2943rd Meeting, 101st Session, Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Good morning. I declare open the 2943rd meeting of the 101st session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. This is the second meeting dedicated to the continuation of the review of the sixth periodic report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Welcome back to delegation. Hope you had a nice working evening yesterday and you are prepared well for the constructive dialogue. Now we will have time until 1245 for questions and answers. However, I will declare the follow up questions for so the colleagues will 15, then we will have again a short break, 15 minutes, and then you can continue until 12:45, then I will give back floor to you, head of delegation, and we will close our meeting today. Thank you very much, and without further ado, please, Your Excellency.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the Secretariat, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, once again, good morning. And thank you for the questions raised during yesterday's evening session and for subsequently providing them to us in writing. Actually, we have counted more than 170 questions. And clearly within the time available this morning and while maintaining a genuine and interactive dialogue, it might not be practical or indeed useful to repeat to each question individually. Actually, there were some convergence, so overlapping of the themes. I must nevertheless acknowledge that the committee's ability to formulate such a substantial number of questions following just a brief presentation of our 43 page report, which was summarized just within 15 minutes, is remarkable. And we take this positively as a reflection of the committee's dedication and its close interest in Tanzania's progress.

We sincerely appreciate that.

Thank you very much once again. We have carefully reviewed the questions, particularly the requests for additional data and concrete examples of implementation. We may also refer to a number of judicial decisions. Some are landmark cases, others are just illustrative examples from a much wider body of jurisprudence. They should therefore not be understood as isolated cases or as an exhaustive assessment, I mean account of judicial enforcement in Tanzania. We have focused our responses into the 11 thematic clusters, but before turning to them, allow me to of course, to introduce my delegation once again. Of course, besides me here is Mr. Derek Makiembe, Makiembe, sorry. Then, of course, others are Mr. Estem Sambazi, Mr. Richard Kilanga, Mr. Micky Chota, Ms. Margaret Kullwar, Ms. Priscilla Kiuli. Of course, we had arranged ourselves that each could have addressed specific things, but because of time, I think Mr. Mwaigombe will address-- will just make the presentation after my introduction. But before I invite Mr. Majombe, please, Madam Chair, allow me to make a few general comments on some particularly important and sensitive issues. One, the United Republic of Tanzania remains firmly committed to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and to promoting and protecting the rights and welfare of every child, as we had stated that yesterday. And this commitment is reflected at the highest level of governance, under the leadership of Her Excellency, Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, whose government continues to place the welfare, protection and development of children among its important national priorities. At the same time, we do not suggest that our work is complete. And of course, human rights is always progressive. Further progress is required in areas including minimum age of marriage and corporal punishment in schools. We understand that in addressing such issues, we respectfully invite the committee to recognize that legislative reform in a democratic society takes place within a particular social context. Where reform touches upon longstanding social, customary, or religious understandings, meaningful consultation is important to ensuring that reforms is both effective and sustainable. The minimum age of marriage illustrates this. The government is conscious of the constitutional principles established by our court, including the decision of Rebecca Gyumi case. Now, consultation does not diminish these principles, nor does it give any social, customary, or religious group a veto over the rights of the child. Here I should emphasize that the consultation does not diminish the equality principles under the Constitution, nor should it be construed as a disregard to the independence of judiciary, and it does not give any social, customary or religious group a veto over the rights with a child. The objective is to ensure that reform is not only enacted but effectively implemented. Of course, I wouldn't want to go to the legal theories of efficacy and the related arguments. Our experience in addressing, for example, female genital mutilation demonstrates the value of combining law and enforcement with community engagement. Of course, the law establishes the standard, courts provide accountability, and engagement helps translate the standard into lasting social change. So, ultimately, the measure of reform is not simply whether a law has been enacted. Of course, enactment of the law is fundamental, but whether it also changes the lived reality of the child it is intended.

To protect.

And just to be specific on the qualification which I made yesterday with respect to the claim that FGM is prevalent in Tanzania. Actually, according to some academic research, out of more than 120 tribes in Tanzania, the practice was recorded among only 20 tribes, but even that, it does not mean maybe a half or a quarter or even a 10th of each of that tribe practices that. And we will also give figures to show how the situation decreased, I mean, of course, from 1998 until 2022. So, Madam Chairperson, with your permission, I invite Mr. Derek Mwaigombe to respond to the questions. Thank you.

Good morning, everybody. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. We would like to respond to the questions and concerns which were raised yesterday, and we have imagined clustered them to six issues. And if I may begin, the first respond will be on the aspects of education, corporal punishment, inheritance, and FGM. The government acknowledges the outstanding issue concerning the minimum age. of marriage under section 13 and 17 of the law of marriage act. With reference to the case of Rebecca Jumi versus Attorney General, Miscellanea Civil Cause number 5 of 2016, it was held, the High Court found the different minimum age gaps, ages applicable to girls and boys discriminatory and inconsistent with the constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination. The constitutional position was upheld by the Court of Appeal in the Attorney General versus Rebecca Juma, Civil Appeal No. 204 of 2017, that the significance of the Juma extends beyond the minimum age of marriage The High Court also considered the relationship between child marriage and statutory rape and rejected the proposition that marriage could automatically shield conduct that would otherwise constitute statutory rape. There are also important existing child statutory protections against marriage. For example, section 62 of the Education Act, CAP. 353, prohibits the marriage of primary and secondary school pupils. That provides specific protection against marriage interfering with children's education, although it is distinct from the broader minimum age question under the Law of Marriage Act. Stakeholder consultations concerning amendment of the Law of Marriage Act, as the Honourable Ambassador said, are still ongoing. However, under the Education Sector Development Plan of 2025-26 to 2029-2030, the government's education system has faced significant demographic effect due to the young and rapid growing population, as previously highlighted. You can all visit the website of the Minister of Education. You'll observe the basic education statistics in Tanzania. We call them best of from 2022 to 2025. There's enrollment statistics of students that have raised from 16 million in 2022 to 17.1 2025. Tanzanians experience with every gym is intrusive. It demonstrates that legal prohibition, judicial enforcement, and engagement which affect communities can reinforce one another. The same principle is relevant to sustainable reform concerning child marriage. When it comes to corporal punishment in schools, Tanzania mainland is presently regulated rather than prohibited. Under the Education Act, and the Education and Corporal Punishment Regulation of 2022. The regulations prescribed the circumstances and manner in which corporal punishment may be administered. Among other safeguards, punishments must be reasonable, having regard to the gravity of the offence and the age, sex and health of the pupil. There are strict restrictions on who may administer it, and the number of strokes is limited. The existence of lawful disciplinary authorities therefore does not authorize arbitrary, excessive, or abusive violence against pupils. The distinction between lawful disciplinary measures and unlawful or excessive punishment has also been considered by Tanzanian courts. The Court of Appeal decision reported as 2019, March 2019, forms part of the relevant jurisprudence concerning corporal punishment and school discipline. Together with subsequent cases, it illustrates the role of the judiciary in scrutinizing the exercise and limits of disciplinary authorities in school. And a further example is in the case of Lepidius Patrick, son of Mthangazila versus the Republic, Criminal Appeal No.

