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United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child - States Parties Reports |
UNITED
NATIONS |
|
CRC
|
|
Convention on the Rights of the Child |
Distr. GENERAL CRC/C/65/Add.10 29 March 2000 ENGLISH Original: SPANISH |
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER
ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION
Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1997
Addendum
Guatemala*
_________________
* For the
initial report submitted by the Government of Guatemala see CRC/C/3/Add.33; for
consideration of the report by the Committee,
see
CRC/C/SR.306-308.
GE.00-41272 (E)
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
ACRONYMS
5
Introduction 1 - 15 7
I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE
COUNTRY 16 - 22 9
A. Population 16 - 18 9
B. Socio-political
context 19 - 22 10
]
II. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION 23 -
67 11
A. Legislative measures 23 - 27 11
B. Political measures
28 - 35 12
C. Institutional measures 36 - 42 13
D. Mechanisms for
statistical information and
indicators 43 - 44 14
E. Budget analysis
relating to economic and social
rights 45 - 51 14
F. International
cooperation 52 - 55 16
G. Preparation of the report 56 - 67 17
III. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD 68 - 73 19
IV. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 74 -
87 20
A. Non-discrimination (art. 2) 74 - 77 20
B. Best interests
of the child (art. 3) 78 - 80 21
C. The right to life, survival and
development (art. 6) 81 - 85 21
D. Respect for the views of the child
(art. 12) 86 - 87 22
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
V. CIVIL RIGHTS AND
FREEDOMS 88 - 126 22
A. Name and nationality (art. 7) 88 -
93 22
B. Preservation of identity (art. 8) 94 - 97 23
C. Freedom of
expression (art. 13) ` 98 - 100 24
D. Freedom of thought, conscience and
religion (art. 14) 101 - 103 24
E. Freedom of association and of
peaceful
assembly (art. 15) 104 - 115 25
F. Access to appropriate
information (art. 17) 116 - 121 26
G. The right not to be subjected to
torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment
(art. 37 (a)) 122 - 126 27
VI. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
127 - 153 28
A. Parental guidance (art. 5) 127 -
132 28
B. Parental responsibilities (art. 18) 133 - 137 29
C. Family
reunification (art. 10) 138 - 139 30
D. Adoption (art. 21) 140 -
143 30
E. Abuse and neglect, including physical and
psychological
recovery and social reintegration (art. 39) 144 -
153 31
VII. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE 154 - 198 34
A. Disabled
children (art. 23) 154 - 159 34
B. Health and health services (art. 24)
160 - 187 35
C. Social security and childcare services and
facilities
(arts. 26 and 18, para. 3) 188 - 192 40
D. Standard of living (art. 27,
paras. 1-3) 193 - 198 41
VIII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL
ACTIVITIES 199 - 237 42
A. Education, including vocational training
and
guidance (art. 28) 199 - 231 42
B. Leisure, recreation and
cultural activities (art. 31) 232 - 237 48
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
IX. SPECIAL PROTECTION
MEASURES 238 - 295 49
A. Children affected by armed conflict 239 -
252 49
B. Children in conflict with the law 253 - 258 53
C. Child and
juvenile labour 259 - 272 54
D. Children whose rights are threatened or
violated
(street children) 273 - 278 56
E. Children and drug abuse
279 - 286 57
F. Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 287 -
290 58
G. Children and public safety 291 - 295 59
ACROYNMS
ADEJUC Alliance for Community Youth
Development
AGPCS Guatemalan Association for the Prevention and Control
of AIDS
ASCATED Association for Training and Technical Assistance in Education for
the Disabled
CCOIPINGUA Consultative Committee of International Organizations for the Comprehensive Protection of Children in Guatemala
CEAR National Committee for Aid to Refugees, Returnees and Displace Persons
CIPRODENI Inter-Institutional Coordination Unit for the Rights of the Child
COEDUCA Community Educational Committee
COINAP Inter-Institutional Committee for the Provision of Services to the Population in Marginal Areas of Guatemala
CONACMI National Commission against Child Abuse
CONANI National Action Committee for Children
COPANJ Standing Commission on Children and Adolescents
COPREDEH Presidential Commission for Coordinating Executive Policy in the Field of Human Rights
ENSMI National Survey on Maternal and Child Health
FONAPAZ National Fund for Peace
IGSS Guatemalan Social Security Institute
INAJU National Youth Institute
INE National Statistical Institute
MINUGUA United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
NEU New Unitary School
PAC Civil Self-Defence Patrols
PAIN Comprehensive Care Programme for Children Under Six
PLANEPI National Plan for Comprehensive Preventive Education
PRODEN Commission for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
PRONADE National Programme for Educational Self-Management
PRONICE Pro Niño y Niña Centroamericanos
SECCATID Office of the Executive-Secretary of the Committee against Drug Addiction and Drug Trafficking
SEGEPLAN Secretariat-General of the National Economic Planning Council
SIAS Comprehensive Health Care System
SICARED National Regionally-Based Training Scheme for Intercultural Bilingual Education
SIMAC National System for Improvement of Human Resources and Curricula
SIS Social Indicators System
SOSEP Office of Social Works of the First Lady
URNG Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca
Introduction
1. Guatemala was the sixth country to accept
obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child when it ratified the
Convention
in 1990. Among these, it undertook to submit to the Committee on the
Rights of the Child, through the Secretary-General of the United
Nations,
reports on the measures it has adopted which give effect to the rights
recognized therein.
2. A first report on the situation of children in
Guatemala, legislation governing children’s matters and government bodies
responsible for children’s needs was prepared in 1992. For various
reasons this report was not considered at the time, and
in 1994 the Presidential
Commission for Coordinating Executive Policy in the Field of Human Rights
(COPREDEH) prepared a new initial
report for submission to the Committee, which
adopted a series of concluding observations on the report after considering it
in June
1996.
3. The aspect of the Committee’s observations which
have been given the most attention and on which the efforts of both State
bodies
and civil society have focused is the harmonization of legislative measures,
i.e. the shift in national legislation on children
from the “irregular
situation” doctrine to the doctrine of comprehensive protection in the
spirit of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
4. For Guatemalan
society in general, the recently-adopted Children and Adolescents Code
represents a valuable tool that will help
bring about a historical change in the
way in which children’s basic needs are addressed. Many of the concerns
expressed by
the Committee on the Rights of the Child concerning the precarious
situation of Guatemalan children as reflected in the previous
report have been
taken into account in the text of the new Code, whose implementation is bringing
about structural and institutional
changes and changes in social policy. For
example, bodies established pursuant to the Code, such as the National
Children’s
Council, are to give priority in the short term to the
formulation of a general policy on children; likewise, the National Commission
on Juvenile Labour is to consider adopting measures for setting 15 as the
minimum age of employment.
5. The serious problem in the education sector
which affects children the most heavily and which is a subject of concern as
much to
Guatemala as to the Committee, will be given special attention through
the Commission on Education Reform set up pursuant to the
Peace Agreements.
Guatemala has given special attention to the Committee’s concerns and
recommendations (see document CRC/C/54,
paras. 201-233) and is focusing
considerable efforts on achieving them. Many of these efforts are part of the
process of implementation
of the Peace Agreements.
6. As
Guatemala’s initial report (CRC/C/3/Add.33) was considered in June 1996,
at which time additional written information
was provided to the Committee at
its request, it was decided that the second periodic report, on progress made in
the implementation
of the Convention due in 1997, would contain information
covering 1996 and 1997 and would also take into account the particular situation
of the country at that time.
7. The past decade has been a significant
time in Guatemala’s history, which has brought the country from a deeply
polarized
society to a stage when the groundwork is being laid for a new
national project based on three basic elements: social reconciliation,
reconstruction of the economy and establishment of the rule of law. This
particular socio-political and economic context is a result
of negotiations
between the Government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca
(UNRG), which led to the end of the armed
conflict and the signing of the
Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace on 29 December 1996.
8. This new
situation involves complex and far-reaching challenges, and addressing them is
not the task of the Government exclusively;
political sectors, non-governmental
organizations and society at large must work to create a social fabric based on
democracy, equity
and justice, including, for the first time, recognition of the
multicultural and multilingual nature of Guatemalan society.
9. The
extensive political and financial investment required for both the peace process
and the mobilization of society in discussing
a new legal instrument on children
and young people in Guatemala have curbed efforts to strengthen conditions
conducive to the full
implementation of the rights contained in the Convention.
However, both the signing of the Peace Agreements and the adoption of
a new
Children and Adolescents Code represent significant progress at the political,
legal and social level towards guaranteeing
human rights and providing hope for
a better life for Guatemalan children and young people, who represent 44 per
cent of the population.
10. It must be acknowledged, however, that
serious deficiencies in children’s standard of living unfortunately
persist; there
are high rates of child morbidity and mortality and limited
access to education as reflected in low coverage and high drop-out and
absenteeism rates, resulting in a high percentage of illiteracy in the country.
Another alarming factor is the number of children
obliged to join the labour
force temporarily owing to the high levels of poverty and extreme poverty which
the vast majority of Guatemalan
families suffer. Children, especially
indigenous children in rural areas, bear the brunt of this precarity, which
prevents them
from developing their full potential. These problems will be
analysed in more detail in the report.
11. The Government and civil
society still face a series of constraints in meeting the needs of Guatemalan
children, including the
low level of participation and awareness in some
sectors, geographical dispersion and lack of roads and basic services in rural
areas and the persistence of discrimination based on age, sex and ethnic origin.
Other problems include the difficulty of obtaining
up-to-date, reliable
statistics and the lack of coordination between Government agencies and NGOs,
which often leads to duplication
of efforts and makes it difficult to use human
and financial resources effectively.
12. To eliminate these obstacles the
State has proposed initiatives based on its commitments under the Peace
Agreements, especially
the Agreement on Social and Economic Aspects and Agrarian
Situation and Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The
Agreements provide for a substantial increase in social investment. For
example, an educational reform is planned, based on
the concept of respect for
the identity of indigenous peoples and equality between the sexes, and goals
have been set for reducing
the illiteracy rate to 30 per cent by the year 2000
and raising educational coverage in the areas with the lowest coverage rates.
Concerning health, decentralization is being introduced in order to guarantee
access to wellness for the entire population, and
a significant increase in the
health budget planned. Equally important is the support being given to the
housing sector, aimed at
meeting the 1.5 per cent budget allocation
required by law and at decentralizing the system in order to provide housing for
the greatest
possible number of low-income Guatemalans, especially in the rural
sector.
13. The new Children and Adolescents Code adopted in 1996 is also
an important step forward for Guatemalan children and young people,
as its
provisions are based on the doctrine of comprehensive protection of
children’s rights, which is compatible with the
principles set forth in
the Convention. The Code represents an important effort at participation and
social consultation. It also
involves government agencies, NGOs and civil
society as a whole in its implementation. This situation is requiring changes
in paradigms
and extensive organizational and administrative restructuring,
aimed at meeting the priority needs of Guatemalan children. Although
the
Congress of the Republic has postponed the Code’s entry into force to
1 March 1998, this in no way implies a decline in
attention to such a
vulnerable social group as children and adolescents, and the preparatory phase
aimed at full acceptance of Guatemala’s
obligations under the Convention
is continuing.
14. The manner in which this report was prepared is a sign
of the changes taking place in terms of discussion between the Government
and
civil society. A consultation process was carried out involving government
officials and representatives of NGOs, based on
the assumption that
children’s development potential was the responsibility of the State,
consisting of the legislative, executive
and judicial branches, regardless of
the involvement of civil society organizations.
15. This report has been
organized as follows: for each topic on which the Committee has requested
information, a diagnostic outline
is presented, followed by the legal machinery
contained in the Children and Adolescents Code and other legal and political
provisions.
Lastly, discussion focuses on some of the specific innovative
activities which the Government and NGOs are conducting in an effort
to enforce
children’s rights.
I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY
A.
Population
16. Guatemala is a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual society
made up of Mayas, Ladinos, Garífunas and Xincas; the
National Statistical
Institute estimates its population at 10 million inhabitants (1997), which
makes it the most heavily populated
country in the Central American region.
Its disaggregated population figures are as follows: 35 per cent urban, of whom
50 per cent
are concentrated in the metropolitan region, and 65 per cent rural,
most of whom live in the western part of the country.
17. Children and
adolescents under 18 years of age make up 44 per cent of the population, which,
disaggregated by sex, represents
50 per cent male and 50 female; concerning
ethnic identification, the 1994 national population census, which distinguishes
only between
indigenous and non-indigenous people, sets the indigenous
population as 42.8 per cent and
nonindigenous as 57.2 per cent. It should
be pointed out that this latest census used population selfidentification and
the mother
tongue in which the respondent learned to speak as its methodological
criterion, providing additional data on the identity of the
Guatemalan
population.
18. One interesting statistic produced by the national census
is the geographical distribution of the population, indicating that
people of
Mayan descent predominate in three regions: north, north-west and south-west;
the non-indigenous population predominates
in the metropolitan, north-east and
south-east regions and the Petén. Approximately equal numbers of
indigenous and non-indigenous
people live in the central region.
B. Socio-political context
19. The most signficant feature of Guatemalan society today is the ending of
the internal armed conflict, which lasted 36 years and
had a devastating impact
on the Guatemalan population, especially children in rural areas. On 29
December 1996, the Agreement on
a Firm and Lasting Peace was signed between the
Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca
(URNG),
ending a long negotiation process which opened up opportunities for
expression and participation by civil society; this process was
supported at
every stage by friendly countries and international cooperation
agencies.
20. Although none of the commitments specifically refer to
children, the spirit which characterizes the provisions of the Comprehensive
Agreement on Human Rights, the Agreement on Resettlement of the Population
Groups Uprooted by the Armed Conflict and the Agreement
on Identity and Rights
of Indigenous Peoples is one of prospects for change and the establishment of
new social policies to meet
the needs of children and adolescents in vulnerable
situations. One example is the implementation of the educational reform called
for in the Peace Agreements, which requires the Government to take more
determined steps to guarantee the right to education.
21. The
Government’s Plan of Action for Social Development and
Peacebuilding, 19962000, establishes a strategic social development
framework in keeping with the Peace Agreements, in which priority is given
to health and education activities aimed at improving
the precarious living
conditions of the children indicated by the high illiteracy and child
morbidity and mortality rates.
22. An evaluation of the first eight years
since the signing of the Peace Agreements shows that the points included in the
Agreement
on the Implementation, Verification and Compliance Timetable for the
Peace Agreements have been met and, in particular, attests to
the seriousness
with which the Government completed its demobilization and legal dissolution of
the Voluntary Civil Defense Committees.
A decrease has also been noted in human
rights violations committed by State agents. Of significance is the political
will shown
by the Government in establishing the joint commissions under the
Peace Agreements, whose basic purpose is to analyse and propose
solutions
concerning education, health, respect for identity, access to land and other
serious problems. Its call for a dialogue
with civil society in order to reach
consensus among all sectors on the measures proposed for modernizing the State
is also worthy
of mention.
II. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
Measures taken to harmonize national law and policy
with
the provisions of the Convention
A. Legislative
measures
23. Article 51 of the Constitution of the Republic requires the State to
protect the physical, mental and moral health of minors and of the elderly and
to guarantee
their right to food, health, education, security and social
welfare. Article 4 of the Convention stipulates that “States parties
shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures
for the implementation of the rights recognized in
the present
Convention.”
