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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/70Add.22 8 October 2003 ENGLISH Original : FRENCH |
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 1998
RWANDA[*]
[27 June 2002]
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
Acronyms and
abbreviations 6
Introduction 1 - 35 8
A. General situation
1 - 26 8
B. Preparation of the report 27 - 35 15
I. GENERAL
MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION 36 - 71 17
A. Measures taken to
harmonize Rwanda’s laws and
policies with the provisions of the
Convention on
the Rights of the Child 36 - 43 17
B. Mechanisms
for coordinating action for children 44 - 71 20
II.. DEFINITION OF THE
CHILD 72 - 101 28
A. Ages of majority 73 -
77 28
B. Consultation with a lawyer 78 -
79 28
C. Consultation with a doctor 80 29
D. Compulsory
education. 81 29
E. Minimum age for access to employment 82 –
83 29
F. Part-time, full-time and hazardous employment.
84-86 29
G. Consent to sexual relations 87 30
H. Consent
to marriage 88 30
I. Voluntary enlistment in the armed forces
89 30
J. Conscription 90 30
K. Freely given evidence in
court 91 30
L. Criminal liability 92 31
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
M. Deprivation of liberty
93 31
N. Imprisonment 94 31
0. Consumption of drugs and
alcohol 95 – 96 31
P. Critical appraisal
97-101 31
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 102 -
148 32
A. Non-discrimination 102 - 113 32
B. Best interests
of the child 114 - 125 34
C. Life, survival and development 126 -
137 35
D. Respect for the views of the child 138 -
148 36
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 149 -
179 38
A. Name and nationality 149 - 160 38
B. Preservation
of identity 161 - 163 39
C. Freedom of expression 164 -
166 40
D. Access to information 167 - 170 40
E. Freedom of
thought, conscience and religion 171 - 173 41
F. Freedom of
association and of peaceful assembly 174 - 176 42
G. Protection of
privacy 177 42
H. Torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment
or punishment 178 - 179 42
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
180 - 218 43
A. Parental guidance 180 - 182 43
B. Common
responsibility of parents and the state 183 - 187 43
C. Separation
from parents 188 - 192 44
D. Family reunification 193 -
194 44
E. Recovery of maintenance for the child
195 45
F. Children deprived of a family environment 196 -
202 45
G. Adoption 203 - 210 46
H. Illicit transfer and
non-return. 211 47
I. Protection against all forms of child abuse
212 - 216 47
J. Periodic review of placement
217 48
K. Functions of social workers in relation to the rights
of the child 218 49
VI. HEALTH AND WELFARE 219 -
268 49
A. Survival and development 220 - 223 49
B. Disabled
children 224 - 229 50
C. Health and health services 230 -
258 50
D. Social security and child care services and facilities 259
- 265 57
E. Standard of living 266 - 268 57
VII.. EDUCATION,
LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES 269 - 311 58
A. Education, including
vocational training and guidance. 269 - 289 58
B. Aims of education
290 - 294 64
C. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities 295 -
300 65
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
D. Difficulties and measures for
implementing
the Convention 301 - 310 67
VIII. SPECIAL CHILD
PROTECTION MEASURES 311 - 370 69
A. Children in situations of
emergency 313 - 328 70
B. Children in conflict with the law 329 -
344 72
C. Children in situations of exploitation 345 -
365 77
D. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous group
366 80
E. Social information system and monitoring of
children
in difficult circumstances 367 80
CONCLUSION . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 -
375 81
Acronyms and abbreviations
CPLS Prefectoral Anti-AIDS Commission
CLC Centre for Lone
Children
EVP Expanded Vaccination Programme
FASG Fund for Assistance to
Survivors of Genocide
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GNP Gross National
Product
HHIS Hygiene and Health Improvement in Schools
HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immunodeficiency
Syndrome
HC Health Centre
ISS International Social
Service
MIFOTRA Ministry of the Civil Service and Works
MIGEFASO Ministry
for Gender Issues, the Family and Social Affairs
MIGEPROFE Ministry for
Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women
MIJESPOC Ministry for Youth, Sport
and Culture
MINADEF Ministry of Defence
MINAFFET Ministry for Foreign
Affairs and Regional Cooperation
MINAGRI Ministry of Agriculture, Animal
Husbandry and Forestry
MINALOC Ministry of Local Administration and Social
Affairs
MINECOFIN Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning
MINEDUC Ministry of Education
MINERENA Ministry of Energy, Water
and Natural Resources
MINIJUST Ministry of Justice and Institutional
Relations
MININTER Ministry of the Interior and
Security
MINISANTÉ Ministry of Health
MINITERE Ministry of Land,
Resettlement and Environment
NAAC National anti-AIDS Campaign
NAP National
Action Plan
NCCA National Commission to Combat AIDS
NCYR National Council
of Youth in Rwanda
NHRC National Human Rights Commission
NPC National
Programme for Children
NRPPD Network of Rwandan Parliamentarians for Population and
Development
NTC National Trauma Centre
PEAC Pre-school Experimental
Activities Centre
PHC Primary Health Care
RPF Rwandese Patriotic Front
RTCA Rwandan Trauma Counsellors’ Association
TNA Transitional
National Assembly
UNICEF United Nations Children’s
Fund
WI Women’s Institute
INTRODUCTION
A. General situation in
Rwanda
1. Geographical situation
1. Rwanda is situated in the eastern part of Central Africa. It covers an
area of 26,338 km2, between latitudes 1° 04’ and
2°51’S and longitudes 28° 53’ and 30° 53’E. It
is bordered
to the north by Uganda, to the east by the United Republic of
Tanzania, to the south by Burundi and to the west by the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo. Rwanda is a landlocked country, the nearest port being Mombasa,
Kenya, 1,700 km away. Almost all of the country
is at an altitude of between
1,400 and 1,700m, with some peaks above 4 000m (Kalisimbi – 4,507m).
Because of its situation
on the continent and its high altitude, the country
enjoys a mild and temperate climate, with two rainy and two dry seasons. Average
low temperatures range from 10 to 21°C. The average temperature for the
country as a whole is 18°C. Annual rainfall is
between 800 and 900 mm in
the areas at low and moderate altitudes and between 1,400 and 12,800 mm in the
mountainous areas. Tourism
benefits from the presence of rare mountain gorillas,
and extremely varied flora and fauna.
2. Historical overview
2. Rwanda is a geopolitical entity that originally consisted of several
micro-States and then emerged around the eleventh century
as a monarchy with a
“sovereign”, the king, and an “umugabekazi”, the queen
mother. In 1885 the Berlin Conference
designated Rwanda-Burundi as a German
protectorate. After the second World War, Rwanda-Urundi became a territory under
United Nations
mandate and was handed over to Belgium. From 1959 to 1961 Rwanda
experienced a violent transition from a monarchy to an independent
republic, and
the bloody events of that period forced thousands of Rwandans into exile in
neighbouring countries. The country regained
its independence on 1 July 1962 in
an atmosphere of ethnic-based turmoil, which had been fomented by the colonizing
Power through
its policy of “divide and reign”. In 1973 a military
coup overthrew the first civilian regime and set up a dictatorial
second
republic, which remained in undivided power up to the genocide of 1994. The war
which broke out on 1 October 1990 between
the regime then in power and the
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) eventually led the belligerents to negotiate the
Arusha Peace Agreement
between the Rwandan Government and the RPF, signed on 4
August 1993. Unfortunately, the Agreement was concluded at a time when
preparations
were also being made for genocide, and as this was fully under way
from 7 April 1994 it was not possible to implement the Arusha
Agreement in full.
The RPF forces stopped the genocide and the massacres and a Government of
National Unity was established on 19
July 1994.
3. Rwanda experienced a
brutal historical collapse with the war of 1990, the genocide of 1994 and the
domestic and external migrations
that took place: basic facilities were
destroyed, the country’s public administration and social services were
badly affected
by the loss of qualified staff and a great many files and
archives disappeared. Economic and statistical data for the period before
1994,
therefore, cannot be relied on. Furthermore, data gathered since 1994 are
rapidly becoming obsolete because of national reconstruction
and recovery. For
this reason, the numerical data used in this report must be regarded as
approximate.
3. Demographical situation
4. Of the total area of 26 338 km2, only 18 724 km2, or
71 %, can be used. This causes problems of population pressure on arable
land, because of the high population density of 337
inhabitants per
km2 and a rapid population growth rate estimated at 2.9 % per
annum. This demographic pressure has long existed in Rwanda: from 1 million
inhabitants at the beginning of the twentieth century, the population grew to 2
million about 1950, 3,572,550 in 1970, 4,831,527
in 1978, 5,661,553 in 1983 and
7,157,551 in 1991, reaching 8,343,000 in the year 2000. The total population at
the end of 2002 is
estimated at 8,810,000.
5. The population of Rwanda is
extremely young: 50 % of Rwandans are under 15 years of age. The high
growth is sustained by a fertility
index of 5.8 in a population that is
90 % rural, 46.5 % being men and 53.5 % women.
6. There
have been significant changes in the demographic situation following the
conflicts and genocide of 1994. According to the
report prepared by the Ministry
of Local Administration and Social Affairs (MINALOC) on the number of victims of
genocide, a minimum
of 1,074,000 persons died, more than 3 million were
displaced inside and outside the country during that time, and more than 800,000
persons who had fled the persecution in 1959 returned to the country from exile
in 1994. In November 1996 there was a massive return
of refugees from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the
Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees registered 1,385,213
returns between November 1996 and June 1997.
4. Social structure
7. Family and community traditionally play a central role in the life of
Rwandans. Social relations are based on the nuclear family,
the expanded family
and neighbourhood, but person-to-person relationships are becoming increasingly
important with the development
of the modern world. The family structure is
traditionally patrilinear and succession is solely through male family members,
although
new laws based on equality between the sexes have now come into force.
The man is head of the family, and children are never really
emancipated from
their parents, to whom they owe obedience and respect. The Basic Law, and
especially article 25 of the Constitution of 10 June 1991, allows only one wife,
but in fact polygamy is still practiced, especially in rural
areas.
8. The foundations of social relations have been severely affected
by the tragedies of recent years. Massacres sometimes occurred
among members of
an extended family, causing fear and mistrust at the very heart of this basic
community, and mostly leading to a
decline in confidence in relations with the
neighbouring community.
9. At the social level, the genocide and
resulting population movements (domestic displacement, exile, disappearances)
fundamentally
altered the profile of the Rwandan
population. Households lost
many family members, their property was destroyed and social behaviour changed.
10. In this context of war and genocide, several hundred thousand
Rwandan children lost their parents or were separated from them.
Almost all
children went through traumatic experiences during the war, some of them being
themselves either injured or threatened,
or else forced or trained to kill and
torture. Women and young girls were raped, leading to trauma, unwanted
pregnancies, exposure
to sexually transmitted diseases and to human
immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), while
others
were participants in the genocide and massacres.
11. Rwanda is one
of the few African countries with a single national mother tongue, Kinyarwanda,
which is spoken by the entire population
and has long been taught in schools. It
is one of the three official languages, the others being English and French.
Christianity
is predominant, especially Catholicism, which is practiced by
almost 60 % of the population.
5. Administrative structure
12. Rwanda has an extensive administrative structure. Law No. 47/2000 of 19
December 2000, and others that followed it, introduced
changes in the manner of
government and structure of decentralized administrative units. The territory of
the Republic of Rwanda
is now divided into 11 provinces (formerly called
prefectures) comprising 14 towns and the capital, Kigali, and 92 districts
(art.6).
The districts (formerly called municipalities) are subdivided into
sectors (currently 1,545) themselves consisting of the smallest
administrative
unit, the cell (9,169 throughout the country). Provinces are headed by a
Coordination Committee chaired by a Prefect,
while the activities of districts
and other towns are planned by a District Council and managed by an Executive
Committee headed
by a mayor. The membership of these three bodies is elected by
the people.
6. Political programme
13. In July 1944, when the Rwandan Patriotic Front ended the genocide and
massacres, the political forces that had not taken part
in the genocide set up a
Government of National Unity and other institutions, for a transitional period
that was to last for five
years.
14. The mandate of the Government of
National Unity of 19 July 1994 was to implement an eight-point programme: (i) to
restore security
and peace in the country; (ii) to restructure local
administration at the central and peripheral levels; (iii) restore the unity
of
the Rwandan people; (iv) to repatriate the refugees and rehabilitate the victims
of war and genocide; (v) to improve the people’s
living conditions and, in
particular, to rehabilitate vulnerable groups, especially those who had survived
the war and the genocide:
orphans, widows and the disabled; (vi) to revive the
national economy; (vii) to reshape Rwanda’s foreign policy; and (viii)
to
strengthen democracy.
15. As the transition neared its end, it became
apparent that, despite very positive results in several areas, particularly
security,
many challenges remained. This meant that the transition had to be
extended for an additional period of four years. The updated programme
gave
priority to the following areas:
(a) Rehabilitation of the victims of the
war, massacres and subsequent migrations, with special attention to children in
difficult
circumstances;
(b) Increasing the people’s welfare;
and
(c) Strengthening unity and reconciliation among Rwandan, democracy
and good governance.
7. Legal system
16. Rwanda uses the Romano-Germanic legal system, which influenced Belgian
law as introduced into Rwanda during Belgian colonization.
In recent times,
however, some elements of Anglo-Saxon law have been incorporated into the
Rwandan system.
17. The supreme law of Rwanda is the Basic Law. It
consists of the Constitution of 10 June 1991, the Arusha Peace Agreement signed
on 4 August 1993 between the Government of the Republic of Rwanda and the
Rwandan
Patriotic Front (RPF), the RPF Declaration of 17 July 1994 and the
Convention of political parties of the same year. The Basic Law
enshrines the
rights ands freedoms of all people. It also stipulates that, where public
freedom and human rights are concerned, the
principles set out in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948 take precedence over the
corresponding principles
in the Rwandan Constitution of 10 June 1991 (art. 17,
protocol on various matters). The Rwandan Civil Code places custom after
legislation as a source of law.
While recognizing that legislation governs all
matters relating to civil law, the Code specifies that, in the absence of any
applicable
legal provision, the judge should hand down his verdict on the basis
of customary law or, in the absence of any custom, in accordance
with rules
which he would have established had he been a legislator (art.
3).
18. Rwandan justice is today faced with the problem of prisoners
accused of taking part in the genocide: their number is estimated
at about 120
000, held in the country’s prisons and cachots (communal cells).
With 2 000 judgements having been handed down over a period of three years, the
Government has realized that the
process would last too long at this pace. With
a view to eradicating the culture of impunity while at the same time seeking
national
reconciliation, and in the belief that it is important for sentences to
enable those convicted to mend their ways and to promote
their reintegration
into Rwandan society without adversely affecting the normal life of the
population, the authorities have established
the participatory gacaca
justice system, which is governed by Organic Law No. 40/2000 of 26 January 2001
providing for the organization of “gacaca courts” and of
trials for the offences constituting the crime of genocide or crimes against
humanity committed between 1 October
1990 and 31 December 1994.
19. The gacaca courts constitute one of the six sections of the
Supreme Court of Rwanda. They operate at each level of the usual administrative
structure – the cell, the sector, the district and the province (art. 4).
Each one is made up of a General Assembly, a Headquarters
and a Coordination
Committee (art.5). The General Assembly of a cell gacaca court is made up
of all the inhabitants of the cell aged over 18 (art. 6). The General Assembly
of the gacaca court of a sector, district or province is made up of at
least 50 persons of integrity, nominated by the gacaca courts within its
jurisdiction immediately below it (art. 7).
8. Rwanda’s commitment to international human rights
instruments
20. Rwanda is a signatory to most international instruments for the
protection of human rights. These are:
(a) The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights;
(b) The International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights;
(c) The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination;
(d) The International Convention for the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;
(e) The Convention
on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes
against Humanity;
(f) The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women;
(g) The OAU Convention governing the
Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa;
(h) The Convention on
the Rights of the Child;
(i) The African Charter on the Rights and
Welfare of the Child.
21. The ratification process has already started
for the following instruments:
(a) The Convention against Torture and
other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
(b) The
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights;
(c) The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death
penalty;
(d) The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights on the establishment of the African Court of Human and
Peoples’ Rights.
22. It is important to stress that, in accordance
with the Arusha Peace Agreement, the Rwandan Government, under the protocol of
agreement
on the rule of law, established a National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC), which is governed by Law No. 04/99 of 12 March 1999 and
has been
operating since 24 May 1999. NHRC is made up of 7 commissioners elected by
Parliament from 10 candidates proposed by the
Government. The triple mission of
NHRC is to consider violations of human rights, to raise people’s
awareness of, and train
them in, human rights, and where appropriate to initiate
legal proceedings.
23. In this connection, it should be stressed that in
April 2001, noting the satisfactory achievements in the field of human rights
in
Rwanda, the Commission on Human Rights decided not to send a special observer
mission to the country any longer. It should also
be noted in this area of
legislation and the law that, under the Arusha Peace Agreement, a Legal and
Constitutional Commission was
established by Law No. 23/99 of 24 December 1999.
Its mandate is to prepare the new constitution and revise the country’s
other
laws.
9. Economic context
24. The most important sector of the Rwandan economy is agriculture. It
accounts for about 41 % of GDP, and more than 90 % of the
active
population work in the sector. The main export crops are coffee and tea,
accounting in 2000 for 34 % and 37 % of export income
respectively.
The agricultural production system is based on small farms that consume
80 % of their production.
25. In 2000, agriculture accounted for
41 % of GDP, industry for 19 % and services for 40 %. In terms of
expenditure, 90.4 % of GDP
was spent on private consumption in 1999,
8.6 % on public consumption, 17.3 % on gross investment, 4.8 % on
exports, with imports
accounting for 12.7 % of GDP. Private consumption
continues to be supported by external aid flows.
26. On any view, poverty
is widespread in Rwanda. With regard to income, it is estimated that 65.4 %
of the population were living
below the poverty line in 1999, life expectancy
being 49 years and the infant mortality rate 123 per 1 000 live births. A
National
Poverty Reduction Programme was launched by the Government of National
Unity in 2000.
Table 1
Summary table of relevant data
Description
|
Data
|
Year
|
Population
|
8 300 000
|
2000
|
Area
|
26 338 km2
|
2001
|
Population density (inhabitants/km2)
|
337
|
1999
|
Per capita GNP
|
US$ 250
|
1999
|
Average annual growth
|
2.9 %
|
2001
|
Population aged between 0 and 4
|
50%
|
2001
|
Life expectancy at birth (years)
|
49
|
2001
|
- Women
|
50
|
2001
|
- Men
|
48
|
2001
|
Infant mortality rate
|
130‰
|
2001
|
Maternal mortality rate/100 000 live births
|
787
|
2001
|
Adult mortality (per 1000 persons aged between 15 and 60)
|
|
|
- Women
|
566
|
2001
|
- Men
|
604
|
2001
|
Incidence of HIV in adults from 15 to 49 (per cent)
|
13.7%
|
1999
|
Population infected by HIV/AIDS
|
400 000
|
2000
|
Access to drinking water (percentage of the population)
|
41%
|
2000
|
Adult literacy rate
|
48.3%
|
1999
|
- Women
|
45.0%
|
1999
|
- Men
|
52.0%
|
1999
|
Primary school enrolment rate (gross)
|
97.1%
|
1999/2000
|
Primary school enrolment rate (net)
|
75%
|
2000/2001
|
Rate of transition to secondary education
|
38.1%
|
1999/2000
|
Teacher qualification rate
|
54.7%
|
1999/2000
|
Primary school (years 1 to 6) dropout rate
|
12.6%
|
1999/2000
|
Human development index (HDI)(value)
|
0.382
|
1999
|
Human poverty index (per cent)
|
51.4
|
1999
|
Consumer price index (general index)
|
341.2
|
1999
|
Ratio of expenditure on education to current expenditure
|
30.2%
|
2000
|
Ratio of current expenditure on health to current expenditure
|
3.1%
|
2000
|
Current expenditure on education (percentage of GDP)
|
3.5%
|
2000
|
Current expenditure on health (percentage of GDP)
|
0.6%
|
2000
|
Inhabitants per doctor
|
55 705
|
2000
|
Average size of rural households
|
4.8
|
1999
|
Average size of urban households
|
4.5
|
1999
|
Ratio of men to women in the population
|
46.5/53.5
|
1999
|
Households below the poverty line
|
65%
|
1999
|
Percentage of girls in primary school
|
50%
|
2001
|
Fertility rate per woman
|
6
|
2000
|
Percentage of births occurring in hospital
|
26%
|
2000
|
Source : MINECOFIN, Indicateurs de développement du Rwanda, July 2001.
B. Preparation of the report
1. Initial
report of Rwanda
27. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General
Assembly on 20 November 1989 and entered into force on 2
September 1990. It
was ratified by Rwanda on 19 September 1990 by Presidential Order No.
773/16 of the same date. On 30 September
1992, Rwanda submitted its initial
report on the implementation of the Convention under article 44 (CRC/C/8/Add1).
The report was
considered by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on
5 October 1993, at its 97th and 98th sessions and, because of numerous
gaps, could not be approved. The Committee put forward its recommendations on 18
October 1993.
