COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF JORDAN

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the third periodic report of Jordan on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing the report, Mousa Burayzat, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, stressed that children were Jordan’s most precious resource. Jordan, despite the political difficulties it faced, had done its best to evaluate the situation of the rights of the child throughout the country and tried to develop childhood without discrimination on the basis of sex, nationality or of any kind. The report had been drawn up following extensive consultations and discussions, with the collaboration of various government agencies, civil society, non-governmental organizations, and various international organizations involved in the rights of the child.

In preliminary remarks, Committee Expert David Brent Parfitt, who served as Rapporteur for the report of Jordan, said that today they had heard of many positive developments in Jordan, consistent with the Convention. He would be remiss if he did not mention King Abdullah and Queen Rania for their activities in promoting children’s rights. The Committee would look forward to the gazetting of the Convention, its two Optional Protocols, and the Child Rights Act, which would provide the legal basis for the provision of services for children in the country.

Other Experts raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, the definition of the child; early marriages; equality of access to services for children outside the capital; children’s right to be heard, particularly in the context of education; why expenditure for care for disabled children had been reduced by 20 per cent between 2002 and 2006; policies to protect children in deprivation of liberty situations; clarification on how Jordanian citizenship was transmitted to children by their parents; a lack of equality between the rights of girls and boys to inherit; services for disabled children; costs to families for school uniforms and supplies; reports of corporal punishment being practised in some schools; and curriculum reform.

The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Jordan towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 29 September.

The delegation of Jordan also included other representatives from the Permanent Mission of Jordan, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Justice, the Interior, Health, Labour, Education, and Social Development.
As one of the States parties to the Convention, Jordan 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 next reconvenes in public, on Friday, 29 September at 12.30 p.m., it will adopt its final conclusions and recommendations on the reports it has considered over the past three weeks before closing its present session.

Report of Jordan

The third periodic report of Jordan (CRC/C/JOR/3) notes that the National Council on Family Affairs was established in mid-2001 to provide national support and coordination for the efforts of all bodies working in fields with a bearing on family affairs and the welfare of children, including civil society institutions and organizations, and to promote integration among them with a view to securing the rights of children as defined in the Convention. In the area of the protection of children from abuse, the Dar al-Aman (“house of safety”) was established by the Jordan River Foundation in 2000, with support from the Minister of Social Development, as a centre dedicated to the protection of abused children. The Dar al-Aman is the first of its kind, not only in Jordan but in any Arab State.

As regards the provision of information aimed at the development of Jordanian social groups, especially children, an Information and Research Centre was established by the King Hussein Bin Talal Foundation on 14 June 2001. The Centre is an independent research body mandated primarily to conduct research in the various areas of human development policy, including in particular the rights of young people and children, legislation concerning children, and early childhood development. At the present time, the executive power is devoting serious, intensive efforts to the task of expediting the enactment of a Children’s Rights Act by the National Assembly and its publication in the Official Gazette. Once enacted, this Act will become a major component of the country’s legislation in force in the area of children’s rights.

Presentation of Report

MOUSA BURAYZAT, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, introducing the report, stressed that the rights of the child was one area that went to the very heart of the concerns of Jordan. Jordan had a lack of many natural resources, and that was why they concentrated so much on their human ones. Indeed, children were Jordan’s most precious resource.

Mr. Burayzat said that the third periodic report contained information on the various measures and different procedures adopted by Jordan, as well as the various changes that came into effect following its review and reform of national legislation in line with the Committee’s recommendations and final conclusions to Jordan’s second periodic report. Jordan, despite the political difficulties it faced, had done its best to evaluate the situation of the rights of the child throughout the country and tried to develop childhood without discrimination on the basis of sex, nationality or of any kind. The report had been drawn up following extensive consultations and discussions, with the collaboration of various government agencies, civil society, non-governmental organizations, and various international organizations involved in the rights of the child.

The second section of the report mentioned the follow-up measures Jordan had undertaken and the progress achieved. The third section detailed the factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Convention, including the Gulf War, the occupation taking place in the Gulf territories, and the burden those events placed on the Jordanian economy. The many immigrants and refugees, along with the 2.5 per cent growth rate, also had had an effect on the possibility of providing services to Jordan’s children, Mr. Burayzat observed. The situation prevailing in the Middle East had had an impact on Jordan’s children, and that was seen on a daily basis. The last part of the report contained a response to the various areas of concern and recommendations raised by the Committee to the previous report.