24. Pursuant to the above-mentioned legislation, the
Commission for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (established in 1989
and made up of government agencies, NGOs and private bodies, under the
coordination of the Human Rights Procurator) began mobilizing
Guatemalan society
in 1992, with the firm backing of the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), for the purpose of preparing
a body of legislation that would replace
the “irregular situation” doctrine by one based on the principle of
comprehensive
protection of children as embodied in the Convention on the Rights
of the Child and other United Nations instruments: Standard Minimum
Rules for
the Administration of Juvenile Justice (“Beijing Rules”); Rules for
the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of
Their Liberty and Guidelines for the
Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (“Riyadh
Guidelines”).
25. After five years of analysis, discussion and
effort, the Congress of the Republic adopted the “Children and Adolescents
Code” through Decree No. 78-96; the Code was published in the Diario
Oficial (Official Gazette) on 27 September 1996 and entered
into force on 1
March 1998. The Code sets forth a new concept in regarding children and young
people as subjects of rights, within
a framework of democracy and respect for
human rights.
26. Another important legislative achievement was the
promulgation in October 1996 of the Act on the Prevention, Punishment and
Eradication
of Domestic Violence (Decree No. 97-96), which is modelled on the
Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication
of
Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará). The Act is
a mechanism for preventing and punishing acts
which cause harm to people and
directly affect their comprehensive development. The Act protects not only
women, but children, elderly
people and any other family member who, owing to
particular circumstances, is exposed to situations of
aggression.
Position of the Convention in domestic
law
27. Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic states,
“... in matters of human rights, treaties and conventions accepted and
ratified by Guatemala take precedence
over internal law”. On the basis of
this principle, the provisions of the Convention may be invoked directly in the
courts.
B. Political measures
28. The precepts of the new Code call for innovations in the political
role of all the social sectors, as attested by the importance
attached to the
participation of civil society with government institutions in defining policies
on children and adolescents and
promoting their rights. The Code stipulates
that government bodies shall be restructured, NGOs reorganized and opportunities
created
for inter-institutional coordination and decision-making at the
municipal, departmental and national levels.
29. Worthy of note are the
establishment of the National Children’s Council, made up of high-level
government representatives,
civic leaders and representatives of student
organizations (1 male, 1 female). The Council’s main tasks
are:
(a) To formulate and adopt, on a five-year basis, policies for the
comprehensive protection of children and adolescents;
(b) To ensure that
the necessary provision is made in the national budget to that
end;
(c) To monitor and supervise services and establishments for
children and adolescents; ensure that they function properly, investigate
any
irregularities and take the appropriate measures.
30. In this connection,
concrete steps have been taken to establish the National Council, with the
appointment of the Deputy Ministers
of Health, Education, the Interior, Culture
and Sports and Labour, the Director of the Social Welfare Department, the
Under-Secretary
for Economic Planning and the Director of the Guatemalan Social
Security Institute, who are in the preparatory phase of establishing
political,
organizational and implementation guidelines.
31. A consultation process
has also been launched at the civil society level, in which the various NGOs
have been invited to elect
their representatives on the Council. The election
process and the preparation of regulations to strengthen the functioning of the
National Children’s Council are being directed by the Commission for the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
32. Against this background, in
the light of the State’s commitment to bring its social policies into
line with the provisions
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its
obligations under the Peace Agreements, the Plan of Action for Social
Development
and Peacebuilding 19962000 was established. The Plan provides a
strategic framework for government action in the social area, based
in
particular on the principles of respect for all aspects of life, for
multiculturalism and ethnic diversity and the promotion of
peace and democracy
as a basic form of human coexistence.
33. The Plan of Action sets
priority goals in the areas of education, health, food and nutrition, intended
directly and indirectly
to meet children’s needs. It also establishes
specific goals for children and young people at risk who require special care
programmes, such as children working in the formal and informal sectors,
children performing income-generating activities on
a marginal basis, street
children, disabled, abused, orphaned and institutionalized children, children
living in temporary shelters
and child victims of the armed conflict (refugee
and/or displaced children).
34. With a view to strengthening the
country’s social policy, structures have been created at the highest
level; these include
the Social Cabinet of Ministers and the Social Fund
Cabinet, which coordinate their work with the Cabinet of Government and the
Economic
Cabinet.
35. The Presidential Commission for Coordinating
Executive Policy in the Field of Human Rights (COPREDEH) has begun a process of
defining
a general human rights policy. Taking the philosophy of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child as its guideline, it has prepared
a list of
commitments to be met by each ministry and government office, for incorporation
in sectoral planning.
C. Institutional measures
36. The new Children and Adolescents Code has brought about an important
change, in that it was prepared, discussed and adopted on
the basis of
participation by the different sectors of civil society and by Government
bodies. In order to make the provisions of
the Children and Adolescents Code a
reality, an institutional restructuring is taking place within the executive
branch, in particular
the Social Welfare Department, which is also the
institution chairing the National Children’s Council, the Ministry of
Labour
and Social Security, which is responsible for establishing and
coordinating the National Commission for Child Workers and the Ministry
of the
Interior, which is to establish the Specialized Unit for Children and
Adolescents within the national police force.
37. Decentralized and
diversified structures are also being created at the local level to guarantee
access to financial and human
resources for the administration of justice and
mobilization of society and to play an advocacy, supervisory and verification
role
in ensuring that the rights of children, especially those in vulnerable
groups, are observed. These structures are listed in the
Code as the National
Children’s Council, the Departmental and Municipal Children’s
Councils and the Municipal Children’s
Protection Boards (whose members are
elected by the community and appointed by the Human Rights
Procurator).
38. The judiciary, through the Supreme Court, has also begun
the process of establishing children’s courts to be located in
certain
regions. The professionals who will be making up the multidisciplinary teams in
charge of these courts are at the training
stage, under the supervision of the
School of Judicial Studies in coordination with the Commission for the
Convention on the Rights
of the Child (PRODEN).
39. In order to support
the new Code’s requirement that young people in special situations must be
provided with a court-appointed
counsel, in May 1997 the European Union, through
its “Street Children Programme”, signed an agreement in the amount
of
$30,000 with the Supreme Court of Justice, for the establishment of a legal
aid office for young people.
40. One of the most important bodies for
defence, protection, training, dissemination and promotion in relation to the
rights of Guatemalan
children and adolescents is the Office of the
Children’s Ombudsman, established in 1990 as a division of the Office of
the
Human Rights Procurator, which has been strengthened in recent years through
allocations of greater human and financial resources.
41. Similarly, in
1991 Human Rights Procurator Agreement SG 6-91 officially established the
Commission for the Convention on the Rights
of the Child (PRODEN), which had
come into being in 1989 and has become the coordinating body for more than 30
government bodies
and NGOs and 21 Departmental Committees, whose objectives are
to direct, supervise and promote the effective implementation of the
Convention
on the Rights of the Child at the national level. One of the activities to
which PRODEN has given the most support is
the establishment of Departmental
Children’s Rights Committees, designed to promote organization at the
grass-roots level and
participation of local authorities for a project to
benefit children.
42. In the interest of institutional harmonization,
COPREDEH’s organizational structure includes a “Division for
Children
and Adolescents” whose purpose is to coordinate with governmental
and NGOs concerning aspects within its competence, in particular
to follow up
complaints of violations of the human rights of children and
adolescents.
D. Mechanisms for statistical information and indicators
43. Guatemala is making a considerable effort to modernize, update and
strengthen national statistics systems so that institutions,
especially
Government bodies, are able to draw on reliable information that enables them to
plan and invest resources in an efficient
and timely manner. An important step
forward has been the establishment by the National Statistical Institute of the
social indicators
system (SIS), whose basic purpose is to compile information
for developing social indicators on education, economic activity and
health,
disaggregated by age group, geographical area, ethnic group and sex. Another of
its duties is to provide follow-up of government
social development
plans.
44. One of the most recent SIS activities was the National Survey
on Maternal and Child Health which covered 21 departments and provided
information on issues relating to population and women’s and
children’s health, to be used in the preparation of national
economic and
social development plans and to assist the health and family planning bodies in
conducting activities for the most vulnerable
population groups.
E. Budgetary analysis relating to economic and social
rights
45. As part of the Government’s Programme for 1996-2000, in 1996
the Ministry of Finance launched a public finance modernization
and
restructuring programme and began gearing its financial resources towards more
effective public spending, thereby promoting macroeconomic
stability,
infrastructure recovery and improvement, and priority attention to the social
sector.
46. In recent years the Government has been attempting to direct
public spending towards more socially profitable sectors in an effort
to turn
the country’s difficult situation around, as illustrated in the graph
below:
Figure 1
Developments in social
spending
(1990, 1995 and 1997)
Q (thousands)
Source: Ministry
of Finance.
47. Social investment has been allocated 40 per cent of the
Government’s global income and expenditure budget for the current
financial year, a proportion which is expected to increase to 45.9 per cent
in 1998. Social investment accounted for 5,534.2 million
quetzals in 1997
and 7,339.6 million quetzals in 1998, while defence spending was 1,225.5
million quetzals in 1997 and 1,470.8 million
quetzals in 1998 (i.e. 8.9 per
cent and 7.7 per cent respectively of the overall budget). In 1997 external
assistance stood at 23.1
per cent of social spending.
48. Public spending
needs to be reorganized if the Government is to fulfil its commitments; sectoral
policies must be drawn up and
priority assigned to the sectors with the most
social profitability, making them more efficient. To that end, the following
allocations
to those sectors are envisaged for the fiscal year 1998.
Sector
|
Budget
Q (millions) |
Social Spending
|
7 339.6
|
Health and Welfare
|
1 766.9
|
Education, Science and Culture
|
2 693.9
|
Housing
|
1 450.2
|
Labour and Social Security
|
1 428.6
|
Source: Ministry of Finance.
49. In the
Government’s programme for 19962000 social investment plays a central role
as an instrument for increasing productive
capacity and attaining higher levels
of economic growth, job creation and social equity. It is intended that social
investment will
focus clearly on target groups defined as priority sectors and
that guidelines will be issued for reorienting public investment along
geographical lines, in terms of the social investment deficits identified in the
departments and municipalities. Accordingly, there
are plans for a significant
increase in social investment by 2000, to enable the country to make a
qualitative leap in terms of social
equity and justice.
50. This goal can
only be attained if a special effort is made to improve both the quality and
quantity of the basic social services
on offer and if the public investment
needed for the country’s economic and social development is actually
undertaken. The
Government has therefore sought to introduce a significant but
realistic tax increase in order to secure the resources it needs for
discharging
its various obligations.
51. In 1991 the executive branch created the
social funds, a mechanism for speeding up social investment projects in health
and nutrition,
initial, preprimary and primary education, support for the
reintegration of the displaced population, basic infrastructure, in particular,
and making them more effective. The purpose of those projects is to improve the
inhabitants’ quality of life, including that
of children and adolescents
in the various communities, especially in rural areas.
F. International cooperation
52. Guatemala has received
support from the international community for the technical and financial
strengthening of projects designed
to implement the Convention on the Rights of
the Child. One tangible product of that cooperation was the support it received
for
the preparations, consultations, validation and outreach activities leading
to the adoption by Congress in 1996 of the Children and
Adolescents Code and its
subsequent dissemination.
53. Also deserving of mention are the creation
in 1995 of the Consultative Committee of International Organizations for the
Comprehensive
Protection of Children in Guatemala (CCOIPINGUA) composed of the
German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), UNICEF, AID, Redd
Barna,
Rädda Barnen, Redd Barnet, Plan International, Doctors without Borders,
European Union, United Nations Volunteers (UNV)
programme, United Nations Human
Rights Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), World Food Programme (WFP)
and ILOIPEC. This
Committee’s aims are to enhance national and
international cooperation for improving the living conditions of Guatemalan
children
at risk and to serve as a permanent forum for information
exchange.
54. CCOIPINGUA’s activities focus on four major
areas:
(a) Harmonizing criteria for developing a national strategy
designed to achieve the sustainability of programmes receiving support
in this
sector.
(b) Exchanging experience and avoiding duplication within
programme areas.
(c) Promoting the doctrine of comprehensive
protection.
(d) Liaising with outside agencies with a view to mobilizing
funds and information for activities in favour of children in
Guatemala.
55. One example of cooperative action was the signing of the
Master Plan of Operations for 19972001, established by the
SecretariatGeneral
of the National Economic Planning Council (SEGEPLAN) and the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in order to support and
implement
activities to improve the living conditions of women and children. This Master
Plan will be developed through the programmes
for development of social policies
and integrated basic services, to which UNICEF will contribute and administer
US$ 24 million.
Those programmes are in line with the Government’s
priorities, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on
the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the World Summit for
Children, the Peace Agreements and Plan of Action
for Social Development and
Peacebuilding and the Children and Adolescents Code.
G. Preparation of the report
56. As Guatemala has been a
signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1990, the
Office of the Vice-President of
the Republic undertook this year to prepare the
present report, and designated the Social Welfare Department of the Office of
the
President to head a consultation among the various governmental and
nongovernmental agencies with a view to collecting ideas and
information that
indicate the progress made in the implementation of the
Convention.
57. To that end, a methodology consisting of three types of
activity was planned and designed: compilation of documents, interviews,
and
mobilization of society through interinstitutional meetings.
Compilation of documents
58. This stage consisted of
seeking out and reviewing essays, books, documents, research and press releases
having recently addressed
and analysed topics relating to Guatemalan
children.
Visits and interviews
59. More than 50 visits and
interviews were held with government officials and representatives of
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
that promote child and youth care
programmes and projects. Written information based on a specially prepared
profile was also obtained
from the various government departments.
Mobilization of society
60. Four interinstitutional
meetings were held at social welfare (childcare) centres that provide care for
children aged 07 in the
departments of Zacapa, Quetzaltenango, Mazatenango and
Baja Verapaz. They were attended by some 200 representatives of State bodies,
the security forces, NGOs and members of the community, all of whom displayed
their openness and readiness to enter into dialogue
on the situation of
Guatemalan children and the prospects opened up by the Children and Adolescents
Code.
61. The idea that prevailed during the interinstitutional dialogue
was that preparation of the report was the task of both State bodies
(executive, judiciary and legislative) and civil society - organized or
otherwise - as the main thrust of the Children and Adolescents
Code is that
achievement of children’s rights is the responsibility of all Guatemalans.
The interinstitutional meetings included
a lecture by staff of the Commission
for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (PRODEN) on the relationship
between the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and the Children and
Adolescents Code.
62. The meetings culminated in a joint discussion that
spawned a number of ideas, initiatives and general actions which included the
following:
(i) Institutional conception of the current situation of children and
young people in Guatemala
63. Participants concurred in the view that
the current situation of children and adolescents was precarious and vulnerable,
given
the country’s limited human, financial and infrastructure resources
and the fact that those were largely concentrated on the
urban areas. At the
level of both the Government, childcare NGOs and civil society there is
insufficient coverage of the needs and
requirements that arise among that sector
of the population.
(ii) Opinions on the new Children and Adolescents
Code
64. The new Code is seen as a step forward for Guatemalan
society in that it takes a holistic view of children and adolescents and
recognizes them as subjects of rights and obligations. It also serves as an
additional tool for punishing violations of the rights
of children and
adolescents. The sectors consulted were clear in stating that enforcement would
necessitate political will on the
part of the authorities, participation by
civil society and provision of the resources needed to make it a
reality.
(iii) Institutional action on behalf of children and
adolescents
65. The following are among the areas of service provided
by the participating institutions:
− Training and advanced training in the rights and obligations of children and adolescents;
− Parental education;
− Support and followup of complaints of any type of abuse;
− Criminal prosecution for offences committed against children and adolescents;
− Rehabilitation of disabled children and adolescents;
− Protection of street children;
− Guidance for the integration and active participation of children and adolescents in the community.
