COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF CHILE

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

Introducing the report, Clarisa Hardy, Minister of Planning of Chile, said that Chile wanted to ensure and improve the basic indicators for children and establish a system that protected children on the basis of universal rights. Chile's comprehensive child protection system programme, "Chile is Growing With You", was based on two ideas. The first was that inequality needed to be addressed at its roots. That meant that the Government was making early childhood programmes, for those under four, an absolute priority. Other areas targeted by the programme included the need to encourage women to enter the labour field, greater equality between the sexes in providing for childcare; increased access for children to social services; upgraded coverage; and care for vulnerable groups, such as children living in poverty, indigenous children and immigrant children. The second focus was the need to foster shared responsibility by non-governmental organizations and the private sector for childcare. How that responsibility would be shared was part of an ongoing debate in Parliament.

In preliminary concluding remarks, Committee Expert Norberto Liwski, who served as Rapporteur for the report of Chile, appreciated Chile's poverty reduction efforts and its initial steps to address adolescent sexual and reproductive health. He welcomed the Children's Code, which had been before Congress for a long time, which would allow for stronger coordination of children's issues, which had heretofore been done by the Ministry of Planning. Among concerns were vulnerable children, such as indigenous children, and street children, who could become marginalized; and children liable to possible exploitation and abuse in institutions. He also hoped the Government would think more about the new law on juvenile criminal responsibility. Its adoption would be a good step towards the elaboration of a socio-educational system for juvenile delinquents, and he hoped that such aspects would be taken into account in the final draft. Finally, he hoped Chile would consider establishing a national ombudsman for children's rights.

Other Experts raised a series of questions and asked for further information on a number of topics pertaining to, among other things, the lack of a national children's ombudsman; the slow pace of legal reform, in particular with reference to the civil code, the juvenile code and the penal code; the large population of disabled children that were not in school; increased rates of suicide among adolescent girls; child trafficking and sexual exploitation; pre-trial detention; reports of police brutality and torture of minors and reports of policed repression of student movements; and whether a complaint mechanism for child victims of police actions existed. Furthermore, the Chairperson was concerned about the Government's decision not to take testimony for child victims of torture under the Pinochet regime.

The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Chile towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 2 February.

The delegation of Chile included the Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Ambassador Juan Martabit; Paulina Fernández, Director of the National Service for Minors, and other members of that Service; and representatives from the National Organization of Kindergartens; the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Planning; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Ministry of Education.

As one of the 193 States parties to the Convention, Chile 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 on Monday, 29 January at 10 a.m., it will consider the initial reports of Kyrgyzstan on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/KGZ/1) and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/KGZ/1).

Report of Chile

During the period covered by its third periodic report (CRC/C/CHL/3) – 1998 to 2004 – Chile made substantial progress in the fulfilment of the commitments deriving from the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A milestone was the drawing-up of the National Policy and Integrated Plan of Action in Favour of Children and Adolescents, 2001-2010, which is designed to give effect to the Convention through commitment on the part of the Government and the different branches of the State. The establishment of a system of management for the National Policy and Plan of Action, consisting of the creation of the Council of Ministers for Children and Adolescents and its advisory bodies is additional clear evidence of the importance of the rights of the child in the public agenda of the Government.

Substantial efforts have also been made in the legislative sphere, in particular, the 1998 Filiation Act, which was a great step forward in the elimination of discrimination; the Adoption Act, in which the rights of children are given precedence over the interests of adults; the Civil Marriages Act, which sets the age of consent to marriage at 16 years for boys and girls without distinction; and the Act concerning crimes of commercial sexual exploitation, which was adopted in January 2004. Nevertheless in this sphere Chile is still significantly behindhand in the adoption of a set of draft bills. This situation particularly affects implementation of article 40 of the Convention, owing to the absence of guarantees in the present guardianship system for children and adolescents who have committed offences under criminal law. The Act concerning Juvenile Criminal Responsibility, which is currently in the final stage of its passage through Parliament, will give rise to a significant change in the present situation.

Major reforms have in fact been implemented at the administrative level in the systems of care within the purview of the National Service for Minors. These include an increase in the scope of alternative measures to deprivation of liberty, the fixing of minimum ages for persons requiring care in programmes for the administration of justice, a systematic effort to remove children and adolescents from prisons where imprisonment is not justified and the establishment of Offices for the Protection of Rights at the local level.

Presentation of Report

CLARISA HARDY, Minister of Planning of Chile, introducing the report, said that Chile had taken substantial measures on children's rights, with the implementation of a comprehensive child protection system entitled "Chile is Growing Along with You" which started in 2006.

