How Does The Concept Of Children's Rights Influence The Work Of International Agencies And Development NGOs - Essay Example

?How Does The Concept Of Children's Rights Influence The Work Of International Agencies And Development NGOs? Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Children’s Right Influencing the Work of International Agencies 4 Children’s Right Influencing the Work of NGOs 7 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction In relation to the children’s rights, various provisions have been enforced both at the national levels and the international levels to protect the wellbeing and progress of the minors. In this context it reflects the right that are associated with the basic physiological as well as physical needs which majorly include food, health care, criminal law benefits and education. It is in this context that the enforced provisions for the protection of children rights reflect the appropriateness of the rules, laws and regulations with respect to the age and developmental needs of the child. The government policies and rules have been thus framed to protect the minors from abuse and exploitation which have often been observed to result from poverty, child labour and educational opportunities. Apparently, enforcement of such provisions has been influencing the operations of international agencies and NGOs both at the national and global levels by a large extent. Emphasising on this understanding, the paper will aim at assessing and summarising the impacts of children’s right related provisions on the operations of international agencies and NGOs in the current day context. Children’s Right Influencing the Work of International Agencies Child abuse infers the harm inflicted upon the children in terms of emotional and physical stress that has been further examined to cause hindrance in their growth and developmental progress. Contextually, the repeated instances of child abuses reported in terms of physical, sexual and emotional stress, for example the practice of child labour has caused rapid deployment in the development and growth of the children. In the modern world, the massive exploitation of the children has increased at an alarming rate creating significant influence on the overall socio-economic structure in the international context. Many children have been reported as being forced into prostitution, drug trafficking and other circumstances that are dangerous, which ultimately is resulting in the violation of the children’s rights and regulations made by the government. It is worth mentioning in this context that the government has taken certain initiatives which include the rescue measures, rehabilitation and active participation measures concerning children’s rights protection. The reports published concerning children’s rights violation usually cover the aspect of infant mortality, malnutrition and issues with regard to education where the other important issues usually remained unaddressed (UNICEF, 2006). With reference to the current day context, these factors can be apparently observed to influence and direct the working of international agencies such as World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and ECPAT among others. For instance, WTO, in its international operations has been regularly reviewing the progress in various countries with regard to their performances in protecting and promoting the rights of the children as per the principle guidelines mentioned in the agreements and trade policies. For instance, in its recent policies WTO has been focused on enforcing rigid norms to ban any product or services produced through the engagement of child labour. Where on one hand such norms and policy measures have been encouraged on social and ethical grounds, on the basis of economic concerns, the measures have also been criticised. For instance, it has often been argued and researched that child labour is a major concern identified in poor economic regions. It is often regarded as a consequence of poverty wherein minors of the family are sent to work and earn their livelihood. In such areas, such restrictions on child labour as imposed by the WTO policies might have negative economic impacts making the poverty situation more severe. In this context, WTO, in its working had to witness inevitable challenges in terms of conflicts of interest to protect social, ethical as well as economic growth interests. Thus, WTO had to take additional measures so as to facilitate wages in such poor economic regions to discourage the necessity of child labour without hampering the economic growth rate in such countries (Zagel, 2005). Hence, it can be witnessed that children’s rights have been imposing significant impacts on the working of WTO by a significant extent. In the similar context, IMF and the World Bank have also been focused towards loan facilities to promote the wellbeing of children in terms of their nutritional growth and education. Various support programs were also initiated by the agencies to develop awareness regarding the long-term consequences of child labour with the significant involvement of the governmental bodies and NGOs. However, the World Bank and IMF implemented policies to support children’s rights protection through funding education facilities have been criticised on the grounds that such with such initiatives, these international agencies have been obtaining greater control over the educational systems in nations and therefore intervening in the economic policy developments as well as social construction of these nations. To be precise, it has often been argued that with such policies the international agencies such as IMF and the World Bank have been taking control over sovereign bodies in the global platform (IMF, 2013; Right to Education Project, 2008). This also depicts children’s rights protection concerns to impose significant influences on the working of these international agencies. Another example with regards to this context can be identified with reference to the working of ECPAT which operates as a committee or cluster of organisational bodies aiming to protect children’s rights in the industrial context. For instance, one of the major initiatives taken by this particular agency is the abolition of children trafficking for sexual exploitation through the travel and tourism industry. In alliance with WTO and other related international trade regulating bodies, ECPAT enforced rigid codes of conduct for the companies operating in the global travel and tourism industry to combat the rising number of children trafficking. Undoubtedly, such codes of conducts have had significant influences on the overall operations of the global travel and tourism industry (ECPAT, 2002). As can be observed with reference to the above discussion regarding the influences caused by children’s rights on the workings of international agencies, the implementation of the programmes with respect to the development of the early childhood includes the polices with the vision to ensure an overall enhancement of the children with regard to physical, social, cognitive, spiritual and emotional developments. Apparently, the workings of the