Press document
26.05.04
COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD
CONSIDERS SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF MYANMAR
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today considered
the second periodic report of
Introducing the report, Daw May May Yi, Advisor
for Women’s Affairs to the Prime Minister of Myanmar, said the Government of
Myanmar was giving top priority to the rights of children in its national
agenda, and was making every effort to ensure that children enjoyed the right
to basic education.
Ms. Yi said the Government was deeply committed to the protection of
children, including the important issue of child soldiers; children under 18
were not enlisted into the armed forces. The Government was committed to work
for the full realization of the rights of children who enjoyed a special place
in
U Mya Than, Myanmar’s Ambassador and Permanent
Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Government was
aware of the seriousness and importance of the problems and issues relating to
the rights of the child. Despite all those constraints, it was making its best
efforts to protect and promote the rights of the child as one of its top
priorities.
In preliminary remarks, Committee Expert Yanghee
Lee, who served as country Rapporteur to the report of
Other Committee Experts also raised a number of questions pertaining to,
among other things, the law that regulated the work of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs); lack of NGO participation in children’s affairs; the
transformation of the national commission for children and whether it received
complaints; how the “World Fit for Children” Declaration was being implemented;
the situation of stateless children; the lack of implementation of the
Committee’s previous recommendations and the value attached to those
conclusions; the laws on citizenship, corporal punishment and villages which
were not compatible with the Convention; and discrimination against the poor
and some ethnic groups in access to education.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and
recommendations on the report of
Also representing Myanmar were U Sit Myaing,
Secretary of the National Committee of the Rights of the Child, and
Director-General of the Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Social
Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, and representatives of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of
Health, Office of the Attorney-General, Ministry of Labour, and the Permanent
Mission of Myanmar in Geneva.
As one of the 192 States parties to the Convention,
When the Committee convenes at
Report of
The second periodic report of
The report further notes that activities carried out for the survival and
care of children, such as efforts to reduce the infant and maternal mortality
rates, nationwide immunization campaigns, birth spacing and family planning programmes are described in the report.
Introduction of Report
DAW MAY MAY YI, Advisor for Women’s Affairs to the
Prime Minister of Myanmar, said the Government of Myanmar was giving top
priority to the rights of children in its national agenda. Two years after
ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child in August 1991, the
Government had promulgated the Child Law. In September 1993, the National
Committee on the Rights of the Child had been formed to effectively and
successfully implement the provisions of the Convention and the Child Law. Working
committees were also formed at national and regional levels, followed by the
formation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Sub-Committee in May 1999.
Ms. Yi said that with a view to raising public awareness and participation,
the National Committee had published 15,000 copies of the Child Law in English
and
The Government was making every effort to ensure that children enjoyed the
right to basic education, Ms. Yi continued. The long-term Thirty-Year Plan for
basic education development (2001-2031) had been launched with the vision of
creating an education system that could generate a learning society capable of
facing the challenges of the information age. Since 1991, the Continuous
Assessment and Progression System project had been implemented in collaboration
with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). That project had raised the
quality of primary education and had reduced the repetition rate significantly.
Ms. Yi said her country was making efforts to realize as much as possible
children’s health objectives prescribed in the Declaration entitled “A World
Fit for Children” adopted by the General Assembly in 2002. The Government had
laid down the National Programme of Action and the National Health Plan and had
implemented them for the survival, protection and development of children. All
children, irrespective of race, religion, status, culture, birth or sex had the
right to receive health services equally.
Since 1996, the Government had successfully carried out immunization
campaigns throughout the country, Ms. Yi said. The goal to maintain full
immunization coverage for all infants and pregnant women against tetanus had
been achieved since 1990. Over 90 per cent of all children under-5 had been
immunized against polio. The Government, working with UNICEF and the World
Health Organization (WHO), had declared the eradication of polio in
The Government of Myanmar was deeply committed to the protection of children
including the important issue of child soldiers, Ms. Yi said. Children under 18
were not enlisted into the armed forces. Recently, a Committee for the
Prevention of the Recruitment of Child Soldiers had been established.
