CRC/C/15/Add.27
page 2
B.
Positive aspects
3.
The Committee takes note that different mechanisms have been established
within the State party to deal with questions relating to the situation of
children. The intention of the State party to adopt a new Juvenile Code for
improving the protection and promotion of the rights of the child is also
noted. Additionally, the Committee wishes to draw attention to the provision
incorporated within the Constitution that not less than 20 per cent of the
national budget be devoted to education. It also notes that efforts are being
undertaken by the State party to provide bilingual programmes within the
primary education system.
C.
Factors and difficulties impeding
the implementation of the Convention
4.
The Committee notes that Paraguay is going through a period of transition
to democracy, having only recently emerged from a dictatorship form of
governance. The Committee recognizes that the legacy of certain attitudes and
traditions from this period hamper the effective implementation of the rights
of the child.
D.
Principal subjects of concern
5.
The Committee is concerned that sufficient attention does not seem to
have been paid to the development of a coordinating institution to monitor the
implementation of the rights of the child in Paraguay. The Committee is
equally concerned about the extent to which the bodies established to consider
the situation of children are provided with the requisite support and
resources in order to permit them to fulfil their designated functions. In
addition, the Committee remains unclear as to the extent to which the process
of reviewing the implementation of the rights of the child in the State party
was designed to encourage and facilitate popular participation and public
scrutiny of government policies.
6.
The Committee is of the view that adequate measures have not yet been
taken to make the principles and provisions of the Convention known to adults
and children alike. Similarly, it is noted that professionals and personnel
working with or for children, including military personnel, law enforcement
officials, judges, health workers and teachers, lack sufficient training about
the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant international
standards relating to the rights of the child.
7.
The Committee wishes to express its general concern that the State party
does not appear to have fully taken into account the provisions of the
Convention, including its general principles, as reflected in its articles 2,
3, 6 and 12, in the legislative and other measures relevant to children in
Paraguay. In this connection, the Committee notes that the low marriageable
age for girls, presently standing at 12, and the fact that this age is lower
for girls than boys are incompatible with the provisions of the Convention,
including those of its article 2. In addition, the Committee is of the
opinion that other legislation in force in Paraguay relating to the definition
of the child with regard to the performance of military service and to the
non-validity of children’s statements in cases of alleged sexual abuse also