The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has urged Malaysia to address the challenges it is facing for the benefit of its citizens.

Its chairperson Dr Jaap E Doek said the committee, for example, was keen to know how Malaysia will tackle the problems of children's disabilities.

"We want to know more about how many disabled children there are (in Malaysia), how many go to regular schools and special schools, and how many institutions are there to cater for them," he told reporters after delivering the lecture on 'Convention on the Rights of the Child - Challenges Ahead' in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Jaap said that in his discussions with Malaysian authorities, he found out that Malaysia was having difficulty in dealing with juvenile crime cases in accordance with the convention.

However, Malaysia is doing quite well in preserving the rights of the child in terms of health and education.

"Although Malaysia also faces similar problems like other countries, it is doing quite well in this area," Jaap said.

Geneva meeting on Jan 25

He elaborated that the committee would make recommendations to the government on addressing the existing challenges and problems faced by Malaysia.

"We are going to discuss this and other issues relating to child care and institution, foster care and the reservations of Malaysia regarding some articles in the convention where it is reluctant to implement it."

A Malaysian is delegation is scheduled to meet the committee on Jan 25 next year in Geneva.

Jaap, also a deputy justice in the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam, advised Malaysia to submit its report on the convention regularly to the UN.

"It does not matter if the report is delayed. What is important is for it to be submitted so that the UN committee can do an analyse and review it. From there, we should know which country is in need of our help in implementing the convention," he added.