Barbados

Reporting History before the UN Treaty Bodies

Treaty Body Recommendations Addressing Programme Areas

[The following are selected recommendations included in each Committee’s Concluding Observations to country reports. Selection is based on population issues addressed by UNFPA, and some recommendations may address more than one subject. The recommendations presented belong to the last report submitted, and may not reflect actions taken since towards their implementation.]

Population and Development

Committee On The Rights Of The Child, Twenty-first session (May 1999). The Committee considered the initial report of Barbados (CRC/C/3/Add.45) and adopted the following concluding observations.

• The Committee recommends that the State party increase its efforts, and if necessary request international technical assistance from, inter alia UNICEF, on the collection and analysis of statistical data on child rights, systematically disaggregated by gender, age, socio-economic background, geographic location, etc., and with an emphasis on vulnerable groups.

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Exceptional session (5-23 August 2002). The Committee considered the fourth periodic report of Barbados (CEDAW/C/BAR/4) an adopted the following concluding observations.

• The Committee urges the State party to respond in its next periodic report to the outstanding issues that were brought up in the constructive dialogue and the specific issues raised in the present concluding comments. It also urges the State party to improve the collection and analysis of statistical data, disaggregated by gender and age, and to submit such data to the Committee in its next report.
• The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that governmental policies to eradicate poverty are sustainable, incorporate a gender perspective and do not marginalize women.

Reproductive Health

Human Rights Committee, 89th Session (12 - 30 March 2007). The Human Rights Committee considered the third periodic report of Barbados and adopted the following concluding observations

• The State party should ensure that the human rights of the victims of trafficking are given prominent attention in the State party's response to this phenomenon, including with regard to provision of support and assistance to women and girls trafficked into the State party for purposes of prostitution. In addition, the State party should criminalize the trafficking of human beings in consultation with CARICOM.
  
  The State party should decriminalize sexual acts between adults of the same sex and take all necessary actions to protect homosexuals from harassment, discrimination and violence.
  

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Exceptional session (5-23 August 2002). The Committee considered the fourth periodic report of Barbados (CEDAW/C/BAR/4) an adopted the following concluding observations.

• The Committee urges the State party to address the gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS, including the power differential between women and men, which often prevents women from insisting on safe and responsible sex practices. It encourages the State party to strengthen its efforts to raise awareness and educate women and girls on ways of self-protection.
  Committee On The Rights Of The Child, Twenty-first session (May 1999). The Committee considered the initial report of Barbados (CRC/C/3/Add.45) and adopted the following concluding observations.
• The Committee recommends that the State party give careful attention to the recommendations formulated by the Committee during its day of general discussion on "The rights of children living in a world with HIV/AIDS" (CRC/C/80, para. 243). It recommends that the State party increase its efforts to provide appropriate adolescent health services, consider the possibility of actively involving adolescents in the formulation of policies and treatment programmes in accordance with their evolving capacity, and make it possible for adolescents to have access to medical advice and treatment without parental consent in accordance with their age and maturity.

Promoting Gender Equality

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Exceptional session (5-23 August 2002). The Committee considered the fourth periodic report of Barbados (CEDAW/C/BAR/4) an adopted the following concluding observations.

