Introduction A. Background and Purpose of Report The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1993. The Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) received the Government’s First Report on Implementation in November 1998 and considered it in September 2000; the Committee’s Concluding Observations were received in October 2000. The Second Report to the Committee was received in 2004 and considered in August 2005. The Committee’s Concluding Observations were received in November 2007. This document therefore combines the 3rd and 4th reporting requirements for RMI. The purpose of this report is to update the Committee on the overall status of children in the Marshall Islands; Measures taken by Government and civil society to address issues of concern identified in the First Report and Second Report and
Marshallese Language Orthography (Standard Spelling) Act, 2010: An Act to declare a standardized spelling system for written Marshallese and phrases. Global Fund Act, 2009: An Act to establish a country coordinating mechanism to access and manage funding received from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to fight HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis in the Republic. Cancer Registry Act, 2009: An Act to establish a cancer registry system for the collection of information on the incidence of cancer and related data; to provide for the confidentiality of identifying information regarding individual patients, health care facilities and health care providers; and for related purposes. Birth, Death and Marriage Registration Act 1988, (amended 2009): An Act to make provision for registration of births, and deaths and marriages and for matters connected therewith. [The original Part VI of this Chapter titled “The Fund” was repealed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs Special Revenue Fund, 2003 in its entirety. Section numbering style modified to conform to Code format] (Rev.2003)] Marshall Islands Advisory Board Act, 1986 (amended 2011): An Act to create a Youth Advisory Board in the Republic to serve as an umbrella agency in youth development. B. National Policies and Measures The RMI is yet to adopt a national strategy for children. However, children’s issues are currently incorporated and supported by line-ministry programs and is also included in the National Strategic Plan (NSP).
Betelnut Prohibition Act, 2010 7 MIRC Ch. 20 “’minor’ means person under the age of 18 years” § 2002 Domestic Violence Prevention and Protection Act, 2011 26 MIRC Ch. 9 “‘child means an individual or person under the age of 18.’” § 903 Child Rights Act 2015 P.L. 2015-50 “child” shall mean any person who is below 18 years The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1988 states that the male at the time of contracting the marriage must be not less than eighteen (18) years of age and the female be not less than sixteen (16) years of age. The 2011 census did not disaggregate the marriage data by age for ages 15-59. According to the census, no children aged 14 and under are married. In February 2016, MOIA submitted to the Cabinet, an amendment bill to raise the marital age of girls from 16 to 18 years old. Previous RMI national report erroneously stated the law had already been amended. The RMI apologizes for the misrepresentation. A challenge for the Government is that although marriages officiated by the courts do not exist, this does not take into account the much more common practice of customary marriages or cohabitation. There have been no studies conducted on customary marriages and cohabitation in children, though there is considerable anecdotal evidence of children below the legal marriageable age cohabitating. The MOH, YTYIH and the WKWJ have been actively doing