Children are the fundamental building block
AS countries around the world celebrate the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, the United Nations family hailed the landmark treaty as a powerful human rights tool, while taking stock of the long-standing disparities that must be addressed to propel actions for the well-being of all children into the future.
The President of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, underscored that the Convention is a collective commitment to ensure that every child worldwide has the right to a fair start in life, calling on Member States to safeguard that such rights are fully reflected in the post-2015 development agenda.
“We must continue investing in the rights of all children across the world – no matter their gender, ethnicity, race, disability or economic status,” Mr. Kutesa said.
“Children are the fundamental building block for achieving the future we want. Indeed, by strengthening their capacity to mature into engaged, responsible and productive adults, society as a whole stands to benefit,” he added.
With the 2015 deadline to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) quickly approaching, Mr. Kutesa stressed that it is equally important to ensure mobilisation of the resources that will be required to implement a “truly transformative” development agenda that puts the welfare of all people, especially children, at the forefront.
The Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Anthony Lake, highlighted that while millions more children are surviving past their fifth birthday, life is not better for some 17,000 children under five who will die today, mostly due to preventable causes.
“The health and the soul and the intelligence of a society are measured by how the human rights of its youngest – its smallest children – are recognised everywhere,” Mr. Lake stressed.
Ivan Šimonović, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said that while children have access to a better standard of life today, great inequalities still persist around the world.
“This is a time to recommit to the vision of the Convention and to its full implementation,” he said. “It is also a time to bring children and their rights more centrally into our peace, security and development goals. Our future in these areas depends on our children and on our respect for their rights,” he added.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and to date has been ratified by 194 countries, making it the most widely ratified international human rights treaty. Its adoption marked the first time that children were explicitly recognized as having specific rights.
Source: Un.org.
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