17 of 2019, raising from punishment administered to a primary school pupil, which resulted to the child's death.

The proceeding demonstrate that the school setting and the existence of disciplinary authority do not place.

The conduct of teachers beyond scrutiny under the criminal law. These decisions should not be reviewed as isolated cases; they are illustrative examples of judicial scrutiny of school discipline and enforcement to the limit imposed.

By law when punishment is alleged to have crossed into excessive or unlawful violence. The law of the Chad provides additional safeguards.

In particular.

Its provision concerning collection of child do not justify.

Punishment that is unreasonable in kind or degree, having regard to matters.

Such as a child's age and physical and mental condition, and the act provide protection against regarding treatment.

At the police level, the MPO VOC phase two places increasing emphasis on safe and supportive learning environment, prevention of violence, and approaches to discipline that protect children's dignity and development. The position, therefore, combines legislation of corporal punishment under the existing law, judicial scrutiny of its limit, and evolving police.

Emphasis on safe learning environment and protection of children from violence.

Furthermore.

On equal inheriting rights, gender discriminatory customary practice were struck down through the judicial precedent in the case of Juliana Charles versus Marazo Charles Sangare, PC Probate Appeal No.

3 of 2015, which stated that, and we quote, "Most importantly, the probate law in this country does not discriminate against beneficiaries on the basis of gender, social status, or legal or religion, or whether born in or out of wedlock. In this regard, all of the legal wives of the deceased and all his children have to be treated equally in the distribution of properties of the estate of the deceased. The purported distribution carried.

Got by the clan members was unfair and illegal, and it was based on bias, discriminatory, and the basis of gender and against children, which again, this.

Case addresses the extensive legal hunch to bring equality and discard discrimination basing on gender and safeguard children.

Equal rights of inheritance.

Now, the second response will base.

On the aspect of civil rights, identity and participation.

Universal birth identity is being driven via the under-five birth registration initiative, which offers free registration and immediate certification. Prior to the initiative, only 982,204 under-five children, which means.

Boys were 457,276 and girls 469,948 possessed birth certificate.

By the end of 2023, the figure rose to 9,446,331 children whereby Boys were 4,666,860, while girls are 4,801,471. As of 2026, the total of under five birth certificate reached 11,767,874 children, where girls were 5,466,474.

978 and 80 girls, while boys were 5,789,794.

In the same stance, the state party will continue to expand universal birth registration in all regions for under five.

Program through strengthening digital civil registration services via the e-rita, decentralizing birth registration to health services and local authorities.

Moreover, children's rights to expression, assembly, and participation in policy decisions are guaranteed under Section 11 of the Law of the Child Act, which stipulates that A child shall have right of opinion and no person shall deprive the child capable of forming views, the right to express an opinion, to be listened to and to participate in decisions which affect his well-being. In order to strengthen the right, the government through the Child Protection Laws Amendment of 2024, Act number 10, The Child Act Establishment, Coordination and Operation of Child's Council Regulations, GN No. 177/2026, established children councils in every village, ward, district, region and at the national level, which currently has reached a total number of 8,427 councils across the country. These councils act as a major forum for children to discuss matters concerning their rights and welfare. Apart from that, media has also engaged in the support of each outreach programs and campaigns in order to create awareness of child rights. Such act was evidenced during Commemoration Day of the African Child. On June 16, 2026, child rights broadcast reached estimate of 5.7 to 7 million viewers, with a good example in the one of the media station that is Azam TV, up to 1.5 million on Channel 10, and over 174 subscribers via UTV.

Now, going to the third cluster, which we will respond on protection against violence and harmful practices.

According to the 2024 Violence Against Children Survey, the VACS survey of 2024, sexual violence against girls dropped from 33% in 2011 to 11% in 2024. And among boys, from 21% to 5%. Physical violence against girls dropped from 76% to 24%. while emotional violence decreased from 25% to 22%. This is to enforce protection, and the State has implemented the following measures. Number one, the State has made legal reforms. There was a past of the child protection laws, Misena's amendment of 2024, which amended the Cyber Crimes Act section 3 and 13 to penalize digital child sexual exploitation and abusive material. The second measure which the state took is the national strategies. Launched a national multi-sector strategy for the elimination of female genital mutilation, which is of 2025-2026 to 2029-2030. The third measure is reporting and protection structures. In this, there was establishment of 15,158 child protection desks in schools, police gender desks in all district police authorities, national advisory committees on child online safety, and 20 registered safe houses that provided shelter to 1,300 survivors.

Which is.

49 male and 1,251 female between July 2025 and February 2026. Additionally, 516 facilitators were trained, providing online safety education to over 1.81 million students and 911 school staffs. The other measure was to incorporate and agriculture due diligence. Through this, we enforced the agricultural labor code aligning with the UN guiding principles on business and human rights across agricultural values chains and conducted targeted inspections at artisanal gold mining sites like Gaita, fishing communities in Mwanza, and commercial farms in Kuranga and Tabola. Among the interventions under the National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children, phase two includes developing a comprehensive integrated social welfare management information system for reporting VAC, that is violence against children, set up confidential and safe reporting mechanisms in school. Secondly, we will build the capacity of learning institutions to support staff, including school bus drivers, matrons and other support staff, on protection and reporting of VAWG. Thirdly, we will strengthen the reporting and communication mechanism.

At the local.