(iv) Factors limiting the development of action on behalf of children and
adolescents
66. The following are the main constraints encountered by
institutions in implementing programmes, projects and services for children
and
adolescents:
− Inadequate economic resources for implementing dissemination and specialized training programmes;
− Irresponsible parenthood;
− Discrimination based on age, gender and ethnic origin;
− Difficulty of access to appropriate and reliable data;
− Duplication of efforts by some government and nongovernmental agencies, resulting from lack of coordination of initiatives;
− Geographical isolation of small settlements, villages and hamlets that are difficult of access;
− Certain sectors’ lack of political will to become involved in projects in favour of children and adolescents.
(v) Institutional courses of
action
67. Participants indicated that they planned in the first
instance to learn to make proper use of the Children and Adolescents Code;
to
disseminate and promote its contents; and to join their efforts, through
interdisciplinary and interinstitutional teams, in order
to meet
children’s needs.
III. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD
68. Neither the
Constitution of the Republic nor the Minors Code contains a specific definition
of the concept of “child”, “minors” being
considered to
be persons under the age of 18. Article 2 of the new Children and
Adolescents Code, for its part, states: “For
the purposes of this Code, a
child is any person from the moment of conception to the age of 12, and an
adolescent is any person
between the ages of 12 and 18.”
69. With
regard to the concern expressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in
relation to the minimum age for marriage in
the case of girls, an initiative has
been launched under the Women and Legal Reform Project of the National
Women’s Office,
involving a proposed amendment to article 81 of the Civil
Code, Decree Law 106, setting 16 as the minimum age at which young people
may
marry. That would be an improvement insofar as it would establish equal
conditions for girls and boys.
70. Concerning the legally established
minimum age of criminal responsibility and deprivation of liberty, article 160
of the Children
and Adolescents Code states: “All persons aged at least
12 but under 18 at the time they commit an act in conflict with criminal
law or
special laws shall be subject to this law.”
71. Similarly, with
reference to the enforcement of agerelated legal measures, it states that:
“In trial proceedings, in the
measures ordered and their implementation a
distinction shall be made between two groups: the 12-14 age group and the 15-17
age
group.” It further stipulates: “This section shall not apply
to acts committed by children under 12 which constitute
a crime or minor
offence: their civil liability shall not be affected and shall be dealt with by
the competent courts. Such children
shall receive the required medical,
psychological and educational attention in the care and custody of their parents
or guardians
and under the supervision of the juvenile
courts.”
72. These measures are in keeping with the spirit of the
comprehensive protection doctrine in that they take the entire psychological,
biological and social dimension of children into account and abandon the
“irregular situation” approach taken in the
previous legal
structure.
73. In accordance with the provisions contained in the
articles cited above, the new Code provides for the establishment of bodies
for
dealing with children in conflict with the law across the board from the local
to the national level. In particular, the System
of Operating Institutions for
the Administration of Criminal Justice has launched the process for the required
institutional and
procedural reform.
IV. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
A. Nondiscrimination (art.
2)
74. Guatemala has historically been an excluding and discriminatory society,
a situation that has affected the quality of life of
most children, especially
those living in rural areas, who belong to indigenous groups, and the rural and
urban poor. Girls are
particularly hard hit by this
situation.
75. However, the current sociopolitical situation produced by
the ending of the armed conflict and the signing of the peace agreements
is
opening up possibilities for consolidating civil society initiatives, especially
from the Maya and women’s movements, which
for a decade have been calling
attention to ethnic and gender discrimination and proposing legislative,
educational, political and
other measures to minimize existing
disparities.
76. In that regard, section II, Right to Equality, article
10, of the Children and Adolescents Code states: “The rights enshrined
in
this law shall apply to every child and adolescent without discrimination of any
kind based on race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion,
national, ethnic or social origin, economic situation, physical, mental or
sensory impairment, sexual
orientation, physical disability, birth or any other
condition relating to themselves, their parents, relatives, guardians or the
persons responsible for them.”
77. An initiative currently being
developed by the Ministry of Education with a view to eliminating sexist and
racist stereotyping
in educational material is the programme for girls linked to
the National System for Improvement of Human Resources and Curricula,
which uses
gender methodology and an intercultural approach in the curriculum, text books
and educational materials it produces.
B. Best interests of the child (art. 3)
78. Guatemalan society has been characterized by an authoritarian culture
which has rejected the concept of best interests of the
child, a situation
experienced in everyday family life and evident both in the approach which has
been taken to public policy planning
and in the conduct of child-related
programmes and projects. In order to abandon that approach, various sectors
have begun a process
of reflection and awareness-raising regarding what is meant
by children’s right to enjoy better living conditions and to develop
their
potential as human beings.
79. This viewpoint is legally embodied in the
Children and Adolescents Code, which states that: “... the best interests
of
children and adolescents must be taken into account in any measures adopted
in connection with them. For the purposes of this Code,
the concept of the best
interests of children and adolescents is understood to mean all actions designed
to foster their physical,
psychological, educational, cultural, moral, spiritual
and social development with a view to achieving the full development of their
personality.
80. The institutions which deal directly with children and
adolescents are currently reframing their programmes to bring them into
line
with this principle. Owing to the magnitude and complexity of the process, it
has been hampered by political and economic constraints,
lack of infrastructure
and poor inter-institutional coordination.
C. The right to life, survival and development (art.
6)
81. The information gathered through the National Survey on Maternal and
Child Health (ENSMI-1995) reveals that a high percentage
of Guatemalan children
do not enjoy an adequate standard of physical and mental development. In that
connection, the survey shows
that for every 1,000 live births, 26 children
die during their first month of life and another 25 die during their first
year. Worthy
of note is the disparity between infant mortality in urban areas
(41 per 1,000) and the countryside (56 per 1,000), but also significant
is the
drop from 70 per 1,000 to 51 per 1,000 during the period
19851995.
82. By and large, the country’s nutritional situation is
geographically and ethnically inequitable in that the prevalence of
chronic
malnutrition is relatively low in the metropolitan area (34 per cent) compared
to 70 per cent in the northwest with its
largely indigenous
population.
83. In order to improve the precarious health situation of
Guatemalan children, and in accordance with article 6 of the Convention
on the
Rights of the Child, the Children and Adolescents Code states, “Children
and adolescents have a fundamental right to
life. It is incumbent upon the
State to guarantee their survival, security and development”. It further
states that “they
have a right to the protection, care and assistance
needed for them to achieve adequate physical, mental and social development.
They shall enjoy those rights from the moment of conception”. This
principle is reinforced in article 25, which stipulates
that “Children and
adolescents shall have the right to protection, to a decent life and to health,
through the implementation
of public social policies conducive to healthy and
harmonious birth and development, in decent living
conditions.”
84. The Agreement on Social and Economic Aspects and
Agrarian Situation contains a commitment to move ahead with reform of the health
sector, which in its general lines of action pays priority attention to basic
problems, especially those of the motherandchild group.
85. The
Government likewise undertakes to devote at least 50 per cent of public health
spending to prevention and to reduce infant
mortality by 50 per cent of the 1995
rate by the year 2000.
D. Respect for the views of the child (art.
12)
86. Children and adolescents have hitherto had scant opportunities to express
their views and have received little respect, owing
to the vertical and
authoritarian structure of childadult relations. Aiming at a new concept of
adult-child relations, the Children
and Adolescents Code states, “children
and adolescents shall have the right to liberty, respect, dignity and the right
of complaint
as human beings in the process of development and as subjects of
human and social rights guaranteed in the Constitution and the laws” (art.
12). Article 13 (b) guarantees the right of children and adolescents to
“freedom of opinion and
expression”. Similarly, article 17 states
that they “shall have the right to report violations of their human rights
to the nearest local authority in order to guarantee respect for those rights
and prevention of and reparation for violations”.
87. One
significant achievement of the new Children and Adolescents Code, which will
ensure children’s right to participate
in decisionmaking on matters
concerning them, is the inclusion as members of the National Children’s
Council of two representatives,
one male and one female, elected by the student
organizations. Article 102 also provides that the membership of the National
Commission
for the Protection of Child Workers shall include “a delegate,
preferably aged 1418, to be elected by the country’s trade
union
federations”.
V. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
A. Name and nationality (art. 7)
88. The 36-year internal armed conflict inter alia caused
situations involving internal displacement, exile and asylum for thousands of
families, and those situations affected children,
particularly indigenous
children and children living in extreme poverty. The iniquities suffered by
this population jeopardized
the right of thousands of children to be legally
recognized and have a nationality, owing in some cases to the destruction of the
civil records of hundreds of communities and to the anonymity and clandestine
circumstances in which thousands of families, especially
indigenous families,
were forced to live.
89. Moreover, while the civil registry certainly
performs the task of registering births, some preliminary inquiries by
women’s
groups and non-governmental organizations promoting
citizens’ participation have detected cases of children not being
registered
owing to the fact that the parents are ignorant of the procedure for
doing so, or that the mothers also lack the requisite papers,
or else because
culturally it is not considered necessary. This situation notably affects girls
in rural and marginal urban areas,
and limits their right to education inasmuch
as their enrolment in schools is made difficult.
90. To guarantee Guatemalan
children their right to a name and nationality, article 14 of the Children and
Adolescents Code states
that “children and young persons are entitled to
an identity, including a nationality and a name, to know their parents and
be
cared for by them, and to use their own forms of cultural expression and their
own language. It is the duty of the State to guarantee
their identity and to
punish anyone responsible for the substitution, alteration or deprivation
thereof”.
91. One initiative aimed at remedying the above violation is
the review currently being made by the Congress to introduce amendments
to the
proposed Special Personal Documentation Act, which is intended to meet the
commitments contained in the Peace Agreements by
providing special identity
papers for internally displaced persons, refugees, returnees and former URNG
combatants. For this Act
to have a positive impact, mass registration campaigns
have been planned in those places where the resettled and uprooted population
is
concentrated.
92. A situation that has also affected the right to a name
is discrimination against children “not recognized by the father”.
In this connection, mention should be made of the approval in 1995 of a
provision in article 4 of the Civil Code which grants single
mothers the right
to register their children with their two surnames in order to preclude such
discrimination.
93. Concrete action is being undertaken at the executive
level by the National Statistical Institute with support from UNICEF through
a
programme to improve the quality of vital statistics, i.e. information on
births, marriages and deaths. The first stage of training
is now under way for
civil registrars in departments where the greatest incidence of
under-registration has been detected.
B. Preservation of identity (art. 8)
94. A fact recognized during the negotiation and reflected in the text of
the Peace Agreements is the segregation and discrimination
that have prevailed
in Guatemalan society and to which the Maya peoples especially have been
subjected. That situation is evidenced
by the precarious conditions of life
both physical and spiritual of this group. It should be pointed out, however,
that despite
the cultural syncretism to which these peoples were subjected
historically, oral tradition has maintained essential aspects of their
world
view, including their language and relationship with the land and nature. It
has also to be understood that children, women
and older persons in any human
community, but especially in the indigenous communities, are a guarantee for the
reproduction of culture.
95. These aspects are recognized in the
Constitution, the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the
International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal
Peoples Convention
(No. 169), ratified in 1996. These instruments provide a legal framework of
paramount importance for applying
the principle of the preservation of identity
that will contribute to the all-round development of Guatemalan indigenous
children.
96. The Children and Adolescents Code also recognizes the right
of children and young people to preserve and promote their cultural
identity by
guaranteeing freedom of conscience, thought and religion and participation in
family life without discrimination, in
accordance with the cultural standards of
the community to which they belong (art. 13), as well as “the right to
respect, which
consists in the inviolability of the physical, psychological and
moral integrity of children and young people, including the preservation
of
their image, identity, autonomy, values, ideas and beliefs, privacy and personal
property” (art. 15).
97. It is important to note the establishment,
pursuant to the commitments contained in the Peace Agreements and especially in
the
above-cited Agreement on Identity, of the Commission for the Officialization
of Indigenous Languages, the Commission for the Definition
of Holy Places and
the Joint Commission on Educational Reform, which include representatives of
indigenous organizations and the
Government.
C. Freedom of expression (art. 13)
98. The educational process, begun in the family and strengthened by the
formal and informal school system and the media, has been
characterized by poor
stimulation of the creativity and expression of children and young people in
Guatemala. The future citizens’
training, development and self-expression
have been limited by the lack of facilities, scant institutional interest and
small amount
of resources that the State has allocated for this
purpose.
99. In order to deal with this situation, the new Children and
Adolescents Code embodies the right of children and young people to
“freedom of opinion and expression; participation in the civic life of the
country, the only restrictions being those stipulated
by law; access to
information, principally information which promotes their spiritual and moral
development and physical and mental
health” (art. 13).
100. As
regards civil society, a number of non-governmental organizations, such as the
Alliance for Community Youth Development (ADEJUC),
Pro Niño y Niña
Centroamericanos (PRONICE), the Association for Training and Technical
Assistance in Education for
the Disabled (ASCATED) and the Inter-Institutional
Coordination Unit for the Rights of the Child (CIPRODENI), have instituted
measures
to promote and stimulate the self-expression and active participation
in society of children and adolescents, seeing them as social
subjects of
rights. This new concept entails a redefinition of roles for the various
components of the social fabric, especially
children and young persons, the
authorities, the family, informal sectors, social movements and institutions.
As regards the artistic
and cultural expression of children and young people,
institutions such as the People’s University, the University of San
Carlos,
TGW National Radio, various community radio stations and a number of
private businesses are initiating and supporting ad hoc measures.
D. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art. 14)
101. One of the aspects most threatened by the authoritarian and rigid
culture underlying the socio-political history of Guatemalan
society is freedom
of thought. The exercise of this right was severely limited in the past,
directly affecting thousands of children
and adolescents because of the violent
persecution to which their fathers, mothers and other relatives were subjected.
Religious
expression, particularly that of indigenous peoples, was also
restricted, which made the transmission of values between generations
difficult
and limited that aspect of the cultural development of children and young
persons.
102. In this connection, the Agreement on Identity and Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, in the section entitled “Spirituality”,
recognizes the importance of spirituality and the transmission of the values of
indigenous people. It should be pointed out that
the Commission for the
Identification of Holy Places has already been established, its principal
function being to identify holy
places and establish rules for their
preservation. The Government has also undertaken to ensure respect for the
exercise of spirituality
in all its manifestations and to promote in the
Congress the reform of article 66 of the Constitution to stipulate that the
State recognizes, respects and protects the various forms of spirituality
practised by the Maya, Garífuna
and Xinca peoples.
103. Article 13
(c) of the Children and Adolescents Code furthermore guarantees freedom of
conscience, thought and religion.
E. Freedom of association and of peaceful assembly
(art. 15)
104. With regard to this right, it must be pointed out that the social
fabric in Guatemala has been damaged because for a long time
no opportunity was
granted, at any level, for social expression, including the self-expression of
children and young persons, who
have had few means to establish group
organizations which would help them develop the leadership skills needed for
them to participate
responsibly in civic life.
105. Guatemalan society,
including children, fortunately enjoys a new situation today which derives from
the Peace Agreements and
is characterized by an openness and an incentive -
albeit incipient - for social participation within the framework of a culture
of
peace.
106. To strengthen this new situation, the Children and
Adolescents Code guarantees the right to freedom for children and young persons,
stating that freedom inter alia includes “freedom of movement, save
for the statutory restrictions, and participation in the country’s civic
life subject
only to the restrictions specified by law” (art.
13).
107. It is gratifying to note that both government institutions and
non-governmental organizations are promoting measures for the
civic and
political training of young persons with the object of strengthening the process
of democratization and peace in Guatemala.