28. In its preliminary observations on the report, the
Committee recommended that a new report should be submitted within a year.
It
also recommended that the new initial report should be fuller and should conform
to the guidelines laid down by the Committee
in accordance with a detailed list
of items to be dealt with.
29. Because of the troubles which were
prevalent in the country at the time, and especially the genocide of 1994, the
Rwandan Government
was unable to prepare a report in accordance with the
Committee’s recommendations.
30. The Government of National Unity
established on 19 July 1994 had to face many challenges after the genocide.
Confronted with many
urgent problems, it preferred to give priority to meeting
the needs of its devastated population for survival. In a context of political,
administrative and social reorganization of the entire State system, and with
inadequate resources, the Rwandan Government was not
able for the time being to
fulfil all its commitments to the international community, including that with
respect to the Committee
on the Rights of the Child. In March 1997, the Council
of Ministers therefore decided to establish the National Programme for Children
(NPC) as a State structure responsible for coordinating all activities in
support of children. One of the NPC’s tasks was to
consider ways and means
of implementing the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The protection, reunification
and care of about 500 000 children separated from
their parents was a matter of extreme urgency for the Government of National
Unity.
2. Preparation of the present report
31. Preparation of the present report started during the year 2000, as part
of the end-of-decade review of the implementation of the
World Declaration on
the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and the Plan of Action
relating to it, adopted by the World
Summit for Children. Persons from all
walks of life took part in the work. Every Ministry carrying out activities
relating to children,
together with the non-governmental organizations within
its field of competence, was invited to assess the activities of the decade,
to
identify the constraints encountered and to highlight the lessons learned, with
the aim of achieving the objectives of the World
Summit for Children. These
workshops prepared the ground for the great National Conference on the Rights of
the Child, held from
14 to 18 August 2000.
32. With the technical
support of UNICEF, a preparatory committee for the two activities was
established with the following membership:
(a) Representatives of the
Office of the President of the Republic, the National Assembly and the Prime
Minister’s office;
(b) Focal points within the following
ministries: MIGEPROFE, MINISANTÉ, MINEDUC, MIJESPOC, MINECOFIN, MIFOTRA,
MINERENA, MINAFFET
and MINIJUST, under the chairmanship of
MINALOC.
33. In addition, a great many seminars and workshops have been
held in the past five years. They were attended by many participants
from the
world of children, including children and young people themselves and civil
society. All these activities maintained a continuous
and critical discussion of
many aspects of the protection of the rights of the child in Rwanda, in the
particular context of the
country since 1914. For instance, in 1998 the
Parliament organized a debate between children and deputies on the rights of the
child.
34. The following organizations were involved in the preparation
of the present report:
(a) Public institutions: Office of the President,
MINALOC, MINISANTÉ, MIFOTRA, MINERENA, MININTER, MINITERE, MINAFFET,
MINADEF,
MINECOFIN, MINIJUST, MINEDUC, MIJESPOC, MIGEPROFE, MINAGRI, NHRC, Legal
and Constitutional Commission;
(b) United Nations system: United Nations
Children’s Fund, Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, United
Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organization;
(c) Non-governmental organizations working for children:
Association for the Defence of the Rights of Women and Children (Haguraka),
Association Foundation Barakabaho, Collective of Rwandan Organizations for the
Education of Orphans (Ihuriro Collective), Collective
of Organizations for the
Advancement of Women (Profemmes Twese Hamwe), Rwandan Women’s Solidarity
Association (ASSOFERWA),
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
International Social Service (ISS), North-South Action, Save the Children Fund
(SCF,
United Kingdom), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Rwandan Red Cross
(RRC), Tumurere Foundation for children;
(d) Organization set up to
prepare the initial report:
(i) Body responsible for final approval: Government Council;
(ii) Steering institution: MINALOC;
(iii) Coordination and monitoring body: multisectoral committee made up of
the above-mentioned institutions;
(iv) Permanent secretariat: National Programme for Children (NPC);
(v) Technical assistance, advice and financial support: UNICEF;
(vi) Drafting: MINALOC and an independent consultant;
(vii) A project group consisting of members of the Prime Minister’s
office, MINALOC, UNICEF, MINIJUST, Barakabaho, ASSOFERWA
and Haguruka regularly
followed the work of the consultant.
35. The report was adopted after the
following stages:
(a) Designation by the Prime Minister of the lead
institution, MINALOC;
(b) Establishment by MINALOC of the Coordination
and Monitoring Committee;
(c) Establishment by the Coordination
Committee of the programme of consultation and information
gathering;
(d) Workshops to consider the preliminary versions: 20
February 2001, 20 April 2001, 24 July 2001, 27 July 2001 and 1 August 2001.
(e) Workshop to approve the report, 10 August
2001;
(f) Consideration and adoption of the report by the Government
Council, 27 February 2002.
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
A.
Measures taken to harmonize Rwanda’s laws and policies with the
provisions
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
1.
Ratification of the Convention
36. Rwanda’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
on 19 September 1990 (Journal official, no. 21 of 1 November 1990) was
the first measure which the country adopted to incorporate the provisions of the
Convention into
national legislation. This was in addition to the fact that the
principles set out in international law to which Rwanda subscribes
take
precedence over Rwandan law. Another important point is that no reservations
were attached to Rwanda’s adoption and ratification
of the Convention.
2. Measures to disseminate the Convention
37. Campaigns to promote awareness of the Convention are conducted throughout
the country. Booklets have been translated into Kinyarwanda
and widely
distributed. The Convention is publicized at seminars, conferences and
workshops of child support workers. The organizations
chiefly involved are
UNICEF, national and international organizations and human rights associations,
including the Haguruka Association,
which promotes the interests of women and
children.
38. There are training and proficiency courses for social
workers working with or for children. In this context, the non-governmental
organization Trocaire, in cooperation with University College Cork, Ireland,
carried out a training programme for more than 200 social
workers from the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs and local non-governmental associations, and Save
the Children Fund of the United Kingdom
has trained social assistants working in
centres for lone children (CLCs) (see below, chapter V, para. 218). The
Convention has also
been disseminated through public and private newspapers and
national radio and television broadcasts.
3. Dissemination of the report
39. The present report was discussed by an enlarged committee of 30 members
representing both ministerial institutions and non-governmental
organizations
specializing in children’s issues. It was later considered by the Council
of Ministers before being submitted
to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
A translation into Kinyarwanda is planned following completion of the English
version.
MINALOC also intends to organize a dissemination seminar attended by
representatives of the Government, United Nations institutions,
various
religious groups and civil society. There will also be a radio and television
broadcast reaching a large audience, which
will participate actively by giving
its views and asking questions.
4. Effectiveness of the national system for implementing the Convention
40. The various workshops and conferences have shown that the current
system for implementing the Convention needs to be strengthened
and made more
effective. Efforts are currently being directed as a priority
to:
(a) The system of information on the mother and
child;
(b) Mechanisms of cooperation, coordination, monitoring and
assessment;
(c) Policy setting and
implementation;
(d) Strengthening the legislative and statutory
framework, especially with regard to implementation measures.
41. In this
context, various measures have recently been taken, including:
(a) Law
No. 22/99 of 12 November 1999 supplementing the first book of the Civil Code and
promulgating the fifth part relating to
the provisions governing matrimony,
gifts and succession;
(b) Law No. 27/2001 of 28 April 2001 concerning
the rights of the child and protection of children against all forms of
abuse;
(c) Establishment of the Legal and Constitutional Commission set
up by Law No. 23/99, amended by Law No. 26/2000 of 3 November
2000;
(d) The National Programme for Children;
(e) The law
containing the Labour Code, currently being
promulgated;
(f) Consultations currently taking place for the
establishment of a Children’s Code;
(g) Consultations currently
taking place for the creation of a vice squad and a police force for
juveniles.
5. Budget allocations
42. The tables below set out the budgets for the social sectors for the years
1996 to 1999, with estimates for 2000 and forecasts
for 2001 and 2002.
Table 2
Current expenditure by sector (as a percentage of the total), 1996-2002
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
|
Total expenditure
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
Social services
|
19.5
|
26.8
|
30.3
|
35.8
|
39.2
|
42.2
|
44.6
|
- Education
|
16.3
|
21.8
|
18.6
|
22.7
|
25.7
|
27.7
|
29.3
|
- Health
|
2.1
|
2.5
|
3.0
|
4.1
|
5.9
|
7.5
|
9.0
|
- Other social services
|
1.1
|
2.4
|
8.7
|
9.0
|
7.6
|
7.0
|
6.3
|
Defence
|
43.1
|
36.7
|
35.3
|
30.9
|
29.6
|
27.2
|
25.2
|
Administration
|
13.9
|
15.3
|
14.6
|
15.3
|
16.3
|
16.1
|
16.0
|
Justice
|
2.7
|
3.9
|
4.5
|
4.2
|
5.5
|
5.8
|
5.9
|
Other administrative services
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
10.1
|
11.1
|
10.87
|
10.3
|
10.1
|
Debt servicing
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Interest on domestic debt
|
5.8
|
4.7
|
3.1
|
2.1
|
1.64
|
1.46
|
1.30
|
- Interest on foreign debt
|
6.4
|
6.0
|
5.1
|
3.5
|
5.13
|
4.84
|
4.56
|
Economic services
|
11.4
|
10.6
|
11.5
|
12.5
|
12.9
|
12.9
|
12.6
|
Source: MINECOFIN, quoted in UNICEF, Analysis of
the situation of Women
and Children, 2000.
Table 3
Current expenditure by sector (as a percentage of GDP), 1996-2002
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
|
Total expenditure
|
12.2
|
11.3
|
11.9
|
12.2
|
11.6
|
11.6
|
11.9
|
Social services
|
2.4
|
3.0
|
3.6
|
4.4
|
4.6
|
4.9
|
5.3
|
- Education
|
2.0
|
2.5
|
2.2
|
2.8
|
3.0
|
3.2
|
3.5
|
- Health
|
0.3
|
0.3
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
0.7
|
0.9
|
1.1
|
- Other social services
|
0.1
|
0.2
|
1.0
|
1.1
|
0.9
|
0.8
|
0.75
|
Defence
|
5.3
|
4.1
|
4.2
|
3.8
|
3.4
|
3.2
|
3.0
|
Administration
|
1.7
|
1.7
|
1.7
|
1.9
|
1.9
|
1.9
|
1.9
|
- Justice
|
0.3
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.64
|
0.7
|
0.7
|
- Other administrative services
|
1.4
|
1.3
|
1.2
|
1.4
|
1.25
|
1.2
|
1.2
|
Economic services
|
1.3
|
1.2
|
1.4
|
1.5
|
1.5
|
1.5
|
1.5
|
Debt servicing
|
1.5
|
1.2
|
1.0
|
0.7
|
0.8
|
0.7
|
0.7
|
- Interest on domestic debt
|
0.7
|
0.5
|
0.4
|
0.3
|
0.2
|
0.17
|
0.16
|
- Interest on foreign debt
|
0.8
|
0.7
|
0.6
|
0.4
|
0.6
|
0.56
|
0.54
|
Source: MINECOFIN, quoted in UNICEF, Analysis of
the situation of Women and Children, 2000.
6. Institutional capacity of contributing
agencies
43. Over the past four years, many workshops and conferences have been
organized for various contributing agencies in the sphere of
the rights of the
child in Rwanda. UNICEF and a large number of national and international
non-governmental organizations have played
a major role in this area. It must be
acknowledged that efforts need to be intensified in order to strengthen the
staff capacity
of public and private services working with or for children
(education, health, justice, police, social services).
B. Mechanisms for coordinating action for
children
44. In order to create favourable conditions for implementing the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, the Rwandan Government has
since October 1997 set up
an ad hoc structure responsible for all issues relating to children: the
National Programme for Children
(NPC).
1. National Programme for Children (NPC)
45. The NPC is overseen by the Ministry responsible for social affairs,
currently the Ministry of Local Administration and Social
Affairs.
46. The NPC was established for two reasons. Firstly, Rwanda had
undertaken before the community of nations to draw up and implement
a plan of
action for children, a commitment that was confirmed by the ratification of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
To fulfil this commitment a structure
needed to be created that would ensure coherence and continuity in activities
for children.
Secondly, the diversity of the areas covered by these rights and
the great number of agencies involved necessitated an integrated
and coordinated
approach for such activities.
47. Against this background, the
NPC’s role is as follows:
(a) One the one hand, to give the child
a central place in national programmes and projects, and to promote maximum
synergy in activities
to further the interests of children;
(b) To
enlighten and inspire policies, planning systems and programmes for children and
their implementation in all sectors of national
life and at all levels (family,
communities, public institutions and non-governmental
organizations);
(c) To coordinate activities for children and to
evaluate their situation and the implementation of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child.
48. To carry out its task, the NPC recommends the
following strategies:
(a) Full awareness of the data and factors
relating to the welfare of the child, including those upstream from the child:
mother,
family, community.
(b) Elaboration and promotion of an
integrated approach to children’s needs and
problems;
(c) Provision of regular information to and consultation with
the various agencies, and continuous advocacy of children’s
interests.
49. The NPC’s specific actions since its establishment
in 1997 have been:
(a) Participation in the preparation of the draft law
containing the provisions governing matrimony, gifts and
succession;
(b) Participation in the establishment of the national
policy for street children;
(c) Analysis and monitoring of the files
pertaining to Rwandan children evacuated to France and Italy during the
genocide;
(d) Analysis and processing of files pertaining to
intercountry adoptions;
(e) Chairmanship of the topic group responsible,
firstly, for analyzing problems relating to children and, secondly, for
disseminating
information among agencies working in with or for
children.
(f) Cooperation in the preparation of framework operation
plans for a programme of cooperation between Rwanda and UNICEF, for the
periods
1998-2000 and 2001-2006;
(g) Organization of basic training courses on
the rights of the child for the authorities;
(h) Organization of sectoral
workshops on the rights of the child (July 2000);
(i) Organization of
the National Conference on the Rights of the Child, held in August
2000;
(j) Preparation of the report on the implementation of the Plan of
Action for the Survival, Protection and Development of the Child
in the
1990s;
(k) Preparation of the national policy for children and the
National Plan of Action for the decade 2001-2010 (ongoing).
50. There is
standing cooperation between the NPC and all the various agencies involved in
the protection and promotion of the rights
of the child in Rwanda. They include
the office of the President, the office of the Prime Minister, various
ministerial departments
and public bodies, various institutions in the United
Nations system, national and international non-governmental organizations and
charitable organizations. There are plans to restructure the NPC so that it is
no longer dependent on a single Ministry but comes
under the aegis of a higher
body. In any event, the NPC remains the chief entity promoting the
implementation of the Convention in
Rwanda and coordinating everything relating
to the obligations of the Rwandan Government to the Committee on the Rights of
the Child.
51. As well as the NPC, other bodies also work for children,
even if their main task does not relate to the child in particular. These
are:
(a) National Council of Youth in Rwanda
(NCYR);
(b) Women’s Institutes (WIs);
(c) National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC);
(d) National police;
(e) Fund for
Assistance to Survivors of Genocide (FASG);
(f) National Examinations
Council;
(g) Legal and Constitutional
Commission;
(h) Demobilization Commission;
(i) National
anti-AIDS Commission;
(j) Division for children in difficult
circumstances of MINALOC;
(k) Maternal health division of
MINISANTÉ.
52. There are also the initiatives of the Transitional
National Assembly (TNA) relating to protection of the rights of the child.
The
Assembly in particular and its specialized bodies in particular make a
significant contribution to the implementation of the
Convention. These bodies
are the Social Commission, the National Unity and Human Rights Commission and
the Scientific, Cultural and
Youth Commission:
(a) The Social Commission
is responsible in particular for specific problems relating to the welfare of
orphans, widows and widowers,
as well as matters relating to social security and
mutual benefit societies in general. This Commission is a privileged partner of
UNICEF in promoting the rights of the child, a striking example being
implementation of the right of the child to participate in
decisions affecting
him. Thus, a Children’s Assembly is held every year at the Parliament
Palace. At the 1998 Assembly, the
children themselves said that they wanted a
law protecting them against sexual abuse and under-age and forced marriage. TNA
therefore
put forward a draft law entitled “law on the rights of the child
and protection of children against abuse”, which was
passed on 25 January
2001. The Children’s Assembly was not held in 1999 or 2000, since
parliamentarians preferred to meet children
in their respective provinces, so as
to ascertain whether the children who had represented their peers in the 1998
Assembly had been
able to report to them, and also to give them an opportunity
to discuss the scourge of AIDS with parliamentarians and other local
decision-makers;
(b) Other bodies have been created within the National
Assembly with the aim, inter alia, of promoting and protecting the rights
of
women and children. These are the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, the Network
of Rwandan Parliamentarians for Population and
Development (NRPPD) and Amani, an
organization of parliamentarians concerned with conflict resolution. One of the
aims of NRPPD is
to promote the rights of the child from conception to
adolescence, to provide an opportunity for children to flourish and develop
their talents, and to enable them to acquire social skills very early and the
ability to learn before they reach school age. To this
end, in August 2001 NRPPD
organized a national competition on the subject of the campaign against HIV/AIDS
to promote the talents
of schoolchildren from 10 to 16 years of age: dances,
poetry, sketches and comic strips to condemn the scourge of AIDS.
2. National Council of Youth in Rwanda (NCYR)
53. The National Youth Council was formed in 1998. As an organization of
civil society, it was intended to defend the specific interests
of young people.
It is the spokesman for and representative of young people from 15 to 35 years
of age. It is thus concerned with
some children aged from 15 to 18. Its
structure and bodies exist at all levels of local administration and two members
represent
it in Parliament.
54. NCYR represents young people in bodies of
local administration and community development committees. It has committees in
secondary
schools and colleges, in addition to those that exist at every
administrative level. It maintains privileged cooperation with the
Ministry of
Youth, Sports and Culture, which is acting as its parent organization and
providing the necessary support until it reaches
maturity.
55. NCYR is
involved in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
through its various constituent bodies. The
Juniors Commission, for instance,
ensures that the rights of children are protected up to the age of 15. To this
end, NCYR cooperates
closely with agencies working with and for street children
for their social and economic integration. These include the Urban Social
Bureau, part of the catholic episcopate through the catholic charity Caritas,
and the Gatenga Youth Centre, which is run by the Salesian
Fathers. NCYR’s
Education Commission is responsible, inter alia, for ensuring that all children
attend primary school. At each
level the commissioners are also responsible for
planning cultural activities for young people within their competence. The
Gender
Commission ensures that girls have the same rights and duties as boys and
works with other partners to promote girls’
education.
56. NCYR’s other activities are:
(a) Youth
training;
(b) Promotion of the associative movement and mutual aid funds
for young people;
(c) Implementation of a strategic plan to combat
HIV/AIDS among young people;
(d) Promotion of universal basic education
and vocational training for young dropouts and young people not enrolled in
schools;
(e) Promotion of sports and leisure activities for young
people;
(f) Cooperation with the National Assembly in the organization
of the Children’s Assembly held every year at the Parliament
Palace;
(g) Cooperation with all youth movements and associations.
3. Women’s Institute (WI)
57. Ever since its establishment, the Government of National Unity, has
endeavoured, through the Ministry responsible for “gender”
issues,
to promote awareness among Rwandan girls and women and continuously to mobilize
them. Women’s Institutes were set up
after a long consultation,
information and mobilization campaign among women conducted since 1995 by
successive Ministries responsible
for “gender” issues. During 1997
and 1998 Rwandan girls and women elected an executive body at each level of
administration,
from the elementary level through the cell to the national
level. At each level the committee consists of 10 members, always chosen
for a
two-year renewable term in elections. WIs are represented in Parliament by two
members (chairman and vice-chairman).
58. The aim of WIs is to be an ad
hoc instrument of Rwandan girls and women for:
(a) Their better
participation in the decision-making process;
(b) Promoting awareness
among women and mobilizing them for the defence of their rights;
(c) The
social and economic advancement of women, especially for education, literacy and
income-generating activities;
(d) Information, education and
communication on all important subjects, such as health, including the
prevention of sexually transmitted
diseases and HIV/AIDS, good governance and
political responsibility, and national unity and
reconciliation;
(e) Advocacy of the rights of women and in particular
girls.
59. WIs work to promote girls’ education and maternal
health. In so doing they also contribute to the implementation of the
Convention
on the Rights of the Child. Despite some weaknesses due to the youth of the
organization and the inadequacy of Human and
material resources, WIs have
recorded some striking achievements, such as:
(a) Right to
representation in bodies of local administration: a WI has an ex-officio
seat on the sector and district advisory committees and on the community
development committee.
(b) Women’s fund management covering
virtually all districts in the country;
(c) Management of a Bank
Guarantee Fund for businesswomen (small and medium-sized
enterprises).
60. The Ministry of Gender and the Advancement of Women has
for some months been drafting a regulation to formalize and detail the
nature of
the WI. WIs will shortly be converted into a National Women’s
Council.
