Twenty-five years ago, I was working as a child protection social worker in western Sydney. In those days I was doing a lot of support work with families who were doing it tough – large families, poor families, often where parents were dealing with drug and alcohol issues or mental illness, and where there were serious concerns for the safety and wellbeing of children.
In that same year – 1989 – two events occurred that would have a significant impact in different ways: the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and my first son was born.
This was a time when the end of the Cold War brought optimism of a more peaceful world and greater investment in human development. The CRC was transformative in defining children as citizens with human rights and setting out internationally and legally recognised standards on how children should be treated. It placed obligations on governments to uphold children’s rights to survival, development, protection and participation.
The CRC also affirmed that children are to be valued as children, not only for the economic and social contributions they will make as adults. It encouraged us to listen to children on matters concerning them. This had a huge impact on Australian child protection work in the 1980s and 1990s, particularly in giving children a distinct and independent voice in legal proceedings and in decisions affecting their lives.
Certainly for my son, growing up in Australia has meant he`s enjoyed access to high quality primary, secondary and tertiary education, good health care and lived without fear of war, armed conflict or forced displacement. Contrast this with a father I met recently in Papua New Guinea (Max, pictured with Nigel below) whose baby daughter died days earlier from diarrhoea-related illness – 25 years of opportunity compared to 28 weeks of hardship.
What has the CRC achieved in the face of such disparity? Are children today better off than those born in 1989?
On the eve of Universal Children’s Day, ChildFund Alliance staff in New York will present letters and drawings from children around the world to UN leaders and Member States, and show a powerful 3-minute video of children expressing their views on why rights are important.
The side-event, titled No Child Without Rights: Breaking the barriers of inequality, will be held within the United Nations headquarters on 19 November (8:00 am EST). The event is being sponsored by the Missions of Benin, Brazil and Japan and supported by ATD Forth World, SOS Children’s Villages and ChildFund Alliance.
The letters were produced as part of ChildFund`s Small Voices, Big Dreams project. ChildFund staff ran activities with children to provide a fun and safe way for them to express their views and concerns. One of these activities was a role-play where the children imagined a world leader had come to their school to ask them what they need to make the world a better place.
“We explained that because the world leader is no longer a child, they needed some help to understand what children want and need,” says Raul Caceres, digital program manager at ChildFund Australia. “The children had some very powerful things to say.”
ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence says: “The comments in their letters show that children are acutely aware of issues in their own community but also highlight their compassion and concern for the situation of other children. For example, children in Australia mentioned issues such as war and violence, racism, refugees, early marriage and the need for all children to have a good education. We hope those in a position of power who read these letters will reflect on what children are saying and remember that children are affected by what`s going on in the world.”
Excerpts from some of the children’s letters
Eira, 12, Australia: “There is one thing that makes me feel uncomfortable. Adults are choosing things for kids, referring to what things were like when they were younger. But it’s a new generation, a new time. The world is very different now to the way it used to be. Most adults don’t think about the way issues concern children, just the way it affects them. If kids were given a say, they would feel happy and important. The world would get along and be a much better place.”