In conclusion, Ms. Yi said her country was committed to work for the full
realization of the rights of children. Children enjoyed a special place in
U MYA THAN, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United
Nations Office at Geneva, said that one positive factor in Myanmar since the
submission of the initial report to the Committee in 1997 was the promulgation
of rules and regulations related to the Child Law in December 2001 and their
implementation. Another positive factor was the reconvening of the national
convention to draft a new Constitution. Yet, another positive factor was the conclusion
of peace agreements between the Government and 17 armed groups of national
races. The Government was currently holding talks with the remaining armed
group and had reached an understanding with it. This was the first time in the
history of the country that the Government had reached such peace agreements
with the armed groups and that those groups had joined hands with the
Government for the development of their respective regions.
The establishment of the Human Rights Committee in April 2000, which dealt
with all human rights issues, including child rights, was an additional
positive factor, Mr. Than said. The convening of a series of human rights
workshops in various parts of the country was another positive factor. Three
workshops exclusively devoted to the rights of the child had also been
organized in collaboration with the International Institute for the Rights of
the Child and other organizations.
Mr. Than said the Government was aware of the seriousness and importance of
the problems and issues relating to the rights of the child. Despite all those
constraints, it was making its best efforts to protect and promote the rights
of the child as one of its top priorities.
Questions Raised by Committee Experts
YANGHEE LEE, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur to the
report of Myanmar, welcomed some of the recent developments such as the
National AIDS Programme; Joint Programme for HIV/AIDS: Myanmar 2003-2003;
National Health Plan of 1996-2001; Joint Plan of Action for the Elimination of
Forced Labour; Myanmar Health Vision 2030; and other wonderful programmes as evidenced in the wealth of pamphlets and
brochures depicting them.
Ms. Lee said
Citing the concerns expressed by the Committee on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, Ms. Lee asked why the Towns Act and the
Village Act which left women vulnerable to forced labour
remained as legislation. That had direct implications on the girl child. She
also asked the delegation to provide information on the status of the Whipping
Act, which still seemed to exist.
On the preparation of the report, particularly the participation of civil
society and children, the Rapporteur said that the report had noted the
numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) currently active in the country.
She wanted to know more about national and local NGOs. The Myanmar Red Cross
and the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association had been mentioned but
she was not sure if the Myanmar Red Cross could be considered as an NGO because
the president of that organization had been part of the Government’s delegation
at the dialogue for the review of the initial report.
With regard to the allocation of data, Ms. Lee said that in
On non-discrimination, Ms. Lee asked about discrimination against vulnerable
children such as girls, children from remote and border areas, children
belonging to minorities, and children with low status citizenship. She wanted
to know about the general attitude towards children or persons with
disabilities; the de facto discrimination against people of the Muslim faith
and of certain ethnic origins; the process of obtaining citizenship for some
ethnic groups, such as the Bengali residing in the Northern Rakine
regions who could not provide evidence of residence prior to 4 January 1984;
and the disparity in birth registration between urban and rural areas.
NEVENA VUCKOVIC-SAHOVIC, the Committee Expert who served as Co-rapporteur to the report of
In 1999, a monitoring and evaluation sub-committee was established along
with a committee on human rights, but Ms. Vuckovic-Sahovic
wondered to what extent those bodies were capable of monitoring the situation
of children in the country. Were they independent institutions? Were there some
units for children? Could children apply for protection in case of violations?
Ms. Vuckovic-Sahovic asked to what extent were the
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in
There were some budget allocations that were upgraded on the account of the
social system, the Co-rapporteur said. How did that
fit in with the realization of child rights “to the maximum extent of available
resources” as stated in article 4 of the Convention?
There was concern that corporal punishment was used as a disciplinary method
in raising children, she said. It seemed to be allowed in laws and used in
practice. What had the Government done to change this and how effective had the
Government’s efforts been so far?
There were allegations of numerous cases of ill-treatment of children by law
enforcement officials as well as army personnel, Ms. Vuckovic-Sahovic
said. In the report, there was no information on that issue. Was there
awareness of such incidents and how did the police and the judiciary treat the
perpetrators of such violations.
She said the Committee had received numerous information
on the use of children below 15 as soldiers by both the governmental and
paramilitary-armed groups. What was the Government doing to prevent such
recruitments and to rehabilitate those who had participated in fighting?
Further, there were allegations that army members were often perpetrators of
crimes against children, such as violence, rape and exploitation. How many
perpetrators had been prosecuted?
