III.
4.
5.
6.
7.
FURTHER
DEVELOPMENTS,
RECOMMENDATIONS
AREAS
OF
CONCERN
AND
A. General measures of implementation
The Committee notes with appreciation the various legislative measures undertaken
by the Government such as the adoption of the Constitution and the 11
Commitments on child rights to ensure the protection and promotion of children’s
rights. The Committee, however; notes that there is no comprehensive child rights
instrument in the State Party and recommends that the Government embarks to
develop and adopt a child rights legislation with a more holistic approach that will
incorporate and domesticate the rights stipulated in the Charter.
The Committee commends that substantial part of the national budget of the State
Party is internally generated. Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned that there is
inadequate funding for child rights related budgetary lines despite the country’s
revenue from the oil industry which is the main source of income in the State Party.
In particular, the Committee recommends that the Government increases the budget
allocation with a view to strengthening investment on children in line with the
increasing demand and the population growth. Taking into consideration reports on
decrease of oil revenue; the Committee encourages the State Party to undertake
measures to continue to allocate the necessary financial and human resources for
the effective provision of social services for children. The Committee recommends
that the Government allocates sufficient financial and human resource to the
National Council for Children to enable it execute its mandate on the protection of
child rights, as well as its role of coordination of child rights issues. The State Party
is encouraged to build the technical capacity of the National Council for Children and
ensure that, among other things, it undertakes monitoring and evaluation of the
actions undertaken on child rights issues.
From the dialogue with the Delegation of the State Party, the Committee has learned
that the Office of Ombudsman is an independent institution which serves as a
watchdog to the Government. The Committee commends the State Party for the
establishment of the Ombudsman. The Committee further encourages the
Government to strengthen the mandate of the Office of the Ombudsman and to
increase its budget so that it can be able to meaningfully execute its responsibility of
assessing and examining the actions of the Government. The Committee also
recommends that the State Party establishes a Child Rights Division/Unit in the
Office of the Ombudsman to address the specific issues of children that are reported
to it.
While noting some of the measures undertaken by the State Party, as indicated by
the Delegation during the dialogue, the Committee remains very concerned about
3