Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Response to Finland’s Third Periodic Report

Press release 295/2005
30 September, 2005

Finland submitted its third periodic report on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the Secretary General of the United Nations in July 2003 and the country’s first periodic report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child concerning the involvement of children in armed conflict in May 2004. Both reports were considered at the hearing of reports during the Fortieth Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva on 22 September 2005. In response to these reports, the Committee presented the following concluding observations and recommendations on 30 September.

The Committee appreciated the establishment both of the post of Ombudsman for Children and of an expert committee to support the work of the Ombudsman for Children. Among other things, the Committee expressed the hope that adequate resources would be set aside to ensure the Ombudsman’s functions. It was also hoped that the Ombudsman’s annual report would be presented to the Finnish parliament, sparking parliamentary discussion of the report.

The collection of statistics pertaining to children should be improved, particularly with a view to obtaining sufficient information about the living conditions of children in the most vulnerable groups and implementation of their rights. In addition, the Government should, e.g. commission studies on equal access throughout the country to services for children, on the extent of human rights education in schools, and on the occurrence in schools of bullying and violence in general and especially as concerns children with disability.

The prolonged duration of custody disputes, increased use of intoxicants among children and young people, the hearing of children in court when cases concerning them are handled and domestic violence were among the topics about which the Committee expressed concern. The Committee members hoped that the Government would pay special attention to protecting children against violence, racial discrimination and material containing pornography, for example, in the media, on the Internet and in video games. The press and other media should take care to improve the quality of information directed at children.

The Concluding Observations in full are available in English at: www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs40.htm (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

Finnish and Swedish translation of the Concluding Observations will be published some time next week on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Finland’s fourth periodic report on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be submitted in July 2008.

Additional information: Legal Officer Leena Leikas, Unit for Human Rights Courts and Conventions, Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +3589 1605 5731, [email protected]; and Organization Manager Inka Hetemäki, Finnish Committee for UNICEF, mobile tel. +358 40 545 4837, [email protected]