4. National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
61. In pursuance of the Arusha Peace Agreement, in its protocol of agreement
on the rule of law (art. 15), the Government of National
Unity established NHRC
(Law No. 04/99 of 12 March 1999), which has been functioning since 24 May
1999. The Commission consists of
seven commissioners elected by Parliament from
10 candidates submitted by the Government. The main tasks of NHRC
are:
(a) To consider violations of human rights;
(b) To raise
awareness among people of, and train them on, human rights
issues;
(c) To initiate legal proceedings if necessary.
62. NCHR
has several sections, including one to defend the rights of specific groups.
These include children, as well as the elderly,
the disabled and other
vulnerable categories. The Commission is therefore one of the organizations
responsible for putting the provisions
of the Convention into practice, since
respect for the rights of the child is one of the responsibilities of the
Commissioner for
Human Rights in the spheres of the economy, social affairs,
culture and development. The report on the activities of NHRC in 2000,
published
in 2001, shows that the campaigns to raise awareness of the promotion and
protection of the rights of the child need to
be intensified to ensure actual
respect for these rights. The complaints processed by the Commission have shown,
in particular, that
the rights of some orphans are being infringed, especially
with respect to their property, and that they are often denied the solutions
to
their problems by the very people who should be providing them: host families
and guardians claiming family ties with the children
and thereby having a right
of care of the children and their property.
63. The report also stresses
that in its forecasts for 2001 NHRC undertook to cooperate closely with other
Government bodies, civil
society and UNICEF to achieve greater respect for the
rights of children, in this case orphans. Moreover, the Commission plans to
strengthen its ties with the Ministry of National Education in order jointly to
prepare school programmes including human rights
at all levels of
education.
5. National police
64. Similarly, to ensure that the rights of the child are respected, the
national police has set up two bodies to promote implementation
of the
Convention. One is responsible for the rights of the child, while the other is
concerned with children in conflict with the
law. In addition, police training
also includes special courses on the rights of the child. Consideration of a
police force for juveniles
is also well advanced in seminars and workshops on
the rights of the child.
6. Fund for Assistance to Survivors of Genocide
(FASG)
65. The Fund for Assistance to Survivors of Genocide (FASG) was established
by Law No. 02/98 of 22 January 1998 with the objective
of assisting
disadvantaged survivors. To achieve this objective, FASG receives from the
State 5 % of income from the regular annual
budget. Children in school and
children who are heads of household are among beneficiaries of the Fund. FASG
works more particularly
in the fields of the education and health of
disadvantaged survivors, thus furthering the implementation of the Convention,
which
acknowledges the right of all children to education, survival and health
without any kind of discrimination.
7. National Examinations Council
66. The National Examinations Council for official examinations at the
primary and secondary levels was established by Law No. 19/2001
of 13 March 2001
and ensures respect for the right of every child to education. Among the
purposes of the organization, as set out
in article 4 of the Law establishing
it, are the organization and administration of examinations in full transparency
and fairness,
the issuance of certificates and diplomas to successful candidates
and directing outstanding students to various schools or institutes
and
appropriate sections or faculties, depending on their abilities. The Council
enables primary and secondary school leavers to
work in the same conditions and
to have the same opportunities to move up to the next level, the sole criterion
being performance,
in contrast to the policy of quotas and regional and ethnic
equilibrium that was long prevalent in Rwanda.
8. Legal and Constitutional Commission
67. This Commission was established under the Arusha Peace Agreement by Law
No 23/99 of 24 December 1999, amended and supplemented
by Law No. 26/2000
of 3 November 2000. As the body responsible for drafting the new Constitution
and amending other laws, the Commission will also bring Rwandan legislation into
line with the various international instruments
to which Rwanda has acceeded,
including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Commission has already
prepared a short-term
and medium-term plan for the teaching of constitutional
and civil rights affairs to fourth-year, fifth-year and sixth-year pupils
throughout the country. This will be done through comic strips. Contacts with
other partners are under way, and the plan will be
submitted to UNICEF for
funding. In addition, in their campaigns to raise public awareness, the members
and staff of the Commission
inform the public of the contents of certain
conventions, including in this context the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms
of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
9. National Commission to Combat AIDS (NCCA)
68. NCCA was set up by Presidential Order No. 02/01 of 16 March 2001 and
operates under the auspices of the Office of the President.
As part of its
functions for the coordination of the national policy to combat HIV/AIDS, NCCA
also defends the rights of the child,
since focusing on children is one of the
priorities of the policy.
10. Division for assistance to, and the protection of,
children in difficult circumstances
69. The Division responsible for assistance to and protection of children has
been in existence since 1992, when the Ministry for
the Family and the
Advancement of Women was set up. At present, it is under the aegis of the
Department for Social Welfare and Protection
of Vulnerable Groups of MINALOC and
is responsible for drawing up policies and strategies for all children living in
difficult circumstances.
This is one of the key departments for the defence of
children’s rights, especially for the protection of those whose basic
rights have been or may be flouted.
11. Maternal Health Division of
MINISANTÉ
70. The adoption of primary health care (PHC) strategies, as set out in 1978
at the International Conference on Primary Health Care
held at Alma-Ata, has
been a reality in Rwanda since 1991. One of the eight components of PHC,
maternal and infant protection, has
been entrusted to the Department of Health
Care and used to be managed by the Division of Maternal and Infant Health and
Family Planning,
which became the Division of Reproductive Health after the
International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo
in 1994.
(a) Infant health services are organized in all health
centres (HCs) and managed at the central and intermediate
levels;
(b) Prenuptial services consist mainly of guidance for couples
wishing to take an HIV test before marriage;
(c) Prenatal services are
systematic and available in all HCs. By contrast, post-natal services are
uneven.
(d) Although post-natal services for mothers are not systematic,
systematic care of children starts immediately after birth at the
HC
level:
(i) Care of newborn babies, including identification and treatment of
anomalies. Regrettably, however, 80 % of births take place
at home, without
the basic care provided by hospitals.
(ii) Monitoring of children’s growth;
(iii) Vaccinations against the major children’s diseases in accordance
with the national schedule of vaccinations. At the national
level, the Expanded
Vaccination Programme, established in 1987, seeks to immunize 100 % of
children.
71. Maternal health is a Government priority. However, various
constraints, particularly the inadequacy and uneven distribution of
health
facilities and the insufficient use made of available facilities and services,
have resulted in rather poor results (an infant
mortality rate of 121 ‰
and a maternal mortality rate of 787 deaths per 100 000 live births in
2000).
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD
72. Under article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, “a
child means every human being below the age of eighteen
years unless, under the
law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”.
A. Ages of majority
73. Under the Rwandan Civil Code, a minor is a person of either sex who has
not yet attained the age of 21 (Civil Code, book 1, art.
360).
74. Article 431 confirms that civil majority is attained at 21 years of
age and stipulates that a person is capable at that age of
except for those
determined by law. Under article 426 of the Civil Code, a minor is automatically
emancipated by marriage.
75. Articles 427 and 428 give the father, or in
the absence of one, the mother or guardianship council, the right to emancipate
an
unmarried minor at 18 years of age, on personal request. An emancipated minor
may perform all acts of civil life without prejudice
tot the provisions of
article 171, which prohibit marriage between a man and a women under 18 unless
special permission has been
obtained from the Ministry of Justice on serious
grounds.
76. So far as official documents are concerned, article 5 of
Decree-Law No. 01/81 of 16 January 1981, confirmed by Law No. 01/82 of
26
January 1982, states that it is compulsory for all Rwandans over the age of 16
to carry an identity card. This article also states
that the father, or failing
that the mother or guardian, are required to request an identity card for
children under 16 obliged to
live alone.
77. In the context of elections,
Law No. 42/2000 of 15 December 2000 on the organization of elections in Rwanda
at basic administrative
levels states that a person must be over 18 to be an
elector and over 21 to be eligible for election.
B. Consulting a lawyer
78. Rwandan legislation lays down the manner of administration for personal
evidence without drawing any distinction of age. For instance,
article 61 of the
Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure stipulates that all witnesses that are
helpful for the solution of a dispute
shall be heard, without the need for the
court to exclude a valid witness or the parties to raise an objection to him. If
a child
deems it necessary he may consult a lawyer, attorney or representative
for legal advice or representation. Whether a minor or not,
a child has the
right to legal representation without the prior consent of his parents. A
child’s evidence is therefore not
excluded under the law.
79. In
addition, article 194 of the Code stipulates that a judge is empowered to order
the personal appearance of incapable persons,
their helpers or their legal
representatives. A child therefore has every possibility of being heard, either
directly or through
his representative, in all judicial or administrative
proceedings relating to him.
C. Consulting a doctor
80. Everyone has the right to health without distinction of age. Rwandan law
is not explicit on the minimum age at which a child may
consult a doctor without
the prior consent of his parents. In practice, children seek health care with or
without their parents.
D. Compulsory education
81. Article 27 of the Constitution of 10 June 1991 upholds the right to
compulsory and free primary education. Article 38 of Law No. 14/1985 of 29 June
1985 states
that primary education is compulsory for all children from the age
of seven. They may, however, be enrolled in school at the age
of six in
circumstances governed by the General Regulations.
E. Minimum age for access to employment
82. Articles 24, 120 and 126 (para.2) of the Labour Code of 28 February 1967
state that it is prohibited, firstly, to employ a person
under the age of 18
without the express authorization of the person exercising paternal authority
over him and, secondly, to employ
him at night in industrial enterprises or
their outbuildings. In labour law, no child under the age of 14 may be given a
job, even
as an apprentice, except where the Minister responsible for labour has
pronounced a derogation for special circumstance (art. 125).
Article 66 of the
new Law containing the Labour Code, which is being promulgated, has taken a step
forward by setting the minimum
age for access to employment at
16.
83. The Code also specifies that minors may not be kept in a job
known to be beyond their strength or harmful to their health and
must be given
suitable work.
F. Part-time, full-time and hazardous work
84. It should be noted that, by Presidential Order No. 39bis/01 of
30 September 1999, Rwanda has already ratified the 1999 ILO Convention No. 182
concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action
for the Elimination of the Worst
Forms of Child Labour.
85. Current Rwandan legislation, however, makes no
clear distinction between part-time and full-time work. With respect to night
work,
article 120 of the Labour Code of 28 February 1967 states that it is
prohibited to employ children or adolescents under the age of
18 at night in
industrial establishments or their outbuildings. The Code also states that, for
work considered not to be harmful,
detrimental or dangerous, children under 18
may be employed at night provided they have at least 12 consecutive hours of
rest between
shifts. At this particular level, the new Law containing the Labour
Code now being promulgated has lowered the minimum age for nighttime,
unhealthy,
hard, harmful and dangerous work from 18 to 16. This is justified by the fact
that, because of the genocide and the war,
a large number of minors are obliged
to live alone or are even responsible for other younger children. These minors
assume adult
responsibilities early and do all kinds of work to
survive.
86. In order to safeguard the security of working minors, the
Inspector of Labour may require minors to be examined by an approved
physician
to verify whether or not the work which they are doing is beyond their strength
or harmful to their health (art. 126 of
the former Code and art. 67 of the new
law).
G. Consent to sexual relations
87. The law does not specify the age of consent to sexual relations. However,
articles 358ff. of the Penal Code, concerning indecent
assault and rape,
increase the sentence when the victim is a child under 16. Prison sentences
range from one to 15 years for indecent
assault without violence, subterfuge or
threats against a child under 16, and from six months to five years against a
person over
16. The sentence is increased to between 5 and 20 years’
imprisonment when the assault is committed with violence. In article
360,
paragraph 3, the Penal Code provides for 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment for
rape of a child under 16 and for the death penalty
if the rape caused the
victim’s death.
H. Consent to marriage
88. Article 171 of Law No. 42/1988 of 27 October 1998 stipulates that a
man and a woman under 21 may not enter into marriage. It does,
however, lay down
an exception: for serious grounds, the Minister of Justice or his representative
may grant special permission to
marry younger.
I. Voluntary enlistment in the armed
forces
89. Although voluntary enlistment in the armed forces is subject by law to a
minimum age of 16, the law that was recently passed on
the rights of the child
and protection of children against violence states in article 19 that military
service is prohibited for
children under 18.
J. Conscription
90. The minimum age for conscription is not specified in Rwandan legislation,
especially since service in the armed forces has always
been voluntary.
K. Evidence freely given in court
91. By law, the minimum age for evidence freely given in court is 21, the age
of majority at which every individual may perform the
acts of civil
life.
L. Criminal liability
92. The Rwandan Penal Code establishes penal majority at 14. However, in the
best interests of the child, lesser penalties are laid
down for offenders under
18. In this connection, article 77 of the Penal Code states:
“ When the perpetrator or accomplice of a crime or an offence was over
14 and less than 18 years of age at the time of the
offence, the penalties
shall be as follows if he is liable to a criminal sentence:
- If liable to the death sentence or life imprisonment, he shall be sentenced to between 15 and 20 years’ imprisonment;
- If liable to imprisonment or a fine, the sentences handed down may not be
more than half those which he would have been given if
he had been 18 years of
age.”
M. Deprivation of liberty
93. Only children above the age of 14 may be
deprived of their liberty on the grounds laid down by law. However, the Civil
Code (book
1, art. 351) authorizes fathers and mothers who have areas of serious
dissatisfaction with the conduct of a minor child (of whatever
age) to indicate
the relevant facts to the legal authority, which may where appropriate order the
internment of the child in a re-education
establishment for a period of between
1 and 12 months.
N. Imprisonment
94. It follows from the implicit interpretation of the above-mentioned
article 77 of the Penal Code that a minor under the age of
14 cannot be
imprisoned, since he is not criminally liable.
O. Drugs and alcohol consumption
95. Article 274 of the Penal Code lists the punishments for persons who have
helped others to use drugs, whether for payment or not.
If “minors under
the age of 18 have been caused to use or been supplied with these substances,
the prison sentence may be increased
to 10 years”, the sentence in the
case of adults being 3 to 5 years.
96. In addition, the Decree-Law of 19
November 1973 on the moral protection of young people lays down prison sentences
ranging from
two to 18 months for an owner or operator of a bar or drinking
establishment who permits a minor under the age of 18 to enter his
establishment
without his parents, guardian or carer.
P. Critical appraisal
97. The basic principles are clearly set out in Rwanda’s laws and
regulations. This is a strength and a springboard for enforcing
the rights of
the child.
98. In Rwandan legislation, a child is an individual who has
not yet reached the age of 21 (Civil Code, book 1, art. 360). This child
enjoys
all rights but may exercise them only through his representative, legal
administrator or guardian.
99. Nevertheless, the age of majority is not
uniform in Rwandan legislation. There is an internal contradiction with respect
to civil
majority: whereas this is 21 in the Civil Code, it is lowered to 18 in
the Nationality Code. Eighteen is deemed to be the age of
electoral majority and
the age at which it is legal to enter drinking establishments and bars and go to
the cinema. The age of majority
for acquiring one’s own identity
documents is 16.
100. In the case of the age for access to employment,
the spirit and letter of the law are far from being respected in reality. Many
minors under the age of 18 perform badly-paid domestic work, and families
sometimes prefer to employ young girls under 14 years of
age, who are regarded
as being particularly suited for playing with young children.
101. In
conclusion, efforts are required to harmonize the legislation, both internally
and to bring it into line with the Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
MINALOC has already made a start in this direction in its plan of
action.
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
A.
Non-discrimination
102. The Constitution of 10 June 1991 prohibits discrimination of any kind.
Article 16 reads:
“All citizens shall be equal in the eyes of the law, without any
discrimination, especially with respect to race, colour, origin,
ethnic
background, clan, sex, opinion, religion or social status.”
103. This provision is very important, since it contradicts in
straightforward terms the customary practices which favoured male children
over
female children.
104. The law relating to the rights of the child and
protection against child abuse confirms this principle of non-discrimination.
Chapter V, article 100, states:
“All aliens shall enjoy the protection afforded to persons and
property, as well as the civil rights enshrined in the Constitution, with the
exceptions provided for by law.”
This article thus guarantees
non-discrimination for alien children also.
105. Although the Basic Law,
and especially the Constitution of 10 June 1991, recognize only monogamous
marriage (art. 25), Law No.42/1988 of 27 October 1988 promulgating the
introduction to
book 1 of the Civil Code recognizes the right of all children to
have a father and a mother. Articles 323, 326 and 331 specify that
legitimated
children, recognized children and children whose paternity or maternity has been
established have the same rights and
obligations as children born in wedlock.
The earlier law (art. 206 of the decree of 4 May 1985) drew a distinction
between children
born out of wedlock, known as children born of adultery, and
children born in wedlock. That law stipulated that a child born of adultery
did
not have the right to be recognized by his parent.
106. Among specific
achievements resulting from this non-discrimination, mention should be made of
the abolition of quotas for admission
to educational establishments, as set out
in the Arusha Peace Agreement (article 3 of the protocol of agreement on the
rule of law)
and implemented since July 1994, with the advent of the Government
of National Unity. A National Examinations Council for official
examinations at
the primary and secondary levels was set up by Law No. 19/2001 of 12 March 2001
to meet needs relating, inter alia,
to examinations and the issuance of
certificates and diplomas.
107. Another advance in this area relates to
the reintegration of disabled children in schools to enable them to continue
their studies
with other children. The secondary school at Gahini, in the
province of Umutara, is a good example: blind pupils using Braille study
and
live with the other students, without any special arrangements. Their
examination results do not differ significantly from those
of the sighted
pupils.
108. Other efforts are being made by non-governmental
organizations to reintegrate lone mentally handicapped children in ordinary
centres for lone children (CLCs) so that they can live there with other lone
children, rather than in a special CLC. The successful
orphanage at Nyundo is an
eloquent example.
109. Law No. 22/99 of 12 November 1999 supplementing
book 1 of the Civil Code and promulgating the fifth part relating to the
provisions
governing matrimony, gifts and succession, gives male and female
children equal rights of succession and inheritance (arts. 43 and
50).
Before the adoption of that Law, girls were subject to discrimination strongly
rooted in custom. It should be noted that the
political and administrative
authorities, non-governmental organizations and human rights associations joined
forces to increase
awareness, particularly among men, that the Law was just.
Awareness campaigns have been conducted throughout the country, but some
women
and girls in rural areas nevertheless continue to suffer the burden of tradition
when it comes to succeeding a dead husband
or father. In these cases, disputes
are settled “amicably” by some local authorities not yet familiar
with the new law.
110. To confront these cases of abuse, a gender policy
has been developed and allocated to the Ministry for Gender Issues and the
Advancement of Women (MIGEPROFE). Among the obstacles identified by MIGEPROFE
are women’s unequal rights and opportunities,
whether in the family
environment, in the workplace or in social, economic and political life. This
situation affects female children,
especially in education. In these
circumstances, it is essential to tackle the causes, which have chiefly been
customs and laws,
on the one hand, and poverty and ignorance, on the
other.
111. MIGEPROFE’s priority objectives for children
are:
(a) To promote the education of girls and support organizations
working in this sphere;
(b) To cooperate with the Ministry of Education
(MINEDUC) and other institutions to develop all measures likely to increase the
number
of female staff in all branches and school years up to
university;
(c) To offer prizes and scholarships to girls obtaining
excellent marks at the end of the school year;
112. It must be noted that
a vast amount of work remains in achieving total respect for the law, since
there are clear gaps between
the legal provisions and their implementation. For
example, children who are reintegrated or placed in families have no recognized
legal status, are not included in the official documents of the foster parents
and do not have the right of succession to them.
113. There are also
discrepancies in access to primary services (health care, education, drinking
water, etc.), depending on the child’s
environment and social status.
Other disparities can be seen in the pastoral care of children living in CLCs
compared with those
living in families. For this reason, the Government of
National Unity has encouraged the policy of “one child, one family”
since 1995. Currently, 80 % of children are with foster families.
B. Best interests of the child
114. The best interests of the child are a clear concern in Rwandan
legislation.
115. The age of penal majority is set at 14 in the Penal
Code (art. 77). However, in case of infringement, the Code accords favourable
treatment to the child because of his minority, substantially reducing penalties
when the offender is under 18 years of age. Similarly,
a child aged under 14 is
not criminally liable.
116. The best interests of the child are evident
in the thinking behind the laws against discrimination and in Law No. 22/99 of
12
November 1999 supplementing the first book of the Civil Code and promulgating
the fifth part relating to the provisions governing
matrimony, gifts and
succession. Before the adoption of this Law, a child whose mother had been
driven out of the home lost his rights
of succession to the father, or else
remained in the paternal family and lost his right to be brought up by a mother
who was still
alive.
117. In divorce cases the President of the court of
first instance is in any event empowered to take provisional measures concerning
the person and property of the parties and of their children (art. 248). During
the divorce hearings, the President of the court
of first instance, in the best
interests of the children, places them in the provisional care of one or other
of the spouses or a
third person (art. 249).
118. Decisions taken under
the preceding provisions are “provisionally enforceable, notwithstanding
any appeal and without surety,
but respecting the best interests of the
child” (art. 245).
119. In cases of divorce by mutual consent, the
spouses also have to record, in a notarized document, their joint agreement to
the
person in whose care the children born to or adopted by them are to be
placed, either during the procedure or after the divorce is
pronounced (art.
