Ministry of Justice Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs 2010 Somaliland Child Rights Situation Analysis 2010 Somaliland Child Rights Situation Analysis The partners in this study, who also financially and technically contributed to the study that was coordinated by Save the Children are: Save the Children, UNICEF, CESVI, SOS Children´s Villages, and ADRA. Disclaimer: This report was commissioned by Save the Children and produced by an independent consultant. The opinions expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the official position and views of any of the agencies who contributed to the study. Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 9 1. CRSA Methodology ............................................................................................................... 11 2. Context .................................................................................................................................. 16 2.1 Children’s Rights: A Reminder ..................................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Somaliland ~ The Environment for Children and their Rights .............................................................. 18 2.3 Who is a Child ................................................................................................................................................. 25 3. Key Findings from the Fieldwork .......................................................................................... 27 3.1 Education, Culture and Leisure .................................................................................................................... 28 Issue ~ Schools continue to use corporal punishment as a form of discipline ................................. 33 Issue ~ Children don’t enjoy adequate recreation / space for recreation ......................................... 33 Issue ~ A High level of children dropping out of schools .............................................................. 34 3.2 Basic Health and Welfare: (Health, Nutrition and Water) ...................................................................... 35 Issue ~ Children, especially in Rural areas are unable to access basic health care ............................ 37 Issue ~ Access to Clean Water ....................................................................................................... 39 Issue: : Children continue to suffer from malnutrition in some areas .............................................. 40 Issue: Children with Disabilities do not enjoy their rights ............................................................... 40 3.3 Special Protections .......................................................................................................................................... 41 Issue ~ Inadequate Progress is being made in eradicating FGM ..................................................... 41 Issue: Rape Against Children .......................................................................................................... 43 Issue: Children are exploited for their labour .................................................................................. 44 3.4 Family and Alternative Care .......................................................................................................................... 46 Issue ~ “Very little done for street children”, and “Children who are abandoned receive no supportive, family care” .................................................................................................................. 46 3.5 Civil Rights and Freedoms ........................................................................................................................... 48 Issue ~ (the treatment of) Children in Conflict with the Law ......................................................... 48 4. An analysis of the UNCRC’s “General Principles”. ................................................................ 51 UNCRC Article 3 ~ The “Best Interests” Principle .. .................................................................................... 51 UNCRC Article 2 ~ Non Discrimination ......................................................................................................... 52 UNCRC Article 6: Survival and Development ................................................................................................. 53 UNCRC Article 12: The Right to be Heard ...................................................................................................... 54 5. An analysis of the UNCRC’s Measures of Implementation .................................................... 57 Implementation Obligation 1: Ensuring all legislation is fully compatible with the Convention; ........... 57 Implementation Obligation 2: developing a detailed, comprehensive national strategy or agenda for children, based on the Convention..................................................................................................................... 58 Implementation Obligation 3: developing permanent mechanisms in government to ensure effective co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation of implementation on the UNCRC .......................................... 59 Implementation Obligation 4: ensuring sufficient data collection on the state of children ...................... 62 3 Implementation Obligation 5: ensuring awareness of children’s rights among adults and children and disseminating periodic reports under the Convention .................................................................................... 63 Implementation Obligation 6: ensuring that there is a systematic process of child impact assessment in the development of policy, legislation, programmes ....................................................................................... 64 Implementation Obligation 7: carrying out adequate budget analysis for children .................................... 65 Implementation Obligation 8: promoting co-operation and co-ordination with civil society - with professional associations, non-governmental organisations, children and other actors ............................ 65 Implementation Obligation 9: promoting international co-operation in implementation ........................ 69 Implementation Obligation 10: developing independent offices to promote children’s rights - children’s ombudspersons or commissioners for children ............................................................................................... 69 Annex 1: Fieldwork Team Members ......................................................................................... 71 Annex 2: Breakdown of Fieldwork for Sahil, Togdher, Sool and Sanaag .................................... 72 Annex 3: Fieldworkers Recommendations ................................................................................. 75 4 Executive Summary The children of Somaliland live in an environment that has high aspirations for their wellbeing and development, and as to what they should enjoy in a good childhood, as entitlements, as rights. In terms of Children’s Rights, established through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the Republic of Somaliland presents some unique challenges. As an unrecognised nation state Somaliland has inherited the status of being a signatory to the UNCRC from Somalia. It is however unable to ratify and join with the community of nations as a state party to the UNCRC as, for a range of reasons, its independence as a nation state has not been recognised. Notwithstanding this peculiar situation the Government of Somaliland has made a very public commitment (frequently referred to as a “ratification”) of the UNCRC in November 2001. Thus, to be a child in Somaliland in 2010 is to be in a situation of rights “limbo” as you lack access to an international system that can promote your rights and hold your nation state to account, an environmental right to a system that will support the rights enjoyed at least in theory by the vast majority of children elsewhere in the world. This is not to say that the children of Somaliland do not have, and do not enjoy rights. Many aspects of Somaliland tradition and culture establish rights that are comparable with international standards. Whilst the Government of Republic of Somaliland has not yet become a state party to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child it has done much to honour the inherited signature to this treaty by working to align laws and policies to the international standards established in the UNCRC. Many more children now have access to an education system, to a health care system than was the case a decade ago. However a very significant proportion, often more than 50% do not have access to these rights. These children live in places that are difficult to reach, live in families with a mobile lifestyle or distant from centres of administration. Somaliland children live in a country with strong social structures organised around traditional and religious laws, now being complemented with increased awareness and alignment with International Human Rights Law. The trend since the last Child Rights Situation Analysis (CRSA) undertaken in 2003 towards rationalising traditional, religious and international law has been positive,