In this context, for example, the
Social Welfare Department of the Office of the President is carrying out the
Open Care Units programme
in Coatepeque, Zacapa and Cuilapa to address aspects
which will have a positive impact on the lives of more than 2,000 young persons,
in their communities, families and at school.
108. Furthermore, the
National Children’s Council, backed by the executive authorities, is at
present carrying out a social
mobilization campaign involving more than 5,000
young persons of both sexes at national level, organizing workshops and cultural
and sports activities to promote social participation in an environment of
solidarity, peace and democracy. The Ministry of Health
and Social Welfare is
implementing an Adolescents Programme to promote health care, recreation and
social participation for young
persons.
109. One civil society initiative
is the educational programme that the Guatemala Section of the Latin American
Faculty of Social
Sciences has been conducting since July 1997, for young
persons aged between 16 and 23. Its main subject areas are:
democratization and participation in civic life, human rights and the
Peace
Agreements; economic and social development and inter-ethnic and gender
relations.
110. The non-governmental organization Alliance for Community
Youth Development carries out projects seeking to promote the active
participation of children in the community, in keeping with the Convention on
the Rights of the Child and the new Code. Alliance
programmes are conducted in
eight departments.
111. For its part, the Inter-Institutional
Coordination Unit, for the Rights of the Child (CIPRODENI), which brings
together 13 organizations
working for children, focuses in part on the
development of child self-expression and is currently executing the project
“Alternative
Techniques for the Promotion of the Rights of the
Child”.
112. The National Action Committee for Children (CONANI) is
conducting a “Community Youth Workers” project for children
and
young persons at risk. Its central concern is the right to education, along
with issues of social communication, education for
life and occupational
training activities.
113. Some of the achievements include: the training
of 90 youth outreach workers, coverage of 224 areas of extreme poverty,
follow-up
and strengthening of schooling for 1,340 children and work with five
parents’ groups. CONANI coordinates its efforts with
the Unit for
Protection of Child Workers of the Ministry of Labour, especially in the area of
training.
114. The German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) inter
alia supports the Youth Assemblies programme, which is being conducted on
the premises of the National Youth Institute (INAJU) covering
the metropolitan
area. This programme seeks, through selfgovernment, to develop positive
leadership skills among children and young
persons.
115. The new social
and political situation is creating forums and needs for organization in all
social groups, including young persons.
An example of this is the work being
conducted by the Oliverio Castañeda De León Foundation, whose
primary goal is
to revitalize the organization of middle-level students.
F. Access to appropriate information (art. 17)
116. In addition to the high level of illiteracy in the country, the
media have shown scant interest in providing children with programmes
and
messages that would contribute to their allround
development.
117. Preference has been given to disseminating material in
the media which to some extent reinforces a culture of violence and intolerance.
Fortunately, the socio-political circumstances of Guatemala today offer
opportunities for presenting alternative messages based on
the concepts of
peace, equality, justice and democracy.
118. Both the Children and
Adolescents Code and the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples
recognize the importance
of the media for the defence, development and
transmittal of cultural values and knowledge, having regard for the
sociocultural diversity
of the country. In the Agreement on Identity and Rights
of Indigenous Peoples, the Government commits itself to taking steps to
“create opportunities in the official media for the dissemination of
expressions of indigenous culture and promote a similar
opening in the private
media”, and “to regulate and support a system of informational,
scientific, artistic and educational
programmes on indigenous cultures in their
languages, through the national radio, television and the written
media”.
119. Article 75 of the Children and Adolescents Code calls
upon the media to “provide them (children and adolescents) with access
to
information and material from various national and international sources”,
“promote their direct participation in
programmes and publications”
and “disseminate, transmit, print and publish material and programmes in
the Maya, Garífuna
and Xinca languages”.
120. The Code also
anticipates the harmful effects of certain kinds of information when it calls
for “the protection of children
and adolescents from any information or
material prejudicial to their upbringing, and the evaluation, classification and
supervision
of any information, performance, programme or material that may be
made accessible to them. This also involves classifying any form
of
communication that might be prejudicial to the well-being of children and
adolescents and making sure that the media establish
separate categories of
items for children, adolescents, families and exclusively for adults”
(arts. 75 and 76). The Ministry
of Culture and Sports is reorganizing the
Office for Public Entertainment on the basis of the above principles and drawing
up a specific
project to that end.
121. Various public and private
institutions, including the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman, the
Ministry of Labour, COPREDEH,
CIPRODENI and ADEJUC, regularly disseminate
materials to promote the rights of children and young persons, such as
calendars, leaflets,
posters, school exercise books and radio slots. An
interesting initiative in this regard is the Information Service that the
National
Statistical Institute (INE) established in September 1997 for
children aged from 8 to 12 years to encourage their effective use of
data,
especially numerical data, reflecting the current situation in the
country.
G. The right not to be subjected to torture or other
cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment (art. 37
(a))
122. Attention should be drawn to two situations that have
severely affected Guatemalan children: one relates to the violations
of their
fundamental rights in the context of the armed conflict; the other stems from
the conditions of poverty which have contributed
to child neglect, the
phenomenon of street children, drug addiction, delinquency and other factors
exposing the child population
to acts of abuse and street
violence.
123. Such violence is carried out with impunity by adult
aggressors and organized criminal gangs, and unfortunately even by some members
of the forces of law and order, although this is certainly not an
institutionalized practice. A much smaller number of children
subjected to
torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are victims
of kidnapping. Kidnapping for economic ends was originally
directed against an
adult segment of the Guatemalan population, but more recently it has affected
children.
124. While there is still no specific policy for minimizing the
effects of this violence against children, the government bodies responsible
for
public security have opened facilities such as the Minors Unit of the Criminal
Investigation Department and the Human Rights
Office of the National Police,
which has a unit dealing with the rights of children and also runs a training
programme in this connection
for the new National Civil
Police.
125. Joint action by the Human Rights Office of the National
Police, the Presidential Commission for Human Rights (COPREDEH), the
Public
Prosecutor’s Department and the Casa Alianza Association (non-governmental
organization) is being undertaken through
the Standing Commission on Children
and Adolescents (COPANJ), whose functions have been officially regulated since
1995 with the
object of promoting legal and social action to secure respect for
and observance of the rights of children and adolescents who have
been
threatened or whose rights have been violated. COPANJ is currently following up
114 complaints of violations of the human rights
of children and young persons,
of which 83 have been submitted by Casa Alianza and 31 are being taken up on its
own initiative.
A total of 114 criminal cases have thus been brought against
National Police officers, private security agents and private individuals
who
have committed violations against or abused street children.
126. The new
Children and Adolescents Code, in responding to this problem, has made provision
for complaints and special protection,
as stipulated in article 16: “It
is the duty of the State and society at large to ensure the dignity of children
and adolescents,
sparing them from any inhuman, violent, terrorizing,
humiliating or coercive treatment.”
VI. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
A.
Parental guidance (art. 5)
127. There are a variety of family structures in Guatemala, both in urban
and in rural areas. According to the 1995 National Survey
on Maternal and Child
Health, women represent 20 per cent of all heads of households,
but it should be pointed out that the actual
figure could well be higher. This
situation, which stems from factors such as poverty and cultural patterns that
lead to high birth
rates, including early pregnancies, irresponsible fatherhood,
and ordinary or political violence, affects the development of children’s
potential, as households with female heads generally show marked levels of
poverty.
128. The new Children and Adolescents Code urges families to
assume their responsibility to guarantee the right of every child “to
be
brought up and educated within his or her family” (art. 18). It also
lays down other obligations for fathers, mothers,
guardians or others
responsible for children with regard to giving children affection and such
material support as they can afford.
It further requires the State “to
promote, by every means, the stability and well-being of the family as the basis
of society
and to provide the child or young person with a harmonious family
environment” (art. 19).
129. Another aspect that must be considered
is the orphaning of children under 15 years of age, especially in areas where
the armed
conflict was most intense. In this connection, the findings of the
above-mentioned Survey in 1995 revealed that the percentage of
fatherless
children by area of residence is highest in the departments of Chimaltenango
(4 per cent) and El Quiché (3.8 per cent), and
the percentage of
motherless children is highest in the departments of Alta Verapaz and
Chimaltenango, at 2.3 per cent and 1.6 per
cent, respectively.
130. Such
situations of threat to or violation of the human rights of a high percentage of
children and adolescents are recognized
in the Children and Adolescents Code
(art. 77), which addresses these situations inter alia by placing the
State under the obligation to “coordinate actions and institute programmes
to promote family unity and stability
and to ensure that orphaned children and
young persons are handed over immediately to other relatives; it shall give
priority to
children and young persons who have been orphaned as a result of the
internal armed conflict and shall draw up and implement sex
education programmes
to encourage responsible fatherhood and motherhood” (art.
78).
131. Public policies as set out in the Plan of Action for Social
Development and Peacebuilding 1996-2000 have also made it a priority
“to
strengthen the family as a means of securing ethical and cultural values and
transmitting them to the community, and promoting
family stability and
authenticity as a basic element for the appropriate upbringing of new
generations”. Some concrete measures
in this respect are the school for
parents and the Comprehensive Care Programme for Children Under Six (PAIN),
sponsored by the Ministry
of Education. The school for parents programme is
also being implemented by the Social Welfare Department in 42 of its centres
nation-wide.
132. There have been initiatives from non-governmental
organizations and the private sector to set up schools for parents, including
those run by the Society for the Protection of Children in the Metropolitan
Area. In 1994 Guatemala established the National Commission
for the Family and
the departmental commissions, coordinated by the Office of Social Works of the
First Lady (SOSEP), for the purpose
of undertaking public information and
awareness-raising activities to restore fundamental values conducive to family
integration.
B. Parental responsibilities (art. 18)
133. There can be no doubt that the most important people in a
child’s life are the father and mother; children’s physical,
moral,
intellectual and emotional development depends in large measure on their
relations with their parents and on their immediate
family environment. A great
majority of Children in Guatemala face the continued risk of suffering the
consequences of family break-up,
insufficient income, parents with addictions or
employment from an early age. Unfortunately, not enough good-quality and
accessible
childcare services have as yet been set up either in the public or in
the private sector. This situation particularly affects children
from poor
households, which represent approximately 65 per cent of the total number of
households.
134. The Children and Adolescents Code says that “the
State through the competent bodies shall set up programmes for the comprehensive
care of children under six years of age” (art. 34). Furthermore, the Code
requires institutions catering for children to reorient
their activities, and in
that connection the Social Welfare Department, as part of its restructuring
exercise, has provided for the transformation of traditional
childcare centres
at national level into integrated services centres in order to meet
children’s various needs.
135. In 1991 SOSEP instituted a programme
for alternative care to be provided by local mothers within their own
communities. This
programme caters for 15,000 children under 7 years
of age in 1,500 homes offering full-time day care and 50 homes offering halftime
care.
136. A new arrangement for care is being implemented at 10
community child centres located in the departments of Sololá, Retalhuleu,
Chimaltenango and Zacapa (Teculután), each of them taking in 30 children
under the age of 7 years. This is a pilot project
which should be extended in
1998 to include 1,000 community childcare centres located in 170 towns in the
country’s 22 departments,
on the basis of the priorities defined
in the 19962000 Government Plan.
137. Other institutions that
provide day care for children are the Municipality of Guatemala and the Society
for the Protection of
Children. Some community outreach organizations also
offer solutions for the care of preschool children, including a few Catholic
and
Evangelical religious orders.
C. Family reunification (art. 10)
138. One of the major collateral effects of the armed conflict was the
disruption of family life, which especially affected indigenous
children and
young persons in rural areas. Approximate data from various sources indicate
that, at its height, the conflict accounted
for more than 150,000 deaths and
over 45,000 disappearances (Jonas, Monzón, Zepeda, 1996).
139. In
view of this situation and of the need for Guatemalan society to preserve family
unity, an undertaking was made in the Peace
Agreements “to initiate the
necessary measures to make possible the reunification of URNG members with their
families. The
Government is committed to providing all facilities to this
end”. To strengthen this undertaking, the Children and Adolescents
Code
provides that “the State shall support programmes to locate the parents or
relatives of any child or adolescent and gather
information that might
facilitate family reunification” (art. 20).
D. Adoption (art. 21)
140. The problem of the abandonment of thousands of children is attributable
to many causes:
(a) Socioeconomic causes, reflected by the enormous
number of poor households in rural and marginal urban
areas;
(b) Cultural causes, as evidenced in high fertility rates (5.1
children per woman) and a large number of undesired pregnancies associated
with
a lack of sex education and irresponsibe parenthood;
(c) Sociopolitical
causes, since the internal armed conflict gave rise to various categories of
children for example, those having
lost a father, mother or both parents; those
forcibly separated from their families; those internally or externally
displaced; and
those adopted temporarily or permanently by relatives, friends or
members of the community.
141. While adoption is a positive response to
abandonment, the laws governing adoption in Guatemala are ambiguous. This has
resulted
in irregular practices including illegal trafficking in children for
adoption, especially by foreign families, as studies have shown
that 95 per cent
of all adoptions in Guatemala are intercountry adoptions.
142. This
aspect is illustrated by a recent study made by the Casa Alianza Association in
coordination with the Office of the National
ProcuratorGeneral, which points to
the existence in Guatemala of networks of child traffickers linked to third
countries, the involvement
of private homes in the illegal taking of children
for adoption, and irregularities in some of the judicial bodies that deal with
adoption proceedings. This joint action by an NGO and a governmental body is
designed to provide information contributing to the
elimination of such
practices pending the approval of a new Act on Adoption, which is currently
being examined in the Congress.
143. The Children and Adolescents Code
stipulates on this subject that “the State recognizes the institution of
adoption of
children and adolescents and shall ensure that primary consideration
is given in this process to the best interests of the child”,
and also
that “only the competent authorities shall determine, in accordance with
the applicable laws and procedures and on
the basis of all relevant and reliable
information, that the adoption is admissible. The law on this subject shall
regulate matters
relating to adoption” (arts. 22 and 23).
E.
Abuse and neglect, including physical and psychological recovery
and social reintegration (art. 39)
144. In recent years
governmental bodies and NGOs have been showing interest in and concern to
highlight the dimensions and effects
of child maltreatment and the injuries to
the physical and mental health of children and adolescents who have been victims
of the
internal armed conflict.
145. In this respect, attention should be
drawn to recent studies which include a historical, social and legal analysis of
the types
and incidence of abuse by region, sex and age. These studies were of
an exploratory nature and were conducted on the basis of information
provided by
national hospitals and forensic medicine offices. Some of this information is
presented in the following two graphs:
These
charts show that the commonest forms of maltreatment are physical abuse, sexual
abuse, particularly of girls aged between 13
and 18 years, and child
neglect.
146. The Office of the Children’s Ombudsman has recorded
465 complaints of illtreatment or abuse to date for 1997, as against
more than
300 for 1996. This increase shows that people are more frequently turning to
the appropriate bodies to file complaints.
147. A significant development in
the legal field is the Act to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Intrafamily
Violence, passed in November
1996, which states in article 2 that “the
application
of protective measures to guarantee the life, integrity, safety
and dignity of the victims of intrafamily violence includes special
protection
for women, children, older and disabled persons”. The text of this Act
has been translated into K’iché.
148. The Children and
Adolescents Code states, “children and adolescents have the right to be
protected against any form of
ill-treatment”, and that “the State
shall adopt all measures to protect them against any form of physical or mental
abuse,
lack of care or neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation” and shall
also “encourage the creation of preventive or psychosocial
institutions
and programmes to provide support and guidance to the family and the community,
and shall arrange for the necessary
assistance, treatment and rehabilitation of
the victims, those who care for them and the perpetrators” (arts. 55 and
56).
