COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD CONSIDERS THE REPORT OF ECUADOR
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its consideration of the combined fifth to sixth periodic report of Ecuador on its implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing the report, Alvaro Saenz, Vice Minister of Education of Ecuador, said that the principle of the best interest of child was incorporated in the Constitution and in thirty legal documents, while the elaborate institutional framework for protecting the rights of children included numerous line ministries, National Consultative Council for Children, the National Council for Intergenerational Equality, and institutions on local and cantonal levels. The comprehensive public policies had been adopted to increase the coverage of education and health care, combat gender violence, increase access to technology, improve the social services and labour market conditions, resulting in reduction of extreme poverty from 38 to 26 per cent, increase in public spending in education, health and social services, and the decrease in child labour. Still, challenges remained, particularly in the area of domestic and sexual violence, and Ecuador remained fully committed to continuing to strengthen protection services at the national level, work with the civil society to increase access to rights, strengthen public policy related to labour standards, reduce malnutrition, rigorously combat the use of drugs and trafficking, and deal with harassment in schools.
Committee Experts welcomed the advances in education and social policy and acknowledged the progress that had been made in those fields, and urged Ecuador to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on a communications procedure. They were concerned about the new draft law to reform the Organic Code on Children and Adolescents, as it introduced provisions on duties and responsibilities of children, leading to conclusion that children who did not fulfil those duties would not be able to exercise their rights. The delegation was asked about the plans for the total prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings and was also asked to reassure the Committee that any cuts to the public budgets, like the one made following the earthquake in 2015, would not be at the expense of children’s wellbeing. Several issues of concern were raised during the dialogue, including the high rate of malnutrition and lack of progress in addressing the issue; one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in Latin America; prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence with seven out of ten women being victims of sexual abuse; protection of children in the mining areas in the north of Ecuador; and discrimination and social exclusion of vulnerable children particularly those with disabilities, indigenous and children of African descent, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Saenz reaffirmed that Ecuador had well-developed public policies for children and adolescents, reflected both in the legal framework as well as concrete actions and reiterated the will of the Government to continue to improve the protection of the children.
In her concluding remarks, Hynd Ayoubi Idrissi, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Ecuador, acknowledged the progress made in the social sphere and urged the delegation to provide further information on the issues raised during the dialogue.
The delegation of Ecuador included representatives of the Ministry for Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Religious Affairs, National Council for Intergenerational Equality, Attorney General’s Office and the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The States’ reports and other documentation can be found on the session’s webpage.
Live webcast of the Committee’s public meetings is available at http://webtv.un.org/
The Committee will next meet in public on Wednesday, 13 September at 10 a.m. when it will review the combined third to fifth periodic report of Tajikistan under the Convention (CRC/C/TJK/3-5), and its initial reports under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/TJK/1) and under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/TJK/1).
Report
The combined fifth to sixth periodic report of Ecuador under the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be accessed here: CRC/ECU/5-6.
Presentation of the Report
ALVARO SAENZ, Vice Minister of Education of Ecuador, introducing the report, noted that the principle of best interest of the child had been enshrined in the Constitution of Ecuador, in line with the Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The principle was reflected in thirty other legal documents specifically incorporating provisions for the rights of children, and demonstrating that children were recognized as a priority group. There was a clearly articulated public policy agenda designed to guarantee the rights of children and eradicate discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, ethnic identity, disability or sexual orientation. The National Plan for Good Living incorporated relevant public policies aiming to protect the rights of children. In Ecuador, there were over twenty state institutions in charge of different public policies, all cooperating inter-sectorally to protect the rights of children: ministries of justice, education, health, economic and social inclusion, labour, interior, tourism and foreign relations, adolescents, disability, adolescence, public defense, as well as the National Consultative Council for Children, specialized police for children, National Council for Gender Equality, the Council for Intergenerational Equality, and the Council on Citizens’ Participation.
In order to establish overall good conditions for the exercise of the rights of children, comprehensive public policies were introduced, including on increasing the coverage of universal education, expansion of health services, combating gender violence, increasing access to technology, and improving the social services and labour market conditions. There had been an important institutional advancement regarding the territorial outreach of rights, and institutions on local and cantonal level had been established such as cantonal rights protection council, community ombudsman, sectoral citizens’ councils and consultative councils. Ecuador had achieved significant economic results: extreme poverty had been reduced from 38 per cent to 26 per cent, while the Gini coefficient dropped from 4 points in 2006 to 0.4601 in 2014, as a result of series of improvements in the areas of services, from education to social services to the justice system. In line with the mentioned changes and due to substantive increases in public investment, the Human Development Index of Ecuador had also risen by ten points.