Level; setting up confidential and safe reporting mechanisms in schools; increasing the level of awareness campaigns and of reporting channels, such as the children helpline and gender desks; and improving the reporting, tracking, referrals and response to VAWG in education institution settings. Madam Chairperson, allow me to continue with the fourth cluster that will respond on aspects of family environment and alternative care. The state party has implemented the national alternative care reform strategy and implementation framework alongside the law of the Child Act, Fit Person Regulation, GN number 740 of 2019, to prioritize family-based care over institutionalization. During the reporting period, 413 children were placed in foster care and 267 children, that is 182 boys and 85 girls, were successfully reunified with their biological families. To regulate institutional care, the government registered and inspected 433 private children homes under the Children Home Regulation GN number 40. GN number 155 of 2012. And now the state also runs only two centers, that is Kikombo and Koracini, accommodating 382 highly vulnerable children between 2022 and 2026. And the rate is decreasing due to phasing of children, adoption procedure, and the reintegration to their families. Again, in section 25 and 66 of the Prison Act, safeguard the welfare of the infants born to or accompanied incarcerated mothers by permitting them to reside in female prison section to access essential cares and maternal nutrition during their best feeding period. Upon completion of this phase, children are integrated to the family care with close relatives or entrusted to appropriate child protection institutions. Under these statutory provisions, a total number of 14 infants have received institutional support from 2023 to date. In overall, the admission of pregnant female offenders remain rare. representing a statistically insignificant proportion of the total prison population.

Madam Chairperson, I will go to the fifth cluster, which is on the aspects of disability, basic health and welfare.

The intervention subject to people with disabilities is one of the State's priorities towards the rights and welfare of the child. The overall vision of the Education Sector Development Plan aligns with the Education and Training Policy edition of 2023, forming the foundation of improving Tanzania's education system. The Education Sector Development Plan set out strategies to improve access to quality education, enhance learning and teaching outcomes, and ensuring equitable opportunities across education levels. These initiatives seek to remove barriers to education, including social and economic norms, economic constraints, and inadequate facilities, thereby promoting greater participation and inclusivity to children with disability. Protection of children with albinism is operationalized through the National Plan of Rights and welfare of persons with albinism, that is of 2024-2025 to 2028-2029, and currently active across high-risk regions of Mara, Mwanza, Geita, Kimanjaro, and Manyara, whereby zero cases of ritual killings or beliefs-based violence against persons with albinism have been recorded since the plan was launched. Educational inclusion is governed by the Persons with Disabilities Act, Cap. 183, revised edition, education and trained policy that is of 2023, and the national strategy of inclusive education, which is of 2021-22 to 2025-26. Public facilities and hospitals distribute free sunscreen wide-brimmed mats, and UV-protective sunglasses to children with albinism, as well as white canes, bell tools, and hearing aids. The Tanzania Institution of Education, that is TIE, supplies standardized Tanzanian sign language dictionaries, teachers' guides, and tactile diagrams. However, the state acknowledges that schools in remote rural areas continue to experience equipment shortages that require ongoing distribution efforts. Madam Chairperson, if I proceed with the sixth cluster, which will respond on aspects of environment and special protection measures. The child labour among children aged 5 to 17 decreases from 33.8% in 2014 to 25.5% in 2024, which is a reduction of 8.4%, backed by the National Strategy of Elimination of Child Labour Strategy of 2025-2026 to 2029-2030. Labour inspectors executed 13,731 targeted inspections, whereby targeted 898%, reached nearly 50,000 workers, 9,499 employers. Intervention in high risk zone include the Prosper Research Project in Tabora and Songwe, offering alternative lifehood loans to tobacco farmers and the children street situation campaign which rescued and provided social welfare services to 5,353 street children whereby boys were 2,825 and girls were 2,528 across the Islam, Dodoma and Mwanza as of February 2026. Protection against border zones is coordinated by the Multi-Agency Task Force and Ant-Trafficking and Child Protection, while 20 safe houses assisted 5,200 total trafficking or violence survivors from 2022 to 2026. In child justice, the Law of the Child Act revised edition of 2023 annual supplement of 2025 has introduced statutory diversion under section 102 for minor offenders diverting children's to warnings mediation or community rehabilitation programs which rehabilitated uh 172 76 juvenile uh juvenile that is boys were 143 and girls were 33 between 2022 and 2026. Official statistics confirm that zero children are serving sentences in adult prisons. legal assistance booster by training 441 state attorneys, 171 private advocates, and increasing registered legal aid providers to 430 and paralegals to 243 in 2025 to 2026 program. Pretrial detention is restricted to specialized remand homes such as Upanga, in Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Arusha, Moshi, Mbeya, or approved schools, that is Ilamboo, where juveniles are held strictly separated from adults. With this, I would like to conclude before I return the mic to the honorable ambassador to to make a strong emphasis that the government is working firmly to ensure that all matters that concerns child welfare are taken on board.

Thank you, Mr. Madam Chairperson.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Eric. And just one point of qualifications. As we have said, the government is really interested in promoting and protecting the rights and welfare of the child. We believe in all those matters which act in the best interest of the child, which is one of the fundamental principles in protecting the rights of the child. Again, as we are making consultations and progress with respect to the amendment of marriage laws, I would want to point out that the exception in the Law of Marriage Act, of course, which has been declared unconstitutional and consultations are ongoing, should not be construed to mean that it was an open or unrestricted exception. There are circumstances where criminal courts have handled punishments and rejected the defense that particular girls were married because those legal restrictions to such exceptions were not followed. I just wanted to emphasize that, also to qualify that, yes, the law has an exception, but it does not mean that courts always condone a defense to rape that a particular girl was married. There is a strict judicial scrutiny over the matter, but nevertheless, other safeguards have been mentioned and ongoing consultations are underway. And we hope one day when I or somebody else comes before this committee or committee, the same committee composed of other members, perhaps the story will be different. Otherwise, Madam Chair, I return the mic to you for your further instructions.

Thank you very much, Your Excellency and the members of the delegation for providing your answers. However, we have now more time as intended initially. So I would like to open the follow-up questions for my colleagues. The first I see, Madame Hind Ayoubi-Drissi. and Madam Faith Marshall-Harris, Mr. Chopel, Mr. Ekisa, Madam Suzanne Ahou, but we go first Country Task Force. Mr. Tsefas Womina? Okay, good. Then we begin from Ms. Ayub Adrasi. Oh, sorry, Ms. Faith Marshall-Harris, sorry.