Questions by Experts

DAVID BRENT PARFITT, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Jordan, thanked Jordan for the report. He had visited the country recently and had observed that there was a strong movement to create a strong and transparent Government. He was most impressed with the knowledge of the government officials involved regarding the provisions of the Convention and with the efforts being taken to implement them. He welcomed the information that the Convention would be part of the national curriculum at both the primary and the secondary level.

Mr. Parfitt wished to note the many positive achievements by Jordan in the field of children’s rights. The National Council for Family Affairs was established in 2002 to monitor children’s rights. The National Plan of Action from 2004 to 2013 had been launched. Efforts were being made to disseminate the Convention by, for example, the Children’s Parliament. The minimum age for marriage was now set at 18 years for both sexes. Infant mortality in Jordan was one of the lowest in the Middle East. A draft children’s rights act was drawn up in 2004 and was now before parliament. And a draft juvenile justice act had also been drawn up.

Despite all of these positive achievements, Mr. Parfitt noted that some concerns still remained. The Convention, although ratified, had not become law in Jordan, nor had the two Optional Protocols. The age of criminal responsibility remained at the very low age of 7 years. There were very light sentences imposed for so-called honour killings. Discriminatory social stereotypes regarding women still existed, which had a big effect the rights of girls. Children’s rights to nationality were still jeopardized if the father did not have Jordanian citizenship. There was restricted access to education for asylum-seeking children. And corroborative evidence was still needed for cases of child abuse.

Mr. Parfitt wished to know whether any consideration was being given to removing all the reservations to the Convention, in particular the reservations to articles 20 and 21 regarding adoption. He also wished to know when the Convention would become national law and when the Children’s Act, which incorporated important parts of the Convention, would be enacted.

Furthermore, Mr. Parfitt was particularly concerned about the State party’s reservation to article 14. He felt that perhaps if they read the article more closely, and realized that the right of the child to religious freedom was not absolute, they would be able to withdraw their reservations to it.

Other Experts raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, the definition of the child; early marriages; whether capital punishment could be imposed on those who committed crimes before the age of 18; insufficient data-collection; equality of services and access to them for children outside the capital; children’s right to be heard, particularly in the context of education; why expenditure for care for disabled children had been reduced by 20 per cent between 2002 and 2006; policies to protect children in deprivation of liberty situations, whether in centres for minors or in police cells; rehabilitation mechanisms for children; and training of law enforcement staff regarding children’s rights.

An Expert asked how non-Muslim widows, who had no right of inheritance, provide for their families, and what happened to the children in such situations. He also asked for clarification on how Jordanian citizenship was transmitted to children by their parents. Was it true that girl children did not have the same right to inheritance as boy children in Jordan? Finally, what had the Government done to implement the National Youth Strategy, 2005-2009?

Response by the Delegation of Jordan

Responding to the question regarding whether children could be imprisoned for life for actions committed before the age of 18, the Permanent Representative wished to clarify that the case the Expert had been alluding to was actually one of a Jordanian child of 15 who had committed an act in Israel. It was the Israeli authorities, not the Jordanians, who had jailed the child for life and that case had had serious diplomatic repercussions. Jordan did not accept that children could be subject to capital punishment or receive life sentences.

Other members of the delegation then continued to respond to the questions posed by Committee Experts. The delegation noted that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had been ratified at the last session of parliament. Once a convention was ratified it would be incorporated in national legislation and could be applied directly in court.

The age of criminal responsibility had been amended to 12, and then returned to 10 to maintain consistency, the delegation explained. That was owing to the fact that Jordan was a multicultural society and needed to make compromises to accommodate different viewpoints. By law, parents were not allowed to use corporal punishment to chastise their children.

The reservations to the Convention generally related to the specificity of Jordanian society, which was an Arab Muslim society. They had lifted certain reservations where they had been able to, the delegation pointed out.

Regarding the implementation of schemes such as the National Centre for Children’s Rights, the delegation opined that Jordan had limited resources and had perhaps been overoptimistic in its plans. However, with international help, the National Centre had been set up in 2003. There was also a draft law creating an Ombudsman’s Office, with provisions for the coordination between that Office and the National Centre.

The minimum marriage age was 18, but there were exceptions, the delegation noted. One such exception was for girls who became pregnant before the age of 18.

Regarding criminal justice, the maximum sentence for a minor was 12 years’ detention, the delegation said. In the courts there was a pilot project to used closed circuit television to allow child victims to testify in cases of family abuse. It was hoped to expand that project to all areas of juvenile justice, and to include both victims and offenders.

