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Child Rights
The way the world looks at children today is not the way it always did. Children have, at various points in history and in various cultures, been looked at as ‘adults-in-waiting,’ ‘savages in need of taming,’ ‘blank slates for adults to write on,’ and so on. Even today, society’s perception of children differs from culture to culture, as does the definition of childhood itself. While children have always been valued, it is only towards the end of the last century that childhood has been looked on as valuable in itself. And it has only been since 20 November 1989, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), that the world’s children have benefited from one commonly recognized set of rights.
Within a short time, all countries of the world – with the exception of the United States– ratified the CRC, giving it the distinction of being the most ratified human rights agreement in the world.
For the full text of the UN CRC, click here:
http://untreaty.un.org/English/TreatyEvent2001/pdf/03e.pdf
The general principles which are the basis of the UNCRC:
- Best interest of the child
- Non discrimination and equality before law
- Principle of first call for resources
What is actually happening in our country?
We can look at child rights as falling into four major areas:
Survival – The right to be alive, to have a home, enough food, good health, a family
Development – The right to education, play, entertainment, to develop talents and skills
Protection – The right to be safe from abuse, violence and exploitation
Participation – The right to know, to think freely and to be heard
terre des hommes – South Asia
Terre des hommes (Earth of Humanity) is a children’s aid organisation working against the injustice faced by children all over the world. Terre des hommes belives in supporting children in their own environment and social context, with respect and solidarity, and without any reference to gender, race, caste or religion.
Terre des hommes is an international federation of national terre des hommes chapters. These chapters educate and create awareness among people about the deprivations and sufferings of chidren. They also raise funds to support action and advocacy on behalf of children who have no means of defending themselves against poverty, oppression, abandonment or discrimination.
Terre des hommes Germany, is one such chapter, initiated in 1967 at Stuttgart. It sees itself as a people’s movement against injustice, especially the injustice faced by children.It believes in supporting children within their own social and cultural environment. It works in collaboration with concerned persons or authorities, with a deep sense of justice,respect and solidarity, without any reference to politics, gender, race, caste or religion.
Tdh Germany, is committed to empowering children: ensuring survival, supporting children in times of need, protecting children from exploitation, actively promoting children’s agency and participation. Within Germany it seeks to inform and educate the public about the situation of children, women and other vulnerable and oppressed groups in developing countries. In developing countries, it acts through local project partners empowering local people to find their own ways of fighting poverty, illiteracy, injustice and oppression. It is present through its project partners in around 26 countries of the world and has 5 regional offices in different parts of the world.
This site has been put up by tdh Germany – India Programme for children and for those working with children.
The parent organization is terre des hommes Germany – www.tdh.de