Theme: Right to Protection; Stop Violence Against Children.

Countries across Africa are set to observe the 'Day of the African Child', 16 June 2006 an annual celebration and an opportunity to reflect on progress towards health, education, equality and protection for all the continent's children.

The Day has been observed every year since 1991. It was created to honor the memory of innocent children in Soweto, South Africa, hundreds of whom were wounded or killed during a march in June 1976 to protest the inferior quality of their education and demand their right to be taught in their own language.

The Day also draws attention to the lives of African children today. This year’s theme links well with the UN Study on Violence Against Children, which is being finalized and will be presented to the UN General Assembly in September, with a strong call to global and national actions.

 

 

The big picture: wising up

Education is central to children's rights

hen you are educated, you are likely to be more aware of your other rights and better able to make sure those rights are respected. You will be better equipped to influence what happens to you while you are young and when you are older. Education gives you choices – and the confidence to take advantage of those choices.

What's more, education is not just good for you as an individual. If you are educated, you can share what you have learned about staying healthy with your family. You can teach your friends about safety issues. You may even be able to convince someone of the value of an education for every child. All in all, you will be in a better position to be an active, participating member of your community.

"Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit"
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 26 

If you go on to have children of your own, you will know how to make sure those children are safe, healthy and happy – not least by making sure they get an education too. 

In fact, your whole country, even the whole world, should benefit from your education! Educated children are better qualified to help bring positive change to their communities and nations. And don’t forget, education is a human right in itself, enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Despite all this, around the world there are more than 121 million children of primary school age who are not in school. And what’s more, more than half of all children who are out of school – 65 million – are girls. 

This is a violation of rights. One of the guiding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is that all children should be treated equally and given the same opportunities to develop and grow. 

That's why world leaders have made girls' education a priority. And also why they have set a target in the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals for all girls to have equal access to primary and secondary education preferably by the year 2005, so that all children can complete a primary education. 

 

Child labor robs children of childhood, impedes development

Many child laborers deprived of school, healthcare and protection from violence

undreds of millions of children are forced to work when they should be learning and playing, which deprives them, their families and nations the opportunity to develop and thrive, UNICEF said today. 

“Children who are compelled to work are robbed of childhood itself,” UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said. “The majority of child laborers are hidden from view and beyond the reach of the law. Many of them are denied basic health care, education, adequate nutrition, and the protection and security of their communities and families.

Worldwide, there are an estimated 246 million children engaged in child labor. Some 180 million children aged 5–17 (or 73 per cent of all child laborers) are believed to be engaged in the worst forms of child labor, including working in hazardous conditions such as in mines and with dangerous machinery. Of these children, 5.7 million are forced into debt bondage or other forms of slavery, 1.8 million are forced into prostitution or pornography and 600,000 are engaged in other illicit activities.

Veneman said that education, which is a critical component of the protective environment that is needed to shield children from exploitation, is a powerful means of preventing child labor.

Key Terms 

child - all human beings under the age of 18 unless the relevant national law recognizes an earlier age of majority (Convention on the rights of the child) 

development rights - rights enabling children to reach their fullest potential

participation rights - rights that allow children and adolescents to take an active role in their communities

protection rights - rights that protect children and adolescents from all forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation

Removing barriers to school enrollment is the focus of the School Fee Abolition Initiative launched in 2005 by UNICEF and the World Bank. UNICEF also works with the International Labor Organization and other partners to promote policies, raise resources and put in place practical measures to combat child labor.

One such program is the UNICEF-supported Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Children (BEHTRUC) project in Bangladesh, which has provided non-formal education to 346,500 working children, half of whom are girls, since 1997. The children, as young as eight and as old as 14, were primarily doing domestic work or toiling in factories. The government supports the program with a network of 151 non-governmental organizations and provides stipends to the children’s families to compensate them for the lost income.

In addition to being denied education, children who work are frequent victims of maltreatment, physical and psychological violence or abuse by supervisors, co-workers and outsiders. Violence against children in the workplace is one of five key areas to be addressed in UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children, a global report to be issued in October.

UNICEF’s efforts to protect children from child labor and other forms of exploitation focus on creating a protective environment for children. In a protective environment, people at all levels of society work individually and together to enforce protective laws, develop the necessary services, equip children and those who work with children with the information and skills they need to prevent and respond to abuse, and challenge all forms of discrimination.

“Combating child labor requires political leadership and broad-based partnerships,” Veneman said. “Parents, community leaders, the private sector and governments – must all take responsibility to ensure that children are not exploited in the workplace.”