The staff of public and private institutions, educational centres, health
services and other services dealing with children shall
report any suspected or
confirmed cases of ill-treatment which they have detected or are treating in
their institutions.
149. It should be pointed out that measures to reduce
child maltreatment in Guatemala have been strengthened in recent years through
the integration and coordination of efforts by NGOs and governmental
organizations with international assistance. A tangible result
of these efforts
is the National Commission against Child Abuse (CONACMI), which has been
receiving institutional support from the
Human Rights Procurator since
1996.
150. Governmental bodies are carrying out measures in various
spheres: prevention of maltreatment, strengthening of the complaints
procedure
in maltreatment cases and medical and psychological care for child victims of
various kinds of maltreatment. The institutions
directly involved in carrying
out maltreatment programmes are the Public Prosecutor’s Department through
the Complaints Office,
the Office of the National Procurator-General and its
Minors Unit, the Ministry of Education, the Guatemalan Social Security Institute
and the Ministry of Health, which has set up committees against child abuse in a
few hospitals within the national network. These
bodies work closely with the
Children’s Ombudsman and other nongovernmental
organizations.
151. Many of these measures are supported and followed up
by various international cooperation agencies. For example, Redd Barna
of
Norway recently coordinated with CONACMI to offer training in the prevention of
abuse for 935 teachers working in zones 3, 7,
12, 16, 17, 18 and 21 of the
capital, considered to be at greatest risk of
maltreatment.
152. Furthermore, with a view to decentralizing
inter-agency efforts in this field, the “Prevention and Care Network for
Child
Abuse” project has been initiated to provide a comprehensive
approach to the issue of child maltreatment. A first trial phase
has included
the departments of Zacapa, Jalapa, Progreso and
Sacatepéquez.
153. To raise awareness among the general public of
the devastating effects of child abuse, CONACMI, with the support of the mass
media, conducted the “National Campaign against Child Abuse” in
1996, as part of the Central American campaign on the
same theme, with the
slogan “No blows that hurt, no words that wound ... Let’s
educate with tenderness”. A second campaign against child
abuse is being
prepared this year, and the inter-institutional coordination process has been
initiated at governmental and non-governmental
level.
VII. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
A. Disabled children (art. 23)
154. From the document “Development policies for the provision of
services for the disabled”, drafted in 1995 by various
non-governmental
organizations in coordination with the SecretariatGeneral of the National
Economic Planning Council, it can be seen
that, despite the efforts to this end,
it has proved impossible to determine the exact number of people with
disabilities and the
social and economic consequences of this condition.
Furthermore, society’s perception of disability is reflected in
discriminatory
attitudes, myths and stereotypes, leading to the rejection and
marginalization of disabled children. Even the non-governmental organizations
themselves are not innocent of such attitudes and prejudices (Búrbano,
1996).
155. The 1994 national population census estimated, however, that
there were approximately 20,000 children with physical, sensory
and mental
disabilities, more than half of whom lived in rural areas. For its part, a
recent study indicates that, although there
is no specific information available
on the numbers of war-traumatized children, data from the Ixil and Ixcán
areas show 641
cases of children with disabilities (Zepeda/Meneses,
1996).
156. The new Children and Adolescents Code states that
“children and adolescents with physical, sensory and mental disabilities
shall have the right to enjoy a full and decent life” and to
“receive special care, free of cost, bearing in mind the
economic
situation of their parents or of other persons caring for them. This right
shall include access to an early stimulation
programme, health services,
rehabilitation, recreation and training for work, and if any of these services
are not available, their
creation shall be encouraged” (arts.
4850).
157. An important step forward in this area was the promulgation
of Decree No. 13596, “Act on the provision of services for
persons with
disabilities”. This piece of legislation provides an effective tool for
the disabled, including children and
adolescents, their parents and other family
members, in enabling them to exercise, without discrimination, their human
rights and
their civic obligations. To ensure the implementation of the Act, it
includes the establishment of a national council for disabled
persons, made up
of representatives of the public sector and of civil society, including the
country’s universities. This
council has already been set up with
government and non-governmental representatives who are to exercise the
functions stipulated
in the Act.
158. For its part, the Ministry of
Education has strengthened the special education system with the creation of its
Department of
Special Education, by Government Agreement No. 156-95. Since
1997, the Department has been provided with its own budget, although
this is not
sufficient to meet the needs of the country’s disabled
schoolchildren.
159. Two special activities were conducted, in June and
July 1997, by non-governmental organizations working with the disabled: the
Eighth Guatemalan Seminar on Special Education, organized by the Neurological
Institute on the theme “Disabled children in
the peace process”,
with the participation of a number of different institutions. For its part, the
Association for Training
and Technical Assistance in Education for the Disabled
(ASCATED) held a training course for community facilitators from 12 departments
in the north-eastern and western regions of the country. Participants expressed
the view that discrimination against disabled children
and adolescents still
occurred, since even parents were unaware of their childrens’ rights.
Suggested ways of dealing with
this problem included: decentralizing and
expanding direct care services; establishing a medium-level professional
qualification
for teachers specializing in the teaching of disabled children;
conducting public awareness campaigns in all languages, to raise
awareness of
the situation and rights of disabled children and adolescents.
B. Health and health services (art. 24)
160. The health levels of the Guatemalan population, especially of children
in the countryside and in marginal urban areas, are inadequate
and are linked
with the country’s high rates of poverty and extreme poverty. Certain
factors, like nutritional deficiencies,
lack of sanitation facilities and
limited access to preventive and curative health services, combined with low
rates of school attendance,
are directly responsible for the poor state of
children’s health.
161. ENSMI-95 indicators show an infant
mortality rate of 51 per 1,000 live births, with wide differences between the
various geographical
regions (the highest being in the central region, at
73 per 1,000 and the lowest in the metropolitan region, with 43 per
1,000) and
between the different ethnic groups (64 per 1,000 for the indigenous
population and 53 per 1,000 for the Ladinos).
162. Similarly, data on the
nutritional status of children under five show that 50 per cent suffer
from chronic malnutrition and 24
per cent from severe malnutrition.
Broken down by areas, nearly 6 out of every 10 children in rural areas suffer
from malnutrition,
while the proportion in urban areas is 1 in every 4.
Twenty-seven per cent of children under five are underweight for their
age.
163. The main causes of infant morbidity and mortality are
preventable diseases such as respiratory, diarrhoeal and contagious or
infectious diseases which, according to data from the study referred to above,
affect children differently, depending on sex, age,
ethnic group and the area
where they live. Thus the number of children under five falling sick and dying
is higher in regions with
a predominantly indigenous population, such as the
central, northern and northwestern regions.
164. Other important
findings in ENSMI95 relating to maternal health demonstrate how maternal health
relates directly to the survival
of the foetus and the health of the child in
the early stages of life. These include the high fertility rates (5.1 children
per
woman), which are closely tied to the high maternal mortality rates (200 per
100,000 live births) and also to other factors such
as high parity, short birth
intervals, economic hardship, social and cultural privation and lack of access
to health care.
165. One factor with a farreaching impact on the lives
of children and adolescents is early pregnancy. The ENSMI95 study found that
21 per cent of teenage girls aged between 15 and 19
had already
borne children or were pregnant with their first child. Fertility rates among
adolescents are even higher in the north
of the country, where the adolescent
birth rate is almost double that of the metropolitan region.
166. This
scenario is based on data from ENSMI95, an interinstitutional undertaking which
both documented improvements in the area
of health care, and identified or
confirmed major differences between the various population
groups.
167. At the legislative level, besides the obligations assumed by
the State in the area of health care, as set forth in article 94
of the
Constitution, the new Children and Adolescents Code states, “Children and
adolescents shall have the right to protection, to a decent life
and to health,
through the implementation of public social policies conducive to healthy and
harmonious birth and development, in
decent living conditions.” It also
guarantees universal and equal access to measures and services for the
promotion, protection
and recovery of health and stipulates that “the
vaccination of children shall be obligatory in cases recommended by the health
authorities” (arts. 25, 29 and 32).
168. With regard to
children’s health, one of the Government’s commitments pursuant to
the Agreement on Social and Economic
Aspects and Agrarian Situation, is to
allocate “at least 50 per cent of the public health expenditure
to preventive care and
to cut the 1995 infant mortality rate in half by the year
2000”. Accordingly, the Government is trying to boost access to
health
services, to expand their coverage and to improve their quality, with a focus on
preventive medicine, primary care and educational
programmes. Allocations to
this sector, in accordance with the established policy, are earmarked for
measures to ensure the effective
exercise by the people of their fundamental
right to health, without any discrimination. These resources, which have grown
steadily
over the last few years, are channelled into preventive health
programmes (mother and child health, environmental sanitation and
epidemiology);
primary medical care (health centres and health stations); curative health care
(general and specialized medical attention)
and food security (school
meals).
Figure 4
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
TOTAL SPENDING
ON HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE
Source: Ministry of
Finance
169. Following the qualitative changes to the public health care
system, the Ministry of Health has launched its Comprehensive Health
Care System
(SIAS), based on the provision of health services using already existing
infrastructure, whether from the public sector,
private enterprises or
non-governmental organizations. This strategy, will make it possible to
integrate more than 600 non-governmental
organizations registered in Guatemala,
of which, regrettably, only 30 have previously had formal links with the
Ministry of Public
Health, in the form of cooperation agreements.
170. Other programmes being conducted by the Ministry of Health and
Social Welfare include a national plan for the reduction of maternal
and
perinatal mortality and a national mother and child programme, which includes
the innovative Casas de Espera project, already
under way in the six departments
with the highest maternal mortality rates.
171. Another significant
development in the national mother and child programme is that it now covers
health care for adolescents.
To this end, a project entitled “Standards
for health advocacy and comprehensive health care for adolescents” is
already
being developed, in coordination with NGOs and young people in different
areas of the country.
172. The Ministry of Health has also conducted
the following activities over the last two years:
(a) Awareness-raising activities, aimed at medical and
paramedical staff and nongovernmental organizations of the Ixil area in the
north-west of the country;
(b) Research activities, to
ascertain the situation of adolescents, with regard to such factors as family
circumstances, drug addiction, sexuality and reproductive
health;
(c) Social mobilization activities, such as the meeting
of adolescent mothers and fathers and the national forum of young people to
promote their vision of a peaceful
future, attended by 28 leaders from 14
departments, representing different social and cultural groups.
173. Attention is also drawn to certain activities recently launched to
attend to the needs of adolescent mothers. These include,
at the government
level, the San Juan de Dios hospital and such nongovernmental organizations as
the Asociación Niña
Madre and Casa Alianza, which are working in
the metropolitan area, and Manos Amigas in the Chimaltenango area.
174. Activities for children under five are continuing in two main
areas:
(a) Child nutrition, through the National Commission for
the Promotion of Breastfeeding (CONAPLAM), which has been encouraging, promoting
and protecting
the practice of breastfeeding in Guatemala for the last 15 years.
The Commission is conducting a project entitled “Self-care
in mother and
child health”, aimed at 45 communities and 47 primary schools in the
northern region, which is being coordinated
with the National Fund for Peace
(FONAPAZ);
(b) Prevention of childhood diseases, through a
programme of vaccination against the primary vaccine-preventable diseases.
During the period 1996-May 1997, the Ministry
of Health provided the following
vaccination coverage:
VACCINATION OF CHILDREN UNDER FIVE
1996-1997
1996
|
%
|
1997 (May)
|
%
|
OPV3
|
73
|
OPV
|
26.73
|
DPT3
|
72
|
DPT
|
26.72
|
Measles
|
69
|
Measles
|
26.04
|
BCG
|
76
|
BCG
|
34.86
|
Source: Ministry of Health and Social Welfare,
1997
175. The ENSMI-95 National Survey on Maternal and Child Health found
that, although the levels of vaccination against childhood diseases
were high,
the coverage of the complete vaccination scheme was still low in certain
population groups and that, for various reasons,
the necessary follow-up
vaccinations were not being administered.
176. The Ministry of Health
has launched its “Healthy Schools” project, targeted at school-age
children, with the aim
that all schools will meet the minimum health education
requirements and, for that purpose, it has trained 1,000 community
educators.
177. Another important step was the recent launching of the
degree course in child health care, aimed at boosting the “health
and
quality of life of Guatemalan children”. This academic programme has been
organized by the Guatemalan Association of Doctors
and Surgeons, San Carlos
University, the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, the Ministry of Public
Health and the Institute of
Nutrition of Central America and Panama.
178. In the non-governmental sector, the inter-institutional Committee
for the Provision of Services to the Population in Marginal
Areas of Guatemala
(COINAP) is developing an integrated health programme, which focuses on primary
health care: prevention, immunization,
parasite control, and distribution of
vitamin A. The integrated health programme covers 85 communities and reaches
approximately
83,000 children.
179. To strengthen the activities
conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the following agreements
have been concluded
with various international organizations:
COOPERATION AGREEMENTS IN SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF
GUATEMALA
Agreement
|
Project
|
Period
|
ALA 91-95 U.E.C.A.
|
Mother and Child Health
|
1994-1997
|
AID-GUA. 520-0257
|
Mother and Child Health
|
1992-1997
|
UNFAP/GUA. 96/PO1
|
Maternal mortality
|
1997
|
MOTHER CARE II, Phase II
|
Maternal and perinatal care
|
1997-1998
|
Source: Ministry of Health and Social Welfare,
1997.
Sexually transmitted diseases,
HIV/AIDS
180. According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates,
there are between 50,000 and 100,000 persons infected with HIV in Guatemala.
According to official Ministry of Health figures, however, over the last 14
years only 1,800 cases of AIDS have been registered.
Ministry officials believe
that the under-registration rate is approximately 80 per cent, meaning
that there are a further 1,400
persons affected with this
disease.
181. An estimated 7 per cent of the AIDSaffected
population are minors. In 61 per cent of these cases the infection
pathway was perinatal
(mother to child); in 7 per cent through the
blood and in 32 per cent by sexual transmission, in particular when
children were victims
of sexual abuse, coercion or
exploitation.
182. Data from an NGO, the Guatemalan Association for the
Prevention and Control of AIDS (AGPCS), indicate that one third of the
children
(4,000 to 5,000 children) of the 40,000 adults estimated to be
infected are themselves currently infected and will die in the next
few years
from AIDS and according to projections, the surviving, noninfected
two thirds (9,000 to 15,000 children) will be
orphaned.
183. The spread of AIDS is connected with various factors,
including low educational levels, a patriarchal culture and limited access
to
health services and to sex information and education; this last factor is
evident in the ENSMI95 survey which indicates that the
persons least well
informed about AIDS are young indigenous women (15 to 19 years old) in the
rural areas with low education levels.
184. In Guatemala, as in other
countries, the work of awarenessraising, research and direct efforts to tackle
this health problem
has largely been carried out by nongovernmental
organizations. For various reasons, Governments have not given much attention
to
this issue. It should be noted, however, that activities are being launched
by the Government of Guatemala, through both the legislature
and the executive
and through civil society, to coordinate efforts to address this
pandemic.
185. Work is under way in the legislature to analyse
two interesting initiatives, one specifically on AIDS and the other on the
encouragement,
promotion and protection of breastfeeding, which includes the
establishment of breast milk banks for newborn infants at risk, especially
those
born to HIV-infected mothers.
186. At the executive level, the Ministry
of Health, through the national AIDS programme, is stepping up its efforts in
the area of
epidemiological monitoring, with a view to compiling more reliable
records. One element of this programme was the conduct, in August
1997, of
the first AIDS information campaign, with contributions from nongovernmental
organizations and the media. This national
campaign, which included messages in
Mayan languages, was designed to raise public awareness about the serious extent
of this disease
in the country and to establish measures to prevent
infection.
