The United Nation convention on the rights of children (Term Paper Sample)

The United Nation convention on the rights of children
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Introduction
Children ought to be valued just because of their unique position they hold in the society. Traditionally, children are regarded as the bridge between the current generation and the future generation because their presence is an assurance of the continuation of the generation. Respect for children and their rights is one of the latest ideas that have been adopted by the societies worldwide. This came after the study and reports revealed that the rights of children are being violated at the highest order. It was revealed that children caretakers’, parents and other stakeholders tend to overlook children’s rights hence, making them lead miserable life (Verhellen, 1996). Everyday, the rights of children are violated, many children around the world are dying of preventable diseases, millions are not going to school, and children are subjected to violence and discrimination. The most disgusting thing is that a large percentage of children around the world go without enough food, good shelter and clean water. United Nations convention on the rights of the child (UNCRC) is one of the arms of the United Nations and it is a human rights treaty that sets out the political, social, economic, civil health and the cultural rights of children (Verhellen, 1996). This convention has stated that for one to be referred as a child, he/she must be below the age of 18 years. The stand for this convention is that children have rights as human beings and also need special care and protection.
It is because of these injustices that the United Nation general assembly unanimously adopted the convention of children’s’ rights in the year 1989. The provisions for the rights of children became in force in early 1990’s where many member states ratified it (Fortin, 2003). The nations that ratified this law are bound by the international law; the compliance of this is monitored by the United Nations committee on children’s rights. This committee is made up of members from member countries around the world (Fortin, 2003). The governments of the member countries are supposed to report to the UN committee on children’s rights occasionally on their progress in implementation of convention and the status of children’s rights in their countries.
This convention on the rights of children is the first international legally binding instruments that tend to incorporate the full range of human rights. The world leaders wanted to ensure that the whole world should respect children and know that they have human rights too. This convention of 1989 set out these rights in 54 articles (Unicef.org.uk. 2013). By accepting to adopt the provisions on children’s rights the national governments all over have committed themselves in protecting the rights of children and they have even agreed to be held accountable for this task before the international community. All member countries are obliged to adhere to all the rules, actions and policies to ensure the best interests of the children.
Reasons behind the convention
Before we look at the details of the convention’s provision on the rights of the child, let’s look at the reasons that compelled the United Nation to think about protecting children’s rights. The first reason was that children all over the world start their life with greater vulnerability. At their tender age, children rely heavily on their parents or caretakers for their well being. (Macdonald, 2011). They rely on these people for protection, guidance and nurture as they grow towards independence. The fact that this age, children are still developing both mentally and physically, they must be given special care that would enhance healthy growth in all respects. In most countries especially in developing nations, the legal frameworks do not give children special status and protection as compared to adults. Thus, they are left vulnerable to poverty, less education, inadequate health care, poor nutrition, poor housing and to environmental pollution.
Therefore, the United Nation through UNCRC came on the stage to salvage this situation. The world population is growing at a high rate and a large percentage of this population is made of children who are under 18 years (Unicef.org.uk. 2013). Therefore, the United Nation felt that it was wise for it to take care of the young generation because they determine the future status of this world. This step aimed at reducing the exposure of children to incidences and situations that might hamper them from attaining their full potential (Pupilvoicewales.org.uk). It needed the world young generation to grow into responsible adulthoods and unleash all the potential in them so that they can make the future world to be a better place to stay.
The second reason why there was establishment of UNCRC is that children’s views worldwide are rarely heard and considered by many governments due to the political process. Children are not involved in political processes; they do not vote thus, their views and demands are overlooked by the politicians because they have no influence on political issues (Pupilvoicewales.org.uk ). Therefore, the United Nation felt that without giving special attention to children in the issues that affects them, there is a great risk that the impacts of the political processes would be harmful to them.
Thirdly, most of the actions of the governments tend to have strong impacts to children than any other groups. For example, some adjustment in health-care and education directly affects children than adults group in the society. Practically, we can verify that nearly every area of government policies tend to affects children to an extent. United Nations realized that most government make policies that fail to include children’s welfare (Detrik, 1999). This greatly impacts negatively to the future members of the society. Therefore, through UNCRC, the United Nation pushes the members’ countries to enact policies that cater for the well being of children in the society. It does this in a number of ways.
Among the programs UNCRC implements the protection of children is child immunization programs that are conducted by the UNCRC all over the world. This body supply drugs to members countries to immunize children on immunizable diseases such as polio, Tuberculosis, Tetanus and other communicable disease that have proven to be a threat to the lives of children (Macdonald, 2011). This program is not just done once but severally to ensure each child is immunized against these diseases. It does research on these disease and feed the member countries with necessary information that can help in child protection.
Another reason that made United Nation body to look into the issues that affects children is that many changes that are being experienced around the world often have a negative impact to the life of children. Changes such as; shifting employment patterns, globalization, social disparities, climatic changes, economic recessions and many more have strong impacts to children than adults (Detrik, 1999). Therefore, UNCRC is there to cushion children from being affected by these changes adversely. It compels the member countries to consider children’s welfare when enacting drawing up social and economic policies so that in case these changes occur, they have fewer effects to the life of children.
The last reason why the UN decided to consider children is that the optimal development of children is very vital to their well being in their adulthood in the society. Children who have been brought up in harmonious society with fewer struggles tend to be responsible and productive adulthoods (Detrik, 1999). However, children who have been raised in arrogant and stressful environment end up being arrogant individuals when they grow to adulthood. Such children often believe that the only way to survive is to be aggressive for their on self-interests without considering the interests of other people. Thus, UN by valuing the life of children, it wanted the future world to have harmony and responsible individuals.
The convention’s principles
The UNCRC set out four basic principles that guide it in the protection of the rights of the child. These guiding principles are; first, all children are entitled to basic rights without discrimination. This principle guides the member countries to strike a balance in the distribution of the available resources that cater for the basic rights of the child. The convention highly discourages some forms of discriminations may be in terms of race, color, tribe, gender or age (Bueren, 1998). Therefore, in providing for the basic right such as food and education to children, there ought not to be some form of discriminations. This means that fairness must prevail because every child has equal rights like any other.
The second principle states that the best interest of the child should be the primary concern of decision making. This means that the member governments should examine the things that affect the child. These issues are the ones that should determine any decision that is aimed for the common good of children (Bueren, 1998). The governments need not just to make important decision without considering what the interests of the child are. This principle tends to guide the policy and decision makers to prioritize the concerns of children before settling on a particular decision.
The third principle states that children have a right to life, survival and development. This principle upholds the respect for human life. We said earlier that children should be respected like any other human being. The best way to respect children is observing their rights; they ought not to be exposed to dangers that would r...