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Making Every
Child Count
By Karen Fanning
As world
leaders, child advocates, and young people gather at the United Nations
this week for the Special Session on Children, their discussions will
center around a landmark piece of legislation: The Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
The most widely adopted human rights treaty in history, the Convention
lays out the basic human rights of all children under the age of 18,
regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or social status.
Since it was adopted on November 20, 1989, by the United Nations General
Assembly, the Convention has been ratified, or officially approved,
by 191 countries worldwide.
In ratifying the Convention, these nations have made a commitment
to create and carry out policies that reflect the best interests of
children.
The Convention is founded upon four core principles:
• nondiscrimination
• best interests of the child
• the child's right to life, survival, and development
• respect for the views of the child
Among the many basic human rights the Convention specifies children
are entitled to, the right to protection from harmful influence, abuse,
and exploitation stands out. Defending this right seems especially
urgent, given that 80 million children worldwide are currently working
in extremely dangerous conditions.
To ensure that this and other rights are protected, the Convention
has set standards in health care, education, and legal, social, and
civil services. These standards can be used to evaluate a country's
progress toward protecting children's rights.
In the end, child advocates are confident the Convention will make
a difference in the lives of children everywhere.
"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," said Carol Bellamy,
executive director of UNICEF. |
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