• The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to include in the Constitution and/or legislation a specific right of non-discrimination on the grounds of sex, defined in accordance with article 1 of the Convention. It calls on the State party to introduce procedures that will allow the enforcement of the prohibition on discrimination based on sex and to introduce effective measures, including public awareness-raising campaigns about the Convention, the Constitution and remedies to implement women’s right to equality. The Committee requests that the State party report on progress made in this regard in its next periodic report and that it provide information on whether the Convention has been invoked before domestic courts.
• The Committee requests the State party to include in its next periodic report information on the work and cases considered by the Office of the Ombudsman relating to discrimination against women.
• The Committee also recommends that the State party take measures to ensure that the Office of the Ombudsman incorporates a gender perspective in its work.
• The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that the Bureau of Gender Affairs is provided with adequate human, financial and material resources to give it sustainability, visibility and effectiveness and to ensure continual effective implementation of governmental policies and programmes related to gender equality. It also encourages gender mainstreaming in all ministries.
• The Committee recommends that the State party formulate an integrated national plan of action to fully address the issue of discrimination against women in all its aspects. It also urges the State party to make an assessment of the measures already implemented with a view to further improvements.
  The Committee calls upon the State party to strengthen measures aimed at changing stereotypical attitudes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men, including through sustained awareness-raising designed in collaboration with the media and women’s non-governmental organizations and educational campaigns directed at both women and men. The Committee emphasizes that a policy of gender equality in compliance with the Convention will require the recognition that women can have various roles in society, not only the important role of mother and wife, exclusively responsible for children and the family, but also as an individual person and actor in the community and in the society in general.
• The Committee recommends the introduction of policies to ensure the prosecution of, and strong penalties for, those who exploit prostitutes. In view of the growing emphasis on tourism in the State party, the Committee requests it to provide in its next report comprehensive information and data on the trafficking of women and girls and their exploitation in prostitution and the measures taken to prevent and combat these activities.
• The Committee urges the State party to place a high priority on measures to address violence against women in the family and in society in accordance with the Committee’s general recommendation 19. The Committee urges the State party to strengthen its activities and programmes to focus on sexual violence, sexual crimes, incest and prostitution, especially prostitution associated with tourism, and to provide comprehensive training for the judiciary, the police, medical personnel and other relevant groups on all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence. The Committee recommends that the State party devise a structure for systematic data collection on violence against women, including domestic violence, disaggregated by sex. It also calls on the State party to provide this data in its next periodic report.
• The Committee urges the State party to consider defining marital rape to include circumstances of de facto separation, and to create awareness of the legal remedies so that offenders can be prosecuted and punished. The Committee requests information on cases prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act in the State party’s next periodic report.
• The Committee recommends the adoption of strategies to increase the number of women in decision-making positions, both in appointed and elected government bodies. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt temporary special measures in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention to increase women’s representation. It also recommends that the State party organize special training programmes for women and to conduct, on a regular basis, awareness-raising campaigns in this regard. It recommends that the State party sensitize political parties and social partners about the importance of these measures.
• The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that governmental policies to eradicate poverty are sustainable, incorporate a gender perspective and do not marginalize women.

Treaty Body Recommendations Addressing Population Groups

[The following are selected recommendations included in each Committee’s Concluding Observations to country reports. Selection is based on population groups relevant to UNFPA's mandate, and some recommendations may address more than one subject. The recommendations presented belong to the last report submitted, and may not reflect actions taken since towards their implementation.]

Adolescents and Youth

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Exceptional session (5-23 August 2002). The Committee considered the fourth periodic report of Barbados (CEDAW/C/BAR/4) an adopted the following concluding observations.

• The Committee recommends that the State party increase efforts to include age-appropriate sex education in school curricula and to conduct awareness campaigns so as to prevent teenage pregnancy. The Committee requests the State party to include information on the impact of programmes to prevent teenage pregnancy in its next periodic report.

Committee On The Rights Of The Child, Twenty-first session (May 1999). The Committee considered the initial report of Barbados (CRC/C/3/Add.45) and adopted the following concluding observations.

• The Committee recommends that the State party give careful attention to the recommendations formulated by the Committee during its day of general discussion on "The rights of children living in a world with HIV/AIDS" (CRC/C/80, para. 243). It recommends that the State party increase its efforts to provide appropriate adolescent health services, consider the possibility of actively involving adolescents in the formulation of policies and treatment programmes in accordance with their evolving capacity, and make it possible for adolescents to have access to medical advice and treatment without parental consent in accordance with their age and maturity.

Persons with Disabilities

Committee On The Rights Of The Child, Twenty-first session (May 1999). The Committee considered the initial report of Barbados (CRC/C/3/Add.45) and adopted the following concluding observations.

• The Committee recommends that the State party implement its policies, together with a plan of action in regard to children with disabilities.