COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONCLUDES DISCUSSION OF MONGOLIA REPORT
Press Release
HR/4273
COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONCLUDES DISCUSSION OF MONGOLIA REPORT
19960115 GENEVA, 11 January (UN Information Service) -- The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its consideration of the report of Mongolia on how it was fulfilling its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Committee also made recommendations for action by Mongolia.The delegation provided further information and responded to additional questions raised by members of the Committee.
Concerning runaway children, the delegation said that 60 per cent of those children were victims of domestic violence. Some families abandoned their children because of alcoholic addiction and others searched for a different lifestyle. Because of the prevailing difficult economic conditions, the parents of many families could not afford to raise their children. There were also cases where the child had to be separated from the parents for the best interest of the child. By a court decision, parents could be deprived of their parental rights in case of failure to fulfil their obligations to the child or where violence in the family was common.
A new law was under preparation on the rights of the child reflecting administrative and criminal penalty to parents who abandoned their children. It was also envisaged to set up temporary shelter which could provide protection for abandoned children until their parents, guardian or care givers were found and identified.
In order to protect children from violence in the streets and public places, a children's militia, a sort of "children police", was introduced in Mongolia, the delegation said. To protect children from exposure to illicit publications, the Government prohibited the sale and viewing of erotic videos and pornographic publications to children under sixteen. According to the delegation, the minimum age for sexual intercourse was fixed at eighteen years. Nevertheless, the definition of prostitution and pornography had not been clearly set and this resulted in the non-implementation of the provisions of the Criminal Code concerning those phenomena.
With regard to registration of births, some experts were of the view that the limit of 30 days to register a newborn was insufficient. However, the delegation stated that the practice of a 30-day delay did not cause major problems, despite the vastness of the country. Failure to register within the
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period of 30 days could lead to fines on the parents. Birth certificates were obligatory to register in schools.
As to AIDS, the delegation affirmed that they had detected only one case three years ago. The problem of drug addiction had been resolved 15 years ago and at present there was no evidence of drug abuse. But one expert cautioned that prostitution was expanding which in turn could be the cause of sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV.
Preliminary Concluding Observations
The Committee commended the efforts of the Government to establish mobile schools for nomad children and cultural and vacation centres for children. However, it recommended that the rights of the child should be promoted not as a ritual and slogan, but though practical ways in all spheres of the society. In matters of allocation of resources, the social aspect involving children should be given priority at the national level. Birth registration should also be continued, including those nomads on the move in remote and rural regions.
The Committee recognized the difficulties encountered by Mongolia following its social restructuring programmes and due to its transition to a market-oriented economy. The experts underlined, however, the need to give priority to the welfare of Mongolia's children.
Although it claimed to have no refugees on its land or Mongolian refugees in other countries, Mongolia was also urged to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention.
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