Some of the clarifications, just some follow-up questions and probably a couple of new ones. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that the law of the child actively discourages detention of children and encourages alternative sentencing. That is the basic premise. So I have to ask Why are nearly 500 children in detention, some of them with adults? I think you mentioned this as well. And my concern is that I want to make sure I've got it clear that, in fact, this is not actually in violation of your own act, because I think the act itself is visionary in terms of the law. much to be admired, but I'm wondering if the implementation is somewhat lacking. The other, what I think is a great idea, the police gender and children's desk is another aspect that I thought was a good development, but the reports that we get is that they're neither child-friendly or adequately resourced. So I would like you to address that. Under OPAC, I didn't mention this before, but I was concerned to hear that children as young as 15 can volunteer for military service. Maybe this is a limited exercise, so you can tell me if it, in fact, is limited. But we would like to urge, under OPAC, that children under the ages of 18 are discouraged from being part of the military. exercise. And also, I would like to be assured, if you can, that support is given to those children who may have been recruited and used in armed conflicts outside of the State party, that on their return, they are afforded physical and psychological recovery. This is important in terms of your commitment to the tenants of OPAC. I would also like to raise with you the question of trafficking. I do not think that we dealt very much with it. I have seen that you have excellent laws on anti-trafficking, and I would be concerned to discover whether your anti-trafficking national plan has been updated, because I think that the last report we had, it would have expired two years ago. It may be that it was updated and we did not have that information. I did not myself deal with children from Indigenous groups because I looked at the broader question of rural children, where I felt almost as if, reading the reports, that although they're essentially not a minority, their access, or lack thereof, to many services in education almost made it seem as if they are a minority. Obviously, you can fill me in on that too, in terms of what's happening with rural children because in fact it's driving as far as I could see the drift towards urbanization and therefore street children when children are actually fleeing what a bad you know and lack of access to services in the country. You mentioned yesterday in response to something I said that there is no return of children from the border. I looked at your legislation again, and unless I have misinterpreted it, I came away with the conclusion that your legislation actually does authorise border authorities to send children back without the usual inquiry into best interests and, you know, the whole circumstances. So that constitutes, to my mind, a violation of the principle of non-refoulement. And so I would like to have your -- some clarity on that, because your act does actually speak to them being able to do that. My final couple of questions is that I know -- and this might be old information that you were planning to discontinue English as a language of instruction in secondary schools. I don't know if this is still the plan. And finally, I would once again ask about vocational studies as part of the main curriculum and age appropriate sexual and reproductive health being part of your curriculum. I'm wondering if this is so. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Mr. Rinchen Chopel.

I had actually a number of follow-up questions, but now I think I should scale it down since I think we already placed according to the head of the delegation, crossed the century in terms of our number of questions. The head of delegation actually, as elaborately as possible, made clarifications on the current situation of FGM. But I'm still trying to harmonize my understanding based on the reports I have read. So it would be good to hear a little more on how and in what way Tanzania actually moved forward in making FGM not such a major public health concern. So that would be nice. I did ask a question on the pledges made by Tanzania in the first global ministerial conference. You have made three pledges with substantive commitments for resources, and it would be nice to know how this is being pushed forward since the second global ministerial conference will be in mid-May, and I'm sure Tanzania will be there to participate and to recommit your efforts to end violence against children. Now, one of the things which I could not ask yesterday was on the children's councils. I believe these children's councils were established by the government of Tanzania as part of your implementation strategies for the national plan to end violence against women and children, including the elimination of gender violence. gender-based violence. But some of the reports where children themselves have, in a way, recommended for the government to reconsider or rather to invest more efforts to strengthen these children's councils, because they feel that these are not very functional or effective and that there isn't adequate policy guidance or adequate support, including resources, to strengthen the children's councils because they feel that this is an important platform for child participation and opportunities for children to express themselves. So I thought I would bring that up. One of the things yesterday which I could not ask was in relation to the status of pregnant and postpartum girls and their education. access to education or continuing education. So I would like to hear from the delegation in terms of what measures are being taken in terms of ensuring that pregnant and postpartum girls can go back to school or continue their education, and where possible, if there are provisions for them to be shifted to other schools than their original schools to ensure that they are not stigmatized or not bullied or not facing any other you know, challenges in terms of their ability to continue to access education. Thank you, Jay.

Thank you, Mister Chopel. Uh the next speaker is Mister Timothy Kesap, please.

Delegation, for your responses, quite good responding to many of the issues we asked. I just have two issues. The third one has been raised by Chopel, I'll raise it again, on budgets. But my first issue is just your response you made on birth registration. We know that birth registration is the first right of a child. That's what makes identity for children. And the information you gave is really accurate according to the list of issues that you responded to. which is quite good. But I think our question was more on the current status of what we have for birth registration. I know according to the census of the year 2022, the population of children was about 30 million, the national census, the population census that you have. And at that time, there were only 26% of children who had birth certificates at that time. But I know there's a great improvement right now, you said it's 11 million. and the projected population of children for Tanzania in 2026 is 34.1 million. So if we are having 11 million children who have gotten birth certificates, then we have another 10 million who still don't have, just from our own calculation as a committee. So we are just wondering what the states, what concrete measures you actually have to ensure that many children get birth certificates, because some areas of Tanzania like Shinyanga and Simiyu, the population, actually, the birth registration are below 50. So we're really interested as a committee, what strategies the government has on that. Then number two, we asked a question yesterday about the role of children in the violence that took place last year. We were expecting some response to that. Maybe you said it, but I didn't get it. Whether children were involved, whether the 21,000, 21 children who died are part of the election. or not. I think we are interested as a committee for the protection of children and also as they exercise their right to expression. Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Akesa. Madame Hind Ayoubi-Idrissi.

Thank you. I'd like to welcome the delegation from the Republic of Tanzania.

It's okay? Perfect, thank you.

