CRC/C/GEO/CO/4
E.
Family environment and alternative care (arts. 5, 9-11, 18 (1) and (2),
20, 21, 25 and 27 (4))
Family environment
26.
The Committee notes the reform of the childcare system and the process of
deinstitutionalization of children, but remains seriously concerned by:
(a)
The insufficient human, technical and financial resources allocated to the
social protection system, especially when supporting or replacing a family environment;
(b)
The limited geographical coverage of the social protection system;
(c)
Inadequate initiatives for the early identification and management of
children’s needs;
(d)
Insufficient measures for the reconciliation of work and family life to support
working parents in providing quality care for their children;
(e)
The limited access that the Child’s Rights Centre has to childcare institutions
run by religious organizations and private individuals.
27.
The Committee recalls its previous concluding
CRC/C/GEO/CO/3, para. 35) and urges the State party to:
observations
(see
(a)
Reinforce and allocate the necessary human, technical and financial
resources to the social protection system and to education and family policies and
programmes, especially by significantly increasing the number, training and
remuneration of social workers;
(b)
Guarantee all children and their families access to social services,
especially in rural areas;
(c)
Establish mechanisms and procedures for the early identification of
children and families in need of the services of the social protection system;
(d)
Further strengthen assistance and support services to parents and legal
guardians in their child-rearing responsibilities and promote measures to support
working parents, including considering collaboration with the business sector;
(e)
Introduce and enforce a mandatory registration requirement for
childcare institutions, make running an institution without a licence a criminal offence
and enforce standards for childcare in all institutions.
Adoption
28.
The Committee recommends that the State party expedite the adoption of the
draft law on adoption and foster care, which will prohibit, inter alia, direct adoption,
introduce capacity-building for adoptive parents and foster carers and comply with
all safeguards in relation to adoption under the Convention.
F.
Disability, basic health and welfare (arts. 6, 18 (3), 23, 24, 26, 27 (1)-(3)
and 33)
Children with disabilities
29.
While welcoming efforts for the integration of children with disabilities in social,
recreational and cultural activities, the Committee is seriously concerned by:
(a)
Limited availability of early identification and intervention programmes, the
system exclusively based on health needs determining disability status, which ignores some
developmental disabilities of infants and young children, and the absence of an effective
referral system based on cooperation between medical personnel, social workers and
service providers;
9