A hotline was to be established, first in Amman and then extended to the provinces, for child victims of abuse. It would be a toll free number and it would be composed of a simple series of numbers that would be easy for children to remember, the delegation confirmed.

Clarifying the situation of legislation on children in Jordan, a member of the delegation observed that, on 16 September the Parliament had ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Concerning the adoption of the Act on Children, it had been delayed until the Convention could be adopted, and it was expected that it would be adopted at the next ordinary session of Parliament. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was making its final preparations for the adoption of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention and they were currently before the Cabinet.

Turning to the budget for health services, the delegation said that the budget for health had been 5.8 per cent of the total budget for 2006, and that there had been a 5 per cent increase in the budget from last year. Figures for current expenditure in the health sector were not available, but in 2001 the expenditures in the area had represented 6.9 per cent of gross domestic product. Budget allocations were done in a centralized way, with every directorate or governorate submitting expenditures to the Ministry of Health for approval. Public sector expenditure only represented 42 per cent of total expenditures in the area of health, however. Expenditure for health care from the private sector and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East, combined, exceeded the expenditures of government for health care programmes.

A coordinating body for social welfare and development had been operationalized in June this year, the delegation said. Regarding early marriages, that issue was raised in a draft national agenda on social welfare that had been launched in 2005.

The National Council on Family Affairs was semi-autonomous, but it coordinated with the relevant Government ministries and was partly financed through the government funds. Currently, only 70 per cent of the requisite funding for the Council was in place.

On the issue of children’s right to be heard, the delegation confirmed that a number of children had participated in the drafting of the law on children that was currently before Parliament.

The delegation noted that the principle of the Islamic institution of kafalah (foster care) was applied in Jordan, and that had been in place since the 1960s.

Currently a number of centres for social assistance and services had been established in police stations, the delegation said, which were concerned with providing psychological and other assistance to children.

Further Questions by Experts

During the second round of questions, the Rapporteur asked about parental care. It appeared there were unequal rights with regard to mothers and fathers. Unmarried mothers and children had different rights than unmarried mothers. What services were provided for children of separated parents and what was their status. In the case of parents who were deprived of their parents, for whatever reasons, he would appreciate further information on care available, including public and private institutions, as well as foster care or kafalah. Were there care plans for such children, and did the children themselves have input into those plans, he wondered, and what recourse did such children have to complaint mechanisms?

Other Experts raised further questions on topics including, services for disabled children; costs to families for school uniforms and supplies; the situation of drop-outs; disciplinary guidelines for schools, and reports of corporal punishment being practised in some schools; bullying; curriculum reform; what kind of human rights training teachers received; more information on sexual education programmes and teen pregnancies. On the issue of juvenile justice, Experts asked whether children outside of the capital had access to specialized children’s courts and judges; the availability of mediation; what were the facilities for children sentenced to incarceration, and were such children held separate from adults.

Regarding the delegation’s explanation that judges could waive the minimum age of 18 for marriage in special circumstances, such as pregnancy, an Expert drew attention to the statistic that 20 per cent of marriages fell into that category of special circumstances. Did this statistic then indicate a serious problem of teen pregnancy, masked through early marriage?

Response by the Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that questions of child support were decided by a court. If the father did not pay, there were procedures in place to address such situations, including direct deductions from a father’s salary and seizure of property.

Reintegration programmes existed in correctional and rehabilitation centres, the delegation confirmed. Within the new reforms to be launched, alternative methods of punishment were outlined. For juvenile justice cases, children were separated into three groups: those under 12, those between 12 and 15, and those between 15 and 18 years of age, and those groups received differentiated treatment. Free legal counsel was available to children.

There were no disadvantaged areas in Jordan in terms of services. The health, educational or other services available in the capital were also available in the smallest villages, the delegation stressed.

Jordan was the only country in the Middle East that was a party to the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition of landmines, the delegation observed. Jordan had already demined significant stretches of its borders, and television programmes had been shown on the issue of the psychological impact of mines on children.

Regarding children’s testimony and the need for corroborative evidence, the delegation said that individual testimony from a child was acceptable in criminal cases and could be used as legal evidence. It was up to the judge then to evaluate its worth. Such testimony could be accepted without corroborative evidence, if the judge so determined.

Many concepts relating to human rights and the child and democracy were present in the school curricula even before the Government had begun to develop programmes in the Education Reform for the Knowledge Economy project framework, in cooperation with a number of international bodies. Both the ideas and the principles of human rights had been integrated. Education from the age of 6 to 16 years was compulsory and free in Jordan, the delegation highlighted. The Government provided teachers for remote areas and provided children with the necessary school materials and helped children from remote areas to train as teachers themselves to be able to teach in their areas and promote school attendance. A school feeding programme was launched in 1999 and that included all the most remote areas. This year 220,000 children participated in that programme, receiving a full meal once a day.