Thank you very much indeed, and I'd like to bid a welcome to you and thank you for your answers. Now, I just want to be certain about something I've heard. Corporal punishment at school, is this prohibited by the law? We have heard about decisions taken by the justice system, and I have heard you mention the monitoring of proportionality of disciplinary sanctions. I would like to know whether corporal punishment is truly prohibited at school. That is my first question. I have other questions related to violence against children. Thank you very much indeed for providing us with statistics, particularly about support and care. in that respect. But do you have an idea as to the proportion, the number of children who have been victims of violence and who have benefited from support and from assistance services, including psychological support? And I would like to commend you because you have done wonderful work on reporting of violence and amongst bus drivers, awareness raising, you have confidential complaints mechanisms in place at school. But my question here now is let's just take school as an example. What has the impact been? There's a number of reporting and based on experiences in a number of countries, even if we have these confidential boxes which allow children to make complaints, children cannot go to those boxes because of fear of reprisals, because everyone knows where the boxes are. When a child sees another child going towards the boxes to lodge a complaint, things are difficult. Have you assessed the impact? What is the situation when it comes to these reporting boxes? My last question relates to children who are with their mothers who are deprived of liberty. I have heard what is provided for in law, but my question goes beyond that. Perhaps this does exist and I am not aware of it, but I would like to know whether criminal legislation in your country provides for alternative sentences to deprivation of liberty, of course, when it is possible, when we are not dealing with serious crimes, for mothers who are pregnant or who have very young children. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Madame Suzanne Achou, please.

Thank you very.

Much indeed to the delegation for the answers provided this morning. I'd like to come back to the issue of corporal punishment. Now, you've said that this corporal punishment is reasonable, but we've been asking you to delete the word "reasonable" for a long time now. Now, can you imagine a child who receives a blow, a beating, Can we say it's reasonable or not reasonable? Couldn't you perhaps remove that term, reasonable? Now, we've just mentioned this. Could you fully do away with corporal punishment? When it comes to birth registration, you talked about children's councils. There are children who do not have a birth certificate but can, in fact, be a member of the council. Is that the situation? What is the situation today? Are there children who do not have birth certificates? Would it not be more reasonable to issue them with a birth certificate? Earlier, you gave us some figures, but I think that there are children who still fall under the radar. They're invisible, if you will. How can you ensure that they become visible? Have there been physical acts? What can we do to have access to them? And yesterday, you talked about refugees and children born in camps on Tanzanian soil. Are they recorded and registered? And how do they have access to nationality? Because we also have the issue of stateless children. So what's being done there? Now, yesterday you talked about drug addiction and mental health and HIV. On mental health, could you come back to the issue of experts, child psychiatrists? How do they deal with children? who are receiving treatment, particularly those living in far-flung areas. Now, when we talk about AIDS, I'd also like to mention tuberculosis. What is the prevalence rate of tuberculosis in your country? Tuberculosis amongst children, could you give us information about that? How are children treated with tuberculosis? because they're in contact with the adults who have tuberculosis. So what's being done for those children? Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Mahoo. I absolutely agree that corporal punishment can never be reasonable, absolutely. The next speaker is Madam Taweeb Al-Barwani. Please.

Good morning to the delegation and welcome. This is my first time I take the floor, so I welcome you. And thank you very much for all the contribution that you have made and the information you shared with us yesterday and today. I have one question that I wanted to ask regarding the madrassas or the Quranic schools in Tanzania. I don't think we paid attention to that, and we know that you have many of those established in different villages and communities. My question to you is to what extent are these supervised and is there government oversight on these schools? We know that there's a lot of child abuse in those schools and there's a lot of corporal punishment taking place, sexual abuse and corporal punishment taking place and child labor as part of what the children do as a their contribution. to the school, or they have to pay for being in the school. So, is there a department in the Ministry of Education that takes care of these schools? Are there requirements for establishing such schools, and what are those requirements? Teachers, the infrastructure, I didn't hear any of that. I think it's a missing link and I think these are very important schools where children are actually going to and learning. Thank you very much. And the curriculum as well. Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Mr. Philip Jaffe.

So, thank you to the delegation for your answers and I hope you don't feel like I'm going to be persecuting you. on corporal punishment, but I'm coming back to that. And I would like to second all my colleagues who, in substance, have said that it's a very concerning issue and it needs, I would say, urgent attention from the part of the government. Nowadays, we know that corporal punishment has great impact on the development of children And you cannot -- and I'm not saying you, but in general, we cannot hide from the scientific evidence on this topic. My question has to do with -- in relation to that, with children's councils. And I would like to commend you for that process of instituting children's councils across the country. And what I am wondering is, the reason I'm underscoring this is because the Committee and the Convention on the Rights of the Child places a great degree of importance on child participation. And as you're well aware, there are different levels of child participation. And just having, and I'm not suggesting this is the case, but just having councils for the sake of having councils is not child participation. What substantive issues have the children's councils debated or discussed, and what recommendations have they had that have reached levels of government, whether local or national, that have made a difference in their lives? Or is it just a place where they can discuss ideas, which is good but would not qualify as real child participation, according to the committee? And, for example, have they been debating corporal punishment? And to what degree do they agree with being subject to corporal punishment? I think that would be an important topic for them as well. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And the last speaker is Mr. Brage Gudbrandsdottir. I don't see more hands.

Good evening, and welcome to the delegation. I thank you very much for your detailed responses to the questions that have already been posed. I want to congratulate you on your new children's act and the setup of the child protection infrastructure, which is promising and gives us hope for quite reasonable progress in the coming future. My colleagues have raised the issue of corporal punishment and physical abuse of children. I looked at the statistics for Tanzania and Zanzibar, and it seems to me that the child sexual abuse reports were overwhelming in that statistics. And that does make me concerned because, in particular, we have evidence that suggests that children in Tanzania find it difficult to disclose sexual abuse. There isn't available safe environment and defined paths for them to disclose the sexual abuse. I would like to ask you about that. I was interested in the one-stop shops that you have established and their coverage in the country, but it is my understanding that they are more oriented towards supporting the child victim rather than the investigation. I would like that to be clarified, if you could, and particularly I am interested to know how you investigate cases of child sexual abuse, bearing in mind the high prevalence of such abuse. Who interviews the child? Do you have trained forensic interviewers? Are these interviews normally carried out in child-friendly facilities? Are evidence-based interview protocols used? I know that one of your main basic problems is a lack of resources and professionals working in the area. How do you deal with that situation in terms of the investigation of child sexual abuse? Are children subjected to multiple interviews that result in further revictimisation? I know that you are able to offer children to make their testimony outside the court in some instances, but that is only during the court procedure itself. Have you discussed at all making it possible for the child witness to testify under conditions of the due process on the pretrial states video, visually record that and accept that as evidence in chief during the court procedure, thus saving, sparing the child the long wait from the original disclosure. until the court process takes place, which may be a couple of years or even more, causing long-term distress and even trauma for the child who waits for the court hearings. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Madame Aho again.

