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1995 WORLD SUMMIT OF CHILDREN
INTERNATIONAL KEEPING THE PROMISE REPORT
PREAMBLE:
Out of fear over what we see happening on a day to day basis, we, the young people of the Earth, call for a global partnership between children and adults, and leaders and citizens. As the complexity and severity of the world’s situation becomes more evident, our future looks uncertain and cloudy. Only through our united efforts we can progress toward solutions that can ensure a promising future. This Report is a compilation of views, visions and proposals by delegates representing children of the world.
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
The effect of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) differs from country to country. There are countries that have ratified the Convention and then amended present laws and/or implemented new laws to accommodate it. Other countries have put forth reservations on articles of the CRC when ratifying. In many cases nations ratified the Convention, but did nothing to implement, enforce, or educate the people about the CRC. Unfortunately, universal ratification has not been achieved at this time.
The majority of the countries have UNICEF, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and some government agencies and ministries to monitor the Convention, but there are no penalties for Convention parties who do not enforce the Convention.
Educating the public about the CRC is done through very limited media coverage, some direct contact with those actively involved with the CRC, and/or participating in non-governmental CRC activities or programs such as the two-year 1995 World Summit of Children Project. In most countries CRC education is insufficient.
The media is not involved enough with children’s issues.
* Mass media should express more interest in and devote more time to covering children’s issues
and promoting children’s national activities to inform others.
Children are not given the chance to partake in decision-making concerning their future.
* A Young General Assembly should be established as a committee under the UN General
Assembly to work in partnership with the UN and to provide an ongoing voice for the children of
the world, estimated soon to become close to one half of the world’s population.
* Children should be given the chance to interact seriously with government officials and to have a voice in deciding their future. This can be achieved by having an international “Hear the Children Day of Peace” where children could join with other children, share their problems, discuss realistic solutions and present the problems and solutions to government officials. On a national level, this can be achieved through constant interaction between local and national officials and children.
The vast majority of children are not informed about their rights.
* The school could be and must be one of the most powerful tools in educating children about the
issues concerning them. By having studies integrated with children’s rights and issues, children
could learn how to use their rights with responsibility and fight against any abuse.
II. DEFINITION OF A CHILD
According to the CRC, “ A child means every human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under law applicable to the child, the majority is attained earlier.”
Most countries have a similar definition, but we believe every country has the right to further define the child with regards to their cultures, traditions and laws. Any specific information concerning age asked for by the Committee on the Rights of the Child cannot be mentioned in this International KTP Report because of the vast differences of each country.
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Governments across the world have made a commitment to alleviate the suffering of children and to promote the observance of children’s rights.
The role of non-governmental organizations is crucial in facilitating the implementation of measures to protect children under the various UN documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1990 World Summit for Children Declaration and Plan of Action, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Agenda 21.
* The UN must strengthen the role of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in monitoring the
progress of governments to include penalties for non-enforcement. The implementation of the
Convention on a national level must include enforcement measures and governmental
accountability.
It is imperative that governments take the steps necessary to ensure the realization of promises made. Governments should be required by international law to honor the promises they have made to children. We stress the importance of this due to the crucial role that children play and will continue to play in the building and preservation of communities, nations and the world at large.
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
Children have become the largest segment of oppressed and neglected citizens in the world.
The violation of children’s rights human rights and needs have gone largely unmonitored and are silently sanctioned by the global community.
Children have become the targets of discriminatory acts and persecution rooted in the prejudices that are destroying our planet.
In difficult times, such as economic hardships and armed conflicts, children’s lives have become expendable. They are manipulated, exploited and abused for the preservation of structures of authority at all levels.
A child can only realize his/her full potential in a supportive atmosphere void of abusive familial situations, armed conflict or violence prompted by bigotries.
* Children must be free from discrimination or persecution based on gender, race, creed, religion,
language, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation or identity, social status, economic status, disability
or age.
* Hate crimes directed towards children and youth must receive severe penalties and be avoided
through educational programs.
* Children should have the right to choose to have a religion or not to have one. They should have
a right to their own spiritual convictions and practices even though these may come into
ideological conflict with those of their family, peers and society as long as the religious practices
don’t inflict harm on any innocent beings. Children should have the right to wear their religious
attire without their access to school, employment or equal treatment being threatened.
* Children should have the right to all information concerning their medical needs, conditions,
treatment options and the side-effects of these options. If they have a clear understanding of
present and future repercussions, they should have the right to refuse any treatment.
