CRC/C/DZA/CO/3-4 applied in all legislative, administrative and judicial proceedings as well as in all policies, programmes and projects relevant to and with an impact on children. In this regard, the State party is encouraged to develop procedures and criteria to provide guidance for determining the best interests of the child in every area, and to disseminate them to the public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities and legislative bodies. The legal reasoning of all judicial and administrative judgments and decisions should also be based on this principle, specifying the criteria used in the individual assessment of the best interests of the child. Right to life, survival and development 33. The Committee expresses deep concern about the situation of girls and women pregnant out of wedlock as well as single mothers and their children and about the lack of measures taken by the State party to ensure that they effectively enjoy their right to life survival and development. The Committee notes with serious concern that: (a) Dozens of single mothers living alone with their children were physically and sexually attacked and subjected to torture by hundreds of men in Hassi Messaoud in 2001 and 2010 and that similar attacks recently took place in other cities of the country. The Committee is extremely concerned that attacks against single mothers and their children continue to be committed with impunity and that victims of these crimes live with their children in situations of fear and extreme poverty without support being provided by the State party; and (b) Social rejection and stigmatization often lead women and girls pregnant out of wedlock to resort to clandestine abortion at the risk of their lives, to abandon their children or to live on the streets without any other opportunity but to prostitute themselves to feed their children. 34. The Committee urges the State party to take urgent measures to end the grave violations of the right to life, survival and development of women and girls pregnant out of wedlock as well as single mothers and their children. In particular, the State party should take urgent measures to protect them and to ensure that perpetrators of violence against them are brought to justice and are subjected to sanctions commensurate to their crimes. The Committee also urges the State party to take all necessary measures to ensure as a matter of priority that single mothers and their children no longer live on the streets and that they are effectively supported to keep and care for their children. The Committee also urges the State party to launch awareness-raising campaigns and educational programmes in order to put an end to their social marginalization, stigmatization and brutalization. Respect for the views of the child 35. The Committee notes that in spite of ad hoc initiatives to develop youth participation, such as the 2007 Youth Conference Walis, limited sustainable actions have been undertaken to change societal attitudes towards children within the family, schools and the community at large. The Committee is further concerned that: (a) The right of the child to have his or her views respected is negatively affected by the requirement that children have to obtain the authorization of their guardian to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and information, as stated in its previous recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.269, para. 33); (b) The right to be heard in all judicial and administrative proceedings remains largely ineffective, and 7

Select target paragraph3