Over the last twenty years, children’s rights have been recognized and accepted by the entire international community. The different nations have agreed that the rights of all the children in the world must be respected. However, this goal is still far from being reached, and the rights of millions of children are not always respected.
The adoption of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 marked an historical turning point for children across the globe. This is because the convention has come to provide a full legal framework protecting children’s rights. In this way, the 191 states which have ratified the convention are committed to realizing all the rights which have been declared in order to protect each and every child.
In practice, however, it is not that easy for many countries to protect children’s rights. Since the ability to realize these rights is closely linked to a country’s level of economic development, it is often difficult for developing countries to establish basic services to ensure that children are monitored and protected.
Millions of children are subjected to precarious and dangerous situations which seriously threaten their well-being, their health and their lives :
Exploitation : According to the International Labour Organization, 215 million children are engaged in child labour across the globe, and many of them are victims of the worst forms of exploitation such as slavery or prostitution.
Malnutrition and illness : Due to a lack of hygiene, a suitable diet and essential health care, over 10 million children under 5 years old die every year from illnesses which could have been prevented or cured (WHO).
Lack of access to education : Even today, 72 million children of primary school age do not attend school, and over half of them are girls who are subjected to discrimination.
These figures show an alarming reality: despite the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, being adopted over 20 years ago, too many children still suffer from the violation of their human rights.
Beyond just recognizing children’s rights, it is becoming increasingly urgent to put concrete measures in place. It is necessary to help those countries which find it difficult to keep to their commitments and to provide the care and attention which these children need. Millions of organisations and associations across the globe have devoted themselves to this task. Humanium, a humanitarian association is one of these organizations and it fights to ensure that the rights of each child are respected in each of the villages where it works.
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