“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring their rights are respected, their welfare is protected, their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace.” – Carol Bellamy
Many times, a child’s struggle against hunger begins before he or she is born because the mother is undernourished. Making sure that prenatal care and proper nutrition are made available for expectant mothers is a critical childhood need. Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the cultivated hatred of adults. We must pay attention to the millions of children of this generation who are caught up in armed conflicts. How can we protect them from the worst consequences of war? And when the hostilities cease, how can we take ‘the war’ out of them? Within the child lies the destiny of the future. Can we make a better world for our children? I believe we can, if only enough people are concerned and get involved in changing what is wrong with society.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
There have been impressive gains for the world’s children since the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was adopted 30 years ago. Today more children are living longer, better and healthier lives. However, the odds continue to be stacked against the poorest and most vulnerable who are yet to feel the impact of the CRC. Poverty, discrimination and marginalization continue to leave millions of the most disadvantaged children at risk. Children are some of the most vulnerable members of society and often face the greatest hurdles accessing the rights to which they are entitled. The ‘Convention’ stands at the crossroads between its illustrious past and its future potential. It is up to us to recommit, take decisive steps and hold ourselves responsible. CRC is a legally binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities. The near-universal acceptance across the World that Children’s Rights is a sine-qua-non for development of a society may be regarded as progress in the last thirty years since the UNCRC was launched. A century that began with children having virtually no rights is ending with children having the most powerful legal codicil that now not only recognizes but protects their human rights.
Addressing any power imbalance that may hinder young children from realising their rights should be an important focus for everyone who spends time with young children, or who is involved in the field of early childhood care at any level from policy to practice. The year, 1989 was a historic year for the movement aimed at ensuring rights to every child in the age group of 0-18 years when world leaders came together and made a remarkable commitment to the world’s children by adopting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). India, a country with about one-fifth of the world’s children, ratified the UNCRC, on 11 December 1992.
All adults should do what is best for children and when they take decisions, they should think of the potential impact on their children in particular viz regarding budgets, policy and laws. The perception of a child, from this approach, is a human being who is different from an adult. The participation of children in decisions that affect them is encouraged as a way of advancing their best interest in policy making. The concept of ‘the best interests of the child’ is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and used by many countries as the paramount principle guiding placement and decisions regarding the child. The principle of ‘best interests of the child’ is enshrined in the UNCRC in Article 3 and is a core precept that underpins the standards set in subsequent Articles. It decrees that in all actions taken by the executive authorities, law makers, judicial bodies, and relevant private institutions in matters concerning children, the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration. Become so confident in whom you are, that no one’s opinion, rejection, or behaviour can rock you. Everyone deserves the best start in life, which is what UNICEF is working to provide the world’s most vulnerable children.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child was a landmark achievement. For the first time, governments explicitly recognized that children have the same human rights as adults – as well as specific additional rights that recognize their special status as dependants. The Convention recognizes a child’s right to health, medicine, nutrition, clean water and sanitation and education. Children and their parents know that education is not only their right, but a passport to a better future. The economic benefits of investing in children have been extensively documented. Investing in children generously today, will ensure their well-being and productivity of future generations, for decades to come. By contrast, the physical, emotional and intellectual impairment that poverty inflicts on children can mean a lifetime of suffering and want – and a legacy of poverty for the next generation. The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children. We’ve got to work to save our children and do it with full respect for the fact that if we do not, no one else is going to do it. It is still just unbelievable to us that diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of children’s deaths in the world. I have a voice. It is one of my gifts and I intend to continue to use it on behalf of children.
(The writer is a Social Scientist and one of those who drafted the Goa Children’s Act)
