State Party Examination of Kiribati’s Initial Periodic Report

43 Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child

Kiribati ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 11 December 1995. On 13 September 2006, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) examined Kiribati’s Initial Periodic Report.
Opening Comments
Ms. Karibaiti Taoaba, Secretary for the Ministry of Internal and Social Affairs, headed the delegation. In her opening statement, Ms. Taoaba insisted on the importance of children’s rights. She stated that the population was relatively young (i.e. 49% are under age 20 according to the 2005 census). Children were compared to coconut trees upon which the Kiribati people relied for sustenance, as they too were needed to sustain the future of the country. Yet, the State party faced a lot of constraints in implementing the CRC. Kibibati had a strong traditional culture where children had no voice in society but Ms. Taoaba said there was a growing acceptance that the culture needed to evolve. There was a increasing number of children facing hardships and disparities and the quality of education and growing numbers of school leavers were real problems which needed to be addressed. Considerable investment had been made however in the area of health care. 
The country rapporteur, Mr. Zermatten, welcomed the high level and multidisciplinary representation. The State party report showed that the situation of children was quite difficult. Mr. Zermatten recalled the three elements to be taken into account when looking at the rights of the child: geography, poverty and tradition. As far as the State party was concerned, its geography made it very difficult to apply the CRC uniformly. It was one of the poorest countries, as half of its people was poverty-stricken. Tradition was very present in society. Mr. Zermatten noted that the State party was in a period of transition from customary law to common law. He welcomed the establishment of the Kiribati National Advisory Committee on Children (KNACC) and the passing of new laws and provisions such as increasing the age of marriage to 18, making education mandatory until age 14-16 and prohibiting alcohol until age 21. He acknowledged that State party was working hard to comply with the CRC, even if many factors were standing in the way.
Implementation and Legislation
The Committee asked whether the reservations made on articles 24, 26 and 28 would be withdrawn. The delegation answered that although the previous government had decided to withdraw the reservations, steps had not been taken to formalise this decision. The current government had not yet considered the question of withdrawal of the reservations but it hoped that the Committee’s remarks would give momentum to this process. The delegation thought it was better to engage and have reservations rather than not participate because of potential reservations.
The Committee enquired about the absence of a systematic survey determining the degree of conformity between the CRC and existing laws. The delegation replied that the State party was in the process of completely reviewing its national Constitution. It was waiting for a UNICEF report, which would then be brought to Cabinet. As for now, the CRC had not been incorporated into domestic law and domestic legislation took precedence over the CRC. Since ratification, the CRC had never been invoked before any  legal proceedings.
The Committee asked if there would be any resistance from politicians to recommendations that come from it. The delegation replied that human rights’ issues did not have much weight in community discussions. Moreover, traditional leaders were important role models and, as the current chiefs held strong traditional views, it would need a generation change for things to move forward.  Although the Director of Cabinet was quite receptive to these issues, he had to convince the other Cabinet members. 
KNACC
The Committee enquired about KNACC’s functioning as there appeared to be many problems. The delegation answered that KNACC had not been functioning well because of lack of coordination and supervision. A National Plan of Action had been drafted and it brought about real improvements. KNACC organised workshops for public members, parliamentarians and NGOs and it had translated the CRC into vernacular language. 
Definition of the Child
The Committee was concerned about the lack of a single definition of the child. There were various definitions of “youth” or “juvenile” but with a variety of age limits. The delegation replied that the various age limits were due to the erratic evolution of various laws. There was also a need to clarify what the best interest of the child meant in the State party.
Birth Registration
The Committee asked for more information on birth registration. The delegation said birth registration was very poor but measures were being taken. A new department had been set up to help register births on all islands. If a birth was not reported within 10 days, parents had to pay a penalty. Weekly radio programmes were broadcasted to educate people about the importance of birth registration and training workshops were provided for people in villages.
Juvenile Justice
The State party report mentioned that children could testify only if they were considered mature enough. The Committee wanted to know if magistrates and judges were properly trained in order to evaluate their maturity. The delegation replied that the State party was participating in a regional project on judicial development, where various human rights instruments were being introduced. Judicial officers would receive training in Fiji for at least 5 more years.
