COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONSIDERS REPORT OF MONGOLIA

15 January 1996

Press Release
HR/4272

COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONSIDERS REPORT OF MONGOLIA

19960115 GENEVA, 11 January (UN Information Service) -- The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning discussed the steps being taken by Mongolia to prevent discriminatory attitudes and to ensure effective protection against discrimination, particularly concerning disabled children, children in rural areas and nomad children.

As the Committee continued to examine the initial report of Mongolia on how that State party was fulfilling its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the delegation of Mongolia indicated that there was no evidence of discrimination against rural or minority children. Furthermore, measures were under way to assist orphans, disabled children and children without caretakers to exercise their rights.

Disabled children were provided with special education programmes, said the delegation. At the national level, there were 15 special schools which covered 20 per cent of the disabled and mentally retarded children. Because of financial difficulties, the Government attached great importance to mobilizing the efforts of the local community and private organizations to improve the capability of families to care for their children.

According to the Mongolian delegation, there was no substantial discrimination concerning the situation of children in rural and urban areas. In addition, there was no fundamental discrimination between girls and boys based on religion. As to freedom of expression in schools, students in urban secondary schools tended to express their opinions freely, whereas those in the rural areas tended to be shy. The limitation of that right was also attributed to teachers who did not allow students to express themselves freely. The rural family structure and openness was different from the urban one, the delegation added.

In 1994, the "National Centre for Children", in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), began to organize a series of meetings in which regional Governors participated to discuss the rights and the best interests of the child. The decisions adopted in those meetings were transmitted to local governments as recommendations to improve the conditions of children in matters of education, health-care and other social needs. The last such meeting of Governors and child experts, held in April 1995, had assessed the current situation of Mongolian children and had recommended more steps to be taken to improve their conditions, the delegation said. The idea

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of creating an ombudsman for children and women was also widely expressed through the mass media and it was envisaged to set up that institution in the near future.

With regard to school drop-outs, the delegation underlined that the transition to a market-oriented economy and the general financial crisis of the country had prompted a considerable increase in the number of school drop-outs. That phenomenon was mainly evident in rural regions, where children left schools to join their parents in cattle-breeding or to help them in farming. The privatization process in rural areas, particularly in cattle herding, had prompted rural and nomad children to work with their parents, leaving their education behind them. That situation had violated the right of the child to education. To that effect, the Government encouraged the strengthening of mobile and boarding schools for the children of nomads.

In matters of divorce, the delegation affirmed that the process of any divorce was based on the best interests of the child. Couples without children could file divorce procedures at municipal or city halls, whereas the courts examined the cases of parents. In cases of divorce, custody of minor children was given to mothers. In 1994, there were 939 cases of divorce, of which judges reconciled 168 cases with respect to the best interests of the child. The "Mongolian Women's Association" had also contributed to the best interest of the child by organizing consultative events for women suffering from family problems. Lawyers, psychologists and sexologists provided counselling. The "Centre against Violation" was also working to help women affected by domestic violence. Since last year, 18 women who were victims of violence and rape had turned to the Centre for help.

Detention centres for children, the delegation said, had been improved during recent years and many of them had been moved to new premises to allow parents to visit their detained children.

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