25th anniversary of convention on the rights of the child

8/10/2019 25th Anniversary of Convention on the Rights of the Child

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25th Anniversary ofConvention on the Rightsof the Child:Is the world a better place for children?

November 2014


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Today, Universal Childrens Day, is the 25th anniversary of the UN

Convention on the Rights of the Child. The date, 20 November, marks

the day on which the UN adoted the !eclaration of the Rights of the

Child in "#5# and the c$rrent Convention on the Rights of the Child %CRC&thirty years later in "#'#.

There is m$ch to celebrate on the 25thanniversary of the CRC, from declining child mortality to rising

school enrolment, yet it is an imortant reminder of the h$ndreds of millions of children that have not

yet been reached and are still denied access to basic services.

The CRC is the most comlete statement of children(s rights ever rod$ced and is also the most widely

ratified international h$man rights in history. )t describes what a child needs to s$rvive, grow,

articiate and f$lfil their otential, and incl$des the right to health, the right to ed$cation and to

rotection that children are entitled to, irresective of their gender, economic stat$s, ethnicity,

religio$s belief, disability or geograhic location. )n ractice, almost all of the areas of children(s rights

overla and interact with each other* + child who is registered at birth is more likely to have access to

health care, go to school and be rotected from child marriage. hile a yo$ng child with access to

safe drinking water is more likely to s$rvive and be able to attend school at the aroriate age. The

rinciles artic$lated in the CRC are indivisible and interdeendent - no one right has recedence

over another and the nonrealisation of one right may imact on the realisation of other rights.

Nations that ratify this Convention are

bo$nd to it $nder international law, with

comliance monitored by the UN

Committee on the Rights of the Child.

/overnments of co$ntries that have ratified

the Convention are re$ired to reort to,

and aear before, the UN Committee to be eriodically e1amined on their rogress with regards to

the imlementation of the Convention within their borders. o far, all UN recognised co$ntries have

ratified the Convention e1cl$ding omalia, o$th $dan and the United tates.

Two otional rotocols were adoted by the UN in 2000. The first, the 3tional 4rotocol on the

)nvolvement of Children in +rmed Conflict, re$ires arties to ens$re that children $nder the age of

"' are not recr$ited com$lsorily into their armed forces. +s of 20", "55 states are arty to the

rotocol and another "' states have signed it b$t not ratified. The second, the 3tional 4rotocol on

the ale of Children, Child 4rostit$tion and Child 4ornograhy, re$ires arties to rohibit the child

trafficking, child labo$r, child rostit$tion and child ornograhy. +s of 20", "67 states are arty to

the 4rotocol and another ten have signed b$t not ratified it. + third, the 3tional 4rotocol to the

Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Comm$nications 4roced$re, which wo$ld allow children or

their reresentatives to file individ$al comlaints for violation of the rights of children, came into force

in +ril 20". This is a cr$cial ste forward for the Convention as it rovides children with the

oort$nity to access 8$stice for violations of their rights at the international level if their co$ntry is

$nable or $nwilling to react.

There is no do$bt that d$ring the 25 years since the CRC was adoted, the world has taken action to

better rotect children and their rights and the lives of millions of children have imroved. )n every

co$ntry, the Convention has insired the introd$ction of, and amendment to, domestic laws that e1ist

to rotect children and olicies to hel them reach their f$ll otential. ome co$ntries have adoted

I think childrens rights are important because

they help you develop, learn and reach your

potential

/emma9, age "0, ::; U


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constit$tions with rovisions solely dedicated to rotecting children(s

rights, while others, s$ch as Tan=ania with the >aw of the Child +ct

%200#& and Neal with the Children(s +ct %"##2&, have enacted

children(s codes or children(s acts. The Convention has led to the creation of new rogrammes or

olicies at national level that deal with secific concerns, the creation of national child rights

instit$tions and coordinating mechanisms, changes in government( attit$des towards N/3s and

societal changes in attit$des towards children.

