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Following is the translation of the opening statement of the Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, at the hearing in consideration of the combined third and fourth reports of the People's Republic of China under the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child held on September 26 (Geneva Time) in Geneva, Switzerland:
Madam Chair, distinguished Members,
I am grateful to you and our delegation leader Mr Jia (Guide) for the opportunity to introduce the situation of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Today with us are my colleagues covering the areas of social welfare, education, and immigration, etc.
Madam Chair, we would like to inform the Committee that in the past few years, notable developments have been achieved in enhancing the well-being of the children in Hong Kong.
In terms of health, our infant mortality rate has fallen to 1.7 deaths per 1,000 registered births in 2010, which is one of the places with the lowest infant mortality rate in the world. This notwithstanding, we are constructing a Centre of Excellence in Paediatrics to further enhance the quality of our paediatric care. We have also been increasing resources to enhance the public healthcare services for our children.
In terms of education, we have been deepening our education reform. We have extended free education to 12 years, and introduced a new academic structure. The new structure aims to promote whole-person development and the life-long learning capabilities of our students. Additional resources have also been allocated to render better support for children with special needs, and to enhance the integration of students of ethnic minority background into the community.
In terms of social support for families with financial difficulties, and hence children in these families, our Commission on Poverty (the Commission) has completed the work of setting a poverty line which will be promulgated at the Commission on Poverty Summit to be held in Hong Kong two days later. The setting of a poverty line will help gauge the poverty situation in Hong Kong. It will provide useful reference analysis and data for the Commission to contemplate targeted measures to help alleviate poverty and promote upward social mobility of grass root children.
Regarding the question of setting up an independent monitoring body for the implementation of children's rights, we would like to point out that Hong Kong has a strong heritage of Chinese culture. We firmly recognise the importance of the family as the fundamental group unit of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members including children. Our policy is therefore to preserve and strengthen cohesion, love and care within the family. We adopt a family-based approach to provide appropriate services to our children and families in need.
We have established the Family Council in 2007 to promote family core values in the community and from the family perspective, examine the Governments' policies and programmes designed for different age and gender sectors (including children). Since April this year, it is a mandatory requirement for every government agency to include family perspectives when formulating policies.
Every government agency therefore works hand in hand with the Family Council in formulating children-related initiatives. We have also strengthened collaboration between the Family Council and the Children's Rights Forum (the forum). The Forum was established in 2005 to strengthen communication among children, the Government and NGOs on children's affairs. It serves as a platform for us to listen to children's views in the process of assessing family implications of different policy initiatives.
We consider that the current arrangements have been working well to ensure that relevant government agencies would take into consideration the "best interests of the child" while they formulate policies that may have implications on children.
Madam Chair, I wish to re-affirm the HKSAR's firm commitment to promoting the well-being of our children. Our team looks forward to exchanging views with the Committee. Thank you.
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The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's response to the list of issues raised by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on May 10, 2013 is now available on the website of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (www.cmab.gov.hk/doc/en/documents/policy_responsibilities/List_of_Issues_201309.pdf).
Ends/Friday, September 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 04:38
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