CRIN - Child Rights Information Network

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 Committee on Migrant Workers
UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance

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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

(CERD/C/TKM/CO/6-7)

Last reported: 23 – 24 February 2012

Concluding Observations issued: 9 March 2012

Issues raised:

Education: The Committee is concerned that children belonging to ethnic minorities continue to have limited possibilities to study and receive education in their mother tongue as there is a limited number of schools and textbooks in minority languages. In addition, the Committee is concerned that women and girls from such groups remain in a vulnerable position and face double discrimination as women and as members of minorities in education, health care and employment (arts. 2 and 5).

The Committee urges the State party to take the necessary measures to increase access for children belonging to ethnic and national minorities to instruction in and study of their mother tongue, including through the establishment of schools and provision of textbooks in minority languages. The State party should also take all measures to improve the situation of minority women and girlsby enhancing their access to education, health care and employment. (para 20)

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

(CEDAW/C/TKM/CO/3-4)

Last reported: 11 October 2012

Concluding Observations issued: 24 October 2012

Issues raised:

Discrimination: While noting the reassurances of the State party’s delegation, expressed during the dialogue, that there is no legal or administrative provision or State policy in the State party imposing a dress code on women, and that no woman or girl has been expelled from work or educational institution for failure to wear the national dress, shawl or skull-cap takhya, the Committee continues to be seriously concerned about attitudes and policies reinforcing discriminatory traditional norms, harmful practices and patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men in all spheres of life. The Committee is further concerned at the State party’s limited efforts to tackle such discriminatory practices. The Committee is concerned that such customs and practices perpetuate discrimination against women and girls and that they are reflected in women’s disadvantaged and unequal status in many areas, including education, public life and decision-making, and in the persistence of violence against women, and that, to date, the State party has not taken sustained measures to modify or eliminate stereotypes and negative traditional values and practices. (para 20)

Violence: The Committee urges the State party to give priority attention to combating violence against women and girls and adopt comprehensive measures to address such violence, in accordance with its general recommendation No.19, including:

(a) Expeditiously adopt a comprehensive law addressing all forms of violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence, and ensuring that women and girls who are victims of violence have access to immediate means of redress and protection and further ensuring that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished; (…)

(c) Raise public awareness, through the media and educational programmes and to provide mandatory training for judges, prosecutors, police officers, health-service providers, journalists and school staff in order to ensure that they are sensitized to all forms of violence against women and girls and can provide adequate gender-sensitive support to victims (…) (para 23)

Sexual exploitation: The Committee calls upon the State party to fully implement article 6 of the Convention and: (…)

(e) To address the root causes of trafficking and prostitution, including poverty, in order to eliminate the vulnerability of girls and women to sexual exploitation and trafficking, and to strive to ensure the recovery and social integration of victims, by providing them with shelters and assistance.

Education: The Committee welcomes the State party’s Education Act adopted in August 2009 which guarantees and protects citizens’ constitutional right to education and the increase of salaries in the education sector and of student grants by 40%. The Committee also welcomes the 10 year education introduced in 2007-2008.

(…) The Committee is, however, concerned at the lack of data on enrolment of boys and girls in pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary levels, as well as on the dropout rates and its causes. The Committee is also concerned that despite the slight increase of enrolment of girls in non-traditional areas (24.4% of girls in the Oil and Gas Institute, 23.6% in the Institute of Energy Studies, 41.6% in the Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the traditional views of both students and teachers orient female students into areas of study perceived as appropriate to their social roles and participation in public life. (para 30)

The Committee urges the State party to enhance its compliance with article 10 of the Convention and to raise awareness of the importance of education as a human right and as the basis for the empowerment of women. To this end, it urges the State party:

(a) Take immediate steps to implement measures to ensure equal access for girls and women to all levels of education and retention of girls in school, including through temporary special measures in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25;

(b) To address barriers to the education of women and girls, such as negative cultural attitudes and excessive domestic duties, to take steps to reduce and prevent dropouts among girls and to strengthen the implementation of re-entry policies enabling girls who drop out to return to school;

(c) To implement measures to eliminate traditional stereotypes and structural barriers that might deter girls from enrolling in science subjects at the secondary and tertiary levels; and

(d) To step up efforts to provide girls with career counselling that orients them to non-traditional career paths, in particular in technical-vocational areas. (para 31)

Health:

The Committee urges the State party: (…)

(b) To widely promote education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, targeting adolescent girls and boys and paying special attention to early pregnancy and control of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. (para35)

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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/TKM/CO/1)

Last reported: 18 – 21 November 2011

Concluding Observations issued: 13 December 2011

Issues raised:

Children with disabilities: The Committee is concerned that the provision of social assistance and welfare benefits for persons with disabilities is inadequate. The Committee is also concerned at the absence of adequate data with regard to children and adults with disabilities.

The Committee recommends that the State party enhance the provision of social assistance and of welfare benefits to persons with disabilities and in this regard refers the State party to its general comment No. 5 (1994) on persons with disabilities. The Committee also recommends that the State party collect disaggregated data on the enjoyment, by children and adults with disabilities, of the rights set out in the Covenant, that the State party use such data to develop laws, programmes and policies to promote equal opportunities for children and adults with disabilities, and that the State party include such information in its next periodic report. (para 15)

Child marriage: The Committee is concerned that child marriages still occur in the State party despite the existence of legislation against them.

The Committee also calls upon the State party to take all necessary measures in order to prevent child marriages from occurring. (para 19)

Health: The Committee is concerned about the inaccuracy of data relating to the prevalence HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted infections. In particular, the Committee is concerned about the existence of a State controlled quota system, for instance with regard to reporting on maternal and infant mortality rates, and of pressure exercised on health workers to meet such quotas.

(…) the Committee requests the State party to intensify its efforts with a view to further reducing its maternal, child and infant mortality rates, including through educational programmes on sexual and reproductive health and by focusing on prevention and treatment. (…) (para 23)

Education: The Committee is concerned that, in spite of specific legislative provisions in this regard, the possibilities for ethnic minorities, notably Kazakh, Uzbek, Armenian and Russian, to study in their mother tongue are limited. The Committee is also concerned that a number of Turkmen students enrolled in universities abroad have been prevented from leaving the country to pursue their studies.

The Committee recommends that the State party take the necessary action to facilitate access to Kazakh, Uzbek, Armenian and Russian language classes and schools for children of ethnic minorities. The Committee also recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures to ensure that Turkmen students enrolled at universities abroad are allowed to leave the country and pursue their studies. (para 26)

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UN Human Rights Committee

(CCPR/C/TKM/CO/1/Add.1)

Last reported:

Concluding Observations issued: 3 December 2012

In Russian (according to Google translate)

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UN Committee against Torture

(CAT/C/TKM/CO/1)

Last reported: 17 – 18 May 2011

Concluding Observations issued: 15 June 2011

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

Not yet signed or ratified.

Previous UN Treaty Bodies report items

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Last updated 18/06/2013 14:57:29

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TURKMENISTAN: Children's Rights in UN Treaty Body Reports

Previous UN Treaty Bodies report items

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