Ms. Hardy felt that she ought to give some necessary background. For the first time in its history, Chile – a Latin American country where employment and political participation among women was one of the lowest – had a female president. This had been an important step forward in a move towards gender equality, and expressed the majority of the population's aspiration to achieve that goal. The Government was working to pave the way for a system of social protection in Chile. Chile, a country in which half to one third of per capita income was lower than that in Europe, wanted to establish a modern social welfare system. Poverty had been reduced considerably. At the beginning of 1990, when democracy had been restored, almost 40 per cent of the population had been below poverty line; in 2003, poverty had been reduced to 18 per cent. However, there continued to be an unequal distribution of incomes, which had resisted change. There was a move afoot in the country, however, to address those sorts of inequalities, including gender and territorial rights.

With regard to child-related issues, Chile wanted to ensure and improve the basic indicators for children and establish a system that protected children on the basis of universal rights. The child protection system had three main pillars: first, there was the Chile Solidario protection system, which aimed at those living in extreme poverty and which looked at rights that had been infringed. Some 50,000 families participated in that system every year. The system was planned for five years, ensuring social benefit networks for all those families, including through health reform, the Auge plan, which addressed the needs of the most vulnerable, and by providing access to education, including primary and secondary education, with government assistance. The second pillar was the child protection system, "Chile is Growing with You". Thirdly, there was the labour protection system, which aimed at providing decent work and reducing precarious work conditions.

Chile was committed to ensuring its citizens rights from birth throughout old age. There was a budget and a legislative framework to ensure that. The budget for 2007 was the largest in Chile's history.

The comprehensive child protection system programme, "Chile is Growing With You", was based on two ideas, the Minister said: first, that inequality needed to be addressed at its roots. That meant that they were making early childhood programmes, for those under four, an absolute priority. Among areas targeted by the programme was the need to encourage women to enter the labour field. There also needed to be greater equality between the sexes in providing for childcare. Access for children to social services and coverage needed to be upgraded, as well as the quality of those services, and in particular the systems for peri- and post natal care, as well as for adopted children, needed to be reformed. Children living in poverty, indigenous children and immigrant children were another focus. Secondly, was the need to foster shared responsibility by non-governmental organizations and the private sector for childcare. How that responsibility would be shared was part of an ongoing debate in Parliament. The Ministry of Planning was responsible for the child protection system, working in conjunction with other relevant ministries, such as the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education.

Questions by Experts

NORBERTO LIWSKI, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Chile, noted that during the past 15 years Chile had halved poverty, expanded access to education, and improved health indicators. However, he agreed there was a problem with inequality between rich and poor, and Chile was one of the 10 most unequal societies in the world in that regard. Four of every 10 young children were under the poverty line. He also took note of the multicultural nature of Chilean society, with a number of indigenous peoples making up four per cent of the population.

Mandatory education was provided for by the Constitution, which included 12 years of free schooling, Mr. Liwski observed. However, the average for indigenous children was only 6 years of schooling. That was an inequality that had to be addressed.

Mr. Liwski observed with satisfaction that Chile had ratified almost all of the international human rights treaties under the UN system and the Inter-American system. He also noted Chile's plans in the near future for the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.

While he was pleased to note the enactment of a whole host of new laws focused on or affecting children, Mr. Liwski wondered about the impact of those laws given that the draft law on comprehensive protection for children and adolescents had not yet been ratified.

In May 2003, the Council of Ministers for Children and Adolescents had been set up, under the Ministry of Planning, to evaluate and coordinate national policies on children, in particular the National Policy and Integrated Plan of Action 2001-2010, as well as the Advisory Committee of Civil Society for Children and Adolescents. In that connection, Mr. Liwski wondered what the state of implementation of that plan was, whether civil society had been involved, and whether the Committee's recommendations made in 2002 had been taken into consideration, as well as the seminar organized jointly by the Committee and the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bogotá in 2005.

On civil rights and freedoms, Mr. Liwski was concerned about children's right to be heard and to freedom of expression in Chile. He wondered to what extent existing legislation, including the Constitution, provided for those rights and how the Government was actively promoting those rights. He noted the setting up of a body for submission of complaints by children about educational policies. Had that given rise to a new dialogue among children and those in decision-making positions?