Children were heard in the educational sphere, and there were plans for parent-teacher-child committees to have input into educational decisions, the delegation stressed. There were severe penalties for teachers that resorted to corporal punishment of students. The school administration or the Ministry of Education itself would take measures against such staff, and they could be brought to court. The Ministry compiled statistics on such cases and presented them in a report every year. He did not have the figures with him, but he would forward a copy of this year’s report to the Committee. He would also forward to the Committee statistics on the number of hours of training teachers received, which he did not have to hand.

There were two schools for the blind run by the Ministry of Education from the age of kindergarten up, and programmes for the blind were available throughout the country. There were 455 special institutes or units that dealt with the majority of children with learning difficulties. The children were tested and helped to reintegrate into normal schools. There was not much educational help available for the mentally ill, but there was a Swedish non-governmental organization project to assist such children. At the primary level, all textbooks were provided free of charge. School grants were used to assist children to participate in extracurricular activities.
In private schools, education was coeducational at both the primary and secondary levels. In public schools, early education was coeducational and later the sexes were educated separately. There were no religious schools in Jordan, the delegation emphasized.

The delegation said that there were government programmes to encourage breastfeeding in place at hospitals. Maternity leave had been extended from 10 to 14 weeks and unpaid leave for mothers could be taken up to one year. There was a National AIDS Strategy, in which young men and women had participated, and an awareness-raising campaign for health workers with respect to children’s rights. There were social workers in the schools to provide psychological guidance to children with psychological or behavioural problems. A programme for the sensitization of parents, run in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund, dealt with children’s health, including mental health.

The delegation asserted that, as long as a child was fully capable of expressing their symptoms and asking for medical treatment, there was no minimum age for medical consent. Any child requesting treatment who could so articulate their complaint, would be treated. For surgery, there had to be the consent of one or both parents. If a girl wished to consult on a doctor on sexual health issues, generally her mother accompanied her.

Regarding the allegation that early pregnancy was one the rise, the delegation noted that there had been a steady downward trend for teen pregnancies and the statistics showed that it was not a major problem in the country. The rates were 1.8 per cent for 16 year olds, 3.8 for 17 year olds and 6.2 per cent for 18 year olds.

The delegation affirmed that the age at which children were allowed to work had been raised from 7 to 16, in line with the International Labour Organization Convention concerning the minimum age for admission to employment.

In general, Jordanian law attributed nationality on the basis of the father. However, the delegation pointed out, anyone born on the territory of Jordan, if the father or the parents were unknown, would acquire Jordanian nationality. Children resident in Jordan who had been abandoned by their parents also were granted Jordanian nationality. For anyone over the age of 18, who was not yet a Jordanian national, they had to live in Jordan for 15 years before they could apply for nationality. For men without Jordanian nationality residing in Jordan for less than 15 years, their children would not be Jordanian, but those children would enjoy the same rights and social services as Jordanian children. Such children would have the right to reside in Jordan and could not be deported.

Refugees received all health and social services. The total of children asylum seekers were over 4,000. There were only 7 child refugees that were unaccompanied minors. There were no cases of sexual exploitation of such children that had been recorded in Jordan.

There was a Family Protection Department, which provided confidential medical and psychological assistance for children victims of sexual assault, the delegation said. In addition to the main Department for Family Protection in the capital, there were additional divisions in the other governorates to handle complaints.

Regarding inheritance, the system was based on the social system in which the head of the family was responsible for all expenditures for the family, including the women.

Statistics showed that the rate of traffic accidents was high, the delegation said. There was a media campaign in place to inform the general public about traffic safety and there was also a programme for adults to raise their awareness of the dangers posed to children by traffic accidents.
The law had been amended since 2000 to have equality between men and women in so-called honour crimes. The delegation said that more progress could be made though increasing public awareness and through the training of judges.

Preliminary Remarks

DAVID BRENT PARFITT, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, in preliminary concluding remarks, thanked the delegation for the excellent day of work. They had heard of many positive developments in Jordan, consistent with the Convention. He would be remiss if he did not mention King Abdullah and Queen Rania for their activities in promoting children’s rights. The Committee would look forward to the gazetting of the Convention, its two Optional Protocols, and the Child Rights Act that would provide the legal basis for provision of services for children in the country.


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