CRC/C/15/Add.60page 5 State to implement a comprehensive national policy to promote and protect those rights. It further recommends that in the light of articles 2 and 3 of the Convention, the marriageable age be raised and made equal for girls and boys. 26. The Committee recommends that special protective measures be implemented in relation to children living in rural areas, children who are victims of abuse, children of single-parent families, children born out of wedlock, abandoned, institutionalized and disabled children, children involved with the juvenile justice system, particularly when deprived of their liberty, children involved in child labour and children who, in order to survive, are forced to live and/or work in the streets. 27. The Committee encourages the Government of Morocco to take all measures to prevent and combat ill-treatment of children, including child abuse within the family, corporal punishment, child labour and the sexual exploitation of children. It recommends that comprehensive studies be initiated with regard to those important issues to make possible a better understanding of those phenomena and facilitate the elaboration of policies and programmes to combat them effectively. In this perspective, the Government should pursue its efforts in close cooperation with community leaders and with non-governmental organizations, with a view to promoting change in persisting negative attitudes towards children belonging to the most vulnerable groups. 28. The Committee recommends that the State envisage undertaking a comprehensive reform of the system of juvenile justice in the spirit of the Convention, in particular articles 37, 39 and 40, and of other United Nations standards in this field, such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines) and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. Particular attention should be paid to considering deprivation of liberty only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, to the protection of the rights of children deprived of their liberty, to due process of law and to the full independence and impartiality of the judiciary. Training programmes on the relevant international standards should be organized for all those professionals involved with the system of juvenile justice. The Committee would like to suggest that the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco consider seeking international assistance in this area of the administration of juvenile justice from the High Commissioner/Centre for Human Rights and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division of the United Nations (Vienna).

Select target paragraph3