260).
120. Great importance is attached to the best interests of the
child in articles 283 to 286, concerning the effects of divorce. For
example,
although under article 283 custody of children is granted to the spouse who has
obtained the divorce, the court may decide
otherwise for the greater benefit of
children, either on its own initiative or at the request of the other spouse or
the public attorney’s
office.
121. Similarly, article 284
stipulates that the father and the mother retain the right to supervise the
upbringing and education of
their children, and are required to contribute to
them to the extent of their ability.
122. Under article 285, the effects
of divorce in no way extend to the children’s existing interests or
benefits. Lastly, still
in the context of parental divorce, article 286 provides
that, in cases of divorce by mutual consent, half ownership of the assets
of
each spouse shall be automatically acquired by the children of their marriage,
from the date of their first declaration.
123. Under article 339, adopted
children have the same rights and duties as the children of the adoptive parent,
except as specified
in that article.
124. Article 359 stipulates that the
court may, at the request of any interested person or the public
attorney’s office, temporarily
or permanently deprive the father and
mother of parental authority over the child, particularly in the following
cases:
(a) When the father or mother abuse parental authority or
ill-treat the child;
(b) When the father or mother proves unworthy of
parental authority through notorious bad behaviour or serious
incapacity.
125. The law on the rights of the child and protection
against child abuse clearly states in article 10 that the child’s interest
must be paramount in all decisions concerning him.
C. Life, survival and development
126. The Constitution of 10 June 1991 clearly specifies that the human person
shall be sacred. A conceived child enjoys rights, provided that the birth
is
live. A conceived child is deemed to have been born whenever his interests
require it (Civil Code, book 1, art. 16). A child is
deemed to have been
conceived between the 300th and 180th day before his birth. No evidence is
permitted to disprove this presumption,
subject to the provisions of the current
law concerning the date of conception in paternity cases (art.
17).
127. Abortion is punishable under Decree-Law No. 21/77 of 18 August
1977 promulgating the Rwandan Penal Code (arts. 325 to 328), except
where two
doctors decide, after examination and discussion, that to continue the pregnancy
would endanger the woman’s health.
128. The Penal Code (art. 314)
defines infanticide as murder or homicide of a child at the time of his birth or
immediately afterwards.
It is considered as murder or homicide depending on the
circumstances.
129. Spouses together assume, by the very fact of
marriage, the obligation to ensure the upbringing and education of their
children.
If one of the spouses does not fulfil this obligation, the other may
legally compel him or her to do so, as may the public attorney’s
office
(art. 197). Under the provisions of article 200, paragraph 1, parents have an
obligation to feed their children.
130. Under article 4 of the law on the
rights of the child and protection of children against violence, every child has
an inherent
right to life from the time of conception. Voluntary abortion is
prohibited, except on the grounds and in the circumstances prescribed
by law.
Articles 29, 30 and 31 of that law lay down penalties for anyone undergoing,
attempting or facilitating an abortion.
131. Article 7 of that law
stipulates that children have the right to know their parents and be brought up
by them. When it is not
possible to live with them, they have the right to the
basic care of their parents and to visit them whenever they wish, as long
as
that does not violate their security or that of the country. The same article
states that “until a child has reached the
age of six he must live with
his mother, provided that is not against his interests”.
132. The
law also states that a parentless child must be placed in the care of a
guardian, adopted or placed in a suitable establishment
in the care of the
State. A child without a guardian or adoptive parent is the responsibility of
the State.
133. An environmental protection policy has been laid down to
provide better conditions of life, survival and development for Rwandan
children. It is supervised by the Ministry of Land, Resettlement and the
Environment (MINITERE).
134. Vulnerable groups, and particularly children
in difficult circumstances, are a priority in the MINITERE resettlement
programme.
For example, orphans and lone children have housing priority in the
villages collectively known as “Imidugudu”. In addition,
child heads
of household are given additional assistance for their
survival.
135. With regard to land, MINITERE plans to carry out a
systematic census of land left by parents of orphaned minors so as to ensure
that the latter acquire ownership of those lands and benefit from their proper
management.
136. MINITERE also runs various information and education
programmes aimed both at the quality of the habitat and protection of the
environment. This applies, for example, to programmes to promote and raise
awareness of home improvements as a means of economizing
on domestic fuels, and
to rainwater collection through gutters fitted on house roofs. These methods
reduce the drudgery of fetching
firewood and water, which is the traditional lot
of children and women.
137. Lastly, MINITERE is conducting an educational
campaign on environmental protection, mainly through posters and guides for
children
and primary and secondary school teachers.
D. Respect for the views of the child
138. Rwandan legislation lays down the manner of administration for personal
evidence without drawing any distinction of age.
139. Thus, article 61 of
the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure stipulates that all witnesses that
are helpful for the solution
of a dispute shall be heard, without the need for
the court to exclude a valid witness or the parties to raise an objection to
him.
It follows from the very definition of giving evidence, which is the
statement by a person in court of what he or she saw or heard
in relation to the
subject of the hearing, that children are not excluded as
witnesses.
140. With respect to adoption procedures, article 340 of Law
No. 42/1988 of 27 October 1988 containing the introduction and book 1
of the
Civil Code states that adoption requires the consent of the adopted person and
the adopter. If, however, the child has not
yet reached the age of discernment,
his parents consent on his behalf.
141. Lastly, the child has the ability
to be heard through his representative in all judicial or legal administrative
procedures relating
to him (art. 84 of the law of 15 July 1964 containing the
Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure). Since these principles form part
of
Rwandan legislation there is no obstacle to their being applied in the
courts.
142. In practice, in the sphere of education for example,
children completing the common core syllabus in secondary school (first
three-year cycle after primary school) decide themselves which subject
combination they will study in their second cycle. These decisions
are usually
respected if the subject combination requested is available in the pupil’s
area.
143. Article 45 of Law No. 42/2000 on the organization of elections
to authorities at the basic levels of administration in Rwanda
stipulates that
the representatives of young people are elected in the proportion of one-third
of the number of councillors elected
to represent sectors in district and urban
advisory councils. This third of seats is reserved for young people’s
representatives
at the level of executive committees of cells, sectors,
districts and towns. Those elected represent young people from 15 to 34 years
of
age and also cover the category of children from 15 to 18, in accordance with
the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child.
144. Article
9 of the law on the rights of the child and protection against child abuse
states that a child has the right freely to
express his view on any matter
concerning him. He must be heard in any judicial or administrative procedure
concerning him, either
directly or through his representative.
145. The
views of the child are also respected in the anti-AIDS clubs that are now
operational in almost all secondary schools in
the country. Children and young
members of these clubs themselves organize and carry out various activities to
combat AIDS, and their
ideas are listened to by the various national educational
and administrative authorities.
146. The participation of children and
young people is also evident in clubs for the defence of human rights, which
operate in almost
all secondary schools.
147. Another area in which this
provision of the Convention is implemented is the active participation of
children in conferences,
seminars and meetings held on the subject of children.
The experience of the first National Conference on the Rights of the Child,
organized in August 2000 under the high patronage of Rwanda’s First Lady,
is the most recent striking example. The Conference,
which lasted one week in
the capital, Kigali, was chaired by the First Lady and attended by Ministers,
parliamentarians, representatives
of the United Nations system and the
diplomatic corps accredited to Kigali, non-governmental organizations, political
and religious
authorities, workers for and with children and representatives of
street children and children with HIV/AIDS. These children took
part in all
sessions of the Conference and made their voice heard by giving accounts of
their living conditions and putting questions
to the various
participants.
148. Rwandan children have participated and continue to
participate in international forums such as the Global Ministerial Environment
Forum, held at Nairobi in February 2001, and the Pan-African Forum for Children,
held at Cairo in May 2001. Rwanda will also be
represented by two participants
in the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children to be held in New
York from 8 to 10 May
2002.
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
A. Name
and nationality
149. Article 117 of the Civil Code, book 1, provides that births must be
declared within 15 days, on presentation where possible of
the medical
birth certificate.
150. Article 118 reads as follows:
“The
birth certificate shall set out:
1. The year, month, day and place of birth, and the sex, ethnicity, surname
and forenames of the child;
2. The surnames, forenames, ages, professions, ethnicity, residence and
domicile of the father and mother and, where appropriate,
of the
declarer;
3. The surname and forenames of the person signing the medical certificate
produced;
If the father and mother of the child are unknown, that fact shall be stated
on the register.”
151. It is important to state that the Basic Law
(Arusha Peace Agreement, art. 16, “Other matters and final
provisions”)
has henceforth prohibited mention of ethnicity in all
official documents.
152. Everyone has his own surname and may have one or
more forenames (art.57, para. 1). The surname and any forenames are given to
the
child within 15 days after birth (art. 59).
153. It should be noted
that, because of the massive population displacement caused by the war of 1990
and the genocide of April-July
1994, a great many children found themselves
alone. As a result, some small children were given different names by social
workers
in centres for lone children (CLCs) or by those who had taken them in
and thus lost the names given to them by their own parents
who had died or
disappeared.
155. The number of mothers who abandon their babies after
birth is also rising. The exact reasons for this are not known, but workers
in
the field suggest social and economic factors such as destitution, HIV infection
of unwanted pregnancies.
156. The giving of a name in a Rwandan community
is the occasion for an important ceremony attended by the expanded family and
friends
of the child’s parents. Nevertheless, there are often delays in
the procedures for official registration of births and the
right to a name and
an identity, especially in rural areas.
On nationality
157. The law of 28 September 1963 containing the Rwandan Nationality Code, as
amended by the decree-laws of 19 July 1974 and No. 28/81
of 13 November 1981,
determines the conditions governing acquisition of Rwandan
nationality.
158. Every legitimate or natural child automatically
acquires Rwandan nationality thorough filiation (art. 3). Any newborn child
found
in Rwanda whose parents are unknown is Rwandan. He ceases to be so if, as
a minor, his filiation is established with respect to a
foreign national and if,
under the national law of that person, he has the latter’s nationality
(art. 5).
159. A child born of a Rwandan mother and a foreign father has
to choose his nationality. However, the new law on the rights of the
child and
protection of the child against violence stipulates that a child born of a
Rwandan mother and a foreign father automatically
acquires Rwandan nationality
(art. 6).
160. Article 23 of the Nationality Code of 28 September 1963
specifies that revocation of a parent’s nationality may not be
extended to
his minor children.
B. Preservation of identity
161. Except in the cases of change of name or forenames set out in article 65
of the Civil Code, book 1, which stipulates that such
a change may be authorized
by the Minister of Justice at the request of the person bearing the name or
forenames if there are valid
grounds, a Rwandan child has the right to keep his
name and his identity. Even in the case of adoption, article 337 of the Civil
Code states that “the adopted child retains his birth name and
forenames”.
162. Nevertheless, because of the situation that swept
the country during the genocide of 1994, some children were not able to preserve
their identity, name and family relationships, a right recognized by Rwandan
legislation and international law. This applies to
certain children who were
evacuated to Europe, Africa and the United states and to others who were taken
in at a young age by families
in countries accepting Rwandan refugees, chiefly
the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania. Some
of
these children have returned, but others have been adopted illegally by
foreign families, as in the case of 41 children adopted at
Brescia, Italy.
So far, the complaints lodged by the Rwandan Government and the families of the
children concerned at Brescia have
not received a favourable reply from the
Italian Government.
163. In an effort to re-establish the identity of
more than 14 000 children in 86 CLCs after the genocide of 1994 as speedily as
possible,
the Rwandan Government, supported by the United Nations and
non-governmental organizations, established family reunification and
tracing
programmes. Many children have been able to find their families again and, at
the end of 2001, only 3 500 lone children were
still being housed in 26 CLCs.
These are chiefly small children, collectively known as “no known
address”, whose age
prevents identification. The technique of photo
tracing developed jointly by UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red
Cross
has had some success in seeking the families of the “no known
address” children. In addition, each CLC has identification
files for
every child.
C. Freedom of expression
164. Article 18 of the Constitution of 10 June 1991 guarantees every
individual the freedom to express his opinions on any subject. Nothing specific
in favour of children,
however, is referred to in this respect in Rwandan
legislation. To remedy this shortcoming, programmes promoting children’s
expression have been established. The project entitled “Bourgmestre,
defender of the rights of the child”, jointly supported
by UNICEF and the
Ministry of Local Administration and Social Affairs (MINALOC), endeavours to
give prominence to artistic productions,
songs, poems, sketches and speeches
composed and publicly presented by children.
The voice of the child in the family
165. In general, the culture, habits and practices of society with respect to
the child’s place and voice in decision-making
in the family are
tentative. No only is the dialogue between parent and children weak, but in
addition children traditionally submit
to parental authority, especially that of
the father. The child takes little part in decisions concerning him, although it
must be
said that the situation, happily, has already begun to
change.
166. Fortunately, article 11 of the law on the rights of the
child and protection against child abuse states that “subject to
the laws
and culture of the country and taking into account his age and maturity, the
child has the right freely to express his ideas.
The Rwandan State and community
have an obligation to sustain and support the production and dissemination of
children’s books,
newspapers and broadcasts”.
D. Access to information
167. National radio and television, and the public and private written and
spoken press, regularly organize broadcasts and produce
publications for
children. The public information services monitor the quality of these products
to ensure that hey have no harmful
effects on children or society in
general.
168. Children’s newspapers and magazines exist in Rwanda,
the striking example being the monthly magazine Hobe, which has been
published since well before independence in 1962 and is read by most of the
country’s schoolchildren. Another
periodical, Editions Bakame, has
been appearing since 1997 and is also distributed in schools. The public weekly
Imvaho Nshya devotes an entire page of very issue to human rights,
including the rights of the child. Another initiative is the Sara clubs, which
was originally launched by UNICEF for East Africa and Southern Africa. The
material was adapted and translated into Kinyarwanda by
UNICEF in cooperation
with its local partners. Sara clubs are for boys and girls aged 10 to 14 and
focus mainly on strengthening
these youngsters’ ability to participate and
exercise their rights, more especially in preventing HIV/AIDS. The Sara material
is one of the key strategies of the UNICEF framework programme for the period
2001-2006. It should also be noted that children from
towns and cities can have
easier access to information by reading foreign magazines and reviews and even
visiting libraries and bookshops.
169. Young people under the age of 18
have also benefited from the emergence of the Internet and mobile phones. Some
secondary schools
have received support from benefactors to obtain modern
computer facilities with access to the Internet. Young people also go to
Internet cafés to surf the Internet, the only entry requirement being the
normal payment. It should be emphasized that, as
Internet cafés are
concerned principally with making money, there is inadequate control of the
exploitation of sites harmful
to the welfare of children.
170. So far as
the right of the child to information is concerned, it has to be admitted that
achievements are still modest, particularly
for children in rural areas, who do
not have the necessary audiovisual facilities and have to content themselves
with a few rare
radio broadcasts, since they usually do not have access to
television and specialized reviews.
E. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
171. This right is guaranteed to all Rwandan in the Constitution of 10 June
1991. Article 18 stipulates that “Freedom of religion and the public
exercise thereof, liberty of conscience, and
freedom to express one’s
opinion about any subject, shall be guaranteed, except for the punishment of
infractions committed
during the exercise thereof”. This right is
applicable to all Rwandan without distinction.
172. Provisions relating
to the child appear in the law on the rights of the child and protection against
child abuse. Article 13
states that a child has the right, depending on its age
and maturity, to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
173. In
practice, children’s freedom of thought is apparent in cultural events, in
which young artists express their ideas without
any prior censorship by adults.
Before the age of discernment, parents provide guidance for their children,
especially with respect
to freedom of conscience and religion. This is set out
in Presidential Order No. 509/13 of 10 October 1985 setting out the General
Regulations governing primary, integrated rural and vocational, and secondary
education. Article 8 of the Order states that parents
have the right to choose
for their children the course in religion or morals that corresponds to their
beliefs. It also states that
the head of an educational establishment must
ensure that no one feels aggrieved by the teaching and practice of religion or
morals
(art. 7). Circular No. 08.02/03/9860 of 8 August 1996 issued by the
Ministry of Education placed special emphasis on respect for
freedom of religion
in all primary and secondary educational establishments in the country. A joint
programme for religious studies
was prepared and is being taught in all schools.
Every child has the right to practise his own religion in his free time, without
being forced to follow the religion of the school’s owner, as was the case
in the past.
F. Freedom of association and of peaceful
assembly
174. Articles 19 and 20 of the Constitution of 10 June 1991 guarantee all
citizens freedom of association and assembly in peaceful meetings. Article 10 of
the Labour Code provides
that minors authorized to work may join professional
organizations unless their father, mother or guardian objects.
175. The
law on the rights of the child and protection against child abuse states, in
article 12, that a child has the right to free
association and peaceful
meetings.
176. In practice, children choose youth associations, in
schools and elsewhere, through their own initiative. Many young people are
members of youth movements such as the Boy Scouts/Girl Guides, the Xavéri
movement, Christian Working Youth (JOC), Female
Christian Working Youth (JOCF),
Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Young Men’s Christian Alliance (YMCA), Legio
Mariae, Christian Students
Youth (JEC), etc. There also many flourishing
cooperatives and associations in rural areas.
G. Protection of privacy
177. Although Rwandan legislation does not specifically provide for
protection of the private life of children, the right to privacy
is guaranteed
for all citizens by the Constitution of 10 June 1991, article 22 of which
states: “The private lives of individuals shall not be infringed upon in
any way. The
privacy of correspondence and communications by post, telegraph,
telephone or any other means shall be guaranteed without any restriction
save
that determined by law. No house search may take place except in the cases and
manner prescribed by law”. Article 23 sets
out the inviolability of
individual or collective private property.
H. Torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment
178. Rwandan legislation punishes anyone who has voluntarily struck, caused
injuries to or committed any other serious violence against,
another individual.
Article 323, paragraph 1, of the Penal Code provides specific penalties if the
individual struck or injured is
a child under 14 or a person who is unable to
defend himself because of his physical or mental condition. Anyone who has
voluntarily
struck or injured a child under 14 is punishable by imprisonment of
one to five years, or a fine not exceeding 20 000 Rwandan francs,
or only one of
these penalties. If the blows or injuries caused death, the sentence is life
imprisonment or capital punishment, depending
on whether or not there was any
intent to kill (art. 324).
179. Article 20 of the law on the rights of
the child and protection of children against violence stipulates that a child
may not
be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment. Article 32 of the same law provide for imprisonment
of from four
months to three years and a fine of 50 000 Rwandan francs for anyone who
inflicts cruel treatment, suffering or inhuman
or degrading punishment on a
child. Nevertheless, in practice a number of parents and educators continue to
subject children to corporal
punishment, often in the belief that this is an
effective way to educate them.
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE
CARE
A. Parental guidance
180. By Rwandan custom and habit, parents gradually introduce their
children to good manners, politeness, and their role in the family
and in
society in general. Article 347 of Law No. 42/1988 of 27 October 1988,
containing the introduction and book 1 of the Civil
Code, specifies that the
father and mother have a right of correction over a minor child.
181. The law on the rights of the child and protection against child abuse is
clear on this matter. Article 13, paragraph 2, states
that the parents or
guardian of a child must give him advice and guide him in good ways so that he
may exercise his rights in conformity
with his interests.
182. In
practice, however, most Rwandan parents do not talk to their children about the
rights guaranteed to them under the Convention.
Major efforts are being
undertaken to publicize the Convention and ensure that parents fulfil their
responsibilities in meeting their
paramount duty to put it into practice by
first making their children familiar with it.
B. Joint responsibility of parents and the
State
183. Article 24 of the Constitution of 10 June 1991 reads as follows:
“The family, which is the natural base of Rwandan society, shall be
protected by the State.
Parents shall have the right and duty to raise their
children”.
184. Article 350 of the Civil Code stipulates that
“the right of care entails the obligation for fathers and mothers to
support
and educate their children in accordance with their condition and
form”.
185. Under the provisions of article 128 of the law of 27
February 1967, amended by Law No. 21/1989 of 13 November 1989 promulgating
the
Labour Code, mothers are entitled to maternity leave of 12 consecutive weeks, at
least six of which are taken after delivery.
In the case of the father, there
has been a reduction in the length of paternity leave, from four days under
Presidential Order No.
442/06 of 10 May 1990 to two working days under article 1
of Presidential Order No. 06/01 of 6 March 1996, governing the types and
duration of leave.
186. The current legislation is not explicit on the
subject of the right of parents to be granted leave if their child is ill.
However,
this is in fact tolerated and negotiations are in progress to formalize
the practice. Remuneration of parents during their leave
is provided for in
three texts:
(a) The Labour Code, article 128 of which sets remuneration
during maternity leave at two-thirds of normal wages;
(b) Presidential
Order No. 06/01 of 6 March 1996, amending Presidential Order No. 442/06 of
10 May 1990;
(c) Presidential Order no. 69/03/2 containing the statutes
for officials of the central administration, which provides for leave on
full
pay.
187. To enable working parents to care for their children as well as
carrying out their professional activity, article 128 of the
Labour Code
provides for two half-hour rest periods for mothers breast-feeding their
children.
