Participation of Children Reinforce in the Implementation of the Convention on Child Rights - Essay Example

Children's rights Children as actors: how can the participation of children reinforce the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child(CRC) One of the most essential international conventions that set out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children has been the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. International movements for the rights of children across the world attempt to ensure that children are given equal respect and concern without discrimination. These rights also guarantee their need for protection as well as recognize their place within family and society. While people all over the world are highly categorical about the need for preserving the rights of children, there have been limited international efforts to deal with the problems of children at a large scale. Often referred to as CRC or UNCRC, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most wide-ranging treaty to take care of the rights of children and it contains 42 detailed provisions preserving the rights of children in all areas of their lives. The enforcement of CRC, which ensures the highest international standards and guidelines for regional and national implementation, has an important role in maintaining the child rights across the globe. However, the most essential factor which reinforces the implementation of CRC is child participation in it which ensures "children to express their views in matters that affect them and then to have their views taken seriously by reflecting them in programmes and policies that affect children. The CRC has many provisions that serve as the legal standard and guidelines for participation." (Lee). In fact, the convention has a cluster of articles that are considered "participation articles", even though it does not overtly incorporate the "right to participate" as an article. Significantly, the CRC offers every essential way to encourage and enable children to make their views heard, rather than pressurizing them to participate. Therefore, children can participate in CRC through the expression of their views in matters that affect them and such participation of children can highly reinforce the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The participation of children in the Convention on the Rights of the Child can effectively reinforce the implementation of CRC as such participation ensures that the voice of the children is heard all over the world. This international treaty recognizes the human rights of children and the CRC is best maintained when the children are able to express their views in matters that affect them. The CRC is essentially based on right of humans to survive and develop in the world and the governments are supposed to ensure the maximum possibility for the survival and development of the children. Child participation is perhaps the most effective means to ensure the rights of the children, although it is greatly challenging endeavor to make certain that children are able to take part in the conservation of the CRC. There are several factors that affect child participation in the CRC such as the traditional perceptions of childhood etc. However, the convention has given significant provision for the participation of children realizing that child participation in the CRC is essential for its effective implementation. "The convention sets forth basic standards for the treatment, protection, and participation of children in society and makes a claim for children's equality with other children and with adults, even as it acknowledges that childhood is uniquely valuable in its own right. The Convention thus embodies claims for a mixture of protective, welfare, moral, and political rights, encapsulated by what has been termed the three p's of children's rights: provision, protection, and participation." (Hobbs, McKechnie, and Lavalette, 1999, p 37). Therefore, the participation of children in the Convention on the Rights of the Child has an essential role in the effective reinforcement of the CRC and various articles in the convention give room for the participation of children by enabling them to make their views heard. For example, Article 12 (1) provides them the right to express views and have these views heard, Article 13 (1) the freedom of expression, etc, Article 15 (1) the freedom of association and assembly, Article 16 (1) the right to privacy and freedom from unlawful attacks on honor, and Article 16 (2) the right to protection by law against such interference with privacy or attacks. However, it is the Article 2 which can be regarded as the most essential aspect of this 'participation cluster' and this article specifies non-discrimination, by which all children must be allowed to participate and have access to the entire process. In short, the CRC guarantee absolute participation of the children in social process which can reinforce the implementation of the convention. "Participation, according to Lee, "should be a circular process, allowing different points of entry, taking the evolving capacities under consideration. The different entry points are: (1) the review process; (2) follow-up and monitoring process; and (3) reporting process." (Lee). In a reflective analysis of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it becomes lucid that there are several provisions in the CRC which reflect children's right to participation and it is an important way to make sure that the convention is effectively implemented. Whereas the participation of children is one of the steering principles of the Convention, it is also one of its most basic challenges. Thus, Article 12 of the CRC provides the children with the right to take part in the decision-making processes which are relevant in their lives. It also offers them the right to influence