:ore children than ever are s$rviving ast their fifth birthdays, and more children are receiving

vaccinations early on in life that rotect them from diseases s$ch as olio. :ore children are

benefiting from imroved access to ed$cation, sanitation, water and n$trition and more children and

yo$th are being allowed to articiate in decisions that affect their lives. ?et, the fact that the world

contin$es to fail to resect the rights of its children is clear in the high n$mbers of children who still

die of reventable ca$ses, who are revented from attending school or attend a school that is $nable

to rovide them with a $ality ed$cation, who are

s$b8ected to violence, e1loitation and ab$se against which

they are $nable to rotect themselves.

/lobally, the world has made $nrecedented rogress in

alleviating overty and imroving the living conditions of

millions of families, women and children. The n$mber of

eole living in overty has been more than halved, from 7@ in "##0 to "'@ in 20"0". Aowever,

more than one third of the e1tremely oor are $nder age "B, and in lowincome co$ntries, half of all

children live in e1treme overty2. )n 20"B, it is estimated that 7@ of those living on less than U".25

a day are "' or $nderB.

+ baby born in 20" has a dramatically imroved chance of living to age five comared with one born

in "##0. The n$mber of children $nder five years old who die each year has been red$ced by half,

from "2.7 million in "##0 to 6.B million in 20"B5. +bo$t #0 million children who wo$ld have died if

mortality rates had st$ck at their "##0 level have, instead, lived ast the age of five6. ?et, ne$monia,

diarrhoea and malaria, all reventable diseases, are still the leading ca$ses of child deaths, killing

aro1imately 5,000 children $nder five every day7.

"United Nations. %20"B&. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2013. +vailable at*

www.$n.orgDmillenni$mgoalsDdfDreort20"BDmdgreort20"Benglish.df

23linto, 4edro, et al. %20"B&. The State of the Poor: Where are the poor, where s e!treme povert"

har#er to en#, an# what s the $urrent profile of the worl#%s poor&Economic 4remise, no. "25,

orld FankB)bid.UN)CEG. %20"&. 2' (ears of the )onvention on the Ri*hts of the )hil#: s the worl# a +etter pla$e for $hil#ren&

+vailable at*

htt*DDwww.$nicef.orgD$blicationsDfilesDCRCHatH25H+nniversaryH4$blicationHcomilationH5Nov20".df5UN)CEG. %20"B&. Committing to Child $rvival* + 4romise Renewed. 4rogress reort 20"B. +vailable at*

htt*DDwww.$nicef.orgD$blicationsDfilesD+4RH4rogressHReortH20"BH#HetH20"B.df6)bid.7

UN)CEG. %20"&. 2' (ears of the )onvention on the Ri*hts of the )hil#: s the worl# a +etter pla$e for $hil#ren&+vailable at*

htt*DDwww.$nicef.orgD$blicationsDfilesDCRCHatH25H+nniversaryH4$blicationHcomilationH5Nov20".df

I think childrens rights areimportant because they help me

and other children to be the best

they can be.

:ichael9, age "0, ::; U


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There has been considerable rogress in red$cing st$nting since "##0.

)n 20"B, on average, 25 o$t of every "00 children $nder age 5 were

st$nted, comared with 0 o$t of every "00 in "##0. Nevertheless, in

20"B, an estimated "7 million children $nder the age of five were severely wasted, and "6" million

children were st$nted'. /lobally, nearly half of all $nderfive deaths can be attrib$ted to $nder

n$trition.

Grom "##0 to 20"2, the global drinking water coverage increased by "B@ from 76@ in "##0 to '#@ in

20"2#. ?et, this means that ""@ of the global o$lation c$rrently do not have access, leaving

h$ndreds of millions of children relying on water so$rces that in $nclean and $nsafe. Each day, on

average, more than ",00 children die from diarrhoeal diseases beca$se of contaminated drinking

water, lack of sanitation and oor hygiene"0.