C. Separation from parents
188. Children may only be separated from their parents in their best
interests. Under article 249 of the Civil Code, “during
divorce
proceedings, the President of the court shall, in the best interests of
children, grant provisional custody of them to one
or other of the spouses or to
a third person”. Article 248 specifies that, irrespective of who obtains
custody of the child,
the father and mother retain the right to supervise the
upkeep and education of their children.
189. In the prison system, women
live with their infants and are separated from them only when they reach the age
of 3, under directives
of the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Relations
(MINIJUST) and the Ministry of the Interior and Security
(MININTER).
190. The national policy is that every child must live in a
family. Where, however, the father or mother abuses parental authority,
ill-treats the child or shows himself or herself to be unworthy of parental
authority, article 359 of the Civil Code stipulates that,
in the best interests
of the child, the court may deprive the parent temporarily or permanently of his
or her authority. In such
a case, the State takes the decision to separate the
child from his parents and transfer him to a suitable institution. The most
recent case is that of a baby born in the province of Butare in 1999 to an
unknown father and a mentally ill mother. The local authorities
transferred the
child to the nearest CLC. Another recent case concerns four malnourished and
abandoned children whose father was
in prison and whose mother was seriously ill
and who were also sent to a CLC in Kigali.
191. It should be noted that
in practice children whose parents are in custody have the right to visit them
twice a month.
192. So far as street children living in rehabilitation
institutions are concerned, contacts with their families are given priority,
especially as they will ultimately have to be reintegrated into the family after
re-education and learning a trade.
D. Family reunification
193. Article 10 of the Convention relates to the right of the child to
maintain personal relations and regular direct contacts and,
if necessary, to be
reunited with his parents living in different States. In Rwanda, the right to
enter and leave the country is
granted to anyone requesting it. Article 21 of
the Constitution of 10 June 1991 states that every citizen shall have the right
to move and settle freely on the national territory, and to leave
it or return
to it. The immigration and emigration department issues passports to citizens
without any discrimination, and visas
are issued to foreigners wishing to enter
the country. It is, however, not easy to identify the exact reasons for all
movements of
Rwandans outside the country.
194. It should be noted that
Rwanda has not yet ratified the International Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families.
E. Recovery of maintenance for the child
195. Rwandan legislation is explicit on this subject. The Civil Code (arts.
197, 198, 200 and ff.) stipulates that the obligation
to provide sustenance
exists between spouses; it also exists between parents and their children. The
Code provides that, by the very
fact of marriage, spouses jointly contract the
obligation to sustain and educate their children. If one of the spouses fails to
fulfil
this obligation, the other spouse may compel him or her to do so. The
obligation to provide sustenance may be met in cash or in kind.
Under article
204 of the Code, sustenance is provided only in proportion to the needs of the
recipient and the resources of the provider.
F. Children deprived of a family environment
196. The war situation that Rwanda experienced in 1990, the genocide of
1994 and the resulting internal and external migrations had
disastrous
consequences in both material and human terms, and many children were separated
from their families.
197. The Government has developed a family tracing
and reunification programme. Its implementation has been supported by UNICEF,
the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and national and
international non-governmental organizations, and it has been possible
to
reunited most lone children with their parents. According to a study carried out
by MINALOC, UNICEF and Save the Children, which
quotes ICRC, 67 119 children had
been reunited with their families in May 2000, and 3 658 had been spontaneously
reintegrated into
foster families. In principle, no effort is spared to reunite
the child with the members of his extended family, or to place him
in another
volunteer family (family reintegration). Although these cases of family
reintegration are not legalized by any law, the
Government has drawn up an
official document setting out the conditions and procedures for such cases that
protects the rights of
reintegrated children. The selection criteria for host
families are very specific, the best candidates being determined by social
committees at the local level. Among non-governmental organizations,
International Social Service (ISS) was able to place 800 children
in host
families between 1996 and 2000, while Concern placed 322 children between 1994
and 1999. It should be emphasized that social
officers of the non-governmental
organizations concerned and of the Ministry responsible for social affairs
supervise the entire
process and are responsible for its
monitoring.
198. There have been many cases of spontaneous reintegration
without the participation of any agency or ministerial institution.
Unfortunately,
recent studies on the situation of orphans and reintegration have
shown that the monitoring phase is not properly carried out, hence
the risk that
the rights of some reintegrated children may be violated.
199. Children
whose families have not been found and who have not been reintegrated in foster
families continue to live in CLCs. The
amount allocated to CLCs by MINALOC from
the regular budget in the budget year 2001 is about 42 million Rwandan francs.
In 1996,
86 CLCs housing some 14 000 children were in operation. At the end of
2001 only 26 CLCs housing about 3 500 lone children, made up
of orphans and
children separated from their families, remained.
200. The decline in the
number of CLCs since 1996 is the consequence of the implementation of the
national policy for lone children,
based on the principle “One child, one
family”, and the national mobilization to promote fostering of children in
CLCs.
This principle stems from the central theme chosen at the fourth Day of
the African Child, celebrated on 16 June 1995. Efforts are
continuing in
this direction as much as they are in the area of family tracing and
reunification.
201. Most of the children still living in CLCs are what
are generally known as “residual cases” and social or economic
cases, including children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and children of
destitute families incapable of supporting them.
202. In accordance with
article 406 of the Civil Code, the Rwandan State continues to allocate resources
to the education and upkeep
of these lone children. The bodies responsible for
the procedures for distributing these allocations are the Fund for Assistance
to
Survivors of Genocide (FASG) and the MINALOC vulnerable groups
department.
G. Adoption
203. In the sphere of adoption, Rwandan legislation has laid down a solid set
of provisions to guarantee effective protection for
the child. Rwanda, however,
has not yet ratified the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and
Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry
Adoption, but the procedure is already
under way.
204. Chapter IV, section 1, of the Civil Code lays down the
conditions for adoption, while section 2 sets out the
procedure.
205. Article 332 proclaims at the outset the guiding principle
for adoption: “Adoption is permitted when it is based on just
grounds and
if it is advantageous for the child”. The article also states that
adoption is subject to specific conditions and
takes place in accordance with
prescribed procedures.
1. Conditions for adoption
206. Adoption is governed by the following rules:
(a) Article 333
states that the adopter must be at least 15 years older than the person whom he
wishes to adopt. Other conditions
are also laid down depending on whether the
adoption is being sought by an unmarried person, a married person or both;
(b) Article 334 specifies that no one may be adopted by several persons
unless they are two spouses;
(c) Article 335 also clearly states that
“if the person to be adopted is a minor and still has a father and mother
they must
both consent to the adoption [...]”. Paragraph 4 of that article
provides that if the minor no longer has a father or mother,
or if they are
unable to state their wishes or are absent, the consent shall be given by the
guardianship council or person who is
taking care of the
child;
(d) Article 336 provides that the adopted person shall maintain
his ties with his natural family and retains all his rights and obligations
in
it. The adopter is nevertheless the sole person with the rights of parental
authority over the adopted person. In addition, the
relationship arising out of
the adoption extends to the adopted person’s descendants. However, that
person retains the name
and forenames he acquired at birth.
2. Adoption procedure
207. Adoption is subject to the consent of the adoptee and of the adopter. It
is attested to by an adoption certificate prepared by
an official of the
registry office. The parents’ consent is required if the child is under
the age of 18. The consent required
from the guardianship council or person
taking care of the child must be approved by the court with jurisdiction over
the adoptee.
208. An adoption may be legally revoked at the request of
the adopter if, through ingratitude, the adoptee proves unworthy of the
benefit
bestowed upon him. It may also be revoked, on serious grounds, at the request of
the adoptee or the public attorney’s
office. The legal decision revoking
the adoption is entered in the register at the registry office of the
adoptee’s domicile
and in the margin of the adoption certificate and the
birth certificates of the adoptee and his descendents.
209. It should be
stressed that, although Rwanda has not yet ratified the Hague Convention, cases
of intercountry adoption are becoming
frequent. Thus, from January to December
2001 MINALOC registered nine cases of Rwandan children being adopted by
foreigners living
abroad. Regrettably, there have been some cases of Rwandan
children evacuated to Europe and elsewhere who have been adopted without
the
legal procedures being followed. For instance, 41 Rwandan children were adopted
in this manner in the Italian town of Brescia.
210. The law on the rights
of the child and protection against child abuse states that adoption must take
place in the interests of
the child (art. 16).
H. Illicit transfer and non-return
211. Rwanda has not yet ratified the Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, signed at The Hague on 25 October
1980, but the
procedure is in progress. This does not, however, prevent Rwanda from
undertaking to respect the right of the child
to live in his country, in the
best interests of the child. It is against this background that every effort is
being made to repatriate
Rwandan children evacuated abroad during the genocide
of 1994, especially those who still have their parents or very close family
members. Some have already returned, but others, such as the 41 children in
Brescia, have been “illegally adopted” by
foreign families. This
case has been handed over to a representative of the Rwandan Government and a
lawyer who have already established
contact with the Rwandan parents or families
who wish their children to return.
I. Protection against all forms of child abuse
212. Of the relevant international instruments, Rwanda has ratified the
Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action
for the Elimination
of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No. 182), the Convention concerning Minimum
Age for Admission to Employment
(No. 138) and the Convention concerning Forced
or Compulsory Labour (No. 29).
213. Rwandan civil law makes it
obligatory for parents to support and educate their children and for the State
to support the family
to this end. Decree-Law No. 21/77 of 18 August 1977
promulgating the Penal Code refers to and provides for the punishment of various
offences committed against children or lays down more severe penalties when
certain serious offences are committed against children.
The cases covered by
the Penal Code include:
(a) Infanticide (art. 314);
(b) Abortion
(arts. 325-328);
(c) Indecent assault and rape (arts.
358-362);
(d) Incitation, exploitation and provision of facilities for
the purpose of prostitution (arts. 374, para. 1, and 375, para.
2);
(e) Publicizing abortion facilities (art.
379);
(f) Abandonment, neglect or exposure of a child (arts.
380-387);
(g) Infringement of individual freedom (art.
388).
214. The fundamental law of 30 August 1996 on the organization of
trials for offences constituting the crime of genocide or crimes
against
humanity provides severe punishment for anyone guilty of sexual abuse against
women or girls. Under article 2, persons committing
acts of sexual torture also
fall within the law’s first category and incur the death penalty in the
same way as those who plan
genocide.
215. A phenomenon of violence against children, especially girls, including
in the family environment, has emerged in recent years.
The public authorities
and civil society have been roused to action. The widespread nature of the
phenomenon led to the drafting
of a law which increases the penalties for this
type of offence. Thus, article 22 of the law on the rights of the child and
protection
against child abuse states that “Appropriate administrative,
legal, social and educational measures shall be adopted to strengthen
the
protection of every child against all forms of violence, assault or physical or
mental brutality, abandonment or negligence,
stress or being used for
profit”.
216. It has to be acknowledged that tradition continues to
weigh heavily where child-beating is concerned. Many parents, including
some
social workers caring for vulnerable children in institutions, defend beating as
a normal measure of correctional discipline,
arguing that only its exaggeration
should be prohibited.
J. Periodic review of placement
217. The MINALOC directives refer to the monitoring of children placed in
foster families and CLCs but do not make specific mention
of a periodic review.
So far as placement in institutions is concerned, they have to provide periodic
reports to the competent authorities
and inspection visits are organized. A
preliminary draft law governing placement institutions is being finalized, and
MINALOC hopes
that the relevant law will be passed before the end of 2001.
K. Functions of social workers in relation to the rights
of the child
218. Activities to provide social workers with training on the rights of the
child remain sporadic and modest. There are, however,
some achievements in this
sphere:
(a) From 1996 to 2000 the Child Studies Unit of University
College Cork in Ireland, in cooperation with the non-governmental organization
Trocaire, and with the support of the Department for International Development
(DID) and UNICEF, ran a participative training course
for social officers and
supervisory training staff of the Ministry responsible for social affairs and
non-governmental organizations.
On the basis of the topics discussed during the
training sessions, a trainer’s manual (in French) and a social
worker’s
manual (translated into Kinyarwanda) were prepared and
distributed to participants. The rights of the child was one of the training
topics and was the subject of one of the chapters of these manuals. The social
workers of the 154 communes in the country (now districts)
and 20 sectors of the
city of Kigali took part in the two-week sessions. In addition, 24 social
officers from non-governmental organizations
working with children in difficult
circumstances also received similar training for six months;
(b) At the
request of the Ministry for Gender, the Family and Social Affairs, Save the
Children organized a training programme for
staff of Centres for Lone Children
(CLCs). In 1999, 132 persons working in the Gitarama CLC received training in
the rights of the
child, family reunification and management of a CLC. During
2000 the programme was extended to 24 persons working in the province
of
Gisenyi, but in addition to the topics listed above it included HIV/AIDS and
traumatism.
VI. HEALTH AND WELFARE
219. It is of prime importance to stress that that the health sector in
Rwanda is one in which the legislative framework needs to
be modernized and
strengthened. The laws governing medicine date from the colonial period (before
1962) and professionals in the
sector are guided
more by directives and
practice than by the law. Currently, a Medical Code is being drafted and the
laws governing medicine are being
updated.
A. Survival and development
220. Article 12 of the Constitution of 10 June 1991 clearly states that the
human being shall be sacred. Efforts have been made to reduce infant and
juvenile mortality
rates by building, refurbishing and equipping health centres
(HCs). Nevertheless, the infant mortality rate remains high in Rwanda.
In 2000,
for 1 000 live births about 117 children died before reaching the age of one.
With respect to infanto-juvenile mortality,
198 children died before the age of
five.
221. Since voluntary abortion is not legal in Rwanda but is
practised secretly, it is extremely difficult to obtain reliable statistical
data.
222. To prevent early maternity and unwanted pregnancies in
adolescents, reproductive health programmes for young people have been
started
by various ministerial departments, with the financial and technical support of
partners such as UNICEF, the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) and the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID). However, these
programmes are encountering
difficulties relating to the lack of information,
the absence of specialized services for reproductive health and sexual education
specific to the problems of adolescents, and an increase in sexually transmitted
diseases and in the incidence of HIV/AIDS.
223. It should also be noted
that child suicide is not widespread in Rwanda. There is therefore no department
specifically responsible
for the notification and registration of suicides.
B. Disabled children
224. Physically and mentally disabled persons are to be found in Rwandan
society, some of them being orphans who are victims of the
1994 genocide, the
subsequent migrations or natural causes.
225. Article 24 of the
Constitution of 10 June 1991 stipulates: “The family, which is the natural
base of Rwandan society, shall be protected by the State. Parents
shall have the
right and duty to raise their children”. Article 350 of the Civil Code
adds: “The right of custody entails
the obligation for fathers and mothers
to support and educate their children in accordance with their condition and
form”.
226. Although general, the law is nevertheless clear and
unequivocal on the rights of the disabled child. In reality, it is regrettable
that these children do not receive the special attention and protection they
deserve.
227. Fortunately, there have always been specialized
institutions, usually religious ones, to take care of these children. The most
illustrious case is that of the Gatagara Centre for the Disabled, in the
province of Gitarama, established on the initiative of the
late abbé
Fraipont Dagijimana. Other units are embryonic and need strengthening. This
applies to the Butare and Gahini centres,
which are unfortunately unable to meet
the massive needs of the disabled. The services available, in terms of
facilities, specialized
care, special education and socio-economic promotion,
remain modest.
228. The State contributes equipment and financial
resources to the efforts of private institutions, through the Ministry
responsible
for social affairs, with the aim of ensuring that disabled children
receive the necessary care and special education.
229. Article 15 of the
law on the rights of the child and protection against child abuse states that
disabled children must be afforded
special protection with respect to their
medical care, education and social welfare. Paragraph 2 of that article provides
that such
protection is the responsibility of the child’s parents, his
guardian or the Ministry responsible for social affairs.
C. Health and health services
230. Under Law No. 14/1986 of 6 June 1986 concerning medical care in public
and approved health establishments, there is generally
a charge for medical care
provided in national health establishments (art. 1, para. 1). However, article
2, paragraph 1, of the Law
stipulates that the treatment of social diseases,
collective vaccinations and vaccination of persons sent abroad by the country,
as well as the care provided during an epidemic requiring a campaign of
prevention and hospitalization, are free of charge.
231. The overall aim
of the Ministry of Health (MINISANTÉ) is to protect and develop
people’s health, with their participation.
Among the Ministry’s
specific objectives, reference should be made to improving access to primary
health care through the achievement
of a standard figure of 24 000 to 30 000
persons treated per health centre.
232. Many strategies for attaining
these objectives have been proposed. With respect to children in particular,
mention should be
made of the development of primary health care in accordance
with the recommendations of the International Conference on Primary
Health Care,
held at Alma-Ata in 1978, and cooperation with other public institutions,
particularly in the areas of drinking and
sanitation water, food, popular
education, teaching and scientific research, and the mobilization of financial
resources.
233. The results expected by the end of 2002 are as
follows:
(a) Ninety % of children under 5 vaccinated against the
six target illnesses of the Expanded Vaccination
Programme;
(b) Reduction of 20 % in malaria
incidence;
(c) Eradication of poliomyelitis and
tetanus;
(d) Introduction of health insurance;
(e) Establishment of a health information
system;
(f) Establishment of a system to monitor health
services;
(g) One health centre per 30 000 inhabitants and one hospital
per 150 000 inhabitants;
(h) One doctor per 25 000 inhabitants and one
nurse per 8 000 inhabitants;
(i) Establishment of a financial management
system in health centres;
(j) Signing of agreements with all partners
involved in health services.
234. The problems identified include the
persistence of the major causes of morbidity and mortality. These are illnesses
such as malaria,
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, diarrhoea,
acute respiratory infections and deficiency diseases. Other factors
are the
inadequacy and uneven distribution of health training in the country, the lack
of human resources (one doctor per 55 705
inhabitants and one nurse per 6 365
inhabitants in 2000), inadequacies in certain specialities, including
gynaecology and obstetrics,
anaesthesia and dentistry, the insufficient
availability and high cost of medicines, and the insufficiency of public
resources for
the operation of health centres.
235. Article 14 of the law
on the rights of the child and protection against child abuse reads:
“Depending on their means, the
parents, guardian or any other person in
charge of a child shall guarantee him the right to welfare, the best possible
state of health,
and medical care and education for his physical, mental,
spiritual, moral and social development”. That article also states
that
the Ministry responsible for social affairs shall ensure the exercise of those
rights. It shall prepare a programme of material
assistance in support of
children of destitute parents.
1. Primary health care and infant health
236. Infant health services, both curative and preventive, have been
established in all HCs with the aim of reducing maternal and
infant
mortality.
237. The adoption of primary health care strategies, as
recommended by the Alma-Ata Conference, has been a reality since 1991. One
of
the eight components of primary health care, maternal and infant protection, has
been entrusted to the Department of Health Care
and used to be managed by the
Division of Maternal and Infant Health and Family Planning, which became the
Division of Reproductive
Health after the International Conference on Population
and Development, held at Cairo in 1994. Thus:
(a) Infant health services
are organized in all health centres (HCs) and managed at the central and
intermediate levels;
(b) Prenuptial services consist mainly of guidance
for couples wishing to take an HIV test before marriage;
(c) Prenatal
services are systematic and available in all HCs. By contrast, post-natal
services are uneven.
238. Although post-natal services for mothers are
not systematic, systematic care of children starts immediately after birth at
the
HC level:
(a) Care of newborn babies, including identification and
treatment of anomalies. Regrettably, however, 80 % of births take place at
home;
(b) Monitoring of children’s growth;
(c) Vaccinations against the major children’s diseases in
accordance with the national schedule of vaccinations. At the national
level,
the Expanded Vaccination Programme (EVP), established in 1987, seeks to immunize
100 % of children.
2. Monitoring the growth of children from birth to 5
years
239. At the national level, the Nutrition Division of the Ministry of Health
is responsible for the prescriptive aspects relating
to nutritional activities.
These consist of nutritional studies and surveys, monitoring of the activities
of nutritional departments,
regular supplies of nutritional therapy products to
nutritional departments, promotion of the production and consumption of food
rich in micronutrients, the use of iodised salt throughout the country to combat
goitre, establishment of nine consultant nutritional
therapy centres,
involvement of the community through the establishment of a community-based
programme for the promotion of growth
monitoring, and supplying HCs with
micronutrients, especially vitamin A capsules and iron tablets. Nutritional
activities are currently
being carried out at 295 nutritional centres, the aim
being to establish a nutritional service in the country’s 300 health
centres.
3. Combating children’s diseases
240. Rwanda has an integrated service for children’s diseases, which
was converted into a division following the merger of the
Expanded Vaccination
Programme and the Programme to Combat Diarrhoeal Illnesses and Acute Respiratory
Infections. Since the merger,
care of patients with diarrhoea and acute
respiratory infections is structured around three main
areas:
(a) Epidemiological monitoring of these illnesses in accordance
with the standards recommended by the World Health Organization;
(b) Regular supply to all health centres of equipment for the
treatment of diarrhoea by oral rehydration and medicines;
(c) In-house
training on care of patients suffering from diarrhoea and acute respiratory
infections for district health supervisors
and health training officers.
