Children's Rights

"A century that began with children having virtually no rights is ending with children having the most powerful legal instrument that not only recognizes but protects their human rights." - Carol Bellamy

• Overview and quick facts
• What you need to know
• How you can help
• Great resources

Overview and quick facts

In today's world there are strong forces working against giving children fair and equal access to a happy, productive and healthy existence. Few people are able to recognize the tremendous potential youth hold both for today and for the future. Hampering their growth in the present only stunts the collective growth of generations to come.

Yet, the situation continues. Daily, children all around world are forced to work under conditions of outright slavery. They are subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse, forced into wars as soldiers or sex slaves and are bought and sold like cattle to be abused even further.

In 1989, global and youth leaders around the world were given a tremendous boost in their efforts to end this cycle of exploitation. This year saw the introduction of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a document that was an important first step toward addressing the unique vulnerability of youth. More steps are needed.

Why we should care

"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them." - The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

Though the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is an instrument that stakes out child rights, it cannot force countries to uphold these rights, even if they have ratified the treaty.

Globally, an estimated 218 million children are engaged in some form of labour ¹. Lacking access to an education and a healthy upbringing they are forced to fend for themselves as best they can under harsh and dangerous circumstances. Their lack of support makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation. This is to say nothing for those children, both girls and boys, who are unwanted by their caretakers and discarded like trash. Left to the whims of systems that cannot cope with their sheer numbers, children are forced to fend for themselves and to look after each other. The consequences are disastrous.

Definitions-what rights do children have?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child underlines the basic human rights that children have:

• The right to survival and to the resources necessary for survival such as food, water and shelter
• To develop to the fullest of their potential, such as having access to education
• To protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation of any kind
• To participate fully in the family, cultural and social life of their communities

Quick facts

• Globally, almost 11 million children under the age of five die every year, mostly of easily preventable causes²
• Around 120 million children in developing countries are not in primary school. More than 50 per cent are girls³
• More than five million children die from malnutrition each year⁴
• Some states are moving toward increasingly punitive systems of juvenile justice, with children beaten and arbitrarily detained by police and forced to share prisons with adults in inhumane conditions⁵
• Armed conflicts around the globe continue to shorten and ruin the lives of millions of children. The UN estimates that more than 250,000 children are exploited as child soldiers. Many of these children are killed or maimed in combat, and many children are forced to kill and maim others
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What you need to know!

Background Information

"Be gentle with the young." - Juvenal
Find out more about child rights. Here is some useful background information to get you up to speed on the issue.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a landmark human rights document. It outlines the various rights that all children around the world (defined as 18 years and younger) are entitled to, regardless of their status, religion, race, etc. The primary responsibility for the protection of these rights is given to governments.

The Convention is the most widely ratified human rights instrument in the world. Every country in the world-except for the United States and Somalia-has ratified the Convention. Enshrined in the Convention are four general principles that extend legal recognition to the rights of children.

The four main principles:

1. Article 2: Non-discrimination-State parties must ensure that all children within their Jurisdiction enjoy their rights. No child should suffer discrimination. This applies to every child, "irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status".

2. Article 3: Best Interests of the Child-When governments make decisions that affect children, the best interests of children must be a primary consideration. This principle relates to decisions by courts of law, administrative authorities, legislative bodies and both public and private social-welfare institutions.

3. Article 6: The Right to Life, Survival and Development-This article is related to the right to survival and to development, which governments must ensure "to the maximum extent possible". The term "development" in this context should be interpreted in a broad sense, referring to physical, mental, emotional, cognitive, social and cultural development.

4. Article 12: The Views of the Child-Children have a right to participate in all matters affecting them, and those views should be given due weight "in accordance with the age and maturity of the child". In short, children have the right to be heard and to have their views taken seriously.

Who has ratified the UNCRC?

195 states have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Only two more states remain-the United States and Somalia-making the UNCRC the first almost universally ratified human rights treaty in history!

In Somalia, ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is not possible at this time. Somalia does not currently have an internationally recognized government.

