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ISSUE
RELATED ORGANIZATIONS
A Bullet Can't Kill a Dream:
The Kids Campaign to Build A School for Iqbal
Amnesty
International Human Rights Network:
Campaigns for the rights of the child.
Casa
Alianza:
Provides news related to children’s rights in Latin
America, a searchable database on bibliographies, and
press information.
Centre
for Europe’s Children:
Information site for European’s children’s rights
and related policies.
Child
Rights Information Network:
Comprehensive site covering many issues relating to
children’s rights.
Children’s
Defense Fund:
The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to "Leave
No Child Behind."This site provides information on
child care, health care, education, and the needs of underserved
children.
Free
the Children:
International organization run by children and teenagers
that empowers young people to address issues related to
children’s rights.
Friends
of Children:
Promotes public awareness of child sexual abuse.
Soldier
Child International:
Organization providing relief to children who have
been abducted and forced into being a child soldier in
northern Uganda.
Stop
the Use of Child Soldiers:
Ongoing campaign run by Human Rights Watch protesting
the use of child soldiers. Includes news, reports, and
interviews dealing with child soldiers.
UNICEF:
Advocates and works for the protection of children’s
rights.
Working
Group on Girls:
Organization that tracks the efforts of governments to
improve the lives of girls.
Child Labor Organization Links:
Child
Labor Coalition:
Organization that promotes the safety, education and
well-being of working minors.
Child
Workers in Asia
Information about child labor issues in Southeast
Asia.
International
Child Labor Program:
Part of the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International
Labor Affairs, the ICLP compiles reports on international
child labor and administers grants to organizations seeking
to eliminate child labor.
Rugmark
Foundation USA:
Non-profit organization working to eradicate child labor
around the globe.
Stolen
Dreams:
Photographs by David Parker, MD, MPH of children working
in a variety of occupations worldwide.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PUBLICATION LINKS
Amnesty
International:
Press releases and reports on human rights issues
and children.
By
the Sweat and Toil of Children: Volume V
Report provided by International Child Labor Program.
Convention
on the Rights of the Child:
UN treaty adopted by General Assembly on November 20,
1989 and entered into force on September 2, 1990. Includes
a link to "status of ratifications."
Human
Rights Internet reports and articles:
Collection of resources related to children’s rights
maintained by Human Rights Internet.
UNICEF
Publications:
Listings of comprehensive reports on children’s
rights.
World
Organization Against Torture:
Country by country reports on the rights of the child.
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As human beings, children—formally defined as those under the age
of eighteen--are entitled to all the rights guaranteed by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the various treaties that have
developed from it. UNICEF, an organization devoted specifically to the
rights of children, reminds us that while governments must be sensitive
to the rights of all their citizens, there are strong reasons for making
a special case for children's rights. Namely that the healthy development
of children is crucial to the future well-being of any society and that
the costs to society of failing its children are huge. Also, children
start life as totally dependent beings, needing special protection and
care. They must be able to turn on the adult world to defend their rights
and to help them to develop and realize their potential. As Marian Wright
Edelman states, "There are millions of children who are depending
on us—for protection, for guidance, for the basic necessities."
Under the broad umbrella of protecting the right of children to have a
fair and healthy start in life, many interconnected issues must be addressed—issues
of healthcare, issues of education and literacy, as well as issues of
race and class equalities.
In 1959, the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child set up an initial
framework for children’s rights, but it was not legally enforceable
at the time. In 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted
by the UN General Assembly. This Convention deals not only with children’s
rights, but with the responsibility of the child to respect the basic
rights of others in their family and community. According to UNICEF, it
has become the most universally accepted human rights instrument in history.
It has been ratified by every country in the world except two—the
United States and Somalia. It is also the first legally binding international
instrument dealing specifically with children to incorporate the full
range of human rights – from civil and political rights to economic,
social and cultural rights.
Sources: Amnesty International, the Children’s Defense Fund,
and UNICEF
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