241. Nevertheless, the persistent causes of maternal and child morbidity
and mortality are:
Morbidity
1. Fever of unknown origin 33.2%
2. Acute respiratory
infections 15.2%
3. Confirmed malaria 14.5%
Mortality
1. Malaria 31.1%
2. Fever of unknown
origin 18.6%
3. HIV/AIDS 3.5%
4. Physical trauma
2.8%
5. Tuberculosis 2.5%
242. The health authorities are very
aware of the situation and remedial programmes are being prepared. The main
constraint is the
inadequacy of budgetary resources for the establishment of new
facilities and the recruitment of sufficient numbers of qualified
personnel.
Significant progress has, however, been made in vaccination.
4. Reproductive health
243. Six priority components were identified for Rwanda at the round table
held at Gisenyi in September 2000 and attended by specialist
from several
fields. Infant health and adolescent reproductive health are prominent among
them. The aim of the round table was to
lay the groundwork for a national
reproductive health policy. The six components deemed to be a priority for
Rwanda are: (i) lower-risk
maternity; (ii) infant health; (iii) family
planning; (iv) genital infections, sexually transmitted diseases and
HIV/AIDS; (v)
reproductive health and tackling sexual abuse; (vi) social changes
to increase women’s power of decision.
244. With a view to
protecting children’s right to life and health, a pilot project has been
set up to prevent transmission
of HIV/AIDS from mother to child. The project is
based at Kigali and covers pregnant HIV-positive women. The results have been
encouraging
and the programme has been extended to six further HCs in the
country. Nevertheless, efforts to distribute medicines needed by mothers
after
childbirth to keep them healthy, thereby enabling them to care for their
children for longer, should be stressed. The project’s
other constraint is
related to the resistance of many husbands to the voluntary HIV
test.
(a) Adolescent reproductive health
245. The
following indicators, taken from Indicateurs de développement au
Rwanda, 2001, show that the situation is
unsatisfactory:
(i) Synthetic fertility index:
6.5;
(ii) Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1 000 women aged 15 to
19): 54;
(iii) Unintended conception among married women aged 15 to 49,
percentage: 37;
(iv) Overall contraception prevalence index (women aged
15 to 49): 13.2
(v) Number of births assisted by qualified staff:
14;
(vi) Maternal mortality rate per 100 000 live births:
810.
246. Although adolescents are taught about reproductive health in
Rwanda, teaching must be strengthened and systematized. The same
applies to
information, education and communication services for sexual health and family
planning.
(b) Other problems among
adolescents
247. Alcoholism, drug abuse, delinquency and criminality
exist but have not yet reach alarming proportions. By contrast, prostitution
among the young and even the very young (12 years of age) is constantly on
the increase, chiefly due to poverty and the decline of
traditional values,
influenced by negative external factors. These phenomena are being taken
seriously by the authorities responsible
and integrated measures to combat them
are being studied in various sectors, particularly in the Ministry of Local
Administration
and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of
Public Security (the national police).
5. Water and environmental sanitation
248. In implementation of the provisions of article 24 of the Convention,
Rwanda has set itself various objectives to ensure the full
exercise of the
right of the child to safe drinking water and hygienic means for the evacuation
of waste water.
249. Following the tragic events of 1994, Rwanda for many
years faced major challenges. Until recently, the country was taking essentially
emergency action. In 1997, Rwanda undertook progressive development programmes,
including in the sector of water and environmental
sanitation. Recognizing that
water is an extremely important resource upon which the well-being of the
population in general and
of the child in particular depends, Rwanda in 1997
drew up a policy aimed at increasing the availability of drinking water and
sanitation
facilities and at the rational use of water
resources.
250. The current policy is centred
round:
(a) Integration of a sanitation component in all drinking-water
supply projects;
(b) Preparation of a sanitation code, currently being
submitted to the National Assembly for adoption.
251. The draft law
provides for regulation of environmental waste and proposes rules of criminal
procedure applicable to offenders.
It is motivated by concern for the health of
the citizen, and to that end provides that waste must be properly treated before
being
discharged, and that discharge requires the prior authorization of the
appropriate departments. Specific conditions are laid down
for all new
industrial or similar establishments and certain projects.
252. The water
and sanitation sector is the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy, Water and
Natural Resources (MINERENA), whose
task is to increase the availability of
drinking water and sanitation and to develop the rational use of water
resources.
(a) Objectives
253. The objectives in this
sphere are:
(i) To provide drinking water that is accessible to all and available in
sufficient quantities;
(ii) To facilitate access for all families to a proper sanitation
system;
(iii) To encourage community participation and management in all activities
in the sector;
(iv) To ensure the protection, conservation, rehabilitation and exploitation
of all water resources and catchment basins;
(v) To follow a procedure in carrying out all development activities in the
sector that gives priority to projects based on strong
community participation
and proposes viable financial and technological options for lasting development
in the sector.
254. The following criteria are applied in assessing the
degree of coverage and level of service to the population:
(i) Amount consumed set at between 15 and 20 litres per person per
day;
(ii) Quality of water supply in accordance with World Health Organization
standards;
(iii) Regularity and permanence of water in systems;
(iv) Number of persons not exceeding 200 at the water point;
(v) Distance to be covered to the withdrawal point not to exceed about 250
metres.
255. These standards, especially those relating to the population
served by a water point and the distance to be covered to obtain
water, are
intended to lighten the burden of children, since they usually have to perform
this task. When a child has to travel very
far to draw water, this has harmful
consequences on his health, his school attendance and his hygiene. He may in
fact end up by no
longer going to school or arriving there tired, and when he
returns home he no longer has the strength to do his homework and has
no leisure
time. This situation may even expose him to corporal punishment by teachers who
care little for his rights. In any event,
his results at school suffer and his
chances of going on to secondary education and beyond are compromised. Moreover,
the obsessive
fear of drudgery drives the child to use as little water as
possible for his bodily hygiene. It should be emphasized that in many
regions of
the country the standards set are far from being met because of a lack of
adequate resources.
(b) Specific children’s
programmes
256. The Plan of Operation agreed between the Government
and UNICEF for the period 2001-2006 provides for a Water and Environmental
Sanitation programme aimed at increasing access to drinking water by 30 %
and improving sanitation facilities, and also changing
the behaviour in the
school through hygiene education. Cleanliness and sanitation conditions in
schools are mediocre. In rural areas,
it is rare for schools to have proper
latrines with running water.
257. To assess the means of combating these
problems, MINERENA, with the support of UNICEF, has just carried out a pilot
programme
of hygiene and sanitation in the school environment (HAMS). The HAMS
project is intended to launch, develop and support a culture
of hygiene and
sanitation in schoolchildren, with consequent effect in the community leading to
a general change in behaviour. In
this respect, it should be mentioned that HAMS
committees, consisting of water and sanitation officials in prefectures, school
district
inspectors and health area medical officers have been established
throughout the country since 2000.
258. The project, which is to last
five years, will comprise the following activities:
(i) Evaluation of infrastructures and sanitation facilities in
schools;
(ii) Training of teachers and school and administrative authorities in
techniques for mobilizing the population regarding hygiene
and sanitation
practices;
(iii) Support for local communities in the establishment of water and sanitation facilities in schools, building of reservoirs to collect rainwater and installation of improved latrines.
D. Social security and child care services and
facilities
259. The Decree-Law of 22 August 1974 on the organization of social security
establishes a system of social security for workers governed
by the Labour Code.
In article 27 it emphasizes that in case of a fatal accident in the workplace
those entitled to it shall receive
a survivor’s pension and a grant for
funeral expenses. Article 33, as amended and supplemented by Law
No. 32/1988 of 12 October
1988, states that surviving children entitled to
receive the pension of their late parent must be under 18 years of age or under
25 if studying; there is no age limit if they are unable to undertake paid work
through physical or mental incapacity.
260. Public and private
institutions operate in the sphere of social security: the Social Fund was
established by the decree-law of
22 August 1974 and its members, until 31
December 1999, comprised 10 275 affiliated employers from the public and private
sectors.
The Fund of course benefits both adults and children with
entitlement.
261. So far as social insurance is concerned, the Rwandan
health insurance system (RAMA), established in 2000, covers the health costs
of
all civil servants and their dependent spouses and children. Mention should also
be made of the mutual health insurance schemes,
operating under a prepayment
system, that have been set up by MINISANTÉ through health centres since
1998. These schemes had
128,556 members at the end of 2000, the vast majority of
them being families with children.
262. Insurance companies have recently
set up health insurance, life insurance and education fees insurance policies
that benefit
primarily children. These include SORAS and SONARWA.
263. It
should be stated, however, that there are no specific instructions in favour of
children in this area.
264. MINALOC intends to establish a policy of
popular mobilization for savings, social security, insurance, mutual health
insurance
and social solidarity, with a view to protecting the future of
children.
265. So far as child care services and facilities for children
with working parents are concerned, in July 2001 there were five crèches
in Rwanda, all of them, private – two in Kigali, two in Butare and only
one in Ruhengeri. In the school year 2000/2001 there
were also 257 nursery
schools in the country, only three of them being public, with an enrolment of
18,399 children, of whom 9,315
were boys and 9,264 girls.
E. Standard of living
266. The responsibility of parents to provide their children with an adequate
standard of living is recognized in Rwandan legislation.
Spouses assume, by the
very fact of marriage, the obligation to ensure the upbringing and education of
their children. If one of
the spouses does not fulfil this obligation, the other
may legally compel him or her to do so, as may the public attorney’s
office (Civil Code, book 1, art. 197).
267. Similarly, with a view to
ensuring that families enjoy the living conditions necessary for
children’s upbringing and education,
current legislation provides that the
State shall establish minimum wages for each professional category, minimum
rates for overtime,
night work and work on holidays, and allowances for length
of service.
268. To complete the present system, the law incorporating the Labour Code
recently adopted by the Transitional National Assembly
provides for a guaranteed
minimum wage. However, as 65 % of Rwandans live below the poverty line the
standard of living of most Rwandan
children is compromised.
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL
ACTIVITIES
A. Education, including vocational training and
guidance
269. In accordance with article 28 of the Convention, Rwandan legislation
provides that primary education is compulsory and free of
charge. Under article
27 of the Constitution of 10 June 1991, “Subject to the enforcement
of article 24, paragraph 2, primary education shall be compulsory and free of
charge, in accordance with the procedures established by law”. Article 24,
however, stipulates that parents have the right
and duty to raise their
children.
270. This principle of the right to education, as set out in
the Constitution, is given explicit expression in Law No. 14/1985 of 29 June
1985, amended by Law No. 48/91 of 25 October 1991 concerning the organization
of
primary, integrated rural and vocational, and secondary education. Article 2 of
that Law provides that “Subject to the special
provisions of the present
law, primary education shall be free of charge and compulsory for all children
domiciled in Rwandan territory
without any discrimination, especially with
respect to race, origin, clan, ethnic background, sex, colour, opinion, religion
or social
status”. Paragraph 2 of that article states that free education
means free instruction and the teaching materials strictly
necessary to carry
out the educational programme. Paragraph 3 stipulates that the Minister may
approve fee-paying primary schools
when a physical or legal person so requests.
Articles 3 and 4 cover the participation of parents in expenses for integrated
rural
and vocational and secondary education. Article 40 specifies that the
duration of primary education shall be six years.
271. The National
Conference on Educational Planning and Policies in Rwanda, held at Kigali from
24 to 27 April 1995, noted shortcomings
in various aspects of educational
legislation. As a result, and in accordance with the recommendations of the
Conference, the adoption
of a new organic law and other legal and statutory
texts to replace Law No. 14/85 of 29 June 1985, which remains the document of
reference, is urgently needed.
272. In addition, the law on the rights of
the child and protection of children against violence specifies that the child
has the
right to education (art. 10). That article also states that primary
education is compulsory and free of charge in accordance with
the procedures
prescribed by law. The Ministries responsible for education and social affairs
determine the modalities of secondary
and higher education for the children of
destitute parents. The law gives district councils the responsibility for
monitoring the
implementation of its provisions concerning compulsory and free
education.
273. The purpose of the Government’s educational policy
is to provide citizens with quality education that is in accordance
with the
country’s needs, without discrimination of any kind. Special attention is
being devoted to promoting a culture of
peace, justice, defence of human rights
and tolerance through civic education.
274. Among post-war achievements,
mention should be made of the political will to make universal compulsory and
free primary education
a reality, and the establishment in MINEDUC of a
department responsible for pre-school education. During the 1999/2000 school
year,
the gross rate of primary school enrolment was 97.1 %, while the net
rate was 72 %, rising to 75 % the following year (Report on
Industrial Development, 2001) – rather a high average compared with
the sub-Saharan average. One of the great attainments of the educational system
since
July 1994 is the total absence of discrimination of any kind
whatsoever.
275. However, there are plenty of challenges:
(a) The
principle of compulsory, universal and free primary education is not yet being
applied, despite the constitutional commitment;
(b) Facilities and
teaching materials are inadequate. In 1999, for example, only 22 % of books
were available in primary schools;
(c) Staffing is inadequate and
teachers’ qualifications are poor. An example is the school year
1999/2000, when only 54.7 %
of primary school teachers were qualified,
resulting in a ratio of 54 pupils per qualified teacher (IDS,
2001);
(d) Pre-school education is poorly developed, private, too costly
and concentrated in urban areas;
(e) Legal texts, suitable programmes
and qualified pre-school teachers are all lacking;
(f) The majority of
people are unaware of the importance of sending young children to
school.
1. Structure of the educational system
267. The educational system consists of formal and informal education. Formal
education comprises several kinds and levels of instruction,
from pre-school
education to higher education. Informal education encompasses literacy and
apprenticeship activities.
(a) Formal
education
(i) Pre-school education
277. This takes
place in nursery schools for children aged 3 to 6 and lasts for three years. The
aims of pre-school education are
to promote school enrolment and awaken the
child’s senses by offering him the chance to live and play with other
children and
to practice numerous physical, rhythmic and manual activities. A
Division of Pre-school Education has been set up in the Ministry
of Education.
Its functions include:
(a) Studying strategies aimed at the promotion of pre-school
education;
(b) Monitoring the organization of pre-school
education;
(c) Teacher training.
(ii) Primary or basic
education
278. This is for children aged 7 to 12 and lasts for six
years. Its aims are to provide children with civic, moral, intellectual and
physical education and to give them the basic knowledge which they need for
practical life and for secondary and vocational education.
New measures have
been adopted to take account of the consequences of the genocide of 1994,
particularly for primary education. It
should be remembered that many Rwandans
have long lived in countries using French or English as the official language
and language
of instruction. Consequently, special emphasis is placed, firstly,
on teaching in the national language, Kinyarwanda, while from
the second cycle
instruction is given in French or English so that all children can follow
whatever their provenance.
(iii) Secondary
education
279. This has the aim of providing a general grounding in
preparation for higher education or vocational training. Until recently,
two
quite separate paths were available from the first year of secondary school: a
six-year general-education cycle and a short cycle
of four years. This system
has been fundamentally restructured. Secondary education now lasts six years and
consists of two three-year
cycles, the first being the common core syllabus for
all pupils and the second a specialized cycle. With respect to languages, the
aim is for every secondary school graduate to be able to express himself in the
country’s three official languages –
French, Kinyarwanda and
English. There are currently three branches:
(a) General secondary
education, with two sub-branches: scientific and literary.
(b) Teacher
training for primary school teachers;
(c) Technical and vocational
education.
280. As a rule, school fees are payable. However, in view of
the consequences of the war and genocide of 1994, many pupils are unable
to pay
them. The State therefore bears the cost, through FASG and the Ministry of Local
Administration and Social Affairs, with an
appreciable contribution from civil
society.
Table 4
Educational development indicators, 1994-2001
|
School year |
|||||||
1993/1994
|
1994/1995
|
1995/1996
|
1996/1997
|
1997/1998
|
1998/1999
|
1999/2000
|
2000/2001
|
|
1. Primary education
|
||||||||
1.1 Number of pupils
|
820 232
|
941 012
|
1 039 657
|
1 154 768
|
1 270 733
|
1 288 663
|
1 431 692
|
1 476 272
|
1.2 Percentage increase
|
|
14.7 %
|
10.5 %
|
11.1 %
|
10.0 %
|
1.4 %
|
11.1 %
|
3.1 %
|
1.3 Number of girls
|
|
|
|
580 126
|
634 187
|
644 187
|
709 811
|
737 833
|
1.4 Percentage increase, girls
|
|
|
|
|
9.3 %
|
1.6 %
|
10.2 %
|
3.9 %
|
1.5 Gross enrolment rate
|
|
|
|
|
|
87.9 %
|
97.1 %
|
99.9 %
|
1.6 Net enrolment rate
|
|
|
|
|
|
69.9 %
|
72.1 %
|
73.3 %
|
1.7 Rate of graduation to secondary education
|
|
|
|
18 %
|
21 %
|
38 %
|
42 %
|
|
1.8 Promotion rate
|
|
|
|
66.5 %
|
56.2 %
|
50.5 %
|
49.8 %
|
|
1.9 Class repetition rate
|
|
|
|
28 %
|
32.1 %
|
38.1 %
|
37.6 %
|
|
1.10 Dropout rate
|
|
|
|
5.5 %
|
11.7 %
|
11.4 %
|
12.6 %
|
|
1.11 Number of teachers
|
16 825
|
17 705
|
18 394
|
20 232
|
22 435
|
23 730
|
26 187
|
28 698
|
1.7 Percentage increase
|
|
5.2 %
|
3.9 %
|
10.0 %
|
10.9 %
|
5.8 %
|
10.4 %
|
9.6 %
|
1.12 Percentage of qualified teachers
|
45.6 %
|
39.0 %
|
40.2 %
|
32.5 %
|
46.6 %
|
49.2 %
|
53.2 %
|
63.0 %
|
1.13 Number of schools
|
1 283
|
1 882
|
1 845
|
1 918
|
1 940
|
2 021
|
2 093
|
2 142
|
1.14 Percentage increase
|
|
47 %
|
-2 %
|
4 %
|
1 %
|
4.2 %
|
3.6 %
|
2.3 %
|
2. Secondary education
|
||||||||
2.0 Number of pupils
|
|
|
50 000
|
82 224
|
90 840
|
105 292
|
125 567
|
141 163
|
2.1 Pupils in public and free subsidized schools
|
3 077
|
20 533
|
26 333
|
48 926
|
45 054
|
60 556
|
68 842
|
79 699
|
2.2 Percentage increase
|
|
|
28.2 %
|
85.8 %
|
-7..9 %
|
34.4 %
|
13.7 %
|
15.8 %
|
2.3 Pupils in private schools
|
|
|
23 667
|
33 298
|
45 786
|
44 736
|
56 725
|
61 464
|
2.4 Percentage increase
|
|
|
|
40.7 %
|
37.5 %
|
-2.3 %
|
26.8 %
|
8.4 %
|
2.5 Total number of teachers
|
|
|
|
3 886
|
4 274
|
4 679
|
5 557
|
6 499
|
2.6 Teachers in public and free subsidized schools
|
307
|
1 711
|
1 739
|
2 374
|
2 611
|
2 875
|
3 220
|
4 020
|
2.7 Percentage increase
|
|
|
|
37. 0 %
|
10. 0 %
|
10. 1 %
|
12. 0 %
|
24. 8 %
|
2.8 Teachers in private schools
|
|
|
|
1 512
|
1 663
|
1 804
|
2 337
|
2 479
|
2.9 Percentage increase
|
|
|
|
|
10.0 %
|
8.5 %
|
29.5 %
|
6.1 %
|
2.10 Percentage of qualified teachers
|
|
|
|
33.6 %
|
34.0 %
|
34.9 %
|
43.0 %
|
|
2.11 Total number of schools
|
|
150
|
210
|
247
|
260
|
322
|
363
|
378
|
2.12 Public and free subsidized
|
|
85
|
111
|
124
|
132
|
167
|
177
|
183
|
2.13 Percentage increase
|
|
|
30.6 %
|
11.7 %
|
6.5 %
|
26.5 %
|
6.0 %
|
3.4 %
|
2.14 Private
|
|
65
|
99
|
123
|
128
|
155
|
186
|
195
|
2.15 Percentage increase
|
|
|
52.3 %
|
24..2 %
|
4.1 %
|
21.1 %
|
20.0 %
|
4.8 %
|
3. Higher education
|
||||||||
3.1 Number of students
|
|
2 821
|
4 196
|
4 440
|
4 548
|
5 943
|
7 224
|
|
3.2 Percentage increase
|
|
|
48.7 %
|
5.8 %
|
2.4 %
|
30.7 %
|
21.6 %
|
|
3.3 Number of teachers
|
|
126
|
179
|
234
|
333
|
485
|
909
|
|
3.4 Percentage increase
|
|
|
42.1 %
|
30.7 %
|
42.3 %
|
45.6 %
|
87.4 %
|
|
3.5 Number of establishments
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
6
|
6
|
|
Source: Annual reports of the Ministry of Education:
Study of the Education Sector in Rwanda, November 1997.
