COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD HOLDS DIALOGUE WITH DELEGATION OF YEMEN
Press Release
HR/4269
COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD HOLDS DIALOGUE WITH DELEGATION OF YEMEN
19960110 GENEVA, 9 January (UN Information Service) -- The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon continued its dialogue with the delegation of Yemen on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, receiving additional information to questions posed this morning.Some experts stated that the existence of customary, Koranic and civil laws in Yemen could complicate the implementation of certain rights of the child. However, the delegation of Yemen affirmed that the civil law did not contradict Koranic law and that customary law was mainly used in regions dominated by tribal values.
The Government of Yemen was urged to reconsider the existence of schools for only one gender, in which girl students were sometimes excluded in remote regions where female teachers or separate schools were in short supply.
Discussion of Report of Yemen
Wahibah Ghaleb Faree, of the University of Sana'a, Yemen, said the high percentage of children under fourteen -- 54 per cent of the Yemeni population -- did not advance development programmes intended to improve the welfare of children. Efforts towards a market-oriented economy, as well as the return of migrant workers following the Gulf war, had further aggravated the situation. War and the country's political situation might be counted among the challenges and difficulties preventing speedy provision of child welfare services and the fulfilment of other requirements.
The delegation acknowledged that the lack of detailed information and statistics on existing health, educational, cultural and social services for children prevented the illumination of the prevailing situation. Besides, there was a lack of social and field studies to identify children's needs and to help provide the requisite factual basis for the preparation of future projects, as well as resources for child welfare programmes.
Noting that education was compulsory until the age of fifteen, one expert observed that due to the shortage of schools and trained teachers, such a level of compulsory education could not be realized. The delegation provided further information about illiteracy rates, which were 75 per cent for females compared to 93 per cent 10 years ago. The total rate for both men
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and women was now 54 per cent. The delegation stressed that the mountainous terrain and the dispersed demographic situation adversely affected the implementation of programmes aimed at eradicating illiteracy. Nevertheless, the Government had increased its campaign to combat illiteracy. There were 10,000 schools, each accommodating about 400 students.
Mrs. Ghaleb Faree further stated that the Yemeni society was enriched by customary Koranic as well as civil law, all of which had legal validity. Customary law fixed the age of marriage at fifteen while the civil law stipulated the age of majority for marriage or work eighteen. Children aged eight to fifteen were brought before special juvenile courts for violations, and if convicted, could only be interned in special institutions. Children up to the age of seven were not liable to any law regarding crimes, while children from fifteen to eighteen would receive half of the sentences handed to adults. In all cases, family relations with juvenile delinquents were maintained through regular visits. Rehabilitation programmes were available to internees for their future reintegration into the society. Such programmes included educational and psychological preparation of the individual.
During the dialogue with the delegation, some experts asked whether there was discrimination of any sort in the society. The delegation responded by saying that the law of the nation prohibited any discrimination based on race, colour or gender. Concerning children of refugees, the delegation assured the Committee that their rights were protected despite the Government's economic difficulties in providing them with the required material needs. Some experts said living conditions were discriminatory to children living in rural and remote regions. The delegation linked those problems to the lack of resources and better management of the situation. With regard to the separate school system, the delegation said the paternal aspects of Yemeni society had mainly contributed to the persistence of such separation. In some regions where tribal values dominated, sending a girl to the same school as boys was regarded as an offence under customary law. Nevertheless, the Government was urging a change of attitudes for a coeducation system.
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