{"id":31454,"date":"2019-12-26T19:48:31","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T19:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/?p=31454"},"modified":"2025-12-14T04:25:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T04:25:54","slug":"2019-a-year-in-childrens-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/2019-a-year-in-childrens-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 – A Year in Children\u2019s Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

We owe our children \u2013 the most vulnerable citizens in any society \u2013 a life free from violence and fear.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n  \u2014 Nelson Mandela <\/strong> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Look into any dictionary and you will probably find the same definition of what children\u2019s rights are (should be): the rights of children to have access to health, education, family life and an adequate standard of living, and never have to fear hunger, abuse, harm, neglect, or any other inhumane conditions (UNICEF, 2011).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t even have to reach the end of this sentence to know\nthat unfortunately this in many countries and situations is not the case today.\nThose among us who are the most vulnerable are many times the most disregarded\nprecisely by the ones who should be protecting them and ensuring that they get\nthe life that a childhood implies – one that is carefree, happy and safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definition of\nchildren\u2019s rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For many years, children\u2019s rights have been so poorly defined in world legislation and by the courts, although it is clear that exactly those who do not have the ability to advocate for or defend themselves in the political, judicial, or economic arena should be granted more protection that those whose voices can often be heard. Even when they are heard, it is not enough for those voices to be heard from time to time, but every year and every day spent on the battlefront of the human rights’ defense. So, what has 2019 actually meant for children\u2019s rights?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If we take into consideration that the true recognition of\nthe child\u2019s interest and rights became real on 20 November 1989<\/strong> with the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child<\/strong>, then both mathematically and\nsymbolically the year 2019 represents a big year in the celebration of\nchildren\u2019s rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirty years ago, as the first international legally binding\ntext, the Convention recognized all the fundamental rights of a child,\nconstituted by fundamental guarantees and essential human rights. On this\nimportant date, it has finally been recognized that a child is a human being,\ndeserving of their rights, dignity, and respect. Due to their youth and\nvulnerability, children, unlike adults, have no means to protect themselves and\nare therefore the object of a particular interest and a specific protection\n(Humanium, n.d.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, 30 years after, the significant anniversary of\nthe Convention was indeed a unique opportunity to put children\u2019s rights high on\nthe international agenda with precisely children\u2019s voices as their\nrepresentatives. So, who was loud enough to stand for children\u2019s rights this\nyear?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children\u2019s voices for\nchildren\u2019s rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of those emotional voices was loudly heard from the United Nation\u2019s stage itself when a 16-year old girl Greta Thunberg bravely called out our world leaders for their \u201cbetrayal\u201d of young people because of their failure to address the alarming climate crisis issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cThis is all wrong. I shouldn\u2019t be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to me for hope? How dare you! <\/em><\/p>\n  \u2014 <\/strong> Greta Thunberg (The Guardian, 2019)<\/em> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There are so many experienced world leaders, and yet, it is a\n16-year-old girl who truly understands the biggest environmental crisis so far\nwe are all faced with today. Not only does she understand it, but she is\nwarning us about it, but it is up to us to listen. Pollution leading up to the\nclimate crisis is undoubtedly threatening children\u2019s health all over the world\nand it is insightful young people like Greta who are bearing the burden of our\nleaders\u2019 failures (WHO, 2019). As the leaders are ignoring the problem, she is\ncontinuing to fight it. Standing tall, at just 16 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy birthday,\nHumanium!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We already know by now that 20 November is an important\ndate, especially this year, since this is the exact day when the Convention on\nthe Rights of the Child was finally adopted. What many might not know is that,\nsymbolically, Humanium<\/a> was founded on the date of the\nsigning of the Convention – 11 years ago, with the set goal of achieving the\nwell-being of children worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its 11 years of work, apart from offering legal\nassistance to victims of children\u2019s rights violations, through its projects,\nHumanium has been actively raising awareness about the endangered children\u2019s\nrights to more than five million people each year and supporting local partners\nwith projects to help children around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, we have 5 ongoing programs being carried out in Rwanda with our local partner AVSI<\/a>,\nand other programs carried out in India in partnership with Hand in Hand India<\/a>,\neach of them with the purpose of improving the lives of children through\nempowering their local communities and helping individuals find more\nopportunities. This year alone, Humanium made two separate trips to Rwanda to\ncarry out encouraging and fulfilling workshops in the villages of Rwanda,\nexperiencing children\u2019s rights firsthand with 600 children, caregivers, locals,\nlocal leaders and students! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanium spent many days and numerous hours with young mothers, providing child rights training for them, making them feel loved, heard and empowered, both for themselves and their children. We focused on helping them become aware of their full capacity to realize their dreams and aspirations within their local communities. By empowering them, we are hoping to empower their children (by seeing their mothers brave and confident) to realize their own goals in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Humanium, together with its partner AVSI Rwanda, works tirelessly to re-integrate them in their families, assuring that basic human needs are met and emotional needs, that we stand for, are as importantly fulfilled.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014 Arndt Soret, founder of Humanium<\/em> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As the end of the year is approaching, it is clear that 2019\nhas been a big year for children\u2019s rights realization. However, what is more important\nare all the years ahead where we all have the chance to act on children\u2019s\nrights violations, make a difference and, like Greta, stand tall for all those\nwho are unjustly downcast, especially the ones who are the youngest and the\nmost vulnerable among us all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Ivana Ka\u0107unko<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Humanium (n.d.). \u201cRights of the Child: The meaning of\nthe child and the rights of the children\u201d. Retrieved from Humanium: https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/child-rights\/<\/a>. Accessed on 6 December 2019.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Thunberg, G. (2019, September 23). \u201cIf\nworld leaders choose to fail us, my generation will never forgive them\u201d. Retrieved from The Guardian: <https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2019\/sep\/23\/world-leaders-generation-climate-breakdown-greta-thunberg<\/a>. Accessed on 6 December 2019.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. UNICEF (2011). Every\nChild’s Right to be Heard. A Resource Guide on the UN Committee on the Rights\nof the Child General Comment No 12<\/em>, Save the\nChildren UK on behalf of Save the Children and UNICEF. Retrieved from UNICEF: https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/french\/adolescence\/files\/Every_Childs_Right_to_be_Heard.pdf<\/a>. Accessed on 6 December 2019.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. WHO (2019). \u201cHow\nair pollution is destroying our health\u201d. Retrieved from WHO: https:\/\/www.who.int\/airpollution\/news-and-events\/how-air-pollution-is-destroying-our-health. Accessed on 6 December 2019.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We owe our children \u2013 the most vulnerable citizens in any society \u2013 a life free from violence and fear.  \u2014 Nelson Mandela Look into any dictionary and you will probably find the same definition of what children\u2019s rights are (should be): the rights of children to have access to health, education, family life and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":31456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,6,8,10,153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-childrens-rights","category-education","category-empowerment","category-health","category-life-at-humanium"],"yoast_head":"\n2019 - A Year in Children\u2019s Rights - Humanium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For many years, children\u2019s rights have been so poorly defined in world legislation and by the courts, although it is clear that exactly those who do not have the ability to advocate for or defend themselves in the political, judicial, or economic arena should be granted more protection that those whose voices can often be heard. 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