child rights
Child rights are inherent; they are not given by the parents, the society or the governments. All that other entities can do is to safeguard child rights, never to take.
Every child deserves to live in a world that enables him/ her to enjoy quality day-to-day life, as well as achieve his/ her full potential at present and in the future.
An ideal child rights’ world would, therefore, be free from war, free from a deprivation of basic needs, and free from conflicts and pressures that reduce/ trash the child’s freedom.
Children in both developing and developed world face hardships albeit different. It is up to the relevant authorities and well wishers to safeguard child rights by reaching out and protecting/ providing for these children. From the Philippines, Guatemala, U.K., U.S., Mauritania, Somalia, Yemen, Kenya and other countries across the globe, the suffering of children is not just a theory but a phenomena that needs to be addressed.
The major instruments/ legislation for the rights and welfare of children define a child as a human being who is between the ages of 0-18 years.
These instruments also specify that no child should be discriminated against on the basis of his/ her nationality, race, colour, religion, social or economic background.
For inclusivity purposes, these instruments, which are at global, continental, country and lower levels (see further below), were developed and adopted through thorough processes, by diverse actors, to ensure that all aspects child rights are safeguarded.
Any conflict, regardless of the magnitude or actors, that takes place around a child affects that child in different ways.
Domestic conflict, for instance, that engages the parents or relatives of a child not only has emotional turmoil on the child, but may also trickle down to the child being abused by one or both parents, or relatives, physically, emotionally, or through deprivation of basic needs as any of the parties take out their frustrations on the helpless child.
Civil conflicts leave children with physical or psychological scars (if they survive in the first place) as they may be physically injured, orphaned, engaged in fighting or protecting of others from the fights.
In conflict situations, a significant population of the victims are children, women, the elderly, and the disabled. The conflicts may take different dimensions and have different effects in different regions or cross borders. These civic conflicts also have an adverse effect on the economy, and could have any number of triggers.
The presence and effects of a civic conflict, therefore, have an adverse effect on the well-being of children regardless of how or where they occur.
The breakout of a civil war in a country, for instance, reduces/ halts the ability of parents/ guardians/ the state to provide basic needs for the children in their custody.
Additionally, injury/ threat of injury (whether physical or psychological) limits children freedom to enjoy a chaos-free life, in effect, curbing their physical and mental development.
Facilities such as hospitals and schools may be destroyed and rendered inaccessible by the larger population, children included.
In the absence of treatment of illnesses and war-injuries, suffering, disability and or death may be inevitable.
Without access to education, the acquisition of the knowledge and skills that could help children to improve their survival skills (at present and in the future) is impossible.
Multiple actors across the globe have recognized the autonomous entity and existence of children. Such recognition has led to the development and enforcement of laws/ instruments that stamp and protect the rights of each child.
In the global context, the United Nations Convention on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (UNCRC), adopted in 1989, serves as the key reference instrument for the safeguard of Child Rights.
The CRC, ratified by 192 out of 194 states, sought to add emphasis on the need to protect children and proactively ensure that they are well provided for.
This CRC, in essence stamped the rights of children as human beings whose rights are safeguarded by Declaration of Human Rights that was proclaimed in December 1948.
Both the CRC and the Declaration of Human Rights received the contribution from actors of varying backgrounds and nationalities to ensure that the diversity in the definition and interpretation of the terms was addressed and agreed upon; leaving minimal to personal interpretation.
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children (ACRWC) is Africa’s instrument for the safeguard of child rights.
The Charter, as it is commonly referred, was developed in 1990 in recognition, by the AU, of the special challenges that face the African Child.
The ACWRC is overseen by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of Children (ACEWRC).
I choose these two countries to illustrate the scenario of Child Rights and children protection in a relatively stable country (Kenya) which is a signatory of the UNCRC, and that of a relatively unstable African Country (Somalia) which until 2015 was the only African Country that was not a signatory of the UNCRC.
Besides being a signatory (or not) of the global instrument that safeguard child rights, both Kenya and Somali have constitutional provision for the provision and protection of children.
Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, under the Bill of Rights, outlines the rights and freedoms of Kenyans, including children. Established in line with the Kenyan Constitution, the ChildrenAct8of2001 serves as the legislation that safeguards the rights and welfare of children in Kenya. There are several structures in the regional and local levels that oversee to the welfare of the children in their localities.
Up until January 2011, Somalia was one of the two (out of 194) states that had not ratified the UNCRC’; the other state was the United States, whose law-passing processes got in the way of the CRC getting to the parliament levels for processing before getting signed by the president.
Somalia, on the other hand, was not a signatory to the CRC because its long history of insecurity, and therefore the lack of a centralized government, got in the way of having a president to ratify the CRC.
In 2011, a new country was born, South Sudan, which gained its independence from Sudan, increasing the number of countries that had not ratified the CRC by one.
In January , Somalia ratified the UNCRC.
Besides the UNCRC, Somalia’s Constitution, which after three attempts – 1961, 1979 and 1984 – remained relatively the same, has a provision for the safeguarding of the rights and welfare of Somali children.
Somalia’s Vision 2030 outlines the educational and other measures that will be invested in chidlren for an all-rounded future of the children and the country. According to a 2008 report by the African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), some of the issues that children in Somalia (as in other parts of the continent) face include harmful cultural practices such as early marriages and FGM, poverty, illiteracy, internal displacement, and HIV/AIDS among others.
Numerous International and local organizations work towards saving children through direct actions or building the capacity of other stakeholders to protect children and gurantee the welfare of such children.
Below is a list of the organizations that work for children.
In an imperfect world, the rights of all human beings, and especially those of children, are at risk of being violated. It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to do our best, in our own little ways and spaces, to promote the rights of other people. It is our responsibility to create a more peaceful world for our children.
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