international agencies have been appraised and criticised quite often regarding whether the approaches are appropriate with regard to the development of the childhood at an early age and if these are effective enough to adhere to the uncertainties when rendering the guarantee the successful protection of children’s rights at every level of the international society. Children’s Right Influencing the Work of NGOs To be precise, the rights of the children include the provision with respect to the standard of living, educational benefits, health care and recreational facilities. Additionally, the rights to protection act with respect to the children’s developmental needs majorly include their right to protection against abuse, discrimination and exploitation. The rights to participation further include the child’s freedom to participate in activities and programmes irrespective of cultural divergences and family or ethnic backgrounds. It is worth mentioning in this context that the provisions for rules and regulations as well rights are framed to protect the social, economic and environmental rights of the children in the worldwide context (UNICEF, 2007). In the modern day context NGOs have been working extensively for the settlement of children’s rights within the international context. Contextually, a considerable rise in the number of NGOs working to ensure children’s rights protection have also been observed as growing rapidly in the recent years (Martens, 2013). The NGOs main aim has been concentrated towards facilitating the implementations, promotions and the monitoring of the conventions which are held with the aim to the rights of the children. The activities principally comprise of the support of national as well as the international bodies and the committees with regard to the monitoring and implementing the Conventions on the Right of the Child (CRC) and its protocols, development of the legal instruments, strengthening of the capacity within the national and local NGOs and preparing practical tools which comprises of reporting guides, factsheets and survey reports among others (Larsen, 2010). Assessing the influence of children’s rights on the workings of the NGOs, their strategies and objectives comprise of their effective engagement as well as other partners in the process which reports about the CRC and related activities with respect to the protection along with promotion of the children’s rights (Machel, 2000). In this context, the Liaison unit forms an important part within the activities of the NGOs. The unit ensures the monitoring of existence and the workings of the national children’s rights alliances world-wide (International Labour Organisation, 2013). It has been further revealed that it provides technical provision to alliances towards the effective promotion and implementation of the CRC norms. The activities performed by the Liaison unit comprises of assisting the NGOs to actively participate in the working group of the pre-sessions with respect to the meetings of the committee. It further provides information to keep the alliances and the NGOs informed about the developments with relation to the children’s rights of the international and national events. It also creates guidance and tools for the representatives of the NGOs engaged with advocating and networking the child rights. In accordance to this, the unit also provides training to the representatives of the NGOs working towards the protection of children’s rights (ICCO, 2013). International NGOs such as CRIN has also been influenced significantly by the children’s rights policies. It is worth mentioning in this context that the priority activities with respect to 2000 and 2005 comprises of active contribution to the international events within as well as outside the UN system. In accordance to this, it was further revealed that The Focal Point attracts a larger number of NGOs from the various sectors so as to enhance the workings of these organisations in protecting the rights of the children. The Focal point also contributes to the workings of UN treaty towards ensuring the children’s rights as directed in the broader arena of the human rights (CRIN, 2004). UNICEF’s operations can also be observed to be strongly influenced by the policy measures enforced at the national and the internal levels concerning children’s rights (UNICEF, 2006). According to the research conducted by UNICEF, in Cambodia there has been a substantial increase of 20% in the rate of the number of street children. It has been further revealed by the Cambodian government that the factors such as poverty, domestic migration, violence and rapid population expansion are the main causes for the increase in the rate of children residing on the streets. According to National AIDS Authority, the number of the children in the orphanage has increased to 80000 which resulted from the AIDS epidemic in Combodia. According to the survey report of UNESCO, it was further revealed that around 525,000 of children have left the school due to the economic conditions (UNICEF, 2007). The report by UNICEF further illustrated that child abuse and exploitation are the main problems that are being faced by all the countries in the modern day context. It is in this context that the organisation has been focusing on cultural development as another important factor with the aim of understanding as well as responding to the exploitation of the children throughout the world (UNICEF, 2007). UNICEF thus operates with the vision that child abuse being a global phenomenon has affected the race including boys and girls of all backgrounds and the culture (UNICEF, 2007). Conclusion With reference to the above discussion, it can be observed with regards to the development and protection of the rights of the children that international agencies and NGOs play a vital role towards minimising the issues related with children’s rights. As a matter of fact, child exploitation rates have increased in the modern day context. Consequently, the activities and measures with respect to the protection of the children’s rights have been implemented by NGOs as well as the international agencies. The different programmes such as The Focal Point and the Liaison Unit help and provide information to the international, regional and the national level organisations as well as the other events organisers with respect to the rights and provisions framed against the exploitation of the children. References CRIN, 2004. Mission and Aims. About the NGO Group for the CRC. [Online] Available at: http://www.crin.org/NGOGroupforCRC/about.asp [Accessed April 17, 2013]. CRIN, 2004. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. Child Rights Issues. [Online] Available at: http://www.childrightsnet.org/NGOGroup/childrightsissues/HumanRightsCouncil/# [Accessed April 17, 2013]. CRIN, 2004. General Comments. CRC. [Online] Available at: http://www.childrightsnet.org/NGOGroup/CRC/GeneralComments/ [Accessed April 17, 2013]. CRIN, 2004. Our Approach. About Us. [Online] Available at: http://www.childrightsnet.org/NGOGroup/about/OurApproach/ [Accessed April 17, 2013]. ECPAT, 2002. 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