(iv) Higher
education
281. The aim of higher education is to train senior
managers able to meet the needs of the country, on the one hand, and to promote
scientific research, on the other. There are now 12 institutes of higher
education:
(a) National University of Rwanda;
(b) Kigali
Institute of Science, Technology and Management (KIST);
(c) Higher
Institute of Education;
(d) Kigali Health Institute;
(e) Higher
Institute of Public Finance;
(f) Higher Institute of Agronomy and Animal
Husbandry;
(g) Free University of Kigali;
(h) Adventist
University of Central Africa;
(i) Lay Adventist University of
Kigali;
(j) Gitwe Higher Institute of Nursing
Sciences;
(k) Nyakibanda Grand Seminary (Catholic);
(l) Butare
faculty of theology (Protestant).
The first six of these are public, and
the last six private.
282. Rwanda provides many Rwandans with higher
education abroad through bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Ninety per cent
of
students at public higher education establishments are paid for directly by
the State.
(v) Distance learning and adult
education
283. Distance education and adult education are a necessity
of the modern world and Rwanda’s present state of development. They
would
enable certain categories of the population that are excluded from the
traditional educational system to have access to education
and thereby increase
the pool of qualified human resources. For this reason, a structure for the
promotion of adult education is
now being set up. Efforts are being made to
promote distance learning, especially with the help of the National University
of Rwanda
and the African Virtual University, a department of
KIST.
(vi) Special education
284. Under article 9 of Organic Law
No.1/1985 on national education in the Republic of Rwanda, special education is
arranged for persons
who, because of a physical infirmity or mental deficiency,
cannot attend ordinary classes. This type of education is managed by the
division of the same name in the Ministry of Education. It aim is the
educational integration of pupils with physical or mental disabilities.
Pupils
are taught in centres such as the Centres for deaf-mutes at Nyamirambo (city of
Kigali) and Butare, for the physically handicapped
and blind at Gatagara and for
the mentally disabled at Gikondo in the city of Kigali. Unfortunately, these
centres are unable to
meet the massive requirements of disabled persons (see
above, chapter VI, paras. 224 to 229).
(b) Informal
education
285. The aim of this subsector is to recover dropout
children; it is the responsibility of two Ministries, the Ministry of Youth,
Sport and Culture (MIJESPOC) for vocational training, and the Ministry of Local
Administration and Social Affairs (MINALOC) for popular
education and
literacy.
286. Among MIJESPOC’s objectives with respect to
vocational training and guidance, mention should be made of the elaboration
of
strategies to provide young people who are not attending, or have dropped out
of, school with appropriate training to encourage
self-help, and the reform and
strengthening of the training system to benefit these groups.
287. The
Ministry of Education plans to establish an accelerated system for the recovery
of children who are not attending, or have
dropped out of, school and, where
appropriate, to reintegrate them into the formal education system after
upgrading.
(c) Literacy
288. There is a Literacy Division
in the Family and Popular Education Department of MINALOC. It is preparing an
update of figures
on the number of illiterates in the country by age and sex.
These data will be available for International Literacy Day on 8 September
2001.
It should, however, be emphasized that no special activities are planned for
those under 18. Literacy activities take place
in literacy centres administered
by MINALOC, religious bodies or non-governmental organizations, and cover all
illiterate persons
without any age or sex discrimination.
289. The
results of a study carried out by the United Nations Development Programme and
the Profemmes Collective in April 2001 showed
a serious lack of facilities; of
the few operational literacy centres, many are in a state of dilapidation, with
a voluntary staff,
mostly unqualified, and no specific programme or teaching
materials. The study also revealed that males (young people and adults)
attended
illiteracy centres less often than females because of an inferiority complex and
a wish not to show their ignorance in public.
B. Aims of education
290. Organic Law No.1/1985 on national education in
the Republic of Rwanda is quite clear on the aims of education. Article 2
provides
that the aim of national education is to help to develop a moral sense
and the intellectual and physical capabilities of the beneficiary
and to prepare
him for his role as an adult and a citizen. Other articles set out the
objectives of the country’s various forms
of education. Thus, the Law
states that primary education must provide schoolchildren with civic, moral,
intellectual and physical
education and give them the basic knowledge they will
need in practical life, for rural, vocational and integrated education and
for
secondary education (art. 11). The aim of pre-school education is to promote the
child’s socialization and the awakening
of his senses, particularly by
giving him the opportunity to live and play with other children, and to practise
numerous physical,
rhythmic and manual activities (art. 10). Through its Family
and Popular Education Division, MINALOC also seeks to reduce illiteracy
rates
substantially through functional literacy programmes and activities.
291. In addition, the objectives in the sphere of school access and
improving the quality of education and vocational training in
all sectors are
set out in the educational policy. The principal strategic directions
are:
(a) Promotion of pre-school education in rural and urban areas
through greater awareness and mobilization of parents;
(b) Attainment of
a net school attendance rate in primary education of 95 % in 2005 and
100 % in 2010, through:
(i) Increase in teaching
staff;
(ii) Mobilization of internal resources;
(iii) Making parents aware of the importance of the school and of improving
internal performance;
(c) Attainment of a rate of graduation from
primary to secondary education of 40 % in 2005, through:
(i) Promotion of parents’ participation in educational
funding;
(ii) Improved educational quality and performance;
(iii) Helping to make technical and vocational training appropriate for the
needs of the country;
(d) Raising the number of students in higher
education through an increase in the number of places available, taking into
account
the needs and capacity of the economy and the labour market;
(e) Strengthening of special education centres for disabled
children;
(f) Provision of a functional basic education to young people
who are not attending, or have dropped out of, school by:
(i) Increasing the number of trade paths to 15 times the 1998 level;
(ii) Establishing at least one vocational centre in each of the
country’s prefectures;
(iii) Increasing the number of qualified teachers for vocational training
centres;
(iv) Setting up mechanisms to encourage parents to participate in the
establishment of vocational training centres;
(v) Promoting professional associations of young people leaving vocational
centres.
292. As part of good governance, the Minister of Education has
decentralized several bodies. Parents’ committees have been established
for each primary and secondary school. These committees have a say in the
school’s financial, educational and administrative
management.
Pupils’ committees have also been set up, chiefly at the secondary cycle
level. A national youth unit has been
created and is present in each secondary
and higher educational establishment. Lastly, local education committees have
been set up
in the basic administrative units, up to the elementary level of
administrative cell.
293. To make provision for the future development of
education, the period of the Plan of Action has been used
to:
(a) Strengthen the educational sector’s capacity for data
collection and processing, planning, programming and
management;
(b) Prepare a long-term educational development
plan.
294. The criteria essential for understanding educational policy
are, on the one hand, meeting educational needs and, on the other,
the
economy’s requirement for human resources. The Rwandan Government is
strongly engaged in a process of overhauling its educational
system, thereby
making it possible to lay the foundations for integral development while
averting possible tensions.
C. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities
295. The task assigned to the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture
(MIJESPOC) in the sphere of leisure and culture has four important
aspects:
development of artistic and cultural activities among young people, promotion of
the cultural and historical heritage, promotion
of the positive values of
Rwandan culture and promotion of sports and leisure activities. This task is
being progressively carried
out by the Ministry’s three Departments, the
Department of Sport, the Department of Youth and the Department of
Culture.
296. Among the objectives assigned to MIJESPOC furthering the
implementation of article 31 of the Convention, the following should
be
singled out:
(a) Harnessing the energy and abilities of young people for
the development of Rwanda;
(b) Promoting physical, moral and
intellectual health and the culture of peace, including through
sport;
(c) Developing artistic and cultural activities among young
people;
(d) Promoting the cultural and historical
heritage.
297. In its plan of action, MIJESPOC provides inter alia for
the following activities:
(a) An increase in the number of vocational
training paths;
(b) The preparation of a common vocational training
programme applicable in all centres;
(c) Renovation and equipment of at
least 20 vocational centres and allocation of sufficient qualified teachers to
all of them;
(d) Equipment of at least 30 centres having production
cooperatives for trained young people.
298. The new law on the rights of
the child and protection against child abuse stipulates that the child has the
right to rest and
to engage in play and leisure appropriate to his age (art.
17). Paragraph 2 of the law states that the Ministry responsible for sport
shall
ensure that districts, towns and establishments caring for children have
sufficient sports facilities.
299. The current situation is marked by
rudimentary sports fields, the meagre amount of which does not encourage varied
and safe sporting
activity, especially in view of the absence of areas for sport
and leisure in the country’s districts and towns, and the lack
of playing
fields and stadiums in some provinces. The problem concerns both adults and
children, but the latter are doubly penalized
by the fact that priority is
accorded to adults in making use of the few existing facilities.
300. For
this reason, MIJESPOC’s priorities include the establishment of programmes
to set up nurseries and sporting and recreational
areas open to all, and in the
long term the construction in every province of a functioning sports complex for
the practice of a
wide variety of sports. It should be noted that physical
education and sports courses exist at all levels of education, from nursery
school to the end of secondary education. Inter-school tournaments in various
disciplines, with teams competing from educational
establishments throughout the
country, are also organized every year. MIJESPOC also organizes annual festivals
featuring musicians,
folkloric groups and dancers from Rwanda and neighbouring
countries.
D. Difficulties and measures for implementing the
Convention
1. Pre-school teaching
301. The problems that arise include the following:
(a) The very
small number of facilities and lack of qualified teachers;
(b) The
ignorance shown by most people of the importance of very young children
attending school;
(c) The virtual non-existence of pre-school
establishments in rural areas.
2. Primary education
302. The following should be mentioned among problems encountered in this
sector:
(a) Lack of motivation on the part of
teachers;
(b) Insufficient textbooks and teaching
materials;
(c) Very limited involvement of parents;
(d) Great
dispersal of settlements over the national territory, compelling children to
travel long distances. Regrouping of settlements
will be one response to this
problem;
(e) Inadequate nutrition and poor state of health of many
pupils, causing them to drop out.
303. So far as the qualification of
pre-school and primary school teachers is concerned, retraining and training
sessions, given by
educational trainers for each sectoral educational authority
(district and urban), are organized during the holidays. At the pre-school
level, a division has been established in MINEDUC under the Department of
Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education.
3. Secondary education
304. Secondary education faces the following problems:
(a) The
problem of training teaching and managerial staff. It should be stressed that
graduates of the country’s various higher
educational establishments,
particularly the Higher Institute of Education, will assist in resolving this
problem;
(b) The absence of teachers’
qualifications;
(c) The low level of salaries paid to
teachers.
(d) Differences in technical education objectives and
programmes. The MINEDUC project, carried out in cooperation with the German
Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), is currently aimed at the harmonization of
programmes and assistance to the country’s various
technical
colleges;
(e) Insufficient places, unevenly distributed over the
national territory, in the first year of secondary education. One of the
strategies
employed to rectify this situation is the policy of communal
colleges, which currently exist in all districts.
305. The quality of the
primary and secondary educational system thus suffers from shortcomings
resulting from a combination of internal
and external factors. The internal
factors are the low level of available places and the poor quality of teaching.
The external factors
are mainly the poverty of Rwandan families, tradition,
which tends to disadvantage girls, and the dispersed pattern of settlement.
This
results in many children of primary or secondary school age not having the
opportunity to go to school, and there is a high
dropout rate, especially among
girls who are unable to have access to secondary education.
306. However, the classic procedures for assessing the quality of
education (including inspection, competitions, internal assessment,
educational
councils) do exist and are being used. On the basis of the conclusions of these
assessments, educators acknowledge that
much progress needs to be made.
Innovative techniques, participative methods and peer teaching are not much in
evidence, mainly because
of the low level of resources allocated to
education.
307. In addition, imbalances between urban and rural areas are
apparent, to the detriment of the latter. These imbalances are not
deliberate,
but are rather inherited from past political regimes and administrations, which
drew up a regional list of schools without
any consideration for fairness.
4. Education of girls
308. Legally, there is no impediment to the education of girls. The
obstacles, which relate to dropping out rather than access, are
historical and
cultural remnants and are gradually receding. Girls were destined for a role in
the home and excluded from public
activities. The extremely important role of
Women’s Institutes in making the Rwandan community aware of the problem,
and the
establishment of the FAWE (Forum for African Women Educationalists)
school at Gisozi, in the city of Kigali, should be stressed.
The majority of
primary school teachers are women. Female students and pupils in rural areas
have total security, and can go to school
with complete peace of mind.
5. School curricula, human rights and active
life
309. Secondary school curricula currently include a civic education programme
covering various aspects relating to the rights of the
individual, as applied
and adapted to the Rwandan context: national peace and reconciliation,
tolerance, justice, peaceful settlement
of disputes, patriotism and democracy.
Programmes to include sexual education in the school curriculum (end of primary
school and
secondary education) have been introduced as an experiment since
1999. There is no specific programme on the rights of the child.
The same
applies to preparation for active life. However, the National Human Rights
Commission and CCJ plan to cooperate with MINEDUC
to include human rights in
school curricula.
6. Teachers’ qualification in human rights
310. So far, educators have not received suitable training in human
rights in general, and the rights of the child in particular.
In this respect,
it is regrettable that humiliating forms of corporal punishment are still being
used in schools today. Nevertheless,
the new organic law now in preparation
provides for sanctions against teachers who inflict corporal punishment on
children.
VIII. SPECIAL CHILD PROTECTION MEASURES
311. There are very many children needing special protection in Rwanda and,
seven years after the tragedy of 1994, MINALOC is aware
that it has not yet been
possible to identify them all. They are thought to number between 400 000 and
500 000. In addition, there
is the growing number of AIDS orphans, whether or
not they are infected by HIV/AIDS. Several ministerial departments are
responsible
for child protection measures, but these measures are supervised by
the Department for Social Welfare and Protection of Vulnerable
Groups of
MINALOC. The children concerned are:
(a) Children affected by armed
conflict (refugee children, ex-combatants);
(b) Child heads of
household, including orphans of the genocide;
(c) Children and young
people living or working in the streets:
(d) Lone children, whether or
not living in CLCs;
(e) Juveniles in conflict with the
law;
(f) Working children;
(g) Child victims of violence,
especially sexual violence, abuse and negligence;
(h) Juvenile victims
of sexual exploitation;
(i) Children infected with or affected by
HIV/AIDS;
(j) Disabled children;
(k) Infants living with their
mothers in prison.
312. The vulnerability of these children increased
substantially with the war, genocide and massacres that afflicted Rwanda from
1990
to 1994 and the subsequent population movements, as well as the destitution
and poverty in which most Rwandan families live.
A. Children in emergency situations
1.
Refugee children
313. As of 30 June 2001, Rwanda had a population of 31,380 refugees,
including 30,857 Congolese and 527 Burundians. More than 40 %
of these
refugees were under the age of 18. The Rwandan Government is cooperating
closely with United Nations bodies, in this case
the Office of the High
Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF, and with non-governmental organizations in
order to meet their needs,
to the extent of its resources. Refugee children
enjoy the same rights as Rwandan children with respect to health, education and
nutritional assistance. For example, their integration or reintegration into the
educational system, both formal (nursery, primary
and secondary) and informal
(literacy and vocational training), has been facilitated.
314. It should
be emphasized that Rwanda has ratified the following relevant international
instruments:
(a) The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28
July 1951, ratified on 22 October 1979 by Decree-Law No.
29/79;
(b) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of
19 December 1966, ratified on 12 February 1975 by Decree-Law No.
8/75;
(c) The Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees of 31 January
1967, ratified on 22 October 1979 by Decree-Law No. 29/79, confirmed
by Law
No. 01/82 of 26 January 1982;
(d) The OAU Convention governing the
Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa of 10 September 1969, ratified on
22 October
1979 by Decree-Law No. 30/79, also confirmed by Law No. 01/82 of 26
January 1982.
315. Data on lone Rwandan children living abroad provided
by the International Committee
of the Red Cross on 30 July 2000 listed 1 184
children in 16 African and European countries and the United States of
America.
316. A draft law protecting foreign refugees in Rwanda,
including children, has just been approved by the Government Council. The
draft
is presently under consideration and will soon be adopted by the National
Assembly.
2. Children affected by armed conflicts
317. Some children under the age of 18 were enrolled in the armed forces
during the war and genocide of 1994. Immediately after the
war, all these
children were demobilized and a programme of rehabilitation and school
reintegration was implemented with the support
of international sponsors, as
suggested by the spirit of Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, which
has been ratified by the Rwandan Government.
318. Other children serving
with the armed bands of infiltrators from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
are often captured by the
Rwandan army and sent to solidarity camps for
re-education and reintegration into society. As of 30 July 2001, the Mudende
solidarity
camp housed 273 ex-combatant minors, aged from 12 to 18. A programme
of assistance to these minors has been drawn up and MINALOC,
in cooperation with
UNICEF, the World Food programme and Assoferwa, has, starting on 11 August 2001,
transferred these children to
the Gitagata centre so that they can be cared for,
re-educated and taught a trade.
(b) Children living in households
headed by minors
319. The number of children collectively known as
“child heads of household” is estimated at more than 160 000. The
Rwandan
Government, in cooperation with UNICEF and local and international
non-governmental organizations, helps these children, in particular
by
integrating them into the educational and health systems and by promoting their
integration into the social and economic system
through vocational guidance.
However, efforts to this end need to be strengthened, including through an
increase in resources allocated
to assistance to these children and their
socio-economic advancement. One of the many challenges to be faced is the
strengthening
of income-generating activities for these children.
320. A
national policy for children living in households headed by minors is being
drawn up. It is based on the principle of the best
interests of the
child.
3. Children and young people living or working in the
streets
321. The phenomenon of children and young people living or working in the
streets has constantly grown for a number of years, especially
following the
war, genocide and subsequent migrations. This street population has not yet been
systematically counted, but it is
estimated at between 6 000 and 7 000 young
people throughout the country’s urban centres. Researcjh and surveys have
been carried
out in some sample areas to identify the immediate, underlying and
fundamental causes, but usable data remain limited.
322. Three categories
have been identified among this group of street children and youth:
(i) children domiciled in the street –
living and working there; (ii)
children who work in the street but return to their families in the evening;
(iii) children at serious
risk of becoming street children.
323. MINALOC,
supported by UNICEF and various non-governmental organizations, is intensifying
its action aimed at the social and economic
integration of these children. The
main activities in this area are tracing and family reunification, as well as
placement in specialized
centres together with schooling and vocational
training.
324. These activities have so far had limited success, for
various reasons, the main ones being:
(a) Children becoming used to
living in the street;
(b) Low level of available
resources;
(c) Great poverty of households;
(d) Ignorance of the
deep-rooted causes and absence of any rigorous and documented typology for this
group of children;
(e) Application of inadequate methods and mechanisms
for recovery and rehabilitation;
(f) Irresponsibility of some parents
who do not hesitate to exploit their children by sending them out into the
street to work, beg
or steal in order to meet the family’s
needs.
325. A national policy to combat the phenomenon of street children
and young people is being drawn up under the aegis of the Ministry
of Local
Administration and Social Affairs. It will revolve around three major
aspects:
(a) A better understanding of the phenomenon and its
causes;
(b) Surveillance;
(c) An integrated and decentralized
campaign to combat the phenomenon, giving priority to programmes for the
prevention, rehabilitation
and advancement of victims, for the punishment of
parents who exploit their children in this way and for the study of children who
go back to the street after being integrated into the care and advancement
system.
326. It should be pointed out that a large-scale awareness
campaign on the phenomenon of street children is planned for the end of
July
2001.
4. Lone children living abroad
327. Following the genocide and massacres of 1994, many children went to
various foreign countries. The Rwandan Government continues
to repatriate them.
Data gathered between 1 January 200 and 30 June 2001 showed 30 874
repatriated persons who had not passed through
the MINALOC transit centres, of
which 15 603 were children accompanied by their parents and 571 were lone
minors. The lone minors
were immediately sent to CLCs and are being identified
and registered for family tracing.
328. Some countries whose citizens
took in or adopted Rwandan children have been hesitant to allow them to return
to Rwanda. Diplomatic
efforts between Rwanda and these countries are continuing,
so as to make it possible for all the children to be repatriated.
B. Children in conflict with the law
329. These are children who commit offences or violations before the age of
criminal liability (14 years). Three Ministries have the
right of inspection
over these children: the Ministry of Justice and Institutional Relations
(MINIJUST), the Ministry of the Interior
and Security (MININTER), which is
responsible for the administration of prisons and cachots, and MINALOC, which is
responsible for
vulnerable groups.
1. Administration of juvenile justice
(a) “Children in conflict with the law”
project
330. It is important to note that, since 1996 and with the
support of UNICEF, MINIJUST has had a specialized department for protection
of
the rights of the child, the “Children in conflict with the law”
project, the main aims of which are to:
(i) Protect juveniles in detention, and to release those who were under 14
at the time of the offence;
(ii) Accelerate the preparation of files for those who were aged between 14
and 18 at the time of the offence;
(iii) Monitor cases of rape by making available criminal investigation
officers specially assigned to investigate cases of juveniles;
(iv) Establish the necessary contacts with courts to speed up hearings
involving juveniles;
(v) Make lawyers available to juveniles to defend them in the
courts;
(vi) Conduct large-scale awareness campaigns aimed at promoting respect for
children.