)n "##0, there were "0" million children o$t

ofschool. Fy 20"2 this n$mber had almost

halved to 57.' million children o$t of

school"". :ore than fo$r o$t of ten o$tof

school children will never enter a classroom

in their childhood, and the early school

leaving rate of 25@ has remained at the same level as in 2000"2. F$t in onethird of co$ntries, less than

75@ of teachers are trained, leading to a Ilearning crisis( where 250 million children are failing to learn

the basics in n$meracy and literacy.

3nly B'@ of children in lowincome co$ntries were registered at birth in 20"B, and across the world it

is children from the oorest families who are less likely to be registered"B. Firth registration is often

referred to as a child(s Iassort to rotection( as, witho$t it, they may not legally be recognised within

their co$ntry, and may be denied healthcare or ed$cation, or if they commit a crime they may be

rosec$ted as an ad$lt instead of a child. /lobally, more than 700 million women alive today were

married before their eighteenth birthday. :ore than one in three of these child brides, or abo$t 250

million, entered into marriage before their fifteenth birthday". +dditionally, it is estimated that "5@

of the world(s children are engaged in child labo$r that comromises their right to be rotected from

economic e1loitation and their right to learn and lay.

'

)bid.#orld Aealth 3rgani=ation %A3& and UN)CEG. %20"&. Pro*ress on Drinin* Water an#

Sanitation: 201- up#ate. +vailable at*

htt*DDwww.wssinfo.orgDfileadminD$serH$loadDreso$rcesDJ:4HreortH20"HwebEng.df

"0UNCEG. %20"./ State of the Worl#%s )hil#ren 201-/

htt*DDwww.$nicef.orgDsowc20"Dn$mbersDdoc$mentsDenglishD3C20"H)n@20N$mbersH2'@20Jan.df""UNEC3. %20"&. Pro*ress in *ettin* all $hil#ren to s$hool stalls +ut some $ountries show the wa" forwar#/

4olicy 4aer "DGact heet 2'. +vailable at* htt*DDwww.$is.$nesco.orgDGactheetsD!oc$mentsDfs2'o$tof

schoolchildrenen.df"2)bid."BUN)CEG. %20"B&. ver" )hil#%s irth Ri*hts: neuities an# tren#s in +irth re*istration. +vailable at*

htt*DDwww.$nicef.orgD$blicationsDfilesDFirthHRegistrationH""H!ecH"B.df"UN)CEG. %20"&. n#in* )hil# Marria*e: Pro*ress an# prospe$ts. +vailable at*

htt*DDwww.$nicef.orgDmediaDfilesDChildH:arriageHReortH7H"7H>R..df

They're important because when other people

don't feel left out and feel on his own and have

friends, and survive and reach potential.

+lice9, age "0, ::; U


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+t Childreach )nternational, the CRC $nderins all of o$r work. ith

o$r artners, we work to ens$re that children, their families and their

comm$nities are aware of their rights, and the resonsibilities that

different levels of governments have to ens$re these rights are resected, rotected and f$lfilled.

+s the data shows, tremendo$s rogress has been made d$ring the ast few decades however it alsobears witness to ongoing violations of children(s rights. The widesread ratification of the Convention

is a great tri$mh, b$t we now m$st b$ild on that rogress to not only ens$re $niversal ratification of

the CRC, b$t also to ens$re $niversal imlementation, to reach the children we have not yet reached.

Those children most affected are those living in hardtoreach areas s$ch as isolated r$ral comm$nities

or $rban sl$ms, or in comm$nities torn by conflict or catastrohes, and are often children with

disabilities, from marginalised comm$nities or girls. The vision of the Convention can only be achieved

if the rights of allchildren, incl$ding the most disadvantaged, are realised. :ore therefore needs to

be done to reach these children who have been e1cl$ded from revio$s interventions. /overnments

m$st invest more in the wellbeing of their children to ens$re that their rights are f$lfilled and are no

longer violated with im$nity.

9names have been changed

25th anniversary of convention on the rights of the child

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