At the start, you mentioned that there were some groups that still practised FGM. Can we not carry out awareness raising to prevent that? And can you tell us about obstetric fistula, please? Given the situation, are any steps being put in place to support and care for women who are victims of that? On violence, you mentioned school educational paths, but it seems to me that young girls are being harassed and attacked. We have spoken about that at the African level, but I wonder what steps you are specifically taking to protect those girls out of school, on the road to school, for example. I would like to know about that. On albino children, you said on the basis of Addis Ababa that there were programs to distribute glasses and other materials and protecting people from UV rays and so on and so forth. But we've heard mention made of children in rural areas suffering. We wonder whether or not projects that you've described are continuing still and whether or not they cover children in remote areas. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Aisha Tussidiku.

Thank you very much, Chairperson. I know that Tanzania is particularly susceptible to hosting a lot of tourists. I'd like to know whether or not this influx of tourists doesn't expose children to scourges such as sexual tourism. And if that's the case, what steps are you putting in place to protect them from that? Thank you.

Thank you. I do not see any other questions. Thank you, colleagues, for all your questions. You have now 15 minutes, head of delegation and the members of delegation, and we will come back in 15 minutes. Thank you very much. I welcome back the delegation and without further ado, please proceed with your answers.

Thank you very much. I would give some answers and Mr. Derek will also cover areas which I may overlook.

Which might need further clarification. There was a question regarding the number of children in custody. First of all, no, 500 is so high. It is not true. But third, before I go to the numbers, it is important to distinguish between what in Tanzania we regard as prison or detention or retention facilities. We do not have children in prisons. We have about over 200 children in retention facilities, but even this one, the approach is to discourage. First of all, a case of a child should not proceed beyond six months, otherwise if it's more than that, it can be dismissed. And those in these facilities, in most cases, it's not for the duration of their sentence or something like that, because the.

Idea is to ensure that they continue with their life as normal.

And because They don't usually stay there for long. Such statistics tend to change from time to time, and.

Therefore it is very important to follow up the statistics given by our national prosecution authority.

The question about military service, this was a little bit surprising to us because our laws do not allow recruitment of children in the army. Our labour laws do not allow employment of children under 18 to hazardous employment. There is only an exception for maybe some internship programmes for matters which are of beneficial to a child and not dangerous to the health and welfare of the child, where at least maybe children under the age of 18, but of the age of 15 can be allowed to do certain type of work, but certainly, of course, not in military, not in issues like shipping, et cetera. I mean, all those jobs which, under whatever circumstances, cannot be considered to be in the.

Welfare of the child at that age.

So one thing to note also, of course, the problem of recruitment of child soldiers can be observed in many conflict-torn countries. So despite the fact that Tanzania is bordered by countries which have been experiencing.

Sometimes situations of conflict, Tanzania itself does not have internal conflicts and therefore we are afraid that the issues related to the recruitment of children in the army might not be correct or needs to be verified. But the law is simply, law and practice in Tanzania prohibits that strictly. Support of, of course, that also goes to the question of support given to the people who have been recruited in the armed conflict, certainly that one. Because we do not have that incident, then it does not apply to Tanzania. About trafficking.

There are currently ongoing work between the Tanzanian authority and international organization for migration in protecting especially irregular and unaccompanied minors so that they should not be criminalized and sometimes to see that they are also how they can be helped as victims of trafficking. And this also goes to children in rural areas, the questions of resources, et cetera, and girls walking long distances to school. I must acknowledge that matters related to resources in rural areas in Tanzania should not be viewed in isolation to the general challenges of resources in developing countries in rural areas. And for that matter, it should not be construed as a deliberate move when it comes to children in rural areas. However, in recent years, Tanzania has significantly improved education infrastructure development in rural areas by construction of schools, not just construction of schools, but also equipping those schools in order to ensure that people do not walk long distances. We should also acknowledge a blessing, but also a challenge, that our population is increasing so fast. Of course, our economy is also increasing, but our population is also increasing so fast.

So we need to work more in that. The question of legislation, we were trying to look at our refugee law, but.

The fact is, the Tanzania Refugee Act of 1998 prohibits non-refoulement. And there is no distinction between children and grown-ups. And by the way, Tanzania has a decade-long history of hosting refugees.

If.

There is anything which we mentioned yesterday, that since the situation in countries like Burundi has returned to normal and legally the refugee status of many has ceased, there had been an ongoing tripartite work between the government of Tanzania, refugees, and the international partners, in particular UNHCR, to facilitate the voluntary repatriation programs. And So this would require resources for promotion of the program. But when the international actors withdraw resources, then the whole thing stalls. And I think that is the challenge.

But apart from that, our laws and even international law, we are aware, do not condone reformer. Plans to discourage English as a medium of instruction, I think that is too early to discuss that.

Although there are plans to promote Kiswahili because Kiswahili is the first language, it is being used in the medium of instruction. I know some people have even written doctoral thesis in Kiswahili at the university level in certain circumstances and debates are ongoing.

But certainly that might mean, might need lots of resources and is something which might follow, might need time.

On female genital mutilation, what did Tanzania do? It's a combination of enforcement of law, awareness raising, and also the question of how to deal with poverty. In Tarime district, for example, by the way, this is the practice also which is very common. Most of the regions, those which border, the communities which border Tanzania and Kenya, poverty could be among the reasons because some people who practice that, they don't do that for free. Those who do instructions or were involved in the physical acts of cutting, et cetera, they do that for fee. Now, there was a program in that district, for example, where certain traditional leaders or people who are involved in such activities would be given alternative sources of income, be it like beekeeping or being given a number of cattle so as to desist from such practices. And these have given results. So it's a combination of many things, addressing poverty, awareness, but also enforcing the law. Of course, there are several judicial convictions, as I mentioned yesterday. There is no possibility of interpreting a single provision of our penal and children laws in Tanzania to give a presumption that.

The practice is allowed. leave the children council to Mr. Derek. The return of girls to school, this is something which is being encouraged and in public.