decisions that are taken within the family, the school or the community and that affect them. "The principle affirms that children are full-fledged persons who have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them and requires that those views be heard and given due weight in accordance with the child's age and maturity. It recognizes the potential of children to enrich decision-making processes, to share perspectives and to participate as citizens and actors of change." (Fact Sheet: The Right to Participation, p 1). Significantly, the practical meaning of children's right to participation is applicable in all the matters relating to children and this fundamental right of the child requires great commitment and effective actions to make it a reality. As the participation of children was realized an essential challenge confronted by the CRC, it was identified as one of the guiding principles of the Convention and this principles also suggests how the CRC can best be maintained. "Participation is an underlying value that needs to guide the way each individual right is ensured and respected; a criterion to assess progress in the implementation process of children's rights; and an additional dimension to the universally recognized freedom of expression, implying the right of the child to be heard and to have his or her views or opinions taken into account." (Fact Sheet: The Right to Participation, p 1). Therefore, child participation is the best strategy to ensure the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and it has been regarded as the foremost guiding principle of CRC. For the success of the participation of children, it is important that the children are consulted and informed appropriate to their developing capacities and the decisive goal of participation is that the child is initiated and directed toward the achievement of the CRC. This course has included discussion about how poverty affects child rights. However, how does the child rights framework impact our approach to, and understanding of children in poverty The Convention on the Rights of the Child is an effective background to understand the relationship between child rights and children in poverty. Significantly, the international framework of human rights, especially in connection with the CRC, can be better used to help reduce child poverty and improve child survival rates. Poverty is an important factor which affects child rights across the globe and the child rights framework has an important influence on the understanding of children in poverty. Thus, the Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies that children have significant rights to have a standard of living which is satisfactory for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. The human rights framework is, therefore, an essential background to realize the issue of poverty concerning children across the world. According to CRC Article 27 (1), it is essential to recognize the right of every child to a standard of living sufficient for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. It also specifies that the parents have the most important responsibility to secure, within their abilities and financial capacities, the conditions of living necessary for the child's development. It has been maintained that the state has the essential responsibility to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement in ensuring that the child is provided the adequate conditions of living necessary for the child's development. The sufficient nutrition, clothing and housing of the child should be ensured by the state and it is obligatory for the state to take the appropriate measures to secure the recovery of maintenance for the child from the parents having financial responsibility for the child. In the 21st Century child poverty can be comprehended as an indictment of governments and the international community due to the fact that there have been several advancements across the world in the last century. However, child poverty still remains an essential issue in several parts of the globe. "Poverty can have a scarring impact on the intellectual, physical and emotional development of children -denying them of their basic human rights such as access to adequate food, safe water and sanitation, primary health care and basic education. Addressing the causes of child poverty is essential to the overall aim of poverty eradication." (Booth, 2003, p 1). Significantly, child rights and child poverty are connected in the background of the CRC and child rights provide the essential framework for the understanding of the issue of child poverty. Therefore, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is an important background to realize and approach the issue of child poverty. The Convention on the Rights of the Child sets the most important framework to comprehend the issue of child poverty across the world and it provides a significant way to approach the issue as well. Significantly, human rights are relevant to all age groups and children have the same general human rights as adults. However, it needs to be realized that children are particularly vulnerable to human rights violation and poverty. Therefore, they have particular rights which recognize their special need for protection against violence and poverty. The CRC can be comprehended as one of such most essential rights. Children's rights in the human rights framework also relate to the issue of poverty, along with other human rights issues. "The Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the rights that must be realized for children to develop their full potential, free from hunger and want, neglect and abuse. It reflects a new vision of the child. Children are neither the property of their parents nor are they helpless objects of charity. They are human beings and are the subject of their own rights." (Protecting