The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its consideration of the combined fifth and sixth periodic report of Oman, with Committee Experts praising planned reforms of the Omani Human Rights Commission and raising questions about birth registration and female genital mutilation.
Hynd Ayoubi Idrissi, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Taskforce for Oman, said that the Committee welcomed plans to bring the Omani Human Rights Commission in line with the Paris Principles. The Commission, she said, had undertaken various actions to ensure the promotion and protection of children's rights. Did it receive complaints from children in compliance with the rules of accessibility and confidentiality?
Suzanne Aho, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Oman, said that children born outside of wedlock or to single mothers were reportedly not registered, making them invisible, unable to access public services, and more likely to be abandoned. How would the State ensure that these children were registered?
Philip D. Jaffe, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Oman, said that harmful practices such as female genital mutilation were prohibited under the law, however, female genital mutilation continued in certain areas. What measures were in place to stamp out the practice?
Laila Ahmed Awadh Al Najjar, Minister of Social Development of Oman and head of the delegation, said that the Omani Human Rights Commission would be reorganised to strengthen its functions and independence, and allow it to draft national human rights strategies. The delegation added that ad-hoc committees had been established to tackle sexual harassment of children. Direct channels to these committees had been established for reporting such abuse, and anyone could report abuses. Experts were stationed in schools to provide psychological care to victims of abuse.
The Government, the delegation said, was strengthening efforts to promote birth registration and 99 per cent of registrations were made in health centres, facilitating the issuance of identification documents. Children born outside of marriage enjoyed all their rights, and could access all public services and education. Their births were registered in line with the amendment of 2012 to the Social Statute, and they were provided with identity documents.
On female genital mutilation, the delegation said that the practice was criminalised, and penalties of up to three years imprisonment were applied for carrying out the act or any act impinging on the physical integrity of a child. All individuals, including children, were able to lodge complaints about such acts to the Government through an online portal. Cases of female genital mutilation were considered to be cases of abuse of children, and were immediately responded to by child welfare services when reported. A committee dealing with the issue of female genital mutilation had been established.
In closing remarks, Ms. Ayoubi Idrissi thanked the Omani delegation for engaging in the constructive and transparent dialogue. The Committee, she said, hoped that Oman would respond positively to the concluding observations, as it had done in the past, and would continue to work to guarantee the rights of the children of Oman.
In her closing remarks, Ms. Al Najjar said that Oman provided care and protection for all children in Omani territory regardless of nationality. Oman hoped that it would be a role model for other States in protecting the rights of the child. The Omani Government, she said, was working with international organizations and civil society to further promote children's rights.
The delegation of Oman consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Social Development; National Committee for Family Affairs; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Education and Higher Education; Ministry of Legal Affairs and Justice; Public Prosecutor's Office; General Directorate of Legal Affairs; Children First Association; Al-Aman Rehabilitation Centre; Juvenile Orientation Home Supervisor; and the Permanent Mission of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee will issue its concluding observations on the report of Oman at the end of its ninety-second session on 3 February. Those, and other documents relating to the Committee's work, including reports submitted by States parties, will be available on the session's webpage. Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public on Thursday, 19 January at 3 p.m. to consider the combined fifth and sixth periodic report of Bolivia (CRC/C/BOL/5-6).
Report
The Committee has before it the combined fifth and sixth periodic report of Oman (CRC/C/OMN/5-6).
Presentation of Report
LAILA AHMED AWADH AL NAJJAR, Minister of Social Development of Oman and head of the delegation, said that Oman was working to achieve sustainable development and implement human rights into all national strategies and programmes. Oman was ranked fifty-second in the Human Development Index. It had ratified seven out of the nine international human rights treaties, and had pursued peace initiatives to resolve various regional conflicts.
Oman had worked to fully implement the Committee's previous concluding observations. Several legislative developments had been made in the past three years, including the adoption of a new basic law that implemented human rights principles and promoted peace, justice, stability and public freedoms. Various other legislatives reforms had been made, including the adoption of a new Criminal Code in 2018 that introduced greater protections for children and harsher sanctions for abuse of children and the royal decree 15 of 2022 that strengthened the collection of statistics and transferred management of the Statistics and Information Council to the Council of Ministers to improve its independence.
The Omani Human Rights Commission would also be reorganised to strengthen its functions and independence, and allow it to draft national human rights strategies. Oman had also withdrawn several of its reservations to the Convention. Further, the State was reviewing the juvenile accountability law of 2008, the non-governmental organization law of 2000, and the Children's Code, and was developing laws on persons with disabilities, civil society organizations and labour laws to promote equal rights and equal access to work.