The State had adopted measures necessary to abolish child labour, followed with an increase of investment in education. Child labour was reduced from 16.9 per cent to 5.5 per cent in 2017, with the rate of 2.98 per cent among children aged 5 to 14 and 14.04 per cent among adolescents. Prevention of psychosocial problems was one of the priorities, together with addressing trafficking in persons, violence in family and in schools, and discrimination based on sexual orientation, educational needs, ethnic origin or disability. Participation of children and adolescents in decision making had been one of the core ideas behind the creation of the National Consultative Council for Children, a space where voice of youth could be heard. The National Council for Intergenerational Equality had also been established. The National Inter-sectoral Strategy for Family Planning and the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancies 2011-2014 had been implemented, with a primary objective to provide permanent access to information on sexual education, inclusion, assistance, advisory services and protection.
In closing, Mr. Saenz noted that over the past years Ecuador had established norms and institutions to promote rights of children and had introduced series of public policies to increase their wellbeing, all of which testified to the State’s commitment towards children’s rights. Nonetheless, despite the progress, numerous challenges remained, particularly in the area of domestic violence and sexual violence, and for that reason, the Government was fully committed to continuing to strengthen protection services at the national level, consolidate rights protection system, work with the civil society to increase access to rights, strengthen public policy related to labour standards, reduce sexual exploitation, reduce malnutrition, rigorously combat the use of drugs and trafficking, and to deal with harassment in schools.
Questions from the Experts
JORGE CARDONA LLORENS, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Ecuador, thanked the delegation of Ecuador, noting that important progress was made in the area of social rights and access to education. Several concerns remained, however, the principal one being that Ecuador was refusing to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure. Were there any new developments in regards to the ratification?
A concern was raised regarding the new draft law that would reform the Organic Code on Children and Adolescents. Several provisions on duties and responsibilities of children were introduced, leading to conclusion that children who did not fulfil those duties would not be able to exercise their rights.
The quality and methods of data collection were brought into question in some areas such as chronic malnutrition, and violence towards children in family where data had been lacking. Would this be improved? Moreover, there had been areas where data were not specific such as trafficking in persons and children pornography, where the indicators have not been formulated.
Acknowledging that the amount of funding allocated for the benefit of children had risen over the years, the delegation was asked to indicate what percentage of the total national budget and the gross domestic product was spent on different public policies and what had been earmarked for children specifically. According to the Constitution, six per cent of the gross domestic product would be allocated to education and four per cent to health, but Ecuador was very far from such figures, so the question was raised on how the Government had planned on achieving such targets.
The Committee was also concerned that the State might make potential cuts, like those that had been made following the earthquake in 2015, on the expense of children’s wellbeing. Did the Government have a mechanism to make such cuts only after an assessment on the overall progress had been made?
Was the Government doing any impact evaluation on budgetary measures?
Seeing how there were reports on environmental problems in northern areas where oil drilling and mining industry were largely present, had there been any assessment on how the behaviour of private companies was affecting children and their rights? What measures were to be adopted, in order for the rights of the children not to be violated?
A question was raised on the indirect discrimination faced by the children that had been outside of the school system, with the delegation asked about mechanisms in place to address indirect discrimination.
Concerning the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex adolescents, the problem of bullying in school remained a grave issue. Children with disabilities were also victims of bullying in schools. What sensitisation and awareness-raising measures had been introduced to improve the situation?
Did consultative councils still exist or had they been replaced with intergenerational councils? Had children been consulted during the shift that had been made in the last two years to move to an intergenerational system? One of the criteria for being elected a representative in student council was to have high grades, the Rapporteur noted. Was that not a form of discrimination as well?
Were any studies made about the impact of laws on the wellbeing of children?
There were areas such as malnutrition where the situation had not improved since 2010 – could the delegation explain why?
HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Ecuador, requested information about the local and national coordination mechanisms and asked about the competencies of intergenerational councils which had replaced the local children protection councils. Were there enough financial and human resources for all planned public policies, and if not, did the new Government plan on revising the system?