Other Experts raised a series of questions and asked for further information on a number of topics pertaining to, among other things, the lack of a national human rights commissioner or ombudsman, in particular a children's ombudsman; clarification on the role and functions of the Advisory Committee of Civil Society for Children and Adolescents; the status of the Convention in domestic law, and whether it could be invoked directly in the courts; conformity of national legislation with the Convention; the slow pace of legal reform, in particular with reference to the civil code, the juvenile code and the penal code; the apparent discrepancy between the age of majority, which was set at 18 years under civil law, and the marriage age, which was set at 16; provisions to ensure birth registration; whether migrant children or children without a Chilean father could become Chilean citizens; what programmes existed to encourage the media to disseminate beneficial information for children, including on human rights and on the provisions of the Convention; and whether children's rights were part of the school curriculum.

Other questions and concerns expressed by Experts included reports of police brutality and torture of minors, in particular with regard to police operations involving territorial disputes;
what responsibilities parents had in the areas of juvenile justice and protection; reports of policed repression of student movements; whether there were guidelines for police in dealing with such movements; and whether a complaint mechanism for child victims of police actions existed. Furthermore, the Chairperson raised his concerns about the Government's decision not to take testimony for child victims of torture under the Pinochet regime, that is, individuals who had been children at the time of those events.

Response by the Delegation

CLARISA HARDY, Minister of Planning of Chile, responding to these questions and others, said that some of the questions raised by Experts had actually been based on mistakes in the report, which had to be corrected. Child poverty had fallen. The Rapporteur had said that 4 out of 10 children had been living in poverty in 2003; the actual figure was 2.7 for that year. Concerning a supposed reduction in expenditure on intercultural education, there had been in fact an exponential growth in spending on education, and in particular for vulnerable groups. Scholarships for indigenous children, for example, had doubled. Currently, Parliament was studying a bill to increase resources for education of children in vulnerable groups – including children at risk, in deprived environments, and disabled and indigenous children – by about 50 per cent, and it was hoped to be adopted in 2007.

Regarding, ILO Convention 169, on the rights of indigenous peoples, it had originally been submitted to Parliament nine years ago, but had not been adopted. The Minister stressed that they were working on reigniting that discussion. The Government had supported a national indigenous consultation, asking them to lobby Congress to impress upon them the urgent need for the adoption of the Convention, and in March this year all indigenous groups in the country would receive copies of the ILO Convention, translated into four indigenous languages.

A national strategy for integration of migrants was needed, the Minister observed. Chile was an emerging country in that area and traditional responses were no longer effective.

Responding to the issue of whether the new social programmes were working, the Minister said the socio-economic distribution survey was the best way to be sure that the Government was reaching the communities it wished to target. For example, the difference in income between the richest 20 per cent and poorest 20 per cent of the population had been 14 times in 2003. The Government had made a priority focus on social expenditure to address that gap, and had reduced poverty by half. Great efforts were also being made to modernize and streamline the institutions of the State to ensure the best distribution of its resources.

In the first half of 2007, the first monitoring body concerning children's rights would be set up. It would be an independent body, both public and private in nature but funded by the Government, mandated to analyse the status of Chile with regards to implementing its obligations under the Children's Rights Convention and to issue an annual report on that issue, for submission to the Government and to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

On disabilities, among other programmes, Chile had been working to increase support for early childhood education for disabled children, including through technical support, such as the provision of hearing aids and wheelchairs, and increasing facilities in institutions and homes for the disabled.

Another mistake the Minister wished to correct was that children who had been imprisoned or tortured under the Pinochet regime had not been compensated. Another member of the delegation, continuing on that subject, said that, indeed, the Commission appointed to investigate the crimes of the Pinochet regime had received testimonials from 1,200 children, 186 of whom had been under 13. Those children had received compensation, including access to health benefits for life, housing subsidies, and provisions to continue with their studies.

On the lack of an ombudsman, the delegation noted that a draft bill on that issue had been presented to Parliament in 2003, and was currently in the chamber of deputies, at the first stage of its consideration. However, the lack of an ombudsman institution did not mean that children's rights were not being protected in Chile. There were various offices for the protection of children's rights at the local level; hotlines to protect citizens; and offices for educational complaints.

On dissemination of information on children's rights, the delegation said that a handbook on citizenship rights had been widely distributed. The "Chile is Growing With You" educational campaign would be launched this year, encouraged by the media, and receiving the support of experts and academics, to raise awareness about the Convention. They were also currently working on an interactive web page so that children and adults could actively take part in the discussion on their rights.

Further Questions by Experts

During the second round of questions, on health issues, the Rapporteur asked about migrant children in the health system, in particular with regard to the fact that Chile was in a transitional stage in terms of developing a system and policy for migrants. While he did not think the Government wished to intentionally exclude such children, there needed to be urgent attention to that area, to address the gap in care.

