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judicial authorities and administrative decision-making bodies is limited, due largely to the
Convention not being fully incorporated into the national legislation of the State party.
11.
The Committee recommends that the State party promote the application of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the courts and administrative decisionmaking bodies, including by taking measures to fully incorporate the Convention into
its national legislation.
Legislation
12.
The Committee welcomes legislative actions undertaken by the State party that have
direct bearing on the lives of children, including those regarding parental responsibility and
day care as well as the Child’s Reform of 2010 and its objective of increasing support for
children and young people with special needs to ensure equal opportunities in personal
development and health. The Committee, however, remains concerned that there is no
legislative framework of a more comprehensive nature covering the full scope of the
Convention. It is also concerned that child rights legislation in Greenland and the Faroe
Islands has yet to be harmonized with the principles and provisions of the Convention.
13.
The Committee recommends that the State party, including the authorities in
Greenland and the Faroe Islands, take all necessary measures to ensure that
legislation and administrative regulations throughout the territory of the State party
conform fully to the principles and provisions of the Convention and the two Optional
Protocols and that new legislation is assessed in due course and evaluated in terms of
its impact on children, and that it consider drafting a rights-based Child Act
encompassing all rights under the Convention. In this respect, the Committee urges
the State party to ensure that the proposed reform to the Greenland Act on Help to
Children and Youth, to be undertaken with support from the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is a comprehensive exercise taking full account of all
rights and the views of children.
Coordination
14.
While noting that the Municipal Reform of 2007 seeks to streamline the distribution
of responsibility between the national and the local level by transferring the financing and
implementation of social (citizens) services to the municipalities, the Committee remains
concerned at the absence of a clear national mechanism responsible for the overall
horizontal and vertical coordination of the Convention’s implementation. Furthermore, the
Committee is deeply concerned at the possible negative effects the new distribution of
responsibilities may have on the less endowed and/or less advanced municipalities,
including those in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, thus deepening disparities in the full
enjoyment of rights by the children of different municipalities.
15.
The Committee calls upon the State party to clearly identify a high-level
coordination system/authority across sectors and with all regions and municipalities in
order to ensure the implementation of child rights in a comprehensive, coherent and
consistent manner, throughout its territory. Furthermore, the Committee
recommends that such coordination addresses, in a timely and open manner, the
disparity issues among municipalities that may arise due to the implementation of the
Municipal Reform.
National plan of action
16.
The Committee welcomes the various sectoral strategies developed concerning
children, including Greenland’s 2010 strategy “A Safe Childhood”. However, it regrets that
the State party has yet to adopt a comprehensive rights-based policy and a harmonized plan
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