(b) Achievements
331. The achievements with
respect to juvenile justice are as follows:
(i) After obtaining the release of 511 young people at the end of 2000, the
above-mentioned project is endeavouring to do the same
for another group of
452 young people thought to have been born in 1980, although the precise
date of birth is not known, by applying
the classic principle of giving the
benefit of the doubt to the defendant;
(ii) Regular meetings are organized with young people aged between 14 and 18
at the time of the offence to prepare their files so
as to speed up the
hearings;
(iii) As a result of the project, files on cases of juvenile rape have been
given priority by Rwandan courts, and of 424 files held
by the prosecutors
during 2000, 91 hearings were instituted. Similarly, of 229 juveniles
accused of raping other juveniles, 220 have
already appeared in court;
(iv) Training courses in the sphere of the rights of the child and on respect
for international norms relating to human rights have
been organized for
professionals working in judicial cases involving juveniles, but they remain
inadequate. In this context, 25 criminal
investigation officers and 12 officials
of the government procurator’s office assigned to the preparation of
juveniles’
files and all judges of the specialized courts have received
training on the rights of the child and the preparation of files for
juveniles
in conflict with the law. At the end of 1998, of the 4,572 juveniles detained,
about 982 files had been completed by criminal
investigation officers and 269 by
officials of the government procurator’s office, and 2 099 files, 1 916 of
them with criminal
investigation officers and 183 with officials of the
government procurator’s office, were still being prepared. In 1998, 33
cases involving juveniles were completed, or 3.3 % of the total number of
verdicts handed down during the year. Further training
courses for legal
officers are organized to improve capability and exchanges of experience. In
addition, training for defence lawyers
has been organized and a training manual
entitled Justice for juveniles has been written.
332. With respect
to court representation, MINIJUST signed a contract in September 1998 with three
lawyers who now represent all children
in conflict with the law in courts. In
this context, Law No. 27/2001 of 28 April 2001 on the rights of the child and
protection against
child abuse states in article 21 that “the State shall
provide legal aid for a child without a guardian who appears in court.
In case
of imprisonment, children shall be separated from adults”. However,
improvements still have to be made to increase
protection of children in
conflict with the law.
(c) Future prospects
333. The action
plan of the “Children in conflict with the law” project provides for
the following activities in the near
future:
(i) Preparation of a Children’s Code, bringing current legislation into
line with the Convention;
(ii) Acceptance also of common law juvenile cases, except those involving the
genocide;
(iii) Campaigns to increase awareness of the rights of the child in the
participatory gacaca courts.
(d) Constraints and
challenges
334. The great difficulty lies in the fact that the needs
are far greater than the project’s material, human and financial
resources. Another extremely complex problem is that the birth date of most
Rwandan does not mention all the elements (day and month),
leading to confusion
in the case of children born, for instance, in 1980, for whom it cannot without
further details be determined
whether they were under 14 in April 1994.
2. Treatment of children deprived of their
liberty
335. Article 3 of the law on the rights of the child and protection of
children against violence provides that establishments or institutions
having
children in their care must meet criteria ensuring the welfare of the children
with respect to safety, health and the number
and competence of their staff.
(a) Protection of vulnerable groups
(i) Infants and
pregnant women
336. In cooperation with the non-governmental
organization Assoferwa, MINIJUST has assigned a social assistant to each prison
to deal
with the problems of infants and pregnant women and monitor the general
care of juveniles. Food supplements are also distributed
to infants and pregnant
women.
337. For the 358 infants kept with their detained mothers, care is
centred round recreational activities. Assoferwa also undertakes
tracing to
facilitate reintegration into foster families: it seeks to trace foster families
and families of close relatives of children
above the age of 2. A total of
104 children were reintegrated into foster families in 1998. In June 2001,
Assoferwa also took care
of 118 infants and six pregnant women. In the
reunification programme, 27 weaned children (above or below the age of 2)
were reunited
with their families and 39 new ones were
registered.
(ii) Constraints and difficulties
338. The
lack of qualified staff is one of the major obstacles preventing the appropriate
authorities from carrying out their work
properly. There are also other
difficulties related to the lack of equipment and infrastructures that
characterizes almost all State
institutions.
(b) Juveniles under the
age of 14
339. With the support of the Government and in cooperation
with UNICEF, MININTER and MINALOC, Assoferwa assists juveniles under 14,
the
age of criminal majority, who are imprisoned for offences. A rehabilitation and
vocational training centre for this category
has opened at Gitagata, in the
province of Kigali-Rural. As part of the “Protect me” project, this
centre provides psychosocial
activities for juveniles in detention. These
include literacy, language and vocational teaching and educational talks on
hygiene
and national reconciliation. These juveniles are gradually being
reintegrated into their families, after a process of awareness-raising
and
preparation of families and the community in general. The most recent expansion
took place in 2000, after which the children
took part in a solidarity camp
organized for them by MINIJUST, in conjunction with MINALOC and the National
Commission for Unity
and Reconciliation and with the support of UNICEF. As part
of the follow-up of juveniles reintegrated into their families, visits
were made
to 480 of the 512 juveniles reintegrated on 22 December 2000. They face
difficulties of all kinds. Firstly, seven years
after the genocide, these
children have grown so much that it is becoming difficult to make people
understand that they are not criminally
liable, and in fact seven of them have
again been arrested and taken back to prison. Secondly, the long stay in prison
is a severe
hindrance to their reintegration into school and society.
3. Sentences given to juveniles
340. These are juveniles with criminal liability but benefiting from their
minority, since they were over 14 but under 18 years if
age at the time of the
offence. The Penal Code sets criminal majority at 14, but a child between 14 and
18 who commits an offence
benefits from his minority (art. 77). This means that
he may receive only a reduced sentence. On this point, article 74, paragraph
1,
of Organic Law No. 40/2000 of 26 January 2001 establishing “gataca
courts” and setting out the arrangements for prosecuting offences
constituting the crime of genocide or crimes against humanity
committed between
1 October 1990 and 31 December 1994 stipulates that children convicted of the
crime of genocide or crimes against
humanity who, at the time of the offence,
were aged between 14 and 18 shall be sentenced to:
(a) A reduced prison
term of from 10 to 20 years if they belong to the first category;
(b) A
reduced prison term equal to half that provided for in the organic law for
adults in the same category, if they belong to the
second or third
categories.
341. Article 74, paragraph 2, states that juveniles under the
age of 14 at the time of the offences of which they are accused may
not be
prosecuted, but they may be sent to re-education centres. Only children over 14
year of age may be deprived of their liberty
for the reasons determined by law.
However, the Civil Code (art. 351) authorizes a father and mother who have
causes for serious
dissatisfaction with the behaviour of their minor child to
report the relevant facts to the judicial authority, which may, where
appropriate, order the internment of the child in a re-education establishment
for a period of one to twelve months.
342. On this particular point, the
Assoferwa report of June 2001 lists 4,220 juveniles, of which 4,075 were boys
and 145 girls, covered
by the project in the country’s various prisons. Of
these, 1,436 children are learning languages, 383 are attending literacy
course
and 398 are receiving vocational training. These juveniles also attend
educational talks on a variety of subjects such as
national reconciliation,
human rights, gacaca courts, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases,
and respect for the property of others. The project also facilitates visits by
family members, with a view to renewing family relations, and 678 juveniles have
received such visits. One of the major problems
referred to in the report is
that, because of lack of space, juveniles are compelled to live with adults in
some prisons, with all
the resulting consequences, including the influence of
adults on these children’s trials. In addition, the project faces a
lack
of classrooms for children’s courses.
4. Physical and psychological rehabilitation and social
reintegration
343. The political will is for all categories of vulnerable groups, in this
case children, to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into
Rwandan society.
However, the measures taken encounter difficulties due to the lack of qualified
personnel and very limited material
and financial resources.
344. Data
are not systematically collected regarding child abuse, maltreatment, negligence
or violence and, consequently, the mechanisms
for rehabilitation and protection
are not very operational. However, the Government in1995 established the
National Trauma Centre
(NTC), which has been working for the psychosocial
rehabilitation of persons traumatized by the genocide of April-July 1994. Since
1998, the structure of NTC has changed and it has become the Psychosocial
Consultation Department, under the aegis of the Ministry
of Health’s
mental health programme. It cares for adults and children’s needing
guidance. In addition to this centre,
mention should be made of other
initiatives of civil society in this sphere. They include the Rwandan
Association of Trauma Counsellors
(RATC), whose trained counsellors work in
eight non-governmental organizations and local associations, two secondary
schools and
54 district hospitals and health centres. About 1,500
adolescents aged between 12 and 18, mainly from schools, are among the clients
helped by these 72 counsellors.
C. Children in situations of exploitation
1.
Child labour
345. Rwandan legislation protects the child against any work that is
dangerous, that might compromise his education, or that could
harm his health or
physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
346. The desire
to protect the child in this area is explicitly reflected in Rwandan
legislation. For example, the 1973 Convention
concerning Minimum Age for
Admission to Employment (No. 138), the Convention concerning the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for
the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No.
182), and the Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour (No. 29)
have
been ratified by Presidential Orders No. 416/06 of 7 November 1980, No.
39bis/01 of 30 September 1999 and No. 26.01 of 10 November 2000
respectively. In addition, article 126 of the Labour Code of 28 February
1967
provides that children may not perform work that is known to be beyond his
strength.
347. Article 24 of the Labour Code prohibits the employment of
a person under the age of 18 without the express permission of the
person
exercising paternal authority over him. However, the Minister responsible for
labour may authorize the exceptional and temporary
employment of children under
14, in the light of circumstances particular to the profession or situation of
the persons concerned.
Article 61 of the Labour Code stipulates that no one may
be taken on as an apprentice if his age is below that at which compulsory
education ends or above that of legal majority, except with the express
authorization of the Labour Office. However, Rwandan legislation
is not explicit
regarding the age at which compulsory education ends.
348. Whereas
article 125 of the former Labour Code set the minimum age for access to
employment at 14, the new Law of 1999 containing
the Labour Code provides that
children under the age of 16 may in no case work in an enterprise, even as
apprentices. This law does,
however, give the Minister in charge of labour the
power to authorize the exceptional and temporary employment of children under
14, in the light of circumstances particular to the profession or situation of
the persons concerned.
349. The law on the rights of the child and
protection of children against violence states that the work performed by a
child must
not involve risks that might compromise his education or harm his
health or development (art. 118).
350. Currently, no legal text or
regulation specifies the kinds of employment or work to which the legal minimum
working age applies.
However, the new law recently adopted by the National
Assembly on revision of the Labour Code provides for determination of the kind
of work and categories of enterprise prohibited to juveniles.
351. There
are no specific provisions limited exceptions, particularly for:
(a) The
circumstances in which children are authorized to work in schools or other
establishments for general, vocational or technical
education;
(b) The
circumstances in which children under 14 would be authorized to be part of the
staff of an establishment for general or vocational
education (in accordance
with the conditions laid down in article 6 of ILO Convention
No.138);
(c) In addition, the Rwandan legislator has not yet defined the
worst forms of child labour or the light work which adolescents from
13 to 15
years of age are authorized to do;
(d) Another major challenge lies in
the fact that children work mostly in the informal sector, which is difficult
for the appropriate
services to monitor.
Regulation of access to
employment
352. As has been emphasized above in this chapter,
Rwandan labour legislation provides reasonable protection for the child against
under-age labour and the worst forms of labour.
However, legal exceptions
tend to weaken this protection. For instance, the legislator has even specified
exceptions to the minimum
age of access to labour which conflict with the normal
age at which compulsory education ends. Worse still, child labour in various
sectors is a daily reality, and the departments responsible for applying the
relevant provisions of the law do not have sufficient
resources to counter this
situation. In other words, there is a discrepancy between the rights recognized
by law and practice. This
is not due to any disregard of the rights of the
child, but rather to the pressure of circumstances. In fact, what is at stake in
almost all cases is the very survival of children and their disadvantaged
families.
2. Drug abuse
353. Consumption of drugs is severely punished by Rwandan law in general
and, with particular reference to children, the law on the
rights of the child
and protection of children against violence, now being promulgated, lays down a
sentence of 15 to 20 years’
imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 200,000
Rwandan francs for anyone who encourages a child to take drugs, or has used or
availed
himself of the child for trafficking in drugs or arms or for fraud (art.
42).
354. Under article 1 of the Decree-Law of 19 November 1973
concerning the moral preservation of youth, unmarried juveniles under the
age of
18 are not allowed in drinking establishments or bars unless they are
accompanied by their father, mother, guardian or other
person entrusted with
their care. Other provisions of this decree-law lay down penalties for the
manager or operator, these penalties
being doubled if the offence is repeated.
Punishments are also set out for anyone who directly or indirectly causes,
contributes
to or helps to contribute to the presence of an unmarried juvenile
under the age of 18 in drinking establishments or bars. Article
8 of the
decree-law stipulates in addition that the manager or operator of the drinking
establishment shall post at the entrance
to the establishment, in full view, the
text of the decree-law and a notice bearing the words: “Access prohibited
to unmarried
juveniles under the age of 18”, and lays down
appropriate measures against a juvenile who disregards the prohibition.
3. Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
355. Articles 363, 364, 365, 369, 372, 373 and 380 of Decree-Law No. 21/77 of
18 August 1977 promulgating the Penal Code prescribe
a fine and imprisonment for
offenders exploiting child prostitution. The Law of 28 February 1967 containing
the Labour Code states,
in article 57, that a young female apprentice may
leave her employer without notice if the female head of the firm
leaves.
356. Article 33 of the law on the rights of the child and
protection of the child against violence defines as the rape of a child
any
sexual relations or sex-based practice with a child in whatever form and using
whatever means. The law also provides for more
severe penalties (up to capital
punishment) than those laid down in previous laws (arts. 34-37). It should also
be noted that ILO
Convention No. 182 and specific provisions of the Penal Code,
the Labour Code and the Civil Code guarantee legal conditions of
protection.
357. The law on the rights of the child and protection of the
child against violence is very clear on incitement of a child to sexual
activity
or prostitution. Articles 38 to 40 set out the penalties for anyone financing a
children’s brothel or receiving monies
from child prostitution or using or
availing himself of children to exploit them for the purpose of producing shows
intended for
prostitution or pornographic material. Articles 47 to 50 of the law
punish under-age and forced marriage. Under-age marriage is
defined as any
cohabitation between man and woman in which one or other of the partners has not
yet reached the age required by the
Civil Code, book 1 (i.e. 21, except with the
consent of the Minister of Justice or his representative).
358. A forced
marriage is one in which one of the partners has not yet reached the age of 21
and has not given his or her consent.
Under this law, any cohabitation or
attempted cohabitation of a man and a woman with a child under the age of 18
constitutes juvenile
rape.
359. Studies and surveys in this area are
rare. However, a study on child prostitution carried out by the Ministry of the
Civil Service
and Labour in 2000 showed that the phenomenon was widespread and
concerned chiefly, but not exclusively, orphans and children of
destitute
parents. The study made it possible to identify the deep-rooted causes of this
evil and to profile the victims and the
perpetrators. It also led to the
preparation of a strategic plan to combat the problem.
360. Efforts are
being made to care for the victims of sexual abuse; they consist mainly of
providing legal assistance to children
and families with a view to punishing the
perpetrators and obtaining redress for the harm suffered. They also include
integrated
care by the health services.
361. To this end, it is
important the Government should implement the 1996 Stockholm Declaration and
Agenda for Action adopted at
the World Congress against Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children. The same is true of the Plan of Action of the Centre
for Human
Rights concerning the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography.
4. Other forms of exploitation
362. Rwandan legislation also punishes child neglect and exposure. Thus,
articles 43 to 45 of the, currently being promulgated, provide
for imprisonment
and fines for parents or guardians who expose a foundling or cause him to be
exposed, or neglect him or cause him
to be neglected. The sentence is capital
punishment if the neglect or exposure of the child led to his
death.
363. Article 46 of that law lays down punishments for a parent,
guardian or director of an establishment with children in its care
who is guilty
of failing to meet his obligation to educate the child and protect him against
abuse. Paragraph 2 of that article punishes
parents, guardians or directors of
establishments with children in their care who lead a child into vagrancy, or
knowingly receive
funds or share in earnings arising from the child’s
begging.
5. Sale, trafficking and abduction of children
364. Article 41 of the law on the rights of the child and protection against
child abuse provides for imprisonment of from five years
to life for anyone
guilty of the abduction, sale or trafficking of a child.
365. It is
interesting to note that cases of sale or trafficking of children are rare. The
known forms of abduction relate to forced
and under-age marriage in some parts
of the country, but they are disappearing as a result of the combined efforts of
workers defending
the rights of women and children, religious groups and the
administrative and police authorities.
D. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous
group
366. Because of the social, cultural and political situation in Rwanda, there
are no persons belonging to a minority or indigenous
group.
E. Social information system and monitoring of children in
difficult circumstances
367. It is in this area that the most serious national problem for the
implementation and monitoring of the Convention arises. In
general, the social
information system is seriously defective and should be strengthened
significantly. There is some weakness in
the numerical data and the statistics
are unreliable. Reporting is based, rather, on estimates that are usually
scattered and partial,
if not contradictory, and this does not facilitate the
compilation of specific well-researched results and performance indicators.
The
problem is partially due to the growing number of vulnerable groups and the fact
that there has been no precise population census,
especially since the genocide
that disrupted the country’s entire social and administrative system.
However, MINALOC is currently
establishing a system for data collection and
incorporation in a database that will be updated regularly. Moreover, a general
census
of the Rwandan population is expected in August 2002, and reliance is
being placed on the Social Information System project, to be
carried out jointly
by UNICEF and the Rwandan Government in the period 2001-2006. Although there are
many categories of children
in difficult circumstances, there is no regularly
updated database. Studies have been carried out and monographs written, but
there
is no compilation, analysis or synthesis.
368. This situation is
serious. No reliable objective data are available to support appropriate
policies, action plans and all other
activities in defence of human rights. The
institutions responsible for vulnerable children’s groups have no
convincing data
on the basis of which to determine needs and obtain the
necessary allocations from partners and State budget officials.
369. So
far as the monitoring of children placed in host families or reunited with the
members of their expanded family is concerned,
this process is in principle the
responsibility of the social officers of the non-governmental organizations
involved in the process
and the Ministry responsible for social affairs.
Nevertheless, difficulties are encountered in practice relating, mainly, to the
imbalance between the number of children requiring monitoring and the available
human and logistical resources.
370. Other major obstacles must be
overcome in monitoring these cases of family re-integration or placement.
Official guidelines have
been issued by MIGEFASO, but there is no legal
provision governing this area. A recent study carried out by UNICEF, MINALOC and
the
Save the Children International Alliance showed that many cases of
spontaneous re-integration are ignored by the local authorities,
which are
nevertheless responsible for the well-being of these children.
CONCLUSION
371. The report has set out the legislative, administrative, judicial and
operational measures taken by Rwanda to guarantee the exercise
of
children’s rights. It also provides a brief critical appraisal of the
situation in each of the areas considered.
372. At the end of this
process it is quite clear that the Rwandan legislative system has some effective
ways of ensuring that children
enjoy the full range of their rights, as
recognized by the Convention in the Rights of the Child and other international
instruments
that Rwanda has already ratified. It is, however, undeniable that
legal principles would remain a dead letter if texts and measures
for their
implementation requiring human and technical resources were not adopted. This
has been shown in almost all the areas discussed,
but more especially in
relation to protection of children in difficult circumstances and the monitoring
of action to assist them.
373. From the legal standpoint, Rwanda has some
strong points, but the shortcomings that exist must be overcome and provisions
supplemented
where necessary (as compared with instruments that have been
ratified and still remain to be ratified). It is essential to raise
awareness
among the political and administrative authorities and the population in general
in order to make the legal texts reality.
The Children’s Code now being
prepared will in the near future provide solutions to legal
problems.
374. At the operational level, it is imperative that the
national system for the application of the rights of the child in accordance
with the provisions of the Convention be strengthened. The reality in the
various sectors must be more clearly visible. This will
make it easier to draw
up rational and viable policies for all categories of children, whether in
normal or in difficult circumstances.
Lastly, a more structured system will lead
to better coordination of action to help children. In this context, a step in
the right
direction has already been taken with the establishment of the
National Programme for Children and through the preparation of a
children’s
policy, currently been drawn up. The restructuring,
independence and strengthening of this structure will allow for better
coordination
of the various activities and harmonization of the information
system.
375. Other forms of action to improve the situation of the rights
of the child are necessary. They need to deal with constraints of
two kinds:
firstly, customs and traditions detrimental to women and children and, secondly,
poverty and the consequences of the war
and genocide of 1994 and the subsequent
population movements. Some progress has certainly been made in these areas, but
vigorous
action for the development of mentalities and a determined and
methodical campaign against poverty are essential. The battle has
already begun
on these two fronts.
------------
[*] For the initial report
submitted by Rwanda, see document CRC/C/8/Add.1; for its consideration by the
Committee see documents CRC/C/SR.97
and 98/Add.1 and for the preliminary
observations see document CRC/C/15/Add.12.
GE.03-44331 (EXT)
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