely disseminated Venezuelan journal had carried the headline "Fate of more than 4,000 children uncertain", following the closing of the National Institute for the Minor. That institution had, in reality, been used as little more than a dumping ground – a jail – by the previous regime. However, when that kind of information reached the hands of non-governmental organizations they incorporated it, although most of what was said was false, and was being disseminated with no other intention than to undermine the Government. The Government had no problems with non-governmental organizations; it only asked that they were sincere and that it did not interfere with the work being done by the human rights institutions.
Regarding the alleged closing of the Caracas Television station, the delegation clarified that that had not been the case. That concession had simply run to the end of its term, and the concession was thereafter not continued. Since then, the station had continued to broadcast via cable, as the cable channels were not publicly controlled. There was absolutely no violation of freedom of expression here. In addition, after that concession had been discontinued, a new public service television channel had been put in its place.
Concerning mother and infant mortality rates, the delegation noted that that might be high, but the Government was working on changing that situation, and the rates were falling. There had been 11.9 deaths per 10,000 live births in 1999, which had fallen to 10 per 10,000 in 2006. As for vaccinations, despite claims that there had been a falling off in this area, the Government had actually been very active, immunizing children against polio, yellow fever and others.
As for children with drug problems, the delegation said that, previously, children that were drug dependent and in conflict with the law were simply locked away. The Government had therefore set up the "Negra Hipólita" mission, dedicated to street and drug-dependent children, which gave such children a place to go, a shelter, and provided treatment to assist them to detox when they were ready.
In some brief answers, the delegation noted that there was a draft law on discrimination that was currently before the National Assembly. The institutionalization of the missions, by giving them Constitutional rank, was also in the planning stage.
Regarding religious education, the delegation said that, since the liberation of Venezuela from Spain, education had been secular, and full religious freedoms were guaranteed. Parents who wished to do so could enrol their children in denominational schools: such as Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim schools.
Preliminary Concluding Observations
ROSA MARÍA ORTIZ, the Committee Expert serving as co-Rapporteur for the report of Venezuela, in preliminary concluding observations, thanked the delegation for their answers. She noted that the report had been submitted extremely late, and did not fulfil the Committee's guidelines for providing information, which would handicap the Committee in its analysis. That was particularly hard to understand given that Venezuela had all of the human and financial support to do so. Venezuela was invited to seize the opportunity to present reports under the two Optional Protocols to the Convention with the shortest possible delay.
Ms. Ortiz commended Venezuela for those bodies and measures that had been established that had shown its strong commitment to the rights of the child. The reform of the Protection of Children and Adolescents Act appeared to bring a number of good changes, such as that with regard to the prohibition of corporal punishment in institutional settings, but it also appeared that the non-governmental organizations were going to lose their role in developing the policies related to children's rights.
Working with and for children was not what it was in the past: it was now an obligation on States, Ms. Ortiz observed. In that connection, there were a number of cooperation mechanisms that were lacking in Venezuela in the area of children's rights, and there was a need for greater coordination in this area. In addition, it was necessary to put in place monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the rights of children were being implemented. Moreover, there was a lack of transparency in the effect on children of political policies put in place, in particular information on how they had benefited broken down by age group, gender, whether they were indigenous children, and other criteria.
Ms. Ortiz welcomed the regional and municipal plans for children, as well as the national strategy for children's rights. In future, information on the benefit to children of those plans, including the cost of the programmes involved, should be provided for all of those. The Committee would recommend that all the information on State and national funds had to be very transparent.
For use of the information media; not an official record
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