* Denial of a child’s cultural identity and heritage, language and creed and/or the imposition of
beliefs and cultural identity leading to forceful assimilation is a flagrant breach of human rights.
This should not be allowed.
* Institutionalization (psychiatric, penal or otherwise) must provide an environment that
promotes the best interests and specific needs of the child and his/her role in society.
* Forced institutionalization of indigenous children; young people of color; gay, lesbian, bisexual
or transgender children; HIV positive children or children with pediatric AIDS with the purpose
of assimilation, controlling, imprisonment or forced conformity to heterosexual norms should be
abolished.
* Children should have the right to peaceful assembly, non-violent demonstrations and peaceful
organization, even around political and controversial issues without punishment or the threat of
persecution.
* Children should have the right to free speech. They should have the freedom to denounce and
criticize the systems that oppress them, governmental and other, from inside or outside their
country, without persecution or the threat of it.
* Children should have the right to bodily integrity and protection from rituals of physical and
sexual violence.
* Girls, especially poor girls and girls of color, must be protected from forced sterilization.
Countries which offer food and basic necessities to poor women in exchange for their sterilization
or that of their daughters, must be subject to UN sanctions.
* Children must be provided with the opportunity to speak freely and to be heard in any judicial
or administrative proceedings affecting the child.
Children are not partial human beings or human-in-progress. They are full citizens and members of the human race. As such, they are deserving of full human rights and freedoms. These cannot be abridged or dismissed under any circumstances or on account of any of the child’s characteristics.
V. FAMILY AND ENVIRONMENT
As all children are children of this world, their well-being becomes the responsibility of this world. Global standards will ensure that this responsibility is met worldwide. During periodic reviews these global standards such as a clean environment, healthy food, provided education and no presence of abuse must be met. If they are not met, governments should aim to meet these standards as quickly as possible.
* The union between child and family is essential in the life of a child. This must be respected and
the strain placed on children by the absence or loss of this union eased.
* Children must be given the possibility of self-realization within a family unit.
* A child should live in an environment that best reflects his/her specific needs as well as
children’s universal needs for guardianship, love, stability and protection. Children must
experience individual growth and connections with society, peers and existing siblings.
* A child can realize her/his full potential in a supportive atmosphere void of abusive factions that
provides recreational and educational opportunities. A care- giver’s race or sexual orientation
should be considered unimportant in the selection of guardianship for a child. The important
criteria should be the kind of environment and opportunities they can provide for the child.
Through periodic reviews of placement, governments can ensure that children have these aspects in their home.
* Parents/care-givers have the task of educating and counseling children along moral, cultural and
intellectual lines. Parents/care-givers must allow for differing values and options. This does not
extend to full control of the child’s life. A child should retain the agency to determine and choose the paths she/he will take. It is critical for the positive development and growth of a child that he/she receive love and attention from a stable care-giver. Neglect of this imperative has deep
repercussions on the lives of children.
* Street children are victims of neglect on every level. Their parents/guardians, government and
fellow citizens have failed them in their duties as care-givers and providers of basic needs and of a
social safety net. This neglect results in physical sickness and deformity as well as psychological
harm. Governments must realize this and take action to help these children in any and all ways.
* Abuse of the child is a global occurrence and so global guidelines should be set. Abuse is
purposely causing physical, sexual or psychological harm upon a defenseless child. No child
should be allowed to live in a home where abuse is present. A child must be free from violence and
abuse within the family setting. Through national laws a global responsibility should placed on
doctors and hospitals to report all cases of child abuse with which they come into contact.
Psychological abuse cannot be ignored in any instance as it is too serious a criminal act.
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
In many hospitals, medical authorities use harmful drugs instead of more appropriate ones. Often there is little medicine, it is very expensive and thus only available to the rich. Due to this situation, workers often resort to stealing the available drugs initially destined for medical purposes.
There is generally poor sanitation in hospitals and in the surrounding environment. For example, there is no use attempting to cure a child with malaria in a hospital located near stagnant water.
Certain health care professionals are ignorant and insensitive to their patients because they are not being adequately paid by the government.
In rural areas, medical care and physicians are rarely present. In most countries, girls get lesser or lower quality healthcare. Health sciences have not expanded to adequately treat the valid and specific medical conditions of certain underprivileged groups such as children of various sexual orientations, racial or ethnic backgrounds, and children living in poverty or the sex trade industry. Disabled children are ignored and forced to stay in the streets or institutionalized in inhumane conditions.