187. Other HIV/AIDS-related activities carried out
in 1996 and 1997 by national and international nongovernmental
organizations addressed
the following areas:
(a) Prevention: a
project on the prevention of STDs and HIV/AIDS for young men and women in
marginal districts of the city, run jointly by AGPCS,
Doctors without Borders,
the neighbourhood associations and the health
centres;
(b) Training: workshops were run by the
organization Comunidades Responsables frente al SIDA (CRESIDA) for adolescents
of both sexes, to prepare
them to work as facilitators and community educators
in the area of the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS. These
facilitators more than 10,000 consultations and have distributed more than
20,000 sets of information leaflets to the general public
in the metropolitan
area;
(c) Direct care: the
Luis Angel García Family Clinic has been opened, under the
supervision of AGPCS, to provide direct care and comprehensive
support to people
(including young people) living with HIV/AIDS;
(d) Social
mobilization: the coordinator of the AIDS-control sectors launched a
process of social mobilization in 1997, as part of the activities to mark
World
AIDS Day, which were dedicated to children; the slogan was “Children in a
World with AIDS”.
C. Social security and childcare services and facilities
(art. 26 and art. 18, para. 3)
188. The social security system currently operating in Guatemala, primarily
through the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS),
is limited in
range, as it covers only the economically active population working under formal
contract (30 per cent) and provides
all its services only in certain
regions of the country, with a strong concentration on the metropolitan area,
leaving a large proportion
of the rural population without
coverage.
189. Social security coverage rates for children are low, with
children over the age of five excluded from the accident and sickness
coverage
provided by the medical services to which their parents belong (Mesa-Lago,
1997).
190. Although working children and young people can avail
themselves of the services offered by IGSS, they must be registered with
the
Institute, a requirement that very few can meet, as the large majority work in
the informal sector without any legal status.
191 With regard to
childcare services, the Labour Code obliges enterprises with 30 or more
employees to provide childcare services
for children under the age of three.
Observance of this rule is very limited, however; very few private enterprises
and even autonomous
and semiautonomous government institutions comply with it.
Admittedly, these services have been available both in governmental and
in
non-governmental sectors, but the assistance provided is of a traditional kind
and its coverage insufficient to meet the demand
and the needs of the working
population (mothers and fathers).
192 Among the institutions offering
services are the Social Welfare Department, the Guatemala City municipality, the
Guatemalan Telecommunications
Company (GUATEL), the Ministry of Finance, the
National Police, the Office of the Human Rights Procurator and the community
day-care
centres programme. Services are also provided by nongovernmental
bodies, such as the Sociedad Protectora del Niño and day-care
centres run
by some religious denominations.
D. Standard of living (art. 27, paras. 1-3)
193 According to official estimates by the Bank of Guatemala, the country has
the highest gross domestic product (GDP) in Central
America, amounting to US$
15,630.1 million in 1996, with an annual per capita income of US$ 1,200, as
reported in the study, “Guatemala,
public social expenditure and its
efficiency”, carried out by the Secretariat-General of the National
Economic Planning Council
(SEGEPLAN) as part of the “Ruta Social”
project (1996).
194 Public expenditure on education and health represents
some 2.7 per cent of GDP, a lower proportion than in most countries of Latin
America. Although efforts have been made through the Fondos de
Intermediación Social (social intermediary organizations),
to promote the
conduct of projects in the health and education sectors, further work is still
required to identify investments and
to coordinate the projects.
195 The
economically active population is 3.2 million, representing 26 per cent of the
total population. The proportion of children
and young people (26 per cent) and
women (24 per cent) in the workforce is growing as a result of the
urbanization process and general
impoverishment.
196 Underemployment has
worsened over the last 10 years, growing from 31.2 per cent in 1980 to 41
per cent in 1990, without taking
into consideration the growth of the informal
sector (from 29 per cent in 1985 to 34 per cent in 1990). The workforce
has an average
of 3.2 years of education; among the poorest workers
the figure is less than two years.
197 Poverty is widespread both in the
countryside (76.5 per cent) and in the towns (51 per cent). In the
1980s, the number of poor
increased by 2.8 million and the problem was
particularly severe among the indigenous population, who constituted 65 per cent
of
the poorest decile of the country’s population. The areas with the
highest density of indigenous people were also those with
the lowest rates of
school attendance and access to social services.
198 These conditions render
it difficult for people to enjoy a standard of living and quality of life
conducive to the physical, mental,
spiritual, moral and social development of
children and young people, since families’ basic needs remain unsatisfied.
Data
provided by the national social indicators system show that 88.9 per cent
of the population aged between 0 and 14 live in a state
of poverty and that
70.6 per cent of this group are destitute.
VIII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
A. Education, including
vocational training and guidance (art. 28)
199. Key features of the Guatemalan education system are a centralized
administration, services and resources concentrated on certain
areas and groups,
an inflexible school calendar, poor coverage and high drop-out and repetition
rates, characteristics which, combined
with the high poverty rate, have
restricted children’s opportunities to enrol in and remain at school. The
situation is depicted
in the 1994 National Population Census, which shows that
35.7 per cent of the population aged 15 or over was illiterate and that
81.7 per
cent of the illiterates lived in rural areas. These failings are still more
marked among indigenous groups and women; the
(mainly indigenous) population of
the Ixil district and the north of the departments of Alta Verapaz and
el Quiché, with an
illiteracy rate of 76 per cent, is one
example.
200. The latest figures for school attendance show that gross
enrolment at the pre-primary level alone rose from 22.7 per cent to
32 per cent
between 1980 and 1995; at primary school it rose from 54.8 per cent to 64.7 per
cent; at the middle-school level, from
22.9 per cent to 31.9 per cent
and at the senior level, from 10.1 per cent to 13.7 per cent. As regards gross
enrolment of girls
in primary school, the figures for 1995 indicate that 78 in
every 100 girls in urban areas attended school but that the situation
in the
countryside was much worse, with only 59 in every 100 girls
enrolled.
201. Looking at how efficient the education system is
internally, one sees high repetition rates, especially in the first three grades
of primary schooling where they stand at 26.7 per cent, 15.4 per cent and
12.1 per cent respectively. Drop-out rates at the different
levels are also
high: 9.4 per cent in pre-primary, 7.7 per cent in primary and 7.6 per
cent over the basic cycle. In addition,
the incidence of absenteeism, truancy
and over-age pupils is high, which places further obstacles in the way of
efforts to expand
educational coverage.
202. As far as bilingual
education is concerned, although 42.8 per cent of the population is
of Mayan stock intercultural, bilingual
education is only offered in four
Mayan languages at 1,300 rural schools at the pre-primary level and in the
first three grades of
primary schooling.
203. Some 4,455 individuals were
enrolled in extramural education programmes, with training in economically
productive and social
projects, in 10 departments in 1994. A further 1,663 were
enrolled in modular education. It is, nevertheless, clear that formal
extramural education is limited in scope and that its operation and objectives
need to be re-examined.
204. Regarding access by young people to
vocational guidance and training programmes it must be pointed out that there is
a bare minimum
of such programmes, whether Government-run or not. This
restricts job prospects and access to higher levels of working
skills.
205. Given the scale of the problems in education two overall
strategies were incorporated into the Plan of Action for Social Development
and
Peace-building 1996-2000 with the aim of giving effect to the constitutional
right to education; these are consistent with the
commitments as regards
education given in the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples
and the Agreement on Social
and Economic Aspects and Agrarian Situation. They
are designed to “strengthen the culture of peace and intercultural
education
based on democracy, respect and the protection of the environment in
all education-system activities” and to “increase
the coverage of
the education system, particularly at the pre-primary and primary levels, with
an emphasis on intercultural bilingual
education and education for girls in
rural and deprived urban areas”.
206. The Peace Agreements also
specify action to be taken to minimize educational shortcomings at all
levels:
(a) Facilitate access by 7- to 12-year-olds to at least three
years’ schooling by the year 2000;
(b) Raise the literacy
rate to 70 per cent by the year 2000;
(c) Help to ensure that
national-level vocational training programmes reach at least 200,000 workers
before the year 2000;
(d) Put into effect the national civic education
for democracy and peace curriculum to promote the defence of human rights and
the
peaceful settlement of disputes.
207. Important steps have been taken
pursuant to these Government commitments, such as the establishment of the
Advisory Committee
on Educational Reform, which includes a delegation from the
education reform commission called for in the Agreement on Identity and
Rights
of Indigenous Peoples. The Advisory Committee will adjust curriculum content to
help eradicate stereotypes and discrimination
based on sex, ethnic origin, class
or degree of poverty.
208. The new Children and Adolescents Code likewise
sets forth the right of “children and adolescents to receive a thorough
education designed to foster their personalities, civic sense and manners, to
promote awareness and enjoyment of human rights, the
importance and necessity of
life in a democratic society in peace and liberty in accordance with the law and
justice, so as to prepare
them for civically minded, responsible adult
life” (art. 38).
1. Education budget
209. The Government’s education policy is concentrated on extending
the coverage and improving the quality of the school system,
particularly at the
pre-primary and primary levels and with special attention being paid to girls.
Educational reforms are also
under way which will alter the curriculum, adapt
study programmes, schedules and timetables to suit the population concerned and
improve the skills of the teaching corps.
210. As education is crucial to
economic, cultural, social and political development, the budget assigns
resources to introductory,
primary and basic education and training
programmes.
Figure 5
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
TOTAL
EDUCATION SPENDING
Source: Ministry of Finance
211. In meeting its educational
objectives the Government has been supported by international cooperation: the
World Bank, for instance,
will grant the country a loan of $33 million under the
Peace Agreements for carrying out the Education Reform project at the primary
level, which will be administered by the Ministry of Education over a period of
five years. The project will focus on the ZONAPAZ
area, including the
departments of Huehuetenago, San Marcos and Petén.
2. Decentralization and devolution of educational services
212. In the education sector, the Plan of Action for Social Development
and Peace-building 1996-2000 sets the goal of strengthening
and expanding
the National Programme for Educational SelfManagement (PRONADE) in order to
increase the coverage and improve the quality
of educational services in the
countryside, financing the construction, expansion and maintenance of
educational infrastructure and
providing parents’ committees with the
resources they need to function.
213. This approach is emphasized in the
Peace Agreements, particularly in the Agreement on Identity and Rights of
Indigenous Peoples,
which contains a commitment to “... give communities
and families ... an active role in determining curricula and the school
calendar
and the authority to recommend the appointment or removal of teachers in order
better to serve the educational and cultural
interests of
communities”.
214. To promote the decentralization and devolution
of educational services, community educational committees (COEDUCAS) have been
set up with parental support to administer community schools with the backing of
the school boards, which comprise equal numbers
of teachers and parents. Novel
though this system is, the community educational committees are facing
resistance from some quarters,
notably the Guatemalan Teachers’ Union and
the National Assembly of Schoolmasters which believe that there is a movement to
privatize education.
215. By late 1996 some 93,696 children around the
country were covered by PRONADE, priority being given to the departments of Alta
Verapaz, Huehuetenango, San Marcos and Quiché where the educational
shortfalls were the most marked. By 1997 it is hoped
to have reached 103,391
children, and the goals for 2000 are to have reached 250,000 schoolchildren and
trained over 20,000 parents
serving on community educational committees,
boosting and improving educational quality in over 130 municipalities.
3. School system support programmes
(a) Bilingual education
216. A large percentage of
Guatemalan children belong to the Mayan, Garífuna and Xinca sociocultural
groups. This has been
a factor contributing to the discrimination they have
faced in gaining access to education in their mother tongues. Over the past
decade considerable steps have been taken to overcome this obstacle and
guarantee them the right to bilingual education acknowledged
in the current
Constitution, international legal instruments (ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples
Convention, No. 169) and, especially, the Agreement on Identity
and Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, which calls for efforts to stimulate intercultural bilingual
education in indigenous communities
and institutionalize within the educational
process consultative and participatory machinery with representatives of the
indigenous
communities. It is important to mention in this context that the
joint education reform commission provided for in the Agreement
was set up on
1 March 1997.
217. The Children and Adolescents Code requires the
State to “guarantee the right to multicultural, multilingual education,
especially in areas inhabited mainly by Mayas, Garífunas and
Xincas”, and to “develop the mechanisms necessary
to enable children
in rural areas to have access to education through curricula appropriate to
their geographical, ethnic and cultural
circumstances” (arts. 40 and
41).
218. Among the functions of the Ministry of Education is that of
developing bilingual education. The Ministry has therefore set up,
by
Governmental Agreement 726-95, the Central Department for Intercultural
Bilingual Education with the aim of offering, developing
and promoting bilingual
education at the pre-primary, primary and middle-school levels and extramurally
for the country’s Mayan,
Xinca and Garífuna populations, with
active support from parents and the community.
219. The Department, with
backing from the Organization of American States project to expand bilingual
education to six linguistic
communities (Tzutujil, Q’anjobal, Chuj,
Achí, Uspanteco and Poqomam), has over the past two years catered for
27,500
students (male and female), issued and approved 14 teaching guides and 24
textbooks in the various languages, and trained 530 teachers.
With World Bank
backing, some 500,000 first-grade textbooks were produced and distributed in
1996 in the country’s linguistic
majority regions, Kaqchikel, Mam,
K’iché and Q’eqchí.
220. Another
bilingual-education-related development has been the establishment of the
National Regionally-Based Training Scheme for
Intercultural Bilingual Education
(SICAREBI), covering 14 departments: its objective is self-management by
teaching staff with a
view to improving their teaching quality.
221. Some
Mayan non-governmental organizations have been running educational activities
pursuant to the right to an education based
on one’s own world view,
language and customs. Among these are:
(a) “Towards an
alternative Mayan educational model”, a programme mounted by the Mayan
coordinating committee Majawil
Q’ij (“New Dawn”) and targeting
five linguistic regions: Ch’orti, Q’eqchí, Kaqchikel,
Kíché
and Mam. In 1996 it catered for 10,192 students at 118
schools in 98 communities, in Chiquimula, Alta Verapaz, Quiché, San
Marcos, Quetzaltenango and Sololá.
(b) The Comprehensive
Q’eqchí Development Project, which extends to 130 hamlets in eight
Alta Verapaz townships.
(c) The Guatemalan Radio Education Institute
(IGER) “IGER Home Teacher” radio programme for the
Q’eqchí,
K’iché, Ixil, Mam and Kaqchikel linguistic
communities.
(d) The Semaj School for the Q’eqchí
population of Izabal department, which caters for 13 hamlets that the official
system does not reach.
222. Other activities in support of the school
system undertaken under ministry auspices and backed with funds from a variety
of international
cooperation sources include the New Unitary School (NEU), the
Programme for Girls, and the Comprehensive Care Programme for Children
Under Six
(PAIN).
(b) New Unitary School
223. The NEU programme is
being applied in particular in rural hamlets and settlements, with parental
backing. It is based on the
principles of active learning and school
government, respect for one’s home culture, democratic live-and-let-live
and a recognition
of the parallel requirements of subsistence and education.
According to Ministry of Education figures, the pilot NEU project for
1992-1996,
which received financial support from USAID Guatemala, covered 23 townships
in region II, which comprises the departments
of Alta and Baja Verapaz, and 38
in region IV, Jutiapa, Jalapa and Santa Rosa. Altogether the project
reached 10,851 students and
277 schoolteachers at 198 schools over the
period.
