Children’s rights

47. In the area of health, Gabon is committed to a policy of protecting children’s rights and has incorporated all relevant texts into its legal order. The Government has placed particular emphasis on immunization, in order to fully protect all children against childhood diseases by administering all boosters.

48. An Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) has been set up in cooperation with UNICEF. It focuses on immunization of the under-fives against tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and measles. A new approach to vaccination called “Reach Every District” has been adopted with the objective of implementing what are known as outreach strategies in neighbourhoods and communities, targeting every child in its own environment.

49. Several initiatives have been carried out using this new approach since 2004:

(a) November 2004: measles vaccination campaign, targeting children aged 0 to 14. The opportunity was also taken to give vitamin A to children aged 0 to 5, to address growth problems.

By the end of the campaign, 625,472 children had received measles vaccine, a vaccination rate of 80.41 per cent. The highest rates were recorded in the provinces of Nyanga (103.26 per cent);

Ngounié (102.66 per cent) and Ogooué Lolo (102.5 per cent), while 210,041 children (81.19 per cent) received a dose of vitamin A;

(b) 2004: National Technical Commission established to run vaccination campaigns throughout the territory;

(c) November 2005 to January 2006: Reach Every District vaccination campaign against polio, hepatitis B, measles and BCG, run in two phases:

(i) The first step was to try to increase collective immunity among infants, by giving additional doses of vaccines to children aged 0 to 11 months;

(ii) The second phase aimed to reach a maximum of children aged 0 to 5, wherever they live.

(a) HIV/AIDS

50. The plan for combating the epidemic puts particular emphasis on tighter national coordination in the fight against HIV/AIDS, both nationally and internationally. Coordination involved:

(a) Monitoring and evaluation of the disease;

(b) Reducing the socio-economic impact of HIV on individuals by setting up the ACCESS project, which aims at getting drugs to people living with HIV/AIDS more quickly by bringing the cost of treatment down. Provision is made for schoolchildren, students, the very poor, officials with a salary less than or equal to CFAF 100,000, pregnant HIV-positive women, infants and children under the age of 12;

(c) Reaching families and communities, through psychosocial support for persons infected with HIV/AIDS (pregnant women, orphans and vulnerable children);

(d) The use of antiretroviral drugs;

(e) Prevention of mother-to-child transmission;

(f) The establishment of outpatient treatment centres in some provincial capitals.

51. In April 2002 the mother-to-child transmission prevention project (PMTCT) was

implemented in collaboration with the French cooperation agency. The aim is to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child. The project targets pregnant women, pregnant infected women and their unborn children. The main activities under the project are:

(a) Pre- and post-test counselling;

(b) HIV testing offered at all antenatal consultations;

(c) Antiretrovirals given to HIV-positive women;

(d) Assistance during delivery;

(e) Post-natal support and care;

(f) Antiretroviral medication for children born to HIV-positive mothers;

(g) Care for AIDS orphans and children at risk provided by the Organization of African First Ladies against AIDS (OAFLA);

(h) Aid for girls from the Ministry of the Family, for the new school year and for income-generating activities.

(b) Education

52. School is open to all children without distinction of any kind. Under Act No. 25/59

of 22 June 1959, school is compulsory for children aged 6 to 16. Act No. 16/66 of 9 August 1966, on the general organization of education in the Gabonese Republic, reinforces this provision and makes education free and compulsory from the age of 6 to 16.

(i) Child trafficking

53. The fight against child trafficking began in earnest on 9 February 1994, following the World Summit for Children, whose theme was “A World Fit for Children”.

54. It was then that the Gabonese Government decided to commit to the protection of children for the sake of Gabon’s future as a dignified and prosperous nation, by ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although children are protected, child labour regulated and child exploitation prohibited, the offence of child trafficking is not yet established in domestic law and regulation. It was therefore a matter of some urgency to create an appropriate legal framework. Thus, following a workshop on trafficking in children for domestic service in West and Central Africa, held in

Cotonou in July 1998, Gabon became involved in the fight against child trafficking.

55. The Government’s commitment resulted in 2000 in a subregional consultation, organized in partnership with UNICEF and the ILO on “Developing strategies on the trafficking of children for the purposes of labour exploitation in West and Central Africa”, held in Libreville from 22

to 24 February 2000, and the establishment of an inter-ministerial commission for consideration of the common platform for action produced by that consultation and monitoring of its

implementation.

56. The task of the Interministerial Commission is to promote and coordinate policies and actions to prevent and combat child trafficking.

57. The Commission met on 20 June 2000 and proposed a framework for action consisting of eight priority objectives, including:

(a) The establishment of an appropriate legal framework, with a select committee set up in the Ministry of Justice to consider the amendments to the Criminal Code required to incorporate a specific offence of trafficking in children;

(b) The establishment of a focal point in each ministry affected by this problem.

58. On 8 August 2000, a committee to monitor the implementation of the common platform for action on trafficking in children for labour exploitation was established in the Ministry of Labour and Employment by Prime Ministerial decree (Order No. 001058/PM/MSNASBE).

59. The Monitoring Committee, which is a technical body of the Interministerial Commission, is charged with implementing the policies and initiatives adopted by the Commission.

60. Following the creation of the Interministerial Commission and the Monitoring Committee, other structures have been set up:

(a) Arcades Call Centre

61. A structure for assistance and support for child victims of trafficking and exploitation, and for applying the procedures for return to the family home. It has a telephone hotline and its mission is to monitor, to provide a listening ear and to inform children and the public. It is the link between the child and the authorities.

(b) Angondjé Centre

62. This is a reception centre for children in social difficulties.

(c) Watchdog committees

63. Their mission is to help improve the support given to child victims of trafficking who have been removed from exploitative situations. The watchdog committees were formed and put in place with ILO support, under the IPEC/LUTRENA project.

64. Each watchdog committee is made up of representatives of the administration and of civil society and, in operational terms, comprises three bodies:

(i) Coordination Unit

65. This is the committee’s decision-making body and is responsible for ensuring its proper functioning, for promoting, planning and coordinating its work and for monitoring the work of the reception unit and task force.

(ii) Reception Unit

66. This unit consists of social workers.

(iii) Task Force

67. This unit comprises a labour inspector, a judge and two members of the security forces.

(ii) Support for trafficked children

68. There are three main phases in the provision of support for trafficked children:

(a) Removal;

(b) Administrative and psychosocial support, board and lodging;

(c) Return to country of origin or resettlement in Gabon.