Did the National Plan for Good Living contain clear provisions about the impact of the new policies on children? Had the previous Government’s plans been assessed or evaluated and did the new plan contain impact measurement indicators?
The delegation was asked about the awareness-raising activities on children’s rights, and in particular about sufficient trainings for staff working with the children - did the health personnel, police and staff of different sectors working with children undergo trainings? Were all age groups among children equally informed about their rights? How many children were affected with promotional campaigns?
What cooperation mechanisms were in place to ensure the participation of civil society and did the civil society organizations participate in drafting of the report?
LUIS ERNESTO PEDERNERA REYNA, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Ecuador, requested the information on the changes made to the law on land management regarding the birth registration process. Acknowledging the efforts to ensure the children’s right to participate, the Co-Rapporteur raised concern that the changes made might affect the children’s right to participate in the decision-making. What mechanisms were in place in the new councils to ensure that the voice of children was not just symbolic?
How many children had the right to legal assistance during the judicial proceedings?
An inquiry was raised on corporal punishment and plans for its abolishment, reflected in the draft act for reducing corporal punishment.
The Co-Rapporteur expressed concern about the violence against children and gender based violence: the data showed that seven out of ten women were victims of sexual abuse while the level of punishment was still low. What was the result thus far of the public policies to combat gender violence?
Was there a specific policy for the protection of children in the mining areas in the North?
What was the success of the 2015 measure to raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 years, had any assessments been made?
Replies by the Delegation
Responding to the question on the intergenerational approach, the delegation stated that different sectors of the Government had raised specific concerns about the impact of the transition towards the intergenerational approach on the rights of children. However, few years later, the evaluation had shown that had not been the case. The National Council for Intergenerational Equality was equally composed of State and society representatives, including adolescents and children themselves.
Cantonal councils still had direct representation of children and adolescents. Representation was diverse, depending on municipality. The National Consultative Council for Children had not disappeared, it had in fact strengthened. It maintained its role and continued to encourage the participation of children and adolescents, boosting community action at the municipal level. Consultative councils had also been created for women and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, as such mechanisms had been proven to work effectively and empower their members.
Review of the previous education strategies had been completed by the current Minister of Education. Quality, coverage and rights were the three priorities in the education sector for the current administration. Current education coverage went up to 98 per cent.
On the question of budget cuts, the delegation said that there would be no cuts in the areas of health, education and social policy, as it recently stated by the President.
Regarding the ban on corporal punishment and inhuman and degrading treatment, the draft law was currently being discussed in the Parliament. New legislation was initiated under the area of restitution of rights and provision of assistance to the victims of violence.
In 2011, the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Religious Affairs had introduced a programme on eradication of sexual crimes, and suitable mechanisms had been implemented.
The impact assessment of the decision to set the minimum age of marriage at 18 years had been made, and it showed that girls benefitted from continued education.
On the matter of the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, the delegation stated that it had been brought before the Constitutional Court and Ecuador was awaiting the Court’s decision.
Regarding the north, as well as the east of the country, the delegation recognized it was a multidimensional problem and said that local task forces had been established to tackle this issue.
A series of awareness-raising campaigns were underway addressing the problem of child labour and trafficking. The Minister for Economic and Social Inclusion was working with the institutions from Colombia to assist on bi-national route to ensure the referral of cases between the two countries.
Questions from the Experts
In the next round of questions, Committee Experts asked for an update on the cases that had been discussed during the examination of Ecuador by the Committee Against the Torture, including the case of Principito.
Could the delegation provide more information on the follow up on social policy programmes, did they cover the entire territory of Ecuador, including the northern part of the country?
Did the bull fights take place in Ecuador and if so, were the children allowed to attend?
The delegation was also asked about the practices to facilitate family reunification, and whether the socio-economic and educational inclusion targeted the children of African or indigenous decent, as well as the children in northern territories.
Further explanation was requested on the re-organisation of educational institutions, and the steps those institutions were taking to combat sexual violence in schools; measures in place to ensure access to sport to all children and the facilities established for children with disabilities; and the measures introduced by the Government to support refugee and asylum-seeking children. Was the Government closely monitoring the trend of children being recruited into armed forces?