And in order to avoid or to minimize stigma, there have also been public awareness campaigns, not just in community radios, but even in public mass media institutions. Children who return to school after pregnancy have the choice to return to the same schools or to other schools, or even to alternative forms of adult education. And what is important here is the comfortability of those who are involved. Corporal punishment, as we mentioned yesterday, that we are seeing progress. For example, in Zanzibar, it has been abandoned. The fact that it is in Tanzania statute should not be construed as that Maybe the government is encouraging that. There is that practical reality, as I mentioned earlier in the morning, in any democratic society that legislation is not a dictation. The government cannot dictate laws. The government present a bill to the parliament. Parliament votes. But before a bill is presented, for any law in any democratic society, there must be consultation, and especially when it is the law which concerns the community. And the practical reality is when there is no consensus or there is still big divisions among relevant stakeholders, especially at the grassroots level, Rushing the legislative process risks that process will fail at the parliament. Democracy is always a good thing, but sometimes the wheels of democracy turn a little bit slow. And rushing it, certain process might limit sustainability.

I-- it is not that I-- I know, I mean, if you are a legal.

Positivist, you will say that you have to interpret the law according to the principle of law itself. You do not need to include some other things. But the sociology approach to legal theory will tell you something else. And this is the practical reality at times. I am not really a subscriber of legal sociology, always, but I accept sometimes in order for law to be sustainable, you need also to have.

The people involved, and especially if the law concerns them.

But that is something which I think, while we are dealing with that challenge towards making things better for children, it is important to do other things. And that is why our courts have not been tolerant of people who violate that. And I agree, or we agree, that what is reasonable, what is reasonable, we agree of that challenge.

Children born in camps and the questions of stateless persons.

This is tricky. We know Tanzania. Tanzanian nationality laws, like many nationality laws, do not give automatic citizen by birth. I know for some countries, for example, in the European Union, it is an exception. Just by way of example, I mean, if the Germans have not changed their laws, if two Tanzanians live in Germany, then they get it. They must have stayed there for eight years. I got lucky to be studying there myself, and one of my children was born there, but they never. got the German citizenship. And I believe that is the situation in many countries, different from some other countries which offer citizenship by birth. While we understand the challenge, and the question could be, and again, this is not for the state, this question of nationality may touch law or sometimes may also touch constitution in some other aspects. the question might come, why should Tanzanians be made to accept that children of refugees born in Tanzania should be Tanzanians, and while other countries retain other laws. So I think this is something which is worth of continuing debating. And so far in our unit, Shari, we have not been confronted in a situation of a status.

Person.

Quranic schools in Tanzania, actually, there have been practices of the government in, first of all, Tanzania is a secular country where the constitution guarantees the right of people to worship, and the state is just a facilitator of ensuring that people exercise their right to worship, but matters related to propagation of religion are not undertaken by the government. So, for example, when it comes to religious education, be it in public schools, in private schools, or in madras, the government role is simply coordination with the religious authority to see that maybe you've got teachers going to public schools offering religious subjects in public schools. And when it comes to madrasas, there are ad hoc consultations sometimes to ensure that matters of violations of children are being controlled, although it is agreeable among certain religious leaders, maybe it is important for this thing to be formal. And in isolated incidents, when there have been dangers of harmful practices, the government had always taken measures. What is important here is to say that the fact that matters of propagating religions handled by religious institutions does not mean that these institutions are above the law.

They are subject to the law. But we will provide further information and we will try to see if there are any reported cases and convictions, et cetera.

Child sexual abuse and the confidentiality of reporting. 2028 will mark 30 years since the famous Sexual Offences Special Provision Act, which amended the penal code. Anybody following Tanzanian jurisprudence will note that there have been a significant departure of strict standard of proof in statutory but also judicial presidents in Tanzania to the situation as of today where a child or a court can convict even based upon the sole evidence of a victim of rape, irrespective of age or even requirement of corroboration. That is indeed a very significant departure, because even in early days after the enactment of that law, it was still difficult to convict upon uncorroborated evidence of the sole victim of rape, but the situation now is different. Of course, thanks to the awareness and sensitivity on matters related to the right of children, and of course.

The technology.

And one thing, the confidentiality rules are very strict from reporting, investigation, even trial.

And even when somebody is lucky to get.

A judgment of a court, we'll realize that not even names of children or victims are mentioned, not even in the media. So There could be challenges, but certainly 30 years of the new laws would come with some improvements.

Of course, there was a question, October 19 and the involvement of children.

First of all, we do not have any children under investigation now. following that incident. And second, according to the report of the first commission of inquiry, which pointed out some incidents of criminality where some children were victims, and now we have a special criminal investigation commission, which is doing its work, and very soon I think we will get results for further processes. I leave the mic to Mr. Derek to continue with some other matters.

Thank you, Honorable Ambassador and members of the delegate and the members of the committee. I would like to respond on a few issues. One is the matter of children trials.

As you know, all cases that involve a child are entertained in camera, whether it is a normal civil case or it's a criminal case, or sometimes channeled as a juvenile case. All of them are entertained in camera.

That is one.

But two?

If that matter is of, it engages a child, it is a legal requirement and a compulsory requirement. The social welfare officer has to be present when that matter is entertained. Contrary to that, that matter cannot be entertained. But thirdly, as we have mentioned, the new legal reforms that is made by the by the amendment of the child law, which we have mentioned earlier, we have introduced the diversion legal theory, whereby if matters are scrutinized and found that it has no gravity, it doesn't even be taken to the court for trial. So there'll be like a pre-trial bargains and mitigations before taking the matters to court. And this is the reason to protect and to avoid matters which engage the child to be taken before the court. But however, even if the matter is taken to court, their names are saved, they're preserved you won't find an open public names of the parties of the case engaging the name because we want to prohibit or prevent the nomination of a child in a normal court records. So that is what we have progressed to protect the children identity. And secondly, I would like to share the issues of children councils. Before incorporating in our legal frameworks, we had these platforms in aligning with the CRC, and we had all engaging the child from primary level to the national level. and vis-a-vis in a union platform engaging Zanzibar as the ambassador said yesterday that the child law is not a union matter. But when it comes to issues of child welfare, so long that it starts from a primary level to the national level, but at times it reach where we have to harmonize that platform between Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. So, with a positive initiative that the government has employed, whereby we introduced in our legal reforms, now the children councils are legally formed. And what the government did, or the state did, is to establish a platform, but the platform is independent, maintaining the cause which has been in present before enacting or putting in the law. The councils are coordinated by the Government, but they are independently formed by the children themselves. The good thing is that we have employed forming or establishing those children councils in schools. As you know that we have a free policy of education, so there's an influx of children going to school. But as well, we all believe that most of the children meet at school. So it's much easier to incorporate them in their council. So it is established in schools, and the children themselves elect their leaders. vis-a-vis having the suggestion box, it is of their own will and place that they install. But however, the government has prepared or has kept in put a specialized officer or unit in the national level to consolidate all the opinions from the primary level to the national level and channel them to the respective institution or government institution for intervention, whether if it is for referral or it is for prevention or interventions, and even government programs. So All we can say that the Children's Council is a very helpful and positive forum to consolidate and receive the opinions from the children. I think a lot has been shared by the Ambassador, but I want to share the information concerning the children registration. As of current, we have just of current that the status of this registration is 68% of the children in the country. So you can see it's a progressive initiative that the government has taken. I would like to, if you're all right, I'll return the mic to the honorable ambassador. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Eric. Madam Chair.