Oman had established a committee to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the response measures that this committee had spearheaded had contributed to reducing the rate of deaths, infections and hospitalisations caused by the pandemic. A national vaccination campaign had been launched that had achieved over 83 per cent coverage.
Oman had been impacted by a severe tropical cyclone in October 2021, and the Government had worked to support affected households and fully restore public services in affected areas. A national emergency fund had been established to respond to similar cases in the future. The State aimed to become carbon neutral by 2050. Oman was a victim of extremely high temperatures and other extreme weather events caused by climate change. The Oman Sustainability Centre had been established to develop policies to mitigate the impacts of climate change and natural disasters and reduce pollution.
In 2021, an independent social protection fund was established to provide social protection to the neediest segments of society. Support was also provided to regional public services and charitable organizations that worked with disadvantaged groups.
Following Oman's Vision 2040, the State planned to introduce new programmes and strategies to provide further support to families and children.
Questions by Committee Experts
HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Taskforce for Oman, said the Committee commended Oman for withdrawing its reservations to articles 7, 9, 21 and 30 of the Convention, and the general reservation to apply the Convention "within the limits imposed by available material resources". What progress had been made toward withdrawing the reservation to article 14?
Oman had commendably acceded to three international human rights treaties since the submission of its last report. Was it considering becoming a party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child establishing a communications procedure?
The Committee appreciated Oman's legislative efforts, including the adoption of a new basic law in 2021 promoting gender equality, the rights of the child and the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as implementing decrees for the Children's Code in 2019. However, the age of criminal responsibility was nine years; the children of Omani mothers and foreign fathers were not given Omani nationality; the age of voluntary recruitment was set at 16 years; and the offences listed under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography were not criminalised. What measures would Oman take to further bring national legislation in line with the Convention?
Oman had adopted several strategies, including the National Strategy for Children 2016-2025, the Social Strategy 2016-2025, the Health Vision 2050 and the Oman Vision 2040. Had a mid-term evaluation of the National Strategy for Children and other strategies been conducted? The State had also established monitoring committees for the Convention. How were these committees organised and what were their roles?
Oman had maintained its efforts to finance the social sectors, including health, education and social protection. What measures had been taken to adopt child rights sensitive budgeting that was traceable?
The Statistics and Information Council provided good statistics, however, there were gaps in data on protection, violence against children, child marriage and children with disabilities. The data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey was from 2014 and needed updating. What measures had been taken to improve the data collection system?
The Committee welcomed plans to bring the Omani Human Rights Commission in line with the Paris Principles. Was there a timeline for implementing reforms? The Commission had undertaken various actions to ensure the promotion and protection of children's rights. Did it receive complaints from children in compliance with the rules of accessibility and confidentiality?
What measures were being taken to ensure wide dissemination of the Convention and its Optional Protocols, and to strengthen training for professionals working with and for children's rights? What progress had been made in updating the non-governmental organization law? To what extent were civil society organizations and children involved in the development and monitoring of policies and programmes on children's rights, and in the preparation of Oman's periodic report?
What measures were in place to guarantee equality between parents in terms of guardianship in cases of divorce, and to protect children from abandonment? Oman was one of the few Arab countries that had established foster families. What else would be done?
AISSATOU ALASSANE MOULAYE, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Oman, said that the legal marriage age was 18, but the law on children did not explicitly prohibit the marriage of children, and girls aged below 18 could be permitted to marry if it was deemed in the child's best interests. Were there plans to change this?
Child workers on temporary labour contracts did not have access to social, education and healthcare services. What measures had the State party taken to improve these children's access to such services?
Omani women could not transfer citizenship to their children when married to a foreigner, while Omani men could. Were measures in place to reform this?
What guidelines were in place with regard to determining the best interests of the child? Hundreds of children had been imprisoned for crimes such as theft. Had the best interests of these children been considered? Did public officials receive training on determining the best interests of the child
Oman had one of the highest rates of deaths from traffic accidents in the world. What measures were in place to reduce the number of traffic accidents and particularly to protect children from such accidents?
Was there a children's parliament in Oman, and what were the criteria for eligibility? Were the views of this parliament considered in developing public policy?
SUZANNE AHO, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Oman, asked about the rate of birth registration in Oman. What State services existed for registering births? Were children born outside of wedlock or to single mothers registered? These children were reportedly not registered, making them invisible, unable to access public services, and more likely to be abandoned. How would the State ensure that these children were registered? Why did Oman not intend to allow Omani mothers who married foreign citizens to transfer their citizenship to their children?
What did the State do with the data that it collected on children, and how did it ensure the digital protection of children? What were examples of cases where children had participated in demonstrations and exercised their right to freedom of expression?
