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COVER STORY: It is the Universal Children’s Day
“Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them.”
—Jose Marti
Children have special rights, and the starting point for examining these is the Convention on the Rights of the Child, more popularly known as the CRC, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20th November 1989.
An International treaty, designed to support and maintain the rights of children, the CRC has been around for almost 15 years. It is the most widely signed international treaty. It is made up of 41 articles about children’s rights, one about public awareness and education and 12 articles on how to monitor, ratify, and enforce the convention.
What is a child?
When the UN says “child” it means all young people below the age of 18 unless the law of a country states otherwise.
How does the Convention work?
Although the Convention does not become the law in any of the countries that have ratified it, its principles must reflect in the policies of the government. Governments must submit reports regularly to the United Nations on their progress in implementing the Convention. This system of regular reporting does put pressure on the individual governments to work towards realising the convention.
The real success of the CRC lies in the hands of individuals, children, adults, communities, and NGOs because without our active involvement the CRC will remain but a document and not be fully realised ever!
With rights come responsibilities too!
We all know that rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin. For any relationship to work, be it friendship, a sports team or between countries, we know that we owe some things to other people and they owe us some. Similarly, when the CRC guarantees children their rights, it also expects tolerance and respect towards others in return.
Broadly the rights covered in the CRC can be divided into some basic categories:
1 The right to survival:
Every child’s right to food, shelter, health facilities and a reasonable standard of living.
2 The right to protection:
All decisions concerning children should have their best interests considered foremost.
All governments must protect and care for the wellbeing of children.
3 Reaching their full potential:
There should not be any hindrances for any child in reaching his or her full potential. These include the importance of family, culture, education, and recreation in the life of every child.
4 Playing a role in decision making:
This means being included in making decisions that will affect children. It also covers the freedom to express and the freedom to receive information from lots of different sources.
5 Freedom from abuse:
Children must be protected from all sorts of physical and mental violence, neglect, economic exploitation, torture, prostitution, and abduction.
6 The right to an identity:
Every child must be given a name and nationality and must be free to enjoy his or her culture, profess his or her religion and use his or her language.
7 Legal freedoms:
Children under 18 must be free from torture, detention and capital punishment.
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