The United States-The US has signed, but not ratified.

The U.S. position on the UNCRC:

The U.S. position on the Convention is best summed up by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, who stated: "It is misleading and inappropriate to use the Convention as a litmus test to measure a nation's commitment to children. As a non-party to the Convention, the United States does not accept obligations based on it, nor do we accept that it is the best or only framework for developing programs and policies to benefit children."

The U.S. refuses to ratify the Convention for a number of reasons:

Parental Authority - It is believed that the convention will undermine parental authority, interfere with parents' ability to raise and discipline their children and make the rights of children more important than the rights of parents. In reality, the convention repeatedly refers to the importance of the parent-child relationship, and requires governments to respect the rights and duties of parents.
The Death Penalty - The Convention prohibits the use of the death penalty for offenses committed by persons under the age of 18. However, 25 U.S. states allow executions of juvenile offenders, and as of July 1, 2001, there were 85 juvenile offenders on death row in the United States. In the last five years, eight executions of juvenile offenders were carried out in the United States.
Issue of Rights - Traditionally, the U.S. has recognized civil and political rights (such as the rights to expression, assembly and due process), but not economic, social and cultural rights (such as the right to education, health care and an adequate standard of living). The Convention includes both.
Issue of Jurisdiction - The U.S. argues that many of the issues addressed by the Convention lie primarily within the jurisdiction of the country's 50 states, rather than with the federal government. For example, in the United States, individual states are responsible for education and for setting laws related to the administration of juvenile justice. Federalism in the U.S. should not necessarily be an obstacle to ratifying the Convention. Other countries with federal systems have ratified the Convention, including Brazil, Germany and Mexico.
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How you can help

Get Involved

"People who know their rights are better able to claim them" - UNICEF

Here are some ideas of how you can help meet the challenge and tackle this issue.

• Read the UNCRC document, or at least know the main points and discuss with friends.
• Increase your own knowledge of the subject. Read a newspaper. That is how Craig first learned of child rights abuses. Check out our resources section to learn more. Learn and discuss together, then get out there and change the world!
• Talk to your friends and organize a child rights awareness campaign: You would be surprised how little people know about child rights issues. Inform people in an interactive way. Think about your audience and how you can help draw attention to the issue.
• Talk to business owners: Find out what unions and business people are doing to protect child rights in the workplace. Find out if they will give you support and work together on a campaign.
• Talk to your community leaders and politicians to find out how they are protecting child rights in your community.
• Teachers, social workers and school administrators. School is an important place for creating awareness about child rights so talk to your kids about the UNCRC.

Protect children's rights through Adopt a Village

The Adopt a Village campaign works to protect children's rights in communities with high rates of child labour, exploitation of children and minimal opportunities for young girls.

You can make a significant and positive impact on the lives of children through the Adopt a Village campaign, with its broad and sustainable approach to community development. By supporting villages in Kenya, Sierra Leone, China or Sri Lanka, you will help marginalized children and their families meet their basic human needs. This includes providing access to:

• primary education
• alternative income projects
• clean drinking water and sanitation systems
• health care services

Find out how you can get involved!

Great resources

Useful resources

The following organizations are active in promoting the rights of children and have many important documents and helpful research materials.

Websites:

Caritas Australia—The Rights of the Child Chart
Child Rights Information Network (CRIN)
Children’s Rights Council (US)
Human Rights Watch – Children’s Rights
Say it Right— A Youth Edition of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
UNICEF – Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
UNICEF – State of the World’s Children Report 2004
UNICEF – Voices of Youth
United Nations Special Session on Children
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Source

1 International Labour Organization, "The end of child labour: Within reach", 2006
2 World Health Organization, "Severe Malnutrition," 2005
3 UNICEF
4 World Health Organization, "Severe Malnutrition," 2005
5 Human Rights Watch, "Children's Rights: Juvenile Justice," 2006.
6 United Nations Office of Children and Armed Conflict, "Situations of Concern," 2006.