(c) Programme for Girls
224. This programme has
been in operation since 1991. Its objective is to promote opportunities and
raise girls’ educational
levels, especially in rural areas and parts of
the country with a high proportion of indigenous inhabitants, and to encourage
equal
treatment at school. Activities cover a variety of areas: technical
assistance and coordination among institutions;
research and training; and
the production of non-sexist educational materials, a subject which has received
special attention this
year in conjunction with the National System for
Improvement of Human Resources and Curricula (SIMAC).
225. Concrete
results of the Programme include the award of 6,211 study grants to indigenous
girls. The Programme has reached 8,006
boys and girls, and a further 131,600 in
conjunction with other Ministry programmes such as the bilingual education and
New Unitary
School schemes.
226. Efforts to raise school attendance among
girls have enjoyed firm support from private initiatives, especially the
Castillo Foundation
and Fundazúcar. It must also be pointed out that the
Rural Development Foundation has undertaken to finance 30,000 study
grants for
indigenous girls from eight departments up to the year
2000.
227. Pursuant to the Peace Agreements and plans for educational
reform, the Ministry of Education has recently signed a cooperation
agreement
with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which provides for a
donation of Q. 1.2 million to strengthen girls’
education.
(d) Comprehensive Care Programme for Children Under Six
(PAIN)
228. With backing from the World Food Programme, this
programme caters for the cognitive development, social and emotional,
psychomotor,
linguistic, health, nutritional and safety needs of children under
six in rural and deprived urban areas. In pursuit of these objectives
it has
run training courses on care during pregnancy, the importance of breastfeeding,
and children’s physical and mental development
between birth and the age
of six at 225 Initial Education Centres. It has also trained 550 volunteer
counsellors who serve as helpers
in educational activities for three- to
six-year-olds run under the coordination of teachers.
(e) Other
support for school education
229. Privately-sponsored efforts
operating in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and non-governmental
organizations in various
parts of the country include the Castillo Love
Foundation, the Castillo Córdova Foundation, the Carlos Novella
Foundation,
the Foundation for Life, the Remar Foundation, the Juan Bautista
Gutiérrez Foundation, the G&T Foundation, the Society
of Friends of
Peace, the Chamber of Industry, Siglo XXI, the Paiz Organization,
Fundazúcar, the Colegio Castillo Encantado,
the Christian
Children’s Fund, World Vision, and Fe y Alegría. All of these
offer support in the form of donations
of school equipment and books, teaching
materials, study grants, scholarships, libraries, classroom construction and
maintenance,
and backing for leisure and cultural activities.
230. One
important initiative being carried out by the Ministry of Education in
conjunction with the Castillo Córdova Foundation
and other private bodies
is the “Happy Heart” Programme, distributing breakfasts and school
meals in order to reduce
poor performance and the drop-out rate; this benefits
325,000 children in rural and deprived urban areas.
(f) Human
Resources and Infrastructure Programme
231. Other efforts to improve
educational services are taking place through the Basic Education Strengthening
project (BEST), which
receives financial backing from USAID and a loan from the
World Bank. The achievements of this project include:
1,722 new places created to allow 68,880 children the opportunity to study on an early evening shift;
541 schoolrooms built for 21,640 children in rural districts;
Furniture provided for 675 classrooms; 1,068 will be delivered shortly and the contract will be extended to cover 1,800 more;
962 mini-libraries delivered, 1,122 more shortly;
1,209,000 books supplied, 487,000 more shortly;
56,000 training guides and manuals supplied;
Training for 2,842 schoolteachers and a new intake of 1,760.
B. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities (art. 31)
232. Enjoyment of this right is restricted for a large proportion of
children by the lack of importance society attaches to it and
a precarious
economic standing that denies them access to the play activities that contribute
to their overall development. Children
in rural and deprived urban areas
especially have little time for leisure and cultural and sporting activities
since many are already
at work within the home or for money.
233. Added
to this are the overcrowded conditions in which families live, especially in
deprived urban areas, and the lack of recreation
and sports areas. Even
children attending school have limited opportunities for play since many school
buildings have no areas designed
or adequate for such purposes. A survey on how
children between the ages of 7 and 14 made use of their time also reveals that
girls
have less access to space and time for recreation and cultural activities,
particularly those that take place in public areas.
234. The Children and
Adolescents Code sets forth, in this connection, “the right of children
and young people to leisure, relaxation,
play, recreational and sporting
activities suited to their age, and the right to participate fully and without
restriction in the
cultural and artistic life of the community”. It also
guarantees children the “right to set up and take part in student,
cultural, sporting, religious and other entities not prohibited by law”
(arts. 47 and 38). Little effort is being made by
the Government or
non-governmental organizations to offer Guatemalan children leisure, relaxation
or cultural programmes or facilities.
235. One specific thing that is
being put into practice is the Physical Education Study Plan for the Pre-Primary
and Primary Levels,
which is being applied by the School of Physical Education
with backing from the Ministry of Education at infant schools in the
Metropolitan
area. The Plan is aimed at 4- to 13-year-olds; its innovation
consists in the notion that physical education is a teaching discipline
which
helps to shape the personality of the pupil.
236. The Ministry of Culture
and Sport has set up a children’s programme which provides for the
creation of national-level sports
schools for children aged between 7 and
18.
237. One initiative in the non-governmental sector has been the
opening of the Alberto Habie Children’s Museum, which features
a
collection of 112 miniature replicas of huipils (traditional embroidered
smocks) for day-to-day and ceremonial use, at the Ixchel Museum. This has
afforded scope for the re-evaluation
and retrieval of cultural elements in order
to recreate a tradition and illustrate indigenous peoples’ world view and
daily
lives.
IX. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
238. The levels of poverty and extreme poverty in which thousands of
Guatemalan families live, in combination with other social and
political
factors, have had an adverse impact on children’s quality of life; there
is a growing number of children and adolescents
in special risk categories such
as those working in the formal and informal sectors, those involved in marginal
income-generating
work, street children and victims of armed conflict. The Plan
of Action for Social Development and Peace-building 1996-2000 includes
a
specific policy targeting this population group, the aim of which is to
“offer special protection to vulnerable children
and adolescents, and to
reduce the degree of risk to which they are exposed, in an atmosphere of peace
and solidarity”.
Categories of children in emergency
situations
A. Children affected by armed conflict
239. Great structural imbalances, leading to poverty, and the lack of
opportunities for the majority of the population to voice their
social and
political concerns were two of the causes of the internal armed conflict that
lasted some 40 years and affected the entire
population of Guatemala - at first
in the eastern region, then in the central region and then, in the final
10 years, in the west
of the country where the majority of the population
are indigenous peoples.
240. Children and adolescents were affected in a
variety of ways by the conflict: according to official estimates, there are
200,000
orphans and 40,000 widows; and during the most violent phase of the
armed conflict, an estimated 73,000 children and adolescents
lived with their
families in the mountains, surviving in Communities in Resistance. Until 1995,
the Government recognized their
status as non-combatant civilians (Confregua).
In addition, 200,000 people are thought to have taken refuge abroad,
particularly
in Mexico, and more than one million were internally displaced.
All these factors had a direct impact on physical, mental and emotional
health,
access to education, family cohesion and relationships, and the preservation of
the identity of thousands of children, particularly
indigenous
children.
241. One problem that affected indigenous children in
particular was forced recruitment (a practice that has fortunately now ceased),
both into the ranks of the national armed forces and into the Civil Self-Defence
Patrols (PAC) and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional
Guatemalteca (URNG). In
this regard it should be said that Guatemala is in favour of the adoption of the
draft optional protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on
involvement of children in armed conflict and has expressed its support for the
protocol
and its view that the recruitment of children aged under 18 into the
armed forces or non-governmental armed groups is unacceptable
from every human
rights standpoint, even when enlistment is voluntary.
242. The rights of
children affected by armed conflict are guaranteed in instruments such as the
Plan of Action 1996-2000, the Peace
Agreements and the Children and Adolescents
Code. The Code stipulates that “in the event of armed conflict, children
and adolescents
have the right not to be recruited and the State shall respect
and ensure the observance of the relevant provisions of international
humanitarian law and take all possible steps to ensure that persons under the
age of 18 do not become directly involved in the hostilities
and are not
recruited for military service at any stage” (art.
59).
243. According to the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights,
“it is a humanitarian duty to compensate and/or assist victims
of human
rights violations. Said compensation and/or assistance shall be effected by
means of government measures and programmes
of a civilian and socioeconomic
nature addressed, as a matter of priority, to those whose need is greatest,
given their economic
and social position”.
244. The Peace
Agreements recognize the importance of identifying the causes of the armed
conflict and the magnitude of human rights
violations committed during that
period; to that end the Commission for Historical Clarification in Guatemala was
established: its
main purpose is to restore Guatemalan society’s
historical memory in order to ensure that such suffering never
recurs.
245. At another level, in order to attend to the needs of the
displaced population, the National Fund for Peace (FONAPAZ) has conducted
a
census of the Communities in Resistance in order to obtain data that will make
it possible to identify needs and promote action
to improve their standard of
living.
246. Another problem resulting from the armed conflict is that
the displaced population have no papers; the Government has promised
to submit
to Congress the necessary reforms of the Act on Personal Documentation of the
Population Displaced by the Internal Armed
Conflict (Decree No. 7395).
Such measures, taken at the level of the population as a whole, will contribute
to family and community
reunification and will directly benefit children and
adolescents.
247. In 1986, the Government undertook to create conditions
that would allow Guatemalan refugees abroad to return home and to provide
assistance to persons displaced from their place of origin or residence. To
that end the National Commission for Aid to Refugees,
Returnees and Displaced
Persons (CEAR) was established. CEAR has moved on from dealing specifically
with returnees and is now taking
a more active role in the restoration of peace
and democracy; to that end, its institutional status has been strengthened and
the
scope of its activity expanded.
248. CEAR is conducting a number of
research and social and demographic analysis projects for use in planning
projects, allocating
resources and raising funds. This work is being carried
out in liaison with governmental, non-governmental and international
organizations
involved in food and nutrition security, infrastructure and
housing, manufacturing, income and employment, health, education, land-purchase
negotiation and loans, and resettlement of displaced groups. According to CEAR
data, 33,773 people returned to the country between
1987 and 1997; of these
19,630 were children below the age of 18. The graph below gives a breakdown of
that group.
Figure 6
RETURNEE POPULATION
CHILDREN AND
ADOLESCENTS 0-17
YEARS
1987-1997
Source: CEAR 1997.
Note: The 0-2 age group is not
broken down by sex.
249. CEAR has worked specifically with returnee
children in the following areas:
(a) Demining and detection of explosive
devices: in conjunction with the Coordinating Committee for the Reduction of
Risk to Residents
of Areas Affected by the Armed Conflict (Demining Programme,
Decree No. 60-95, art. 3);
(b) Food aid, in coordination with the World
Food Programme (WPF);
(c) Health: in 1997, a cooperation agreement was
signed between the UNHCR office in Guatemala, the Vives Scheel and Associates
law
office and the Guatemalan Paediatric Foundation, for the provision of
medical care to refugee and returnee children, ranging from
checks on
children’s growth and development and vaccinations, to simple and complex
surgery.
(d) Education: in 1997, CEAR, the Ministry of Education,
UNHCR, the National Fund for Peace and the Social Investment Fund, concluded
a
cooperation agreement to construct and equip schools to help educate returnee
children. The Ministry of Education has also agreed
to recognize qualifications
obtained in Mexico by educational outreach workers and to approve returnee
children’s studies in
Mexico. Educational services for the returnee
population will be provided mainly in the departments of Alta Verapaz,
Huehuetenango,
El Quiché (Ixcán), El Petén and
Suchitepéquez. Other support for education includes donations of 534
bilingual (Maya-Spanish) books by Rafael Landívar University and of
10,000 reading and writing books by the European Union’s
institutional
support programme.
(e) Recreation and sports: CEAR has dealt with this
aspect by building recreation areas and sports fields in returnee communities,
with financial assistance from the Central American Bank for Economic
Integration (CABEI).
(f) Planning of settlements: the Programme to
Support Resettlement of Displaced Groups (HABITAT-UNDP/CEAR) has assisted more
than
11,000 people, supplying to date 1,468 plots of land and 48 infrastructure
projects (drinking water, housing, schools, bridges).
Psychosocial
rehabilitation
250. In 1997, in pursuit of its objective of
supporting children affected by the armed conflict, as established in the
Development
Plan 1996-2000, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare launched
an action plan for the psychosocial rehabilitation of groups affected
by the
internal armed conflict, targeting children and young people and based on a
preventive programme with community participation.
251. In addition,
since 1992, NGOs have been working on projects to restore the mental health of
these groups, including:
(a) A project for children in the Ixil area
(PRONIXIL), which has been training and educating youth leaders and primary
schoolteachers
in Triángulo Ixil since 1992. The project has benefited
some 11,000 children aged between 6 and 17.
(b) Programmes run by the
Association of Community Health Services (ASECSA) (Chimaltenango) and the
Catholic diocese of Quiché,
which attempt to reduce psychosocial damage
to child victims of the armed conflict.
252. Although the consequences of
the conflict can still be felt at both the national and the local levels, the
conditions for promoting
programmes of this kind with a degree of confidence are
more favourable now than in previous years. There are still a number of
constraints, however, such as a lack of professional staff prepared to work in
these communities and of information on appropriate
approaches, and insufficient
services to meet demand.
B. Children in conflict with the law (art. 40 and art. 37, paras. (b), (c) and (d))
253. The problems facing Guatemalan society are illustrated by the
poverty and social exclusion that prevail among its people, which
are reflected
in high rates of unemployment and underemployment, inadequate household income,
lack of basic services, family breakdown
and the erosion of moral and ethical
values within the family and the community. The situation has hampered the
psychosocial development
of children and adolescents, and this applies
particularly to those living in rural and marginalized urban areas: they do not
grow
up in a culture of self-esteem and the resulting emotional crises,
self-destructive behaviour and resentment against society generate
patterns of
behaviour that are at odds with social norms.
254. In conjunction with
these factors, Guatemalan society has in recent years faced a public safety
crisis that has resulted in high
levels of communal violence; children have not
been spared, but have found themselves involved in various ways in acts that
place
them in conflict with the law. Although no research has yet been done to
establish precisely the number of children and adolescents
in such a situation,
government institutions and NGOs agree that it is an increasing
problem.
255. In 1991, the Commission for the Convention on the Rights of
the Child launched a wideranging debate, involving government and
non-government
sectors, on the living conditions of children in Guatemala in the light of the
principles of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. The purpose of
the debate was basically to promote cultural change within society -
particularly in the area
of justice - with a view to moving away from an
attitude focusing on children in “irregular situations” towards an
approach
based on the comprehensive protection doctrine.
256. The debate
lasted six years and culminated in the drafting, presentation and adoption of a
new Children and Adolescents Code,
which suggests that the issue of children in
conflict with the law should be taken out of the judicial sphere: that would
entail
a new definition of the concepts of offence and offender. The Code also
makes the community and various State institutions responsible
for implementing
relevant measures, with the deprivation of liberty as a last resort. The
provisions on minors who violate criminal
law are contained in Book III,
Title II, “Young People in Conflict with the Law” (Children and
Adolescents Code, arts.
159287).
257. In line with the provisions of
the Children and Adolescents Code, the Plan of Action 1996-2000 aims to
“promote the design
and implementation of policies, programmes and
projects for the protection of the rights of the child”, “ensure the
elimination
of all non-judicial forms of deprivation of liberty for young people
aged under 18” and “restructure the system of care
and treatment for
adolescents in conflict with the criminal law”. Although the entry into
force of the new Children and Adolescents
Code has been postponed, the
government bodies responsible for taking action under the Code are committed to
the process of restructuring
where necessary.
