A/HRC/45/52 1. Access to education 61. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the Federal Government has ratified, and the Provisional Federal Constitution guarantee for Somali girls the right to quality education on the basis of substantive equality. The draft national child rights bill further protects these rights.51 Yet, Somalia continues to have the lowest school enrolment rates in the world (only 30 per cent of children, 40 per cent of whom are girls, are in school) and a particularly weak education system.52 62. The Somali authorities, in collaboration with United Nations partners and other stakeholders, have supported programmes to improve school management systems, the capacity of teachers and school feeding programmes to increase the enrolment and retention of girls in schools, particularly at the primary level.53 This disparity in school attendance between boys and girls is due to the ongoing conflict situation and lack of safety for girls and to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and early and/or forced marriage. The high cost of fees also makes school unaffordable for poor families, particularly those living in rural areas. For example, 84 per cent of nomadic women have had no education. Girls with disabilities, girls in farming and nomadic communities living in rural and remote areas, pregnant girls and girls in camps for internally displaced persons and refugees face compounded forms of discrimination that hamper their access to education.54 63. The Independent Expert believes that, unless the Government invests in an enhanced, coherent and comprehensive nationwide education system, Somalis will continue to be left behind in all aspects of their development. 2. Improving access to health rights 64. In the Somalia National Development Plan 2020–2024, the Federal Government committed itself to further improving access to health care and health outcomes by focusing on rural citizens, who have the least access to health care. The Independent expert takes note of the efforts made by the Somali authorities and development partners, including the United Nations Children’s Fund, to develop the health strategy 2018–2020, the mental health strategy 2019–2023, the first Somali road map for universal health care, national guidelines on the integrated management of neonatal and childhood illnesses and midwifery. 65. While these efforts have resulted in modest improvements, some children and mothers are nonetheless disproportionately exposed to avoidable and treatable diseases. It is estimated that 73 per cent of women face at least one problem accessing health care due to high costs, distance to health facilities or the need to seek consent. Somalia continues to record the highest maternal mortality rate in the region, estimated at 692 deaths per 100,000 live births (down from 723). This is due to low levels of family planning, female genital mutilation, limited care provided by and involvement of skilled birth attendants and inadequate access to emergency obstetric care. Moreover, 67.7 per cent of women have not received antenatal care.55 The neonatal death rate is estimated at 37.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018. 66. The Independent Expert is concerned that the ongoing conflict, droughts, floods and locust attacks have increased the vulnerability of the population to hunger, disease and malnutrition, thus overwhelming an already weak health-care system. Improving the healthcare system and services, especially for members of poor communities, internally displaced persons, refugees, women and children, is vital for the progressive realization of the right to health. 67. The Independent Expert urges the Somali authorities, in collaboration with development partners, to move expeditiously towards the progressive realization of the 51 52 53 54 55 14 S/2019/884, para. 44. UN Somalia: Country Results Report 2019, p. 36. UN Somalia: Country Results Report 2019, p. 36. The Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020, pp. 212–213. Ibid., pp. 278–280.