Think I should return the mic to you for your final instructions?

Thank you very much for all the answers so far provided by the delegation. Now I would like to give the floor to the coordinator of the country task force, Mr. Sefas Lumina.

Excellency, distinguished members of the delegation, On behalf of the Committee, I would like to thank you for your participation and readiness to engage with the Committee. Our dialogue has highlighted several positive developments and important steps taken by the State Party to advance the rights of children. At the same time, our exchanges have identified areas where further and sustained efforts will be required to ensure the full implementation of the Convention and the effective protection, promotion and fulfilment of the rights of all children throughout the United Republic of Tanzania. We encourage the State Party to reflect carefully on the issues raised during this dialogue and to provide, where possible, detailed responses and additional information on questions for which responses were incomplete or could not be provided during our discussion. We also encourage the State Party in preparing for future dialogues with the Committee to consider sending a multidisciplinary delegation, including representatives and technical experts from relevant sectors and ministries who are able to address questions on issues such as budgeting and resource allocation, data and statistics, and sector-specific implementation. The Committee stands ready to support the United Republic of Tanzania as it builds on the progress already achieved and continues its efforts to ensure that every child can fully enjoy the rights guaranteed under the Convention. We thank the delegation once again for the spirit of constructive engagement demonstrated throughout the dialogue. We wish you a safe journey home and ask you to convey our warm greetings to the children of Tanzania. Safarim jema. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Luminam.

Now, I would like to give the floor back to His Excellency, Ambassador, please.

In Swahili, we say, "Asante." means chair.

So, of chair for... Okay. Madam Chairperson, distinguished members of the Committee, so as we conclude this dialogue, allow me, on behalf of the delegation of the United Republic of Tanzania, actually the only United Republic in the world, to thank you, the distinguished members of the Committee and the Secretariat, for the constructive and engaging manner in which our discussions have been conducted. Over these sessions, we have discussed a wide range of issues affecting the rights and welfare of children in Tanzania. We have sought to respond candidly, to provide updated data and concrete examples, and to explain not only the progress we have made, but also the challenges that remain. If there is one message that we would wish the Committee to take from this dialogue, it is that Tanzania remains firmly committed to promoting and protecting the rights and welfare of every child. That commitment is reflected in the progress we have presented in health and education, birth registration, child protection, access to justice, the fight against violence and harmful practices, and the fight against violence and harmful practices and the strengthening of institutions and services for children. These efforts form part of a broader national commitment under the leadership of Her Excellency, Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, to invest in our children and ensure that national development translates into meaningful improvements in their lives. At the heart of that commitment is a simple conviction: the future of our country depends upon the opportunities, protection, and dignity that we provide to our children today. But as we stated at the beginning of this dialogue, we do not suggest that our work is complete. There remains areas where further progress is required. We have discussed this candidly, including the minimum age of marriage and corporal punishment in schools. We have explained where we are, the processes underway, and the measures being taken to move forward. Our experience has taught us that lasting protection of children require more than legislation alone. Laws must establish clear standards, institutions must implement them, courts must provide accountability, and services must reach the children who need them. Families and communities must also be engaged so that reforms translate into lasting change. In other words, the law establishes the standard, the courts provide accountability, and engagement helps translate that standard into social change. Madam Chair, we have listened carefully to the committee. We may not always see every issue from precisely the same perspective, and our national circumstances may sometimes require careful consideration of how particular reforms are designed and implemented. But that is precisely why dialogue is valuable. Constructive dialogue allows us to listen, to explain, to reflect and ultimately to improve. We will therefore carefully study the Committee's concluding observations and engage the relevant national institutions on their implementation. We will regard them not simply as conclusions of a reporting exercise, but as a contribution to our continuing national efforts to strengthen the protection and welfare of children. We also recognize that government cannot achieve this alone. Parents and families, communities, teachers, civil society, religious and traditional leaders, development partners, and importantly, children themselves, all have a role to play. Ultimately, behind all the legislation, policies, programs, and statistics that we have discussed during this dialogue, are children, girls and boys with aspirations, abilities, and enormous potential. They deserve to grow up free from violence and exploitation, to be healthy, to receive an education, to be heard, to be protected when they are vulnerable, and to have every opportunity to realize their potential. For that reason, the true measure of our progress is not simply the laws we enact, policies we adopt or the programs we establish. It is the difference that they make in everyday lives of our children. That is the responsibility that we take with us from this dialogue. Madam Chair, the United Republic of Tanzania values its cooperation with this Committee. We leave this dialogue encouraged by the progress made conscious of the work that remains and determined to continue moving forward in the best interests of every child. On behalf of my delegation, I thank you, the distinguished members of the Committee, and the Secretariat for your dedication, your questions, and your constructive engagement. I thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much, Excellency, once again, members of the delegation. We appreciate very much this constructive spirit. You conducted this dialogue and the questions and answers, better to say, you have provided in order to be able to tailor the concluding observations which we are going to issue soon. We, of course, would appreciate more detailed information from your side. And please feel free, if you think you have more information to share in details, you can do it during 48 hours. And it will help us to issue the concluding observations, which are very detailed and, once again, specifically tailored to all the children's needs of the United Republic of Tanzania. We acknowledge the positive changes you have made for children throughout the years, but we see also the huge room of improvements, and I think we are on the same line in this regard. So we wish that for the next constructive dialogue with the CRC, you will come with much more reforms and improvements, policies, programs in place which has already improved the lives of children in the United Republic of Tanzania. Thank you once again and have safe travel back and we wish to convey to all the children of Tanzania all the best and our warmest regards. Thank you very much. Thank you. So we will continue with the closed meeting, dear colleagues. Five minutes technical break.