CRC/C/SAU/CO/2
page 4
Allocation of resources
15.
The Committee notes with appreciation the significant investment in social and health
services and education but is concerned that for other areas covered by the Convention, for
example, regarding special protection, the budgetary allocations are limited.
16.
The Committee recommends that the State party continue to prioritize budgetary
allocations for the realization of children’s rights by allocating the maximum available
resources to social and health services, education and culture and to allocate more
resources for the implementation of special protection measures for vulnerable groups of
children. The Committee also recommends that the State party establish a systematic
assessment of the impact of budgetary allocations on the implementation of the rights of
the child and identify the yearly budgetary amount and proportion spent on persons
under 18 years of age.
Data collection
17.
While welcoming the State party’s and the United Nations Children’s Fund’s
(UNICEF’s) joint project to establish a national database on children, it expresses its concern at
the insufficient data in some areas covered by the Convention, including children of non-Saudi
workers (migrant workers), children with disabilities, abused and neglected children, children
begging on the streets, children within the justice system and children belonging to minorities.
18.
The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its system for collecting
data as a basis to assess progress achieved in the realization of children’s rights and to help
design policies to implement the Convention. The data should cover all children below the
age of 18 years and be disaggregated by sex and by those groups of children in need of
special protection. The Committee recommends that the State party allocate adequate
human, financial and other resources to the Social Indicators Committee in order to
develop indicators to monitor effectively the progress achieved in the implementation of the
Convention.
Dissemination of the Convention
19.
With regard to article 42 of the Convention, the Committee notes with appreciation the
State party’s efforts to disseminate the Convention, inter alia, through several programmes and
activities of the Saudi National Commission for Childhood. Nevertheless, the Committee is
concerned that professionals working with and for children and in particular the general public,
including children and their parents and other caregivers, are not provided with sufficient
information and systematic training in international human rights standards, including the rights
of the child.
20.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Develop systematic and targeted human rights training programmes,
including the principles and provisions of the Convention, for all professional groups
working with and for children (such as judges, lawyers, law enforcement officials,