United Nations rights advocates last week challenged Tanzanian officials regarding the recent killings of 36 albinos, the prevalence of female genital cutting, and corporal punishment in the country’s schools.

Several members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child posed pointed questions to a Tanzanian delegation headed by Pindi Hazara Chana, Deputy Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children. The UN panel was conducting a periodic review of Tanzania’s implementation of an international pact on children’s rights.

The advocates “expressed deep concerns about violence and discrimination perpetrated against persons and children with albinism,” according to an official account of the meeting that took place at the UN offices in Geneva.

Five individuals have been charged in connection with the killings, Mr Chana said. He added that “the government attached great importance to the issue of stopping traditional healers from harming others,” and is seeking to place a ban on fortune tellers, “who often encouraged the use of organs of persons with albinism.”

READ: Tanzania now bans witchdoctors to stem albino murders

Genital cutting is being carried out on “younger and younger girls,” the advocates noted. The practice has been made illegal in Tanzania, Mr Chana said. Girls are increasingly reporting cases of the cut and are being taken to hostels for their protection, he added. Rural areas, where the tradition is deeply rooted, have been explicitly targeted by the government, Mr Chana told the panel.

The UN committee took note of a decline in the prevalence of female genital cutting — from 18 per cent of Tanzanian women surveyed in 1996, to 15 per cent as reported in 2010.

Corporal punishment is still permitted in homes and in schools, the UN monitors observed, saying it should be prohibited altogether.

Mr Chana pointed out that corporal punishment had been banned in Zanzibar, adding that in the rest of the country, only head teachers were authorised to administer such punishment. He agreed that the practice should be abolished, but cautioned that achieving this will require “a change in mind sets.”

Mr Chana said that improvements in laws have resulted in greater protection of children, and said the government is committed to making further progress.