258. With this in mind, the
National Civil Police and the Supreme Court are developing a training programme
on the new Code and their
specific responsibilities. The Court has also begun
establishing Child and Juvenile Courts. The Public Prosecutor’s Office
is
establishing a Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office and the Social Welfare
Department is being restructured at two levels: (i)
by improving the physical
infrastructure of care centres for children in conflict with the criminal law
and (ii) by adjusting its
programmes and training its staff.
C. Child and juvenile labour
259. The impoverishment of large segments of the Guatemalan population
has meant that many families’ subsistence depends to
a large extent on
income from child or youth labour, and a high percentage of children have been
obliged to seek work in both the
formal and the informal
sectors.
260. According to data from the 1994 national population census,
an estimated 756,711 children (aged 7-17) are economically active,
accounting for 26 per cent of the economically active
population. However, there is a significant rate of underregistration,
particularly
in the informal sector and domestic service, which makes it
difficult to ascertain exactly how many children work, although projections
by
institutions researching this problem show that the figure could be as high as
one and a half million.
261. As regards occupations, geographical
location, race and sex, the figures show that two thirds of children in
rural areas - mainly
indigenous children - work in agriculture, which employs
8 boys out of 10 and 3 girls out of 10. In urban areas, boys work in
the
informal sector (street vending, shoe-shining, car-washing, etc.) and there
are large numbers of girls working in commerce (18 per
cent), industry -
especially the maquila industry - (23 per cent) and domestic service (25 per
cent). Generally speaking, girls
in domestic service come from rural areas and
indigenous communities and belong to large families.
262. One noteworthy
element is the large numbers of children and adolescents compelled to migrate
temporarily, with their parents,
for seasonal agricultural work both within
Guatemala and on farms in the south of Mexico.
263. Working conditions
for the majority of child workers are characterized by low wages, no benefits
and long, intensive hours.
There are still cases of children who work for only
board and lodging, with no cash wages.
264. One of the worst consequences
of early admission to labour is the violation, for a large majority of children,
of the right to
education, since they do not attend school, drop out easily,
constantly have to repeat grades and are poor achievers. Children are
also
deprived of their right to play, recreation and free time; their self-esteem and
sense of identity are thus affected, together
with the free development of their
potential and their opportunities for the future.
265. Precarious working
conditions also have an adverse effect on child workers’ overall health,
particularly where workplaces
are unsuitable, cramped, unventilated, or
unhygienic, or dangerous, bringing children into contact with toxic, flammable,
polluting
or high-risk materials. Examples of highly dangerous workplaces are
firework factories, where at least 2,000 children are estimated
to work, lime
and stone quarries and fields where children collect glass
waste.
266. The new Children and Adolescents Code recognizes “the
right of children to be protected from economic exploitation and
from any kind
of work that may be dangerous for their physical or mental health, or that
impedes their access to education”
and “to be protected by the
State, the family and society in order to engage in education, sport, culture
and recreation”
(art. 53).
267. In order to put an end to the
adverse effect of child labour, the Children and Adolescents Code provides for
the establishment
of two bodies for the protection of working children: the
National Commission on Juvenile Labour and the Juvenile Labour Protection
Unit.
The task of the National Commission “is to implement a labour policy that
will ensure the protection of young workers
in coordination with the National
Children’s Council”. The Protection Unit’s task is to
“conduct projects
and programmes initiated by the Ministry of Labour and
Social Security and the National Commission on Juvenile Labour” and
to
“ensure that the provisions relating to young workers are observed and
report any violations to the competent authorities
for investigation and, where
appropriate, punishment” (arts. 100-106).
268. One improvement in
the Children and Adolescents Code over the earlier Minors Code is that it deals
openly with child labour and
even stipulates the establishment of administrative
and organizational bodies. However, it does not provide specific standards to
regulate, protect, reduce or eradicate child and juvenile labour, which is still
regulated by the Labour Code and the Constitution.
269. Significant
progress has been made in terms of research, sensitization and protection of
child and juvenile workers’ rights
since 1992, when the Child Worker Unit
was established in the Ministry of Labour. The Unit has now been strengthened
by larger allocations
of human and financial resources. The Child Worker Unit
operates through various programmes: social and labour advisory services,
training, publicizing and promoting labour rights, lobbying employers and trade
unionists and coordinating institutions at the national
and international
levels.
270. One noteworthy programme is the educational loan programme,
which is coordinated through the Ministry of Labour’s Directorate
for the
Promotion of Scholarships and takes the form of financial aid to help young
workers attend and remain in school. The scheme
is still in its infancy and
does not go far enough, but it represents an innovative approach that will help
guarantee young workers’
right to education.
271. In terms of the
elimination of child labour, a significant step forward was taken with the
signing, in June 1996, of a memorandum
of understanding between the Ministry of
Labour and the International Labour Organization, committing Guatemala to
adopting the strategies
of the International Programme on the Elimination of
Child Labour (IPEC). In addition, the Plan of Action 1996-2000 aims “to
establish mechanisms for the gradual elimination of labour for children aged
under 12 and of adolescents’ involvement in dangerous
occupations”,
a proposal that demonstrates the Government’s willingness to act to combat
child labour.
272. In an effort to document the scale and nature of child
labour, a number of NGOs such as the Mother and Child Care Programme (PAMI),
Childhope, Pro Niño y Niña Centroamericanos (PRONICE) and the
Alliance for Community Youth Development (ADEJUC) have
done important and
valuable research to highlight the vulnerability of thousands of children
working
in jobs that represent a severe risk to their physical and mental
health - for example, in firework factories, lime and stone quarries,
construction and coffee, anatto and cardamom harvesting. The results of this
research support the eradication of child labour.
D. Children whose rights are threatened or violated (street children)
273. The problem of street children has its roots in situations of
poverty, instability and family violence, rejection and negligence,
all of which
make it impossible for families, the community or society to offer children
support, education, health and quality of
life. Street children are thus the
product of rifts, imbalances and malfunctions in the social
structure.
274. The number of street children has increased in recent
years: they are to be found particularly in urban areas, not only the
capital
but also in a number of departments. According to various organizations, there
are between 3,500 and 5,000 street children.
However, the mobile nature of this
group has made it difficult to ascertain more precisely the number, age, sex and
race of its
members. The group’s profile shows that some street children
have no family at all, while others maintain tenuous family ties
but live on the
street, surviving on their wits.
275. Street children have little or no
education and their health is poor; they suffer from conditions such as
malnutrition, anaemia,
chronic and acute respiratory infections,
gastrointestinal diseases, dental caries and sexually transmitted diseases.
Many of them
take drugs, sniff glue or solvents, drink alcohol and smoke.
With the street as their constant companion, these children learn to
“get
around” in this environment through random experiences involving
dehumanization, abuse, exploitation, hunger and
much more. Play space,
friendship and loyalty are all conditioned by life on the street.
276. In
its treatment of this situation, the Children and Adolescents Code defines
“as a threat to or violation of children’s
and adolescents’
human rights, anything resulting from: any act or omission by society or the
State; any error, omission or
abuse by parents, guardians or persons in
positions of responsibility; and children’s own actions or
omissions”. The
Code also obliges the State to “ensure that the
public or private institutions that care for children whose human rights have
been violated, themselves respect those rights” (arts.
77-79).
277. The Office of the President and the municipality of
Guatemala City have recently initiated consultations with government bodies,
NGOs and international organizations with a view to devising a National Plan for
the Care of Street Children, which includes the
following strategic
aims:
(a) To directly reduce the numbers of street children by improving
the economic, social and cultural conditions of the population
at
large;
(b) To develop and implement a comprehensive plan of action with
the emphasis on preventive measures at the community and family
levels;
(c) To devise strategies for non-traditional care and treatment
which make it possible to enhance the effectiveness of current work
by
reorienting existing programmes;
(d) To harmonize operating guidelines
in order to effectively coordinate the action of the various government bodies
and NGOs.
The Plan includes policy elements on support for street
children, research, staff training and education, inter-institutional
coordination,
funding and children’s participation.
278. The tasks
of the Standing Commission on Children and Youth (COPANJ), which is made up of
governmental and non-governmental organizations,
include monitoring cases of
rape and abuse of street children. There are also a number of NGOs, including
particularly the Casa
Alianza, devoted to meeting the needs of street
children. They work mainly on prevention, follow-up and direct care for the
children.
In addition, international cooperation agencies such as
Germany’s GTZ provide backing for the Street Children Support Project,
whose activities include educational work, lobbying and social and health
provision.
E. Children and drug abuse
279. In recent years, drug trafficking and drug use have become a major
social problem and a threat that requires swift and decisive
action. Drug
addiction has grave consequences for community life and family well-being,
regardless of socio-economic status, and
can seriously damage the cultural,
economic and political foundations of society. The spread of drug use is due to
the environment
young people experience at home and/or at school, and is
encouraged indirectly by the prevailing lack of moral and social values
and
directly by the ill-treatment they suffer at the hands of their parents and
other adults and the bad example they are set.
280. The combination of
poverty and the lack of opportunities for self-expression and personal
development engenders feelings of frustration
and discontent that are exploited
by criminal gangs to lure young people into drug use, thereby triggering a
sequence of problems
ranging from delinquency, violence and increasing numbers
of street children, to death.
281. The multicultural, multilingual
make-up of Guatemala’s population makes it difficult to devise and
implement drug-addiction
education and prevention programmes. Moreover, there
is no organized or coordinated institutional structure providing permanent
drug
prevention, rehabilitation, follow-up or evaluation
programmes.
282. According to the Children and Adolescents Code,
“children have the right to be protected against the use and abuse of
addictive
substances, and the State shall establish appropriate programmes to
that end” (art. 54).
283. Similarly, one of the priorities of the
Plan of Action 1996-2000 is “to encourage the development of a social,
economic,
cultural and recreational climate conducive to human development,
which discourages both individuals and groups from trafficking
in or using
addictive substances”. In line with this aim, the Plan provides
guidelines for the inclusion of information on
drug use and abuse in the
national school curriculum and for the reinforcement of children’s ethical
and moral values, their
self-esteem and their decision-making ability. Another
of its priorities is to train educational counsellors and youth leaders to
devote time and effort to preventive education and involve the community and
associations (as multipliers) in providing guidance
to adolescent and adult drug
addicts.
284. In line with the government proposal, the Office of the
Vice-President has launched a number of projects in coordination with
other
bodies, through the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Committee against
Drug Addiction and Drug Trafficking (SECCATID),
including:
(a) The
National Plan for Comprehensive Preventive Education (PLANEPI). Starting in
1996 and using an approach based on cross-disciplinary,
inter-institutional
coordination, the Plan’s strategy involves training multipliers (primary
schoolteachers, parents, counsellors
and outreach workers) in the areas of
comprehensive preventive education, physical and mental health (AIDS/drugs) and
human rights.
PLANEPI forms part of the administrative structure of the
Ministry of Education and its preventive education work targets schoolchildren
at the pre-primary, primary and basic education levels. One recent practical
project was the “Stars to the Rescue” programme,
carried out in
coordination with the National Pre-Primary Teacher Training
College.
(b) The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Project: this
is a cooperative effort involving officials of the police and the Treasury
Police (Guardias de Hacienda) authorized by DARE America (United States
Embassy), and teachers, students and parents, which aims
to help students to
recognize and resist direct and indirect pressure to experiment with
drugs.
285. A practical activity related to prevention of drug addiction
was the second Student Leader Symposium, held in 1997, for young
people
from various regions of the country. The Symposium was coordinated by the
Ministry of Education and the Council of Anti-AIDS
Agencies.
286. Also in
1997, the National Youth Council and the Office of the Executive Secretary of
the Coordinating Committee against Drug
Addiction and Drug Trafficking
(SECCATID) launched a variety of media campaigns on the prevention of addiction.
As part of the campaign,
a poster competition was held for children aged 11 to
17, and the posters were exhibited in the Palacio Nacional.
F. Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art. 34)
287. Child prostitution affects girls particularly and is a product of
poverty in general, sexist patterns of behaviour, emotional
deprivation and
neglect by the family and society. Efforts to research the problem have been
made in the last five years in order
to bring it into the open. However, the
clandestine nature of such activities and the fact that communities rarely
report incidents,
combined with a lack of coordination among the government
bodies directly responsible, have made it difficult to obtain precise data
on
the extent of the problem.
288. A pilot study was recently carried out in
eight municipalities in four departments: Escuintla, Alta Verapaz, San Marcos
and
Huehuetenango. The results are still under discussion, but it can be
concluded that poverty, social breakdown, prevailing cultural
patterns and the
presence of sex-traffickers are among the causes of the spread of child and
youth prostitution, involving violations
of girls’ right to personal
integrity and causing irreversible damage to their physical and mental health.
The same studies
show that the law as it stands provides for only light
penalties for such trafficking, which means that, far from acting as a deterrent
to these abhorrent practices, it encourages further sexual and economic
exploitation of children.
289. The Children and Adolescents Code, article
58, sets forth children’s right to “protection from any form of
sexual
exploitation or abuse, including: inducement or coercion to engage in
any sexual activity; use in prostitution or pornographic performances
and
materials; sexual promiscuity; sexual harassment by teachers, guardians or
carers”. The Plan of Action 1996-2000 also
aims “to establish
protection and prevention mechanisms for the eradication of prostitution, sexual
ill-treatment and abuse
of children and
adolescents”.
290. Guatemala favours the adoption of the draft
optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of
children,
child prostitution and child pornography and has expressed support for
it.
G. Children and public safety
291. Increasingly brutal violence and crime are a problem that poses a
direct threat to the wellbeing of all Guatemalans regardless
of class, ethnic
group or sex. One obvious example is the growing practice of abduction for
ransom, which many families, including
children, have endured in recent years.
Abduction involves the violent separation of children or young people from their
family
environment, deprivation of liberty, disruption of daily life, invasion
of privacy, violation of emotional, mental and physical integrity,
and threats
and/or torture, resulting in irreparable damage that requires specialized
treatment. This kind of crime is rarely reported,
since families are afraid to
risk the victim’s life; many of these incidents thus remain shrouded in
secrecy, which makes it
difficult to determine the number of
cases.
292. In terms of legislation, the current Criminal Code states
that kidnapping or abduction for the purposes of obtaining a ransom,
a reward or
an exchange of third parties, for any other illicit purpose or for profit, shall
be punishable by 25 to 30 years’
imprisonment. It also provides for the
death penalty if the victim is aged under 12 or over 60 or if the kidnapped
person suffers
serious or very serious injuries, permanent psychic or
psychological trauma or death.
293. The new Children and Adolescents Code
also stipulates that “Children and young persons have the right to
protection from
abduction, trafficking or sale for any purpose or in any form.
The State shall use every measure and strategy to prevent such acts”
(art.
52).
294. However, the scale of the problem of abduction is beyond the
technical, financial and human capacity of the State to deal with
and it has not
been possible to eradicate it despite the efforts of the authorities and
government institutions.
295. Nevertheless, groups have sprung up within
civil society aiming to form grass-roots bodies to lobby, monitor and enhance
the
State’s own effectiveness and efficiency in addressing the problem,
from root cause to effect; examples of such groups are
the Anguished Mothers and
Family and Friends against Crime and Kidnapping. Basically, these groups try
to:
(a) Provide psychological support for the victim and help the family
during the negotiations;
(b) Run sensitization and awareness-raising
programmes on what is effectively an epidemic, for the public at
large;
(c) Carry out studies and analyses of justice administration in
Guatemala, with a view to submitting proposals that may help to correct
current
shortcomings both in the judiciary and in the Public Prosecutor’s
Office.
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