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Summary:

This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of all UN Treaty Bodies and their follow-up procedures. This does not include the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are available here: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/index.asp

Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.

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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
UN Human Rights Committee
UN Committee against Torture
UN Subcommittee against Torture
UN Committee on Migrant Workers
UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance

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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

(CERD/C/SWE/CO/18)

Last reported: 11 – 12 August 2008

Concluding Observations issued: 21 August 2008

No mentions of children’s rights

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UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Ratified but not yet reported.

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UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Ratified in 2008, but not yet reported.

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UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

(E/C.12/SWE/CO/5)

Last reported: 5 – 6 November 2008

Concluding Observations issued: 18 November 2008

Poverty: The Committee is concerned about the increase in the number of children living in poverty in recent years. It is also concerned about the extent of homelessness in the State party and regrets the lack of information concerning the individuals and groups most affected by poverty and homelessness. (arts. 10 and 11)

The Committee recommends that the State party carry out an updated national survey in order to evaluate the magnitude of child poverty and homelessness in the State party and their root causes. It also encourages the State party to continue strengthening its efforts to combat poverty and homelessness among the most affected individuals and groups, with a view to developing appropriate preventive strategies. (para 22)

Health: The Committee is concerned about the increase of overweight and obese children, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, the increased use of “snus” (tobacco chewing), and the increased suicide rate among young men. (art. 12)

The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to analyze and combat

(i) the reasons underlying overweight and obesity;

(ii) the increased suicide rate;

(iii) the spread of sexually transmitted diseases;

(iv) as well as the use of “snus”, with a view to developing effective strategies aimed at awareness-rising and prevention.

Discrimination: The Committee is concerned about discrimination against Roma children with regard to their access to education as well as within the educational system, including by harassment and bullying. (arts. 13 and 2.2)

The Committee recommends that the State party continue to adopt appropriate and effective measures to increase school attendance by Roma children, including, inter alia, through recruitment of additional school personnel from among the Roma community. It urges the State party to take immediate steps to prevent harassment and bullying of Roma children in schools and invites the State party to provide information on the results of the survey carried out by the National Agency for Education regarding ethnic discrimination as well as the recommendations of the working group on education of the Roma Delegation, in its next periodic report. (para 25)

Education: The Committee reiterates its recommendation that the State party ensure that all children entitled to mother tongue education receive it in practice, including by providing an adequate availability and accessibility of such teaching (E/C.12/1/Add.70, para. 38). (para 26)

The Committee recommends the State party to take immediate steps to ensure the implementation of the laws which provide for access to education for “hidden children” (children of families of refugees or asylum-seekers whose request to stay in the State party has been rejected). (para 27)

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UN Human Rights Committee

(CCPR/C/SWE/CO/6)

Last reported: 25 March 2009

Concluding Observations issued: 7 May 2009

Violence: (…) The State party should intensify its efforts towards the elimination of violence against women, inter alia through awareness-raising campaigns and effective implementation of the action plan 2007-2010 and the special package of measures to increase initiatives for the rehabilitation of men convicted of sexual violence and violent offences in close relationships. The State party should also ensure the availability of a fully adequate number of shelters for women and children subjected to domestic violence, including those with special needs, in particular women and children with disabilities. (para 8)

Asylum-seeking children: The Committee notes that a common action plan has been developed by the State party’s Border Control Police, the Migration Board and the Social Services, seeking to safeguard unaccompanied asylum-seeking children against the danger of human trafficking. The Committee is concerned, however, at the lack of detailed information on the effectiveness of the measures taken by the special units of the Migration Board to prevent the disappearance of children travelling without guardians (art. 24). The State party should ensure that effective measures are taken to prevent the disappearance of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. (para 12)

Intolerance: The Committee is concerned that, according to information from the Living History Forum, following a Survey conducted in 2004 and examining anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia and general intolerance among school youths in relation to attitudes, victimization, self-reported crime and the dissemination of extremist propaganda, “intolerance towards minority groups – which may manifest itself in such forms as discrimination, harassment, insults, threats and physical violence – constitutes a serious social problem” in the State party. Furthermore, and while appreciating the State party’s efforts to combat hate crimes, including the establishment of the hate-crime hotline in 2007, the Committee reiterates its concern about the increase of reported racially motivated crimes in recent years as well as the low number of prosecutions compared with the number of reported hate speech incidents (arts. 20 and 26).

The State party should intensify its efforts to prevent, combat, and prosecute hate speech violating article 20 of the Covenant, and to ensure that relevant criminal law provisions and policy directives are effectively implemented. The State party should significantly increase its efforts to tackle the problem among youth, in particular within the framework of the Living History Forum. The State Party should also evaluate the effectiveness of the hate crime hotline. (para 19)

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UN Committee against Torture

(CAT/C/SWE/CO/5)

Last reported: 29 – 30 May 2008

Concluding Observations issued: 4 June 2008

Violence: While noting that some statistics have been provided, the Committee regrets the lack of comprehensive and disaggregated data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials, violence against women and children, including domestic violence and crimes committed against women and children in the name of honour, as well as compensation and rehabilitation. (arts. 12, 13 and 16)

The State party should establish an effective system to gather all statistical data relevant to monitoring of the implementation of the Convention at the national level, including complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment, violence against women and children, including domestic violence and crimes committed against women and children in the name of honour, as well as on compensation and rehabilitation provided to the victims. The Committee recognizes the sensitive implications of gathering personal data and emphasizes that appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that such data collected is not abused. (para 24)

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UN Subcommittee against Torture

(CAT/OP/SWE/1)

Country visit: 10 – 14 March 2008

Concluding Observations issued: 10 September 2008

No mention of children’s rights

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UN Committee on Migrant Workers

Not yet signed or ratified.

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UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance

Signed in 2007, but not yet ratified.

Previous UN Treaty Bodies report items

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Last updated 11/06/2013 13:48:34

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.

SWEDEN: Children's Rights in UN Treaty Body Reports

Previous UN Treaty Bodies report items

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