The Committee was concerned about where children would be detained if they were to be imprisoned. The delegation replied that, as there was no separate facility for juveniles, they would be detained with adults. No child had ever been sentenced to imprisonment but, if it happened, the only possibility would then be to appeal to the President for his mercy in order to commute the sentence. The court set aside special days to try juvenile offenders but no full juvenile system existed.
The Committee also asked whether the State party was considering establishing a Human Rights Institution or/and an Ombudsman to monitor how the country was doing with regards to the implementation of the CRC. The delegation explained that there was an Office of the People’s Lawyer, which gave legal advice to anyone, free of charge. This seemed to be the best way to assist people who required it or who had questions or concerns about the government’s behaviour.
The Committee asked about the possible avenues of recourse for a young person. The delegation replied that there were traditional means of dealing with this issue through the extended family. When a child was exposed to violence, he could go and reside in another household of a family member. There were however a growing number of young people in difficult family situations, which undermined traditional mechanisms. The New Zealand police service was therefore helping to train the national police in how to look for and respond to domestic violence. 
Corporal Punishment and Violence
The Committee expressed its concern about corporal punishment and asked for more information. The delegation explained that this was a serious problem of tradition-modernity. In rural areas, parents frequently used corporal punishment. There were strongly engrained concepts about corporal punishment that were difficult to dislodge. A very broad public education campaign was required (e.g. using drama groups) and it would probably need a generation before progress was made. As for the court, although available to the magistrate court, corporal punishment was very rarely used.
Family Environment and Adoption
The Committee was concerned about the question of identity in relation to adoption and asked for clarification. The delegation explained that the majority of adoption cases occurred within the extended family setting which is why the State party did not intend to become a party to the Hague Convention. Customary adoption differed from Western adoption because the child acquired a second set of parents, while retaining its right to inheritance from its natural parents. This process was sometimes used to spread and share wealth. The Committee then asked whether customary adoption followed positive or customary law. The delegation replied that customary law was applied and the court usually did not get involved. Family breakdown had led however to the collapse of a number of adoptions which were handled by the court if the matter could not be settled within the family.  
Basic Health and Welfare
The Committee enquired about the health organisational model. It wanted to know how  modern health centres and traditional practices were brought together. The delegation said the State party was currently reflecting on how to use Internet in order to improve prevention and sensitisation. The government was also trying to strengthen the activities of village welfare groups, as well as links with traditional birth attendants. The Committee congratulated the State party for its far-reaching vision in terms of child health. It seemed that Cuban doctors came to work in the State party and also trained local ones. The Committee asked if this would continue. The delegation answered positively and said that Cuba would also provide for “family doctors”. This should help narrowing the gap in the access to physicians in the State party.
Education
The Committee was concerned about the poor quality of both teaching and school facilities. It enquired about the goals of the state’s education system. The delegation said the Ministry’s vision was based on the right of all children to education. Its aim was to provide access to life-long learning opportunities so that people became future leaders. There were problems of facilities because the country was spread out. 300,000 books and other support materials were recently produced thanks to eight donors; which was considered a real achievement. The Committee asked if the Kiribati Teachers Centre (KTC) was working well and if the government was now involved in secondary education or if it was still purely religious. The delegation said that there was a need for more teachers in the primary sector. Half of the students at KTC were already active teachers under ongoing training. Secondary schools were not only run by churches as there were three government-run schools and fourteen private schools. Ten were fully registered and seven had received a provisional registration as they did not have enough qualified teachers. Parents were not in favour of community high schools because they wanted better quality education. In addition, early school leavers were being targeted. The Committee asked if any vocational education was available. The delegation noted that the Kiribati Technical Institute (KTI) offered English, math and management classes, as well as other topics to assist students in finding a job. 
The Committee asked about pre-school demand and offer. The delegation replied that an early childhood education unit had been established at KTC. The government was working with the community. There was no need to build any specific building as people gathered under coconut trees. Parents’ very low demand was met in this way.
