UN focus on child rights in Dominica

The Committee welcomed the submission of the initial report of Dominica, and noted with appreciation the Education Act No. 11 of 1997, amended in order to provide for Early Childhood Education from 0 to 5 years; the Act No. 22 of 2001 on Protection Against Domestic Violence which contained specific provisions covering various forms of violence against children; the Maintenance Act amended in 2001 to provide access to unwed fathers and also to increase the weekly maintenance fee by 50 pre cent; the Social Security Miscellaneous Amendment regulation through which maternity grant was increased by 100 per cent and was retroactive from 1996; and the ratification of the optional protocols to the Convention.

The Committee recommended, among other things, that the State party remove all provisions from laws that allowed corporal punishment and explicitly prohibit punishment by law in the family, schools and other institutions; continue the constructive dialogue with political leaders and the judiciary with the aim to abolish corporal punishment; continue to strengthen public education campaigns among community leaders, school administrators and parents about the negative consequences of corporal punishment of children; and undertake studies on domestic violence, ill-treatment and abuse of children, including sexual abuse within the family in order to adopt effective policies and programmes to combat all forms of abuse.

The Committee recommended that Dominica increase its efforts to ensure implementation of existing laws guaranteeing the principle of non-discrimination and full compliance with article 2 of the Convention, and to adopt a proactive and comprehensive strategy to eliminate discrimination on any grounds and against all vulnerable groups.

Further, the Committee recommended that the State party continue to strengthen efforts to combat discriminatory attitudes towards children with disabilities and to promote their participation in all aspects of social and cultural life; and that it formulate a strategy which would include appropriate teacher training to ensure that all children with disabilities had access to education, and wherever possible that they were integrated into the mainstream education system.

The State party was recommended to undertake effective measures to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies through making health education, including sex education, part of the school curriculum, and strengthening the campaign of information on the use of contraceptives; and undertake effective preventive and other measures to address the rise in alcohol consumption by adolescents and increase the availability and accessibility of counselling and support services, in particular for Carib Indian children.

Finally, the Committee recommended that the State party continue and strengthen its efforts to improve the enjoyment of the rights of Carib Indian children, in particular by effective measures to reduce poverty in the Carib Indian Territory.