# Somalia and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

> Somalia and the Convention on the Rights of the Child: ratification in 2015, reservations, the first UN review in 2022, and what the Committee found and recommended.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/government/convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-somalia/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## What is the Convention?

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a UN treaty adopted in 1989. It sets out the rights of every person under 18, including to life, health, education, a name and nationality, and protection from violence and exploitation. Almost every country in the world has joined it. A committee of experts in Geneva reviews each country's record.

## When did Somalia join?

Somalia ratified the Convention on **1 October 2015** ([UN Human Rights Committee, concluding observations on Somalia, 2024](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4046158/files/CCPR_C_SOM_CO_1-EN.pdf)).

**Reservations.** On ratifying, Somalia made interpretative reservations to:

- **Article 14:** freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
- **Article 20:** care for children without a family;
- **Article 21:** adoption;
- and a general reservation to any provision contrary to the general principles of Sharia ([UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, CRC/C/SOM/CO/1, 22 Jun 2022, para. 6](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf)).

At the 2022 review, Somalia's delegation said the reservations came mainly from religious considerations ([Child Rights Connect, session report, 2022](https://childrightsconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/sessionreport_somalia_final_en-4.pdf)). Because Somalia did not accept Article 20, its citizenship law has no rule for adopted children ([Manby, Citizenship Law in Africa, 2016, p. 57](https://web.archive.org/web/20210626151025/https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/d5d1d086-1a0d-4088-b679-003e09e9c125/citizenship-law-africa-third-edition-20160129.pdf)).

## The first review, 2022

The Committee considered Somalia's first report on 9 and 10 May 2022, and adopted its findings on 3 June 2022 ([CRC/C/SOM/CO/1, para. 1](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf); [UN Geneva, May 2022](https://ungeneva.org/en/news-media/meeting-summary/2022/05/le-comite-des-droits-de-lenfant-examine-le-premier-rapport-de-la)). It welcomed new bills, the Somalia Every Newborn Action Plan 2019 to 2023, a national child health strategy and the 2019 Social Protection Policy ([CRC/C/SOM/CO/1, para. 3](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf)).

## What did the Committee find?

All points below are from the Committee's 2022 findings ([CRC/C/SOM/CO/1](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf)).

**Who counts as a child (para. 22)**
- The 2012 Provisional Constitution defines a child as under 18.
- The constitutions of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/), it said, define a child as under 15.
- Under Sharia and custom, as described to the Committee, childhood ends at physical maturity, between 12 and 14.

**Birth registration and nationality (para. 32)**
- Birth registration coverage "remains extremely low", despite efforts in some districts of Puntland and Somaliland.
- There was no legal framework to register a child at birth.
- Somali women cannot pass citizenship to their children unless the father is also Somali, and the Citizenship Amendment Bill had not moved since 2016. See [Somali citizenship law](/en/government/somali-citizenship-law/).

**Harmful practices (para. 42)**
- Female genital mutilation is widespread, "in particular involving girls between 5 and 10 years of age".
- Progress was limited, partly because of resistance from traditional and religious leaders.
- Child marriage was common, "especially among children 15 years of age or even younger".
- It noted a draft federal bill against FGM and Puntland's zero-tolerance policy.

**Violence and sexual offences (paras. 40 to 41)**
- It welcomed sexual offences laws in Puntland and Somaliland and urged adoption of the federal Sexual Offences Bill of 2018.

**Children and armed conflict (para. 68)**
- It noted an army order banning the use of children, the children and armed conflict road map, and the programme for disengaged combatants.
- It was "seriously concerned" that children as young as 8 are recruited or abducted by armed groups and government forces, and that recruiting children was not a crime in law.

## What did it recommend?

([CRC/C/SOM/CO/1](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2075087/G2238734.pdf))

- Define a child as under 18 in every law, and ban marriage under 18 for girls and boys (para. 23).
- Create a legal system to register every birth (para. 33).
- Adopt the FGM bill and end child marriage (para. 43).
- Adopt the Juvenile Justice Bill (para. 67).
- Make recruiting children into armed forces a crime (para. 69).
- Withdraw the reservations (para. 7).

## Related pages

- [Birth records](/en/states/birth-records/)
- [Ministry of Family and Human Rights](/en/institutions/ministry-of-family-and-human-rights/)
- [Disengaged combatants programme](/en/institutions/disengaged-combatants-programme/)

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