Experts also asked what had been done to increase the healthcare coverage in remote and rural areas and more information was sought on the adolescent pregnancies and the dropout rate of girls from the education system, including on the steps taken to address this problem.
Were discussions of safe abortion taking place on the national level?
Would sexual education be re-introduced in schools, asked an Expert.
Ecuador was struggling with ensuring access to drinking water since the earthquake and the delegation was asked to elaborate on this issue.
The delegation was asked to comment on the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and to inform the Committee whether a standardized information system existed. The Experts also asked about a working definition of trafficking and smuggling, whether suitable monitoring mechanisms had been set up and provided with human and financial resources, and if the judges were trained to process the crime of people trafficking and smuggling.
What was the national policy towards the street children, asked an Expert, were they institutionalized or was any special care given to them?
The delegation was also asked to provide information on standards and conditions in detention centres for minors.
Responses by the Delegation
In response to questions raised by the Experts, the delegation noted that some comments they had made had been based on incomplete and inaccurate information, and expressed hope that the dialogue would serve to remedy the misunderstanding.
The Government organised series of training for families on education, and conducted campaigns and community meetings. Trainings were held on the topic of prevention of bullying, and also included themes of education and values, and sexual education. The delegation provided detailed data on the number of families, schools, teachers and professionals that had been trained.
There was zero tolerance for sexual violence, and any other forms of violence, as reflected in the Constitution. Sexual education was taught in schools.
The national education plan for families was carried out across 140 districts in the country by the student union departments, and parent committees were involved in its implementation.
Progress had been made in the inclusion of vulnerable groups in education system, for example, the education coverage for indigenous children increased from 41 per cent to 59 per cent and for children of African descent from 44 to 55 per cent.
There were still 4,200 single teacher schools, though through the process of territorial restructuring, they were being merged with other educational units, in order to increase the education coverage, expand the quality of education and offer benefits to children. Transport for children from rural to urban areas had been organized. All changes in territorial restructuring were a result of the nationwide dialogue which the President had initiated. A comprehensive curricula contained important concepts that would be tailored to local context.
Sexual reproductive plan 2016 to 2020 was in place, encompassing specific objectives and indicators.
There has been progress in the area of participation of children with disabilities in regular education. The National Council on Disability had prepared a course and a capacity building plan for teachers on how to teach children with disabilities. In addition, specialized centres for children with disabilities existed.
Revictimization of children that were victims of sexual violence was an issue that the Government paid special attention to. The Government was aware that girls in particular were subject to victimization, so special awareness campaigns had been developed to combat further violence.
The delegation provided further information on efforts conducted to bolster intercultural education in cooperation with the United Nations Children's Fund and about activities aimed to preserve the indigenous languages and promote their use.
The delegation elaborated on the structure and functioning of different councils, explaining that the civic participation council elected national representatives among children. As for the student councils, an administrative agreement was signed to appoint members in all of those.
The problem of malnutrition remained of particular concern and Ecuador was aware that very little progress had been made in this regard. A study had been conducted to assess the conditions of school nutrition programmes while the Ministry of Health was working with local governments on the improvement of drinking water supply.
The Ministry of Social and Economic Inclusion, in cooperation with local governments, worked on inclusion and empowerment of children with disabilities. Care centres were established for children with disabilities and care at home was also provided as an alternative option. There had been over 300 written agreements in place between the non-governmental organizations and local governments regulating the provision of assistance for persons with disabilities.
The delegation provided information about the Human Development Bond, which was the principle mechanism for reducing poverty.
The number of street children in Ecuador was rather low compared to the other Latin American countries, a delegate said, adding that the Ministry of Social and Economic Inclusion worked on identifying those children and their inclusion in the education system.
Questions from the Experts
JORGE CARDONA LLORENS, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Ecuador, asked about the human resources allocated for assisting persons with disabilities and inquired about the recent reduction of vouchers for persons with disabilities.
Were complaint mechanisms available to all children and how could the children lodge a complaint in a confidential manner?
Experts asked about the number of psychologists in Ecuador and how accessible they were to the children, and also raised concern about a high suicide rate among adolescents, asking about action taken to address the problem.
Regarding the programme for street children, was the Government monitoring those street children who had been included in schools?
Experts inquired about the implementation of the breastfeeding standards, the funding for the special protection centres funded, and the socio-economic measures directed to juvenile offenders and how many had been issued.
