November 20th: for every child, every right

Analysis by Rhea Haddad, Staff Writer

November 20th, 2020

Each November 20, the United Nations celebrate World’s Children Day, a global day of action ‘for children, by children’, an annual occasion to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and to improve children’s welfare.

First marking the Universal Children’s Day in 1954, November 20 became a key date in 1959 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Thirty years later, on November 20, 1989, the Convention on the Rights of Children, a legally-binding international agreement that specifies the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural right of every child, was implemented. 

Simple actions mentioned in the Convention such as making sure that each child is welcomed and farewelled using their name, as well as allowing children to have inputs in decisions that affect them, are two of the various clauses presented by the convention, in which facilitate and support the Rights of the Child. 

However, despite remarkable advancements over the past few decades, millions of children around the world are still deeply impacted by conflict, inequality, discrimination, displacement, and natural disasters. This results in 385 million children living in poverty, reinforcing the cycle of vulnerability across generations. 

This year more than ever, children around the world faced an unprecedented threat to their human rights. The pandemic-related school closures have affected 1.5 billion students, exposing kids to direct risks of labor exploitation, starvation, recruitment into armed thugs, and especially girls to child marriage and sexual abuse. Hence, more than two decades of progress towards reducing child labor and increasing school enrollment are under menace.  

Nonetheless, by working hand in hand, we have the power to reverse the situation and foster a better world for future generations. Simple daily actions on different scales can make a great difference. 

To maintain healthy lives, children must live in a clean environment, breathe clean air, have water to drink and food to eat. Yet, climate change has proved to be a major obstacle in the way of children attaining these fundamental rights. In an attempt to minimize the effects of global warming, governments and companies must cooperate to overcome core issues, including the reduction of fossil fuel consumption, the development of cleaner agricultural, industrial, and transport systems, and the adoption of renewable energies.  Meanwhile, it is crucial to find solutions to reduce the harmful effects of air pollution on children’s health. 

On an academic level, millions of young people between the ages of 10 and 24 lack access to a proper educational system that would prepare them for modern jobs and business opportunities. Consequently, UNICEF took a step forward and partnered with various organizations to launch a new initiative, Generation Unlimited, whose ambitious goal is to help every young person transition successfully and smoothly from their education background and training to decent work. 

Over the past 30 years, mental health disorders have been rising steadily among the youth and depression is today a leading cause of disability. The World Health Organization estimated that 62,000 adolescents died in 2016 because of self-harm, constituting the third major cause of death for teenagers. This emphasizes the necessity for age-appropriate mental health promotion, prevention, and treatment. While early diagnosis and therapy are crucial to avoiding mental distress, the underlying stigma and taboo in our societies often prevent people from talking openly about mental illness. Fortunately, this stigma is starting to break, and young people are, once again, paving the way by establishing non-governmental organizations, developing applications, raising awareness, and being vocal about their struggles in the hope that others will be encouraged to do the same. 

Throughout history, children have always been the first victims of war. Nowadays, the number of countries undergoing clashes is the highest it has ever been since the adoption of the Child Rights Convention in 1989. Millions of children and young people have seen their studying disrupted because of conflicts and natural disasters, and many were forced to migrate across borders. This resulted in the abandonment of the ambitions and dreams of several generations, causing a drastic waste of human potential. Additionally, it contributed to the emergence of a lost, disillusioned, and angry generation of uneducated children. With that being said, various governments have implemented effective policies that prioritize the educational accessibility of refugees, and several initiatives are striving to create a digitally inclusive world that allows all children to get access to that very opportunity for education. 

As the children of 1989 have emerged as leaders of today, the children of 2020 will be the leaders of the future, the drivers of their economies, and the parents and protectors of the next generation.

“Children are the world’s most valuable resources and its best hope for the future.”

 This is why it is essential for us today and every day to protect their rights, not just to safeguard their lives, but to protect our common future.