The report had indicated an increase in teenage pregnancies, and he wondered what steps had been taken to address that, including setting up programmes for adolescent sexual and reproductive health. There was one initiative, on responsible sexuality, which had apparently encountered difficulties and had not been implemented throughout the country. He would appreciate hearing more information on what had happened.

On HIV/AIDS, the Rapporteur wondered what was being done at the community level to reduce sero prevalence.

Other Experts asked further questions on topics including, among others, the large population of children with disabilities that were not in school; increased rates of suicide among adolescent girls; measures to combat child trafficking and sexual exploitation; provisions for vocational training; whether the juvenile justice law of 2005 had been implemented, and whether or not it conformed with the Convention; regulations on pre-trial detention for children; training for juvenile justice staff; support for single-parent families; and details on the work of the local offices for the protection of children's rights.

On juvenile justice, an Expert was concerned with the seemingly harsh provisions for the draft Act concerning Juvenile Criminal Responsibility, which set a cap of five years incarceration for children aged 14 to 16, and a maximum of 10 years for children between 16 and 17 years of age, encouraged deprivation of liberty, did not provide for a consideration of the situation of juvenile offenders in dealing with them, and had no provisions for reparative justice. Also, it was worrying that there was only one code of criminal procedure for both children and adults.

Response by Delegation

In response to those and other questions, the delegation said that, with regard to birth registration, in the Chile Solidario System, the Government was providing financing for the registration and documentation of all children within that system.

Regarding the cultural relevance of the Auge health policy, the delegation pointed out that there were 22 health services throughout the country, in particular in the remote indigenous areas. An origins programme had carried out over 300 medical programmes for indigenous people, and overall Chile had spent some $10 million in healthcare for indigenous populations over the last 5 years. In addition, there had been an increase in pharmacies carrying traditional medicine, for use both by indigenous peoples and the rest of the population as well.

On teenage pregnancies, Chile was trying to deal with this as a social, rather than a health issue. The morning after pill was available for girls 14 and over without parental consent. Despite serious opposition from the Church and other civil society organizations, the Government had taken pains to publicize the availability of this alternative for girls and to facilitate access. It had been the subject of a wide public debate. And, the delegation concluded, the maternal mortality rate had fallen.

HIV/AIDS was on the decline among teens, the delegation said, but it was very difficult to deal with this simply by awareness-raising. HIV/AIDS was now part of the Auge plan, not just for treatment but also for psychosocial support. Chile had also received strong support from international non-governmental organizations.

The "Chile Grows With You" programme encouraged breastfeeding for children. Moreover, the delegation pointed to the legal provision for working mothers to be allowed to have one hour a day to breastfeed their children until the age of 2 years.

The President herself had stressed the primacy of preschool education as the best investment in the future, the delegation said, both to ensure better school enrolment and to provide for the future labour market, but also to break the poverty trap and reduce domestic violence. The goal was that by 2010 some 60,000 new children would enter the school system, tripling the public offer of education to the poorest segment of the population. Among children between 2 and 4 years of age, some 40,000 new schoolchildren were involved in education in 2006. By 2010 they aimed to have 100 per cent of preschool age children of working mothers in school. In indigenous communities, pre-school curricula had been drawn up with representatives from those indigenous populations. There was also a programme for children with special needs or disabilities and kindergarten buildings were being updated to provide ease of access.

A sexual education programme, "Grow and Develop Through Affection", had been implemented in 2006, and it even had a specific module for preschool education. Workshops led by specialists trained staff and parents on those issues. Information on HIV/AIDS was part of the educational curriculum, and the Government provided materials and posters and the like. There was a special education programme with flexi hours for adolescent mothers, the delegation added, to allow them to continue with their studies.

To provide education in remote areas, specialists travelled to such areas as the Chilean Antarctic and via a radio education programme.

Regarding integration of minorities and indigenous children into the education system, there was a bilingual intercultural programme for some 57 schools, the delegation said. That had involved the training of bilingual teachers, bilingual textbooks and software material. There was a transport subsidy for schools in remote areas to provide transport for pupils. One in every two children participated in school food programmes. A programme provided uniforms and school material to 1 million pupils. Finally, a government programme to provide free textbooks now covered 90 per cent of all schools.

Vocational training existed, but it had not been a focus in recent years. It was now at the centre of discussions. As a result of the student movement, scholarships were now given to students undertaking vocational training. Many of those students were from the poorest segments of the population, the delegation highlighted.