In countries where governments provide free medication, often medical workers are not sufficiently trained to administer it properly. In certain countries, UNICEF workers misuse UNICEF money. As a result of this, in many countries UNICEF and its workers have a bad reputation and have lost much respectability.
* Medical care should be governmentally funded especially for children and medication should be
free.
* Public hospitals should reach the same standards that private hospitals have managed to
achieve. Hospitals should have an increased capacity for treatment.
* The government should provide health workers with sufficient salaries and regularly monitor
their work so that children can be assured the quality health care they so desperately need.
* Conditions affecting underprivileged children which have received little or no attention in terms
of medical research or funding must become a priority.
* Legitimate medical conditions which apply specifically or mostly to girls or children in poverty,
children of various ethnic or racial backgrounds or sexual minority children must be treated as
medically valid.
* Health care must be modified to deal with the specific and particular needs of children in the sex
trade and physically disabled children.
* All hospital and clinics must be prepared to deal with child victims of abuse. This
includes having staff able to operate a “rape kit” which permits the child to press
charges later if she/he feels so inclined.
* Children must have free and confidential access to fertility control, adequate nutritional
information, counseling and support systems to aid the healing of survivors of abuse and
addiction, as well as all other appropriate health and counseling services.
* Children have a right to all information concerning their medical needs, conditions, treatment
options and the side-effects of these options.
* Preventative educational campaigns must be organized in order to sensitize the population about
the spread of pediatric AIDS and the repercussions of rituals of sexual violence performed on
children.
* As for the welfare of children, there should be increased availability of clothing and basic
necessities for street children.
* Shelters, drop-in centers and mobile vehicles providing services for street children should be
government sponsored. These should be prevalent in urban environments and there should be
more social workers available for runaways.
* Children in poverty should be offered valid alternative programs to drug-dealing and
prostitution by governmentally funded community initiatives.
* Free nutritionally-balanced hot meals should be provided for children below the poverty levels
in all public schools.
VII. EDUCATION
The children of the world ask governments to enforce their right to education. The education children receive must prepare them for the reality of their day to day lives. The school must provide an environment of respect and equality. This is the only means through which to achieve true learning and the possibility of further advancement of underprivileged groups as well as humanity as a whole.
There is a scarcity of schools and educational establishments. This especially presents an obstacle to the education of children living a great distance away from cities or in rural areas.
Schools which require fees discriminate against lower-class families and keep them from partaking in the educational process.
Educational facilities are often set in environments detrimental to the health, concentration and learning processes of children.
Corruption of school authorities undermines the whole educational system. Underprivileged children suffer the most.
* Education must put an accent on the self-actualization of the child not on her or his eventual
entry into the job market.
* Governments must be responsible for sustaining and enforcing cultural values which are not
harmful to its or other peoples. They must accomplish this while taking into account the
uniqueness of each region. This challenge keeps recurring when creating a better future.
* The UN and national governments must promote education everywhere as a society’s primary
goal and inspire its citizens to participate in the process.
* An accent must be put on educating girls and children of oppressed groups in order to help
empower them.
* Complete instruction concerning puberty, safe sex (heterosexual and homosexual), the
transmission of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), options and their repercussions on
individuals must be offered in all schools.
* Parents must take an active role in supporting their children’s education.
* The mass-media must be used as a means of education.
* It should be publicly recognized that the widespread use of violent images through the media is a
contributing factor to the violence in our societies today. The media must be harnessed to help
children, not to harm them.
* Education must become a financial priority over such sectors as the military.
Education is an integral part of the spiritual, physical and mental development of every human being.
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
Why is it that the governments of today have closed their eyes to the harsh realities of over one-third of the world’s population ? Bonded labor, drug abuse, sexual exploitation, discrimination against the underprivileged, abduction and trafficking exist even as we move into the new millennium. We invite our leaders to acknowledge the bitter truth and stand up to their responsibilities.
Under the legal system of many countries, juvenile offenders and adults are found behind the same jail bars.
Children are sentenced to death, even those below the age of eighteen years, for murder or other less serious
crimes.
The rights of imprisoned children for access to education, counseling and health facilities are being
violated.
Even after their release, young people cannot integrate as constructive citizens, being shunned by their
societies.
During testimony in courts as witnesses, children are not protected against possible dangers such as
vengeance.
* Protection should be guaranteed to children testifying as witnesses in a court of law.
* Juveniles must be separated from adults in jails.
* The death penalty for children between thirteen to eighteen years should be a last resort because
people should be disciplined through love, not force.
* Education must be provided to juvenile offenders so that once they are free they can become
constructive citizens in society.