Concerning the reports of disappearance of children in the north, particularly of girls, the delegation was asked to provide further information and confirm if reports were true.
Ecuador was the third country in the region with the number of adolescent pregnancies, Experts said with concern and asked about measures taken to address the issue.
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation presented information about programs that have been implemented to eliminate all forms of violence, including sexual violence, and said that nationwide outreach campaigns such as Equality Day were directed towards combating violence and fighting patriarchal prejudice. Civil servants throughout the country were trained on the topics of family support, specialized shelters and assistance, and on combating gender-based violence.
Early warning systems were developed in cooperation with different institutions to improve the prevention of violence. Prevention of school bullying was particularly emphasised by the delegation as one of the areas where special efforts had been invested.
Concerning the prevention of sexual violence against children and adolescents, the delegation explained that medical care provided to victims of violence had been a topic considered during the discussions on the adoption of the Organic Health Care Code. Several guidelines on the topic of breastfeeding had been disseminated, in line with the Committee’s recommendations, and a special regulation had been adopted.
Special protection centres had been previously operating under the Ministry of Education, but were recently moved under the Ministry of Justice. They provided family support and guidance, emergency care, crisis intervention, emotional containment, monitoring and follow-up. The budget of 2 million dollars had been in place for staff alone.
The delegation informed the Committee that specialized defenders for children and adolescents existed in the country. All specialized defenders, as well as judges, underwent special capacity building programmes and trainings. There were 150 prosecutors specialized in working with children, families and adolescents and having professional knowledge required for their area of work. Training was provided to judges, public defenders, public prosecutors, officers of the Special Police for Children and Adolescents, specialist staff working in adoption units and care institutions.
The Organic Code on Children and Adolescents had raised the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 18 years. All offenders under the age of criminal responsibility were treated in line with the juvenile justice standards. The judges might order preventive and socio-educational measures for adolescents who committed criminal offences, and they could continue their education. There were juvenile detention centres nationwide. The Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Religious Affairs had signed cooperation agreements to enhance the standards in the area of juvenile justice, including agreements with the Council of the Judiciary for the harmonization of information systems and the development of protocols to guarantee due process.
The National Victim and Witness Protection and Assistance System had been established on the national level and was working through coordination mechanisms in all provinces. The System was giving priority to children and adolescents, and it recognized victims of human trafficking and domestic violence as particularly vulnerable. For victim protection, the System used the state-run shelter facilities and special protection services.
In response to the question about the access of children to the bull fights, the delegation explained that a regulation had been recently adopted which prohibited children under the age of 16 from attending public events containing violent elements.
In order to promote sports among the youth, the Government had introduced a compulsory one hour per day of sports activities in all educational facilities.
The national plan for the prevention and punishment of trafficking in persons and comprehensive victim protection was in place, while new care centres had been created for the victims of trafficking. Awareness raising on trafficking of migrants was conducted and had reached over 80,000 persons through citizens’ actions and numerous communication campaigns. Over 2,000 civil servants working in the justice system had been trained on the international refugee and humanitarian law and on prevention mechanisms in human trafficking.
The Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion was in charge of early infant development, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education.
Adolescent pregnancy was one of the priorities of the Ministry of Health which was developing initiatives to address the issue in cooperation with other ministries. and an area of inter-institutional efforts, and it was also being addressed through sexual education in school.
At the moment, there was no specific policy on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex adolescents and Ecuador had made progress in protecting them from discrimination. This group remained one of the priority groups for the Government. Ecuador remained concerned about children of mothers deprived of their liberty, and this groups was covered by the public policies in the country.
Concluding Remarks
ALVARO SAENZ, Vice Minister of Education, reaffirmed that Ecuador had well-developed public policies, including those for children and adolescents, reflected in its development plans, its legal framework and in concrete actions. Coordination mechanisms between institutions had been in place and cooperation was functioning well. Many challenges still remained and Ecuador welcomed the Committee’s recommendations to allow it to improve and strengthen the protection of children.
HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Ecuador acknowledged the important steps taken by the Government in the social sphere and in the representation of children, and urged Ecuador to provide precise answers to issues linked to violence, adolescent pregnancies, coordination, health, and other issues that had been the subject of the debate.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CRC/17/27E