It seems like our
today is swamped with so many contrasts and extremes that it gets hard to even
rationalize what is the type of world we live in. From extremely rich
celebrities, overspending on plastic surgeries, luxurious houses, cars, yachts,
holidays… to the extremely poor adults and children living in such terrible
conditions that even the most cold-hearted would cry.
The interesting thing
though is that now more than ever people have started paying attention to those
less fortunate than them, they started doing research on ways to help those who
weren’t as blessed with good life as they were. Celebrities, regular people,
wealthy people… all of them try to stay focused and joined in their attempt to
make the lives of the poor at least a little bit easier.
This time around we
are raising awareness concerning child rights and ending child poverty.
Staying concerned with
the Rights of the Child is the responsibility of all members of society. Only
when respected by everyone standards can be realized.
When all members of
the community - parents and members of the family; professionals working in
education, employees of all public and private institutions, the courts,
services for children and at all levels of government administration realize
and then react in correspondence with the expected standards and when each
individual carries out his or her unique role things may change for the better.
Governments, families,
children and members of a society all have a certain role.
Governments
Governments are
obliged to recognize the full spectrum of human rights. Human rights should
consider children in policy and legislative decisions.
A rather promising
circumstance is that many States are beginning to listen to children's views
seriously to understand their views on important issues. However, this is still
a process that’s in its beginning stages and a lot more needs to be done.
Children
There is an old saying
that states “Listen to the elderly and respect them”. And generally we wouldn’t
have a problem with this statement if time hadn’t shown that not only can
children be wiser than the elderly but they can also be more realistic and
understanding about the ever-changing world around them.
This is why it is
important to give children voice to express their opinions. This of course
doesn’t mean that children’s views should be treated as absolute truths. Their
point of view needs to be appreciated like anyone else’s and then put to trial
with all the other opinions of others on certain matters.
Children should also
be obliged to respect the rights of others.
Families
As defined by
Convention on the Rights of the Child, “The family is the fundamental group of
society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of its
members, particularly children.”
Families are obliged
to provide care and guidance for their children and children are in return
obliged to respect their parents. Unless the separation is necessary for the
child's best interests, the States are also obliged to prevent children from
being separated from their families.
As an integral part of
a child’s emotional, psychological and physical development, the family is
responsible to help the child grow up into a decent human being, respective
of him/herself and others. Also, it is important for children to grow up in an
environment where they are appreciated as intellectual beings and they are
given space to develop that intelligence.
Members of society
The society functions
well only when united. Members of the society should be ready to fulfill their
human obligations – help those in need.
UNICEF has cooperated
with organizations and governments and provided technical assistance to further
implementation of the Convention.
Other United Nations
agencies, like the World Health Organization (WHO); UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR);
and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) actively
stand for by far promote rights embodied in the Convention.
And while the first
image of poverty that pops in our heads is usually connected to the population
of the Third World, truth is poverty is an
omnipresent condition of many, skulking behind almost every corner of the
streets we daily pass through. This is why it is extremely important we all
understand how important it is to help and save those whose lives are on the
verge, stricken by poverty.
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