PHILIP D. JAFFE, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Oman, asked how widespread the practice of corporal punishment in the home was. Parents were legally allowed to use limited correctional discipline. The Committee recommended implementing an explicit prohibition of corporal punishment. Were any public awareness campaigns on positive parenting planned?
Who were the "child protection delegates", what functions did they carry out, how were they selected and what training did they receive? What means were there for children to file complaints of abuse, and were complaints sufficiently followed up on? How prevalent was child sexual abuse in Oman? Why was there a lack of data on such abuse? If girls reported rape or abuse, could they be criminalised for having sex outside of marriage? Were child protection delegates active in religious settings? Were there civil society groups helping sexual assault victims?
Harmful practices such as female genital mutilation were prohibited under the law, however, female genital mutilation continued in certain areas. What measures were in place to stamp out the practice?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said that a national committee had been set up by the Ministry of Social Development to monitor the implementation of national development plans and strategies. The goal of the committee was to guarantee protection for families and women.
A special committee had been tasked with amending the Children's Code to bring it in line with the Convention. Early childhood centres had been established by the Ministry of Health to provide healthcare and rehabilitation to pregnant women, and support for families of children with disabilities. The Ministries of Health and Education had performance-based budgets that were regularly assessed.
A centre for children of unknown parentage had been established to provide education and healthcare services to these children. Accommodation of such children was funded by the Government. Over 400 foster families received support from the Government. Children born outside of marriage enjoyed all their rights, and could access all public services and education. Their births were registered in line with the amendment of 2012 to the Social Statute, and they were provided with identity documents.
In 2021, Oman acceded to the Arab Children's Parliament with a delegation of two boys and two girls. The members of this Parliament participated in national and international meetings, met with ministers and conveyed issues that children in the Sultanate faced.
The Government was strengthening efforts to promote birth registration; 99 per cent of registrations were made in health centres, facilitating the issuance of identification documents.
There were no reports of female genital mutilation conducted by Omani health centres. Cases of female genital mutilation were considered to be cases of abuse of children, and were immediately responded to by child welfare services when reported. A committee dealing with the issue of female genital mutilation had been established.
Oman promoted positive parenting and planned to launch a national awareness campaign on positive parenting, for which audio-visual materials and brochures had been produced.
The basic law stipulated that Islamic Sharia law was the basis of all laws in Oman. Oman had expressed a reservation to article 14 of the Convention as it was not in line with Islamic Sharia law.
Oman had strengthened training on children's rights and the Convention for members of the judiciary. This had led to an increased number of judges referencing the Convention in rulings.
Legislation clearly stipulated that every child had the right to a nationality. Omani women married to foreign men could not give their nationality to their children because then the child would have dual nationality, which was not permitted in Oman. Children with parents of unknown nationality were given Omani nationality, so no child was born stateless in Oman.
Data on children collected by schools and online learning providers was protected. The Omani Government protected the safety of children online through training on online safety. Oman had also developed a national framework for e-learning, which included laws and regulations on information technology and training of school staff in providing e-learning. Oman was digitising educational materials to increase children's access to education, particularly children with disabilities. An ad-hoc centre to analyse online risks to children had been established in 2010. Campaigns were underway to raise the awareness of children and parents on cyber blackmail.
All forms of sexual abuse were punished, and ad-hoc committees had been established to tackle sexual harassment of children. Direct channels to these committees had been established for reporting such abuse, and anyone could report abuses. Experts were stationed in schools to provide psychological care to victims of abuse.
Police interrogations of children were video recorded, and relevant experts were present for all hearings with children. The national family affairs committee had developed training programmes for members of the judiciary and social workers who participated in hearings with children who were victims of abuse. Hearings of children were held only once, and could be conducted remotely. Various committees reviewed cases of abused children and discussed how to strengthen the protection of children.
Two-thirds of the Omani Human Rights Committee were appointed from non-governmental organizations. Social workers were among the candidates for child protection delegate positions; 177 delegates had thus far been appointed.
The legal minimum age of marriage was 18. Seminars on the risks of child marriage had been conducted by the Government. Judges had the power to permit the marriage of a girl under 18 if the marriage was deemed to be in the girl's best interests. Forced marriage was prohibited. The number of adolescent mothers had dropped from 2.4 per 1,000 persons in 2016 to 1.0 in 2021.
Questions by Committee Experts
HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Taskforce for Oman, said that the Penal Code criminalised relationships outside of marriage. Were single mothers subjected to penalties for having children outside of marriage? What steps had been taken to allow children who had been abandoned to find out the identity of their parents?
It was commendable that Oman was part of the Arab Children's Parliament. How were children with disabilities and children from rural areas represented within the Parliament?
Children who were deemed to be at risk of abuse within their families were removed from their families. Who was responsible for this decision?