and realizing children's rights, 2006). The CRC provides an essential vision of the child as an individual and as a member of a family and community, and it provides them with rights and responsibilities fitting to their developmental stage. The recognition of children's rights, therefore, makes the CRC firmly set its focus on the whole child and the eradication of child poverty is connected to its strategy. In a profound analysis of human rights in relation to child poverty, it becomes obvious that children are most vulnerable to poverty and often they are hardest affected by poverty. Significantly, children are the biggest age group of poor people in most developing countries and it suggests the enormity of the issue of poverty with regard to children. Often child rights provide the right framework for the understanding of the issue of child poverty and the role of CRC is over and over again emphasized as a means to eradicate child poverty. "Poverty reduction strategies, maintains Petra Stephan, "should prioritize the reduction of child poverty and the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They should aim at creating a child-friendly economic and social environment as a main condition for improving long-term development." (Stephan, 2005, p 3). Although the close connection between child rights and poverty is generally accepted, the importance of the link between child rights and child survival has been contested in recent years. However, it is essential to realize the significance of the framework of child rights in understanding and approaching poverty of children at the global level. Whereas the CRC is an essential framework to comprehend the issue of child poverty, it is important to prioritize these rights according to the needs of children. Thus, according to Simon Pemberton et al, "a rights-based strategy will increase child survival, in part by reducing child poverty, but only if some rights are prioritised over others. UNICEF, under Bellamy, adopted a position in which all the rights in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) were regarded as of equal importance, and both developed and developing countries were urged to realise these rights progressively (i.e., one after the other). This position has become hard to defend, since some rights are clearly more important than others and/or contingent on others." (Pemberton, Gordon, Nandy, Pantazis, and Townsend, 2007). They maintain that while UNICEF recognizes that children living in poverty are more likely to experience non-fulfillment of other rights, it is not the case in reality. For example, the right to vote is little use to a child who has died in infancy as a result of a lack of medical care due to poverty. Therefore, all the rights in the CRC cannot be treated with the same importance if the prominent issues concerning children, including the problem child poverty, is to be dealt with effectively. In conclusion, the child rights provide the exact framework for the understanding as well as approaching of the vital issue of child poverty and this link between the two leads to effective strategies to deal with the essential problems concerning child development. It is indubitable that poverty affects child rights. According to Simon Pemberton et al, a human rights approach can provide progressive interventions into child poverty and child survival in three significant ways. First, as the conventions such as the CRC are signed by most countries in the world, they can embody universal values and aspirations. Secondly, the human rights conventions consign a legal obligation upon states which can be most useful in dealing with issues such as child poverty. "Third, rights-based language can help to direct policy. It shifts the focus of debate from the personal failures of the "poor" to the failure of macro-economic structures and policies implemented by nation states and international bodies (World Trade Organization, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, etc.) to eradicate poverty. Hence, child poverty in this context is no longer described as a "social problem" but a "violation of rights"." (Pemberton, Gordon, Nandy, Pantazis, and Townsend, 2007). In short, child rights are not only the framework to understand the issue of child poverty, but, more essentially, is also the best strategy to eradicate the poverty of children from the face of the world. References Booth, Cherie. (2003). Human Rights and Child Poverty. Child Poverty in the Developing World. UNICEF. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.bris.ac.uk/poverty/Child%20poverty_files/UNICEF%20report%20stuff/Cherie%20Booth%20speech%20Human%20Rights%20and%20Child%20Poverty.pdf "Fact Sheet: The Right to Participation." UNICEF. p 1. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Right-to-Participation.pdf Hobbs, Sandy., McKechnie, Jim. and Lavalette Michael. (1999). Child labor: a world history companion. ABC-CLIO. p 37. Lee, Yanghee. "Child participation and access to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child." Council of Europe. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.coe.int/t/transversalprojects/children/JusticeSpeeches/Yanghee_en.asp Pemberton, Simon., Gordon, David., Nandy, Shailen., Pantazis, Christina., and Townsend, Peter. (2007). "Child Rights and Child Poverty: Can the International Framework of Children's Rights Be Used to Improve Child Survival Rates" PLoS Med 4(10). Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0040307 "Protecting and realizing children's rights." (2006). The Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/index_protecting.html Stephan, Petra. (2005). "Recommendations from a child rights perspective with regard to joint World Bank and IMF 2005 PRS Review." Kindernothilfe. p 3. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPRS1/Resources/PRSP-Review/Kindernothilfe.pdf Read More