Overview: Convention on the Rights of the Children
Political Science
Convention on the Rights of the Children Introduction
Sheep labor. Obedience soldier. Child bride. Throughout history, children have been subjected to the worst forms of exploitation and abuse. After World War II, the groundbreaking universal declaration of human rights declared that children needed special care and protection. As a result, in 1989, the United Nations adopted a revolutionary treaty that gave rise to all children everywhere. It's called the convention on the rights of the child. It is the most ratified treaty in the world. And all of us to help the children of the world, we all have the promises of the condition into a reality on every part of the globe.
By signing the treaty, nations promised to set basic standards in healthcare, education, protection, and social services. They also grant children the right to play to express themselves and to have a say in decisions that affect them. But the convention has a grander vision. By putting children onto the global agenda, the convention has radically improved the ways we can help them. Nepal last year decided to remove its monarchy. Because of the change in government they're creating a new constitution. That creates an amazing opportunity for UNICEF to change the constitution in a way that's child friendly in a way that's child supportive and the CRC is the basis on which we do that. The convention has changed the lives of millions of children. My birth registration, which is an extremely low in a number of countries about 10% jumping up to 80%.
In Romania, particularly after the change of the traumatic change of the regime there, there was a need for a lot of work to be done on the protection of children, particularly children who have been in orphanages who have been infected by HIV aids in Sudan where we worked very much with all partners to establish a legal framework for the protection of children. India has just agreed to compulsory free education for all children. The convention also brought hidden subjects like sexual exploitation and trafficking out into the open and helped protect vulnerable children. There are systems in place for them to be returned to their country of origin and for the country of origin to trace their families and we have to take them with their families and provide them to protection.
While many countries have made changes to their laws, too few are following through on their obligations. Those principles are respected in most places. But there are no infrastructure in place to actually comply with legislation. So we still live in a world where too many children die of preventable causes. Are forced to quit school, are left abandoned when their parents succumbed to aids. Our recruited and used by armed groups. Or are forced to do dangerous work. In many cases, people don't even recognize the children have rights. The ways in which we can help are all connected. The convention reminds us that all of these rights are interconnected. And in a way, really what we need to be looking at is the extent to which we have changed the way the world works. So that it's delivering on these rights for children.
The convention calls on all of us to build space in which children can grow, learn, and develop. How do we transform it from words on a paper into real change? We must hold governments accountable, their laws, and their policies must fund programs providing healthcare, education, and other basic services. It is up to families and communities to learn about what rights children have and to support and protect those rights. And most importantly, we need to listen to children and respect what they say. Really seeing the young person as an actor as a citizen in a society. This requires that we relinquish a little power to actors in society who have previously historically not been seen as agents of change. As the global community commemorates the 20th anniversary of the convention, we recognize that many challenges remain before all rights for all children are achieved.
However, we have witnessed the power of the convention to transform lives. Because of the world's commitment over the past two decades, more children today are surviving more are attending school, more have access to clean water, and more are being protected against deadly diseases. The convention gives us a yardstick to measure our progress, but it also asks for more. We are thinking about children. I have rights. So it's not only needs. Right. That acceptance and acknowledgment that all children are born free and equal in dignity and in rights and that those rights generate the responsibility and the duty in every single other member of the human family to acknowledge them to consider what you can do personally about them. If we could just get that acknowledgment in everybody everywhere, that really is a sort of a fight. That's the dream of the convention. Making that dream a reality for all children is our greatest test. Can you? Can we rise to the challenge?