The Committee asked if the State party encouraged people to go to secondary school and then to University or if it rather favoured vocational schools. The delegation said all children went to junior and senior secondary schools. University education was not realistically available for most children as it meant going abroad. It did not make much sense to provide every child with the opportunity to receive tertiary education when they would not be able to find a job afterwards. The aim was to have children develop more realistic ambitions and try to teach realistic skills that children could use afterwards to help the community. The government was therefore trying to divert people into a more vocational type of education. The challenge was to convince parents who had not been supportive in the past. The Committee was concerned about those children who did not go on to tertiary education. The delegation answered that as there was no work for those students, self-employment opportunities were being promoted.
Non-discrimination
The Committee expressed its concern about discriminations against girls. Violence against girls seemed to be growing, with reports of girls as young as six being raped. The delegation said a lot had to be done to sensitise people to problems encountered by girls. Moreover, the culture of silence was very strong, especially in cases of rape. There were a lot of concern around this topic. Domestic violence and young people protection units had been established.
The Committee also asked about the status of disabled children, including what was being done to educate and include them in the society. The delegation replied that there was a disabled association and a school for the disabled, even if the latter was not yet recognised and registered by the government. The government’s policy was to mainstream lightly disabled children in regular schools but teachers were not sufficiently trained to handle severely disabled children. There was a rehabilitation unit at the Central Hospital for the disabled and a small amount of assistance was provided by NGOs working in this field.
Sexual Exploitation
The Committee enquired about sexual exploitation, for which there was no data. The delegation said the problem was beginning to appear. There was a lot of exploitation by local people but no formal commercial sexual exploitation. The problem was aggravated by the presence of foreign fishing vessels. To resolve the latter problem, the State party was working with a Korean NGO providing leaflets sensitising seamen in their native language. The government tried to work with young people to identify their leisure needs because sex was also seen as a consequence of boredom. The Committee did not agree and said there was a strong need to target the perpetrators of sexual exploitation by envisioning new laws and sentences for these offences. The delegation added that there was a strong cultural issue here because unmarried women who were no longer virgins were of little value in the society. These women were seen to be of loose morals (even if they were victims of rape), a view shared by most family members. The Committee underlined the need to strengthen protection and to sensitise people on this matter. It was suggested that enacting legislation could be the first step in changing attitudes.  The Committee also encouraged the State party to get in touch with Child Helpline International in order to establish a free hotline to allow children to denounce abuses.
HIV/AIDS
The Committee mentioned the increase of HIV/AIDS in the last few years but was surprised to read that only one or two cases of infected children had been reported. The delegation said there was a lot of under-reporting of the infected cases. There was no willingness from people to come forward and say they had been infected. There were not enough resources to work on the whole country so the government has focused on the most populated area. UNICEF had assisted in counselling mothers and an NGO had provided training in basic counselling to health and police staff. The Committee asked if schools were targeting prevention of HIV/AIDS. The government had introduced an HIV/AIDS prevention course into the education curriculum. Recently, two people, who had announced their HIV-positive status publicly, went to schools and elsewhere to speak about HIV/AIDS and raise awareness, which was seen as a major breakthrough. 
Concluding Remarks
The Committee thanked the delegation for its self-criticism and the extremely rich and open discussion. The State party had been unknown to most of the Committee members and much had been done in raising awareness about the situation in the country. The Committee insisted that the government should not get stuck in a rhetorical debate but, as the delegation itself said, do a lot more. It was noted that, in this transition phase from a traditional to a modern society, there should be more participation and children should be given a voice. There was a lot to be done but it was a change in attitude and philosophy that was needed. The Committee concluded by highlighting that the State party should absolutely not miss the boat with new technologies which might assist it in overcoming some of the problems due to its geography. It seemed to be the only solution for ensuring both better birth registration and education. 
Ms. Taoaba thanked the Committee, while hoping the session had given at least a snapshot of the situation in Kiribati. The delegation was most grateful to have been invited to this forum and for all the help received.