Other Committee Experts also raised questions. They asked, among other
things, about the children’s appeal system; the law that regulated the work of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs); the lack of NGO participation in
children’s affairs; the transformation of the national commission for children
and whether it received complaints; how the “World Fit for Children”
Declaration was being implemented; if children understood the Child Law; the
situation of stateless children; the lack of implementation of the Committee’s
recommendations and the value attached to those conclusions; the laws on
citizenship, corporal punishment and on villages, which were not compatible
with the Convention; discrimination against the poor and some ethnic groups in
access to education; freedom of association; the right to be heard;
availability of complaint mechanisms for children; and the wearing by some
ethnic groups of giraffe-neck necklaces which affected the spinal cords of
children.
Response by Delegation of
Responding, the members of the delegation of
Since 1991,
Some laws were no more relevant and they should be replaced, the delegation
said. A law had been adopted prohibiting all authorities from using the Village
Act, which contradicted the conventions of the International Labour Office
(ILO). The ILO had recognized that some of the law orders could be used as a
basis for the elimination of forced labour.
Girls in some regions wore necklaces around their necks to beautify
themselves, the delegation said. This had nothing to do with Government measures, rather it was a traditional sign to add length and
beauty to necks.
There were authoritative syndromes by parents that might affect the positive
development of the child, the delegation said. The child rearing practice had
been changing, thanks to Government efforts in raising awareness among the
population. Since 1954, the Government had prohibited the practice of corporal
punishment. However, there were still cases in which teachers were involved in
corporal punishment.
Questions by Experts
Committee Experts continued raising further questions. They asked, among
other things, about access to elementary health care; infant mortality rates;
the status of breastfeeding; the problem of teenage pregnancy; preventive
measures against alcohol and tobacco; the high dropout rate of girls; the
banning of indigenous languages; the situation of HIV/AIDS; children with
disabilities; access to clean water; domestic and international adoption
processes; age of criminal responsibility; the alleged recruitment of children
as child soldiers; punishment for juvenile offenders; forced child labour; the sentencing of children to maximum long-term
imprisonment; and the situation of street children.
Response by Delegation
Responding, the delegation of
Any foreigner needed to obtain permission to move from one place to another
in
Muslims were not discriminated against. They enjoyed all their rights as
citizens of
The country was faced with prevailing malnutrition because of a lack of knowledge
on nutritive aspects of food which was available, the delegation said. Many
people were also anaemic, particularly pregnant
women. The problem of Vitamin A deficiency was being overcome through a series
of measures by the State.
Nearly all children with disabilities in the country lived with their
parents, the delegation said. They went to their respective schools as
residential students to attend educational classes and vocational training. The
Ministry of Health provided rehabilitative health care to children with
disabilities.
The Government had been fully collaborating with the International Labour
Office in order to eliminate allegations of forced labour
in some parts of the country.
The Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in
The Government was endeavouring to make many of
its regions opium-free zones as part of its strategy to reduce drug abuse, the
delegation said. Measures were taken to encourage peasants to replace their
opium plants by other cash crops. Encouraging results had been reached in many
areas, where peasants had diverted their agricultural activities to the growing
of other crops.
Preliminary Remarks
YANGHEE LEE, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur to the
report of
Ms. Lee recommended, among other things, amending and/or repealing national
legislation in order to fully harmonize it with the provisions of the
Convention. The Child Law did not seem to be in full compliance with the
Convention and international standards in areas such as juvenile justice and
child protection. The general principles of the Convention such as
non-discrimination, the best interest of the child, the right to life, survival
and development, and respect for the views of the child were not adequately
reflected in
Further, the Rapporteur recommended that
Ms. Lee recommended that the State party continue to involve civil society
and children throughout all stages of the implementation of the Convention;
ensure equal access to education and health for all children, for girls as well
as boys, for all ethnic and religious minority groups, and children with
disabilities; make education truly free and compulsory and prevent children
from dropping out of school; reform the juvenile justice system with a view to
ensure maximum protection for children in conflict with the law; continue
tackling the issue of child soldiers with a view to put an end to recruitment
of child soldiers; initiate a rights-based review of the current registration
system; seek a multilateral approach to protect trafficking of vulnerable
children within and from neighbouring countries; and
take an active approach in tackling the issue of HIV/AIDS.
* *** *