* Violence in the media should not be made available to minors as it encourages crime.
In many countries, the laws concerning employment of children are not enforced.
Children as young as four or five years work under hazardous conditions, where health and development are
hindered.
Educational facilities are not available to most child laborers due to the long work hours.
Children’s wages are meager and they are paid much less than their adult counterparts.
Parents often force their children to work because of the large number of family members, poverty and the low
standard of living. Yet, it is the responsibility of the governments to ensure access to all basic amenities.
Three probable causes of child labor are lack of sufficient schools, a large number of members per family due to lack of contraception and to bonded labor, which is a result of workers being forced to pay back their debts by making their children work for free.
* Laws relating to the employment of children must be strictly enforced by governments.
* If children are working, they must be given the same hourly wages as adults, but work only part-time. Existing work conditions must be improved to safeguard their health.
Society must be made to realize that children should not be earning wages, but should have the opportunity to grow and develop in a healthy environment. It is the adults’ responsibility to support the family, and not the child’s.
Drug abuse is one such issue that is not confined to any boundaries, but affecting all, irrespective of age. Children resort to drugs because of instability and neglect in families, homelessness, or in order to fit in.
There is a lack of campaigns on the harmful effects of drugs.
Often those responsible for combating drugs are involved in its sale and distribution.
* Strict penalties must be enforced against those who sell drugs to minors.
* Awareness about the hazards of drugs can be increased through the media.
* Medical facilities must be made available for rehabilitation and counseling.
* Homeless and deprived children should be given shelter in safe, healthy environments.
* New methods must be developed for the treatment of drug addicts.
* Pregnant women should be educated about the dangers of drugs to unborn children.
* Education systems must be upgraded to encourage students to study and keep them off the
streets. Also anti-drug education should be included in the school curriculum.
* Heads of schools should be responsible for identifying students with drug-related problems.
* Border/customs control should be tightened to prevent drug traffiking.
The kidnapping and illegal traffiking of children has become a growing issue. Those kidnapped are forced into prostitution, slavery or put up for adoption.
Due to lack of an efficient network for locating missing youngsters, most children never come home.
* Borderlines should be guarded effectively to prevent the smuggling of minors across many
countries.
* An efficient international network must be set up for locating missing children.
* The banning of slavery needs to be enforced, since it still exists underground in several
countries.
The sexual exploitation of children is a problem in both industrialized and developing countries.
Sexual molestation (incest), rape, pornography and prostitution often go unreported in societies where the issue is taboo.
Poverty, unstable family backgrounds, easy access of sexually explicit material to all and kidnapping for prostitution are considered the main causes of such exploitation.
The lack of harsh punishments for offenders- even harassment by parents- has also resulted in a rise in the percentage of crimes.
In third world countries children are being exploited by richer people of other countries, i.e., the sex trade industry.
* Sexually exploited children’s names must not be mentioned when reporting such cases to the
media.
* Free medical services and counseling should be provided to such children.
* Children abused by parents/family members should be moved to a safer environment by the will
of the children. Counseling must be given to such families.
* Children should be given healthy alternatives for earning money to keep them from prostitution.
* Pornographic material should be banned, especially for children.
* Improvement of the status of women will protect girls from much of the abuse inflicted upon
them.
The neglect by our global leaders of indigenous peoples and minorities of the world is atrocious and unacceptable.
Racism is a major problem faced by far too many, both physically and psychologically. Unfortunately, minorities/indigenous peoples are not given adequate representation by the governments and existing laws are not punishing discriminators harshly enough.
In many countries the issue is worsening, leading to severe problems among these people, which include suicide, drug abuse and drinking problems.
* Acknowledging that these people are in fact not “minorities, but often global majorities, is a first
step in eliminating bigotry.
* Cultural exchange programs should be encouraged to prevent discrimination against their cultures.
* Special health facilities should be provided so that the indigenous and minorities are able to convey
their problems without hesitation.
* The aim is the integration of minorities- not their segregation. So education is perhaps the most
important area that must involve them. This means that educational facilities must be made available
to these peoples, as well as the inclusion of studying about the various cultures within the curriculum.
* There should be sufficient representation of minorities/indigenous groups in government
departments.
CONCLUSION:
The representatives of the governments must regain the trust of the peoples by fulfilling their promises. We should unite in partnership to solve the problems we have identified because words alone are not enough. The time has come for us to open our eyes to the harsh realities of today. Children are demanding attention- not tomorrow, but today- in order to have a better tomorrow.
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