UN Committee to review Tanzania's record on children's rights

GENEVA, Switzerland, January 8, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Tanzania’s record on children’s rights will be reviewed by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on Thursday 15 January and Friday 16 January in sessions that will be webcast live.

Tanzania is one of the 194 states that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and so is required to undergo regular examinations of its record before the Committee of 18 independent experts.

Among the possible issues to be discussed by the CRC and the Tanzanian Government delegation are: social stigmatisation of pregnant girls, teenage mothers, children with disabilities, children with HIV/AIDS, children in street situations; strategy to stop gross violations of right to life, survival and development of children with albinism; female genital mutilation; violence against children, particularly sexual and physical; forced and early marriage; birth registration coverage; the juvenile justice system; access to sex education; ensuring education is free and accessible to all children.

The full list of issues and Tanzania’s report can be found here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=825&Lang=en. The sessions will take place from 15:00-18:00 (17:00-20:00 in Dar es Salaam) on 15 January and 10:00-13:00 (12:00-15:00) on 16 January at Palais Wilson in Geneva. They will be webcast at http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.

The CRC’s concluding observations on Tanzania and the other countries being reviewed – Cambodia, Turkmenistan, Gambia, Jamaica, Colombia, Switzerland, Dominican Republic, Sweden, Mauritius, Uruguay and Iraq – will be published on 4 February here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=825&Lang=en