The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended on Friday that Guinea-Bissau and Niger strengthen efforts to combat female genital mutilation (FGM) and all other abuses against children, UNHCHR reported.
At the conclusion of its 13th session in Geneva, UNHCHR welcomed the prohibition of corporal punishment in Guinea- Bissau, and the establishment of the National Committee for the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in Niger.
However, the UN committee said Guinea Bissau did not have a comprehensive children's rights policy, lacked an up-to-date national plan of action for the implementation of the UN children's convention and had a low budget allocations for health and education.
Regular occurrence of sexual abuse of children within the context of the family, including the extended family, high rates of infant mortality and malnutrition, and FGM were also widespread problems in Guinea- Bissau, it added.
On Niger, UNHCHR expressed concern about the breakdown of family structures due to large families, the existence of polygamy, the lack of education, poverty and unemployment which negatively affected the upbringing of children.
The child rights committee said that the general principles of non-discrimination, the right to life, survival and development, and respect for the views of the child, were not fully integrated in Niger's legislation.
The session considered reports from 10 countries including Belgium, Belarus, Tunisia, Switzerland, The United Arab Emirates, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain and the Netherlands Antilles.
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