CRC/C/15/Add.58
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ensuring an integrated legal approach to children’s rights in the light of the
principles and provisions of the Convention, the Committee encourages the
State party to pursue its efforts aimed at the adoption of a Code on Children
and Adolescents.
26.
The Committee recommends that legislative measures be undertaken to
ensure that national legislation conforms with the provisions of articles 37
and 40 of the Convention, including establishing a minimum age of criminal
responsibility. The Committee also recommends that the State party set the
age for completion of compulsory schooling at 15 and consider raising the
minimum age of employment to 15. Further, the Committee recommends that the
State party review its legislation on the age of marriage for girls in the
light of the principles and provisions of the Convention, notably those of its
articles 2, 3 and 24, with a view to raising it and ensuring the same age for
girls and boys.
27.
The Committee encourages the State party to pursue its efforts to
strengthen the institutional framework for the promotion and protection of
human rights in general and the rights of the child, in particular. The
Committee recommends that a permanent and multidisciplinary mechanism be
developed for coordinating and implementing the Convention at the national and
local levels and in urban and rural areas. The Committee also encourages the
promotion of close cooperation with non-governmental organizations in this
regard.
28.
The Committee further recommends that the State party give priority
attention to the development of a system of data collection and to the
identification of appropriate disaggregated indicators with a view to
addressing all areas of the Convention and all groups of children in society.
Such mechanisms can play a vital role in systematically monitoring the
status of children and evaluating the progress achieved and the difficulties
hampering the realization of children’s rights, and can be used as a basis for
designing programmes to improve the situation of children, particularly those
belonging to the most disadvantaged groups, including girls, children living
in rural areas and indigenous children. It is further suggested that the
State party request international cooperation in this regard, particularly
from the United Nations Children’s Fund.
29.
In view of the State party’s willingness to develop a culture of human
rights and to change attitudes towards children in general and the indigenous
population in particular, the Committee recommends that information and
education about children’s rights be disseminated among children and adults
alike. It is also recommended that consideration be given to the translation
of such information into the main indigenous languages and that appropriate
measures be adopted to spread such information in such a way that it reaches
groups affected by a high level of illiteracy. In the light of the
considerable experience of the United Nations Children’s Fund and other
organizations in responding to such challenges, it is recommended that
international cooperation be sought in this regard.
30.
It is the view of the Committee that training and education in the
principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is