On the status of the Convention in domestic law, the delegation noted that the Convention had been ratified in 1990 and in that same year a supreme degree had been promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Convention thus formed part of the national legislation and was commonly invoked in the courts.

Turning to juvenile justice, the delegation noted that a whole international legal corpus was already in implementation, such as the Tokyo Convention. The Act concerning Juvenile Criminal Responsibility should come into force this June. It had been somewhat changed by the legislators, and was not wholly in conformity with the Convention. But it did conform to article 40. In that regard, the Government was promoting the reading of the law in conjunction with the Convention.

Children in conflict with the law were not held with adults, but in separate juvenile facilities. There were also semi-closed facilities, the delegation pointed out, in which children were allowed to participate in outside activities, such as attending regular schools, during the day, but were locked up at night.

With regard to the new law on criminal responsibility for adolescents, the delegation wished to stress that that law would establish penalties for children with regard to a social reintegration framework. Deprivation of liberty would only be used as a last resort. What they were trying to design was a national socio-educational framework for juvenile offenders.

Turning to adoption, Chile was a party to the Hague Convention on Adoption, and adhered to its principles. The principle of reservation, which protected information concerning adoptions, did not prevent children from being aware of their roots. The National Service for Minors had been working on a programme for several years now to help children find their birth parents. In 2006, approximately 80 such requests were addressed. Single parents could adopt, although those in a stable relationship would be a factor in determining whether they would provide a good environment for their child.

On commercial sexual exploitation, since 1990 Chile had a framework to combat child prostitution, commercial sexual exploitation and the production and sale of child pornography. Chile was also a party to ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of labour. In 2003, a monitoring body on the worst forms of child labour had been established. There were 17 programmes in 11 regions to address the needs of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, provided by the Government as well as a number of non-governmental organizations. Awareness-raising was carried out by the local Offices for the Protection of Rights, municipal authorities and other local actors, and in 2007 it was hoped that that process would be systematized.

With respect to children separated from their parents, institutions or residential homes cared for 26 per cent of such children, or 18,000 children. In the non-residential programmes, some 74 per cent of children were cared for, including victims of commercial sexual exploitation, children living in the streets, and child victims of abuse. Chile had 53 programmes to assist such children across the country, covering some 60,000 children. Children in residential care centres could make complaints about their care to Monitors from the National Service for Minors.

There were currently 205 Offices for the Protection of Rights in 26 communes across the country, covering 80 per cent of Chile's children. They authorities were working on a pilot early warning system for children, in particular to prevent them from becoming street children. A support programme for street children had been started in 2006. In that regard, the delegation noted that there were some 7,000 people living on the streets in Chile today, only half of whom were covered by the social protection system. The Government was also trying to work with non-governmental organizations in that sector to provide care.

With respect to nationality, all persons born within the territory were entitled to citizenship. The only exception was for persons who were in transit through the country, but they could also request citizenship. Basically that meant that children born to foreign parents residing in the country, even if they were residing there illegally, would automatically be granted Chilean citizenship.

Preliminary Remarks

NORBERTO LIWSKI, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, in preliminary concluding remarks, thanked the delegation for their preparation and involvement in the dialogue today. He was also pleased to note the contributions made by the non-governmental organizations and the United Nations Children's Fund through information they had provided.

Among some very positive aspects, Mr. Liwski appreciated Chile's poverty reduction efforts and its initial steps, which he was sure would be elaborated on, to address adolescent sexual and reproductive health. He welcomed the Children's Code, which had been before Congress for a long time, which would allow for stronger coordination of children's issues, which had heretofore been done by the Ministry of Planning.

The Committee had expressed doubts on some issues, which the delegation had admitted with great honesty. Among Mr. Liwski’s concerns were vulnerable children, such as indigenous children, and street children, who could become marginalized; and children liable to possible exploitation and abuse in institutions, and the need for training programmes for staff. He also hoped the Government would think more about the new law on juvenile criminal responsibility. Its adoption would be a good step towards the elaboration of a socio-educational system for juvenile delinquents, and he hoped that such aspects would be taken into account in the final draft. He was pleased that Chile appeared to be reaching out to civil society to work together on programmes and that civil society in Chile was very active. It was very important for the State to recognize civil society organizations also had a role in promoting rights, not just in providing services.

Regarding the imprisonment or torture of children under the previous regime, Mr. Liwski was pleased to note that the time limit for complaints to be lodged had been extended.

Finally, it was very important that Chile make head way with its draft law so that it could establish a national ombudsman for human rights. In particular he hoped Chile would consider establishing a national ombudsman for children's rights.

For use of information media; not an official record
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