Society “Our Children” Opatija is implementing the Campaign “Children’s Rights in the First Place” within the project “Activate change in your community” NEF Croatia. The project “Activate change in your community ” was supported with 4,455 Euros of financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA and Norwegian grants.
YOU WONDER WHY CHILDREN’S RIGHTS ARE IMPORTANT?
Children’s rights are important because children are important, right? And today… Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease and the application of the necessary protective measures to control it, the lives of children and their families have completely changed since March 19, 2020 in all areas, which directly affected the position and well-being of children. Crisis COVID-19 is a crisis of children’s rights. Countries around the world allocate insufficient budgets for children’s rights, especially in areas such as protection, health and education. Measures taken by governments to combat the outbreak of COVID-19 have had a catastrophic impact on many children. School closures in 188 countries affect 1.5 billion children and young people, making boys and girls even more vulnerable to child labor, child marriage and teenage pregnancy. The rise in domestic violence during COVID-19 is particularly devastating for girls. Unprecedented pressure on health care has shut down regular vaccination programs against diseases like polio and measles and caused hundreds of thousands of additional infant deaths. So far, the suspension of the measles immunization campaign in at least 23 countries has affected more than 78 million children under the age of 9. Furthermore, the United Nations estimates that an additional 42 to 66 million children could fall into extreme poverty as a result of this year’s crisis.
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHILDREN IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM
One of the four principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the principle of non-discrimination. New time new results. More than 1/3 of countries have failed when it comes to this principle, especially when it comes to industrialized countries. For example, Australia fell from 19 places on the scale to 135, due to the treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants and discrimination against Aboriginal children. Discrimination and stigmatization of Roma in the United Kingdom ranks the country 169th. The report warns that discrimination against girls around the world remains a major concern. In 91 of the 182 countries surveyed, girls are discriminated against and do not enjoy the same rights as boys. In several countries, girls do not have the same inheritance rights as boys and suffer a lower level of access to education and unequal treatment in legislation. Source: KidsRights Index – the first and only report on a global scale that measures annually how children’s rights are respected around the world and the extent to which countries are committed to promoting children’s rights. Furthermore, from a survey conducted jointly by ENOC (European Network of Ombudsmen for Children) and UNCEF on current difficulties and the state of children’s rights under the influence of anti-epidemic measures and their consequences, in 2020 we learn how great:
- problems of violation of children’s educational rights due to the closure of kindergartens and schools and various solutions offered by the state for the continuation of the education process
- multiple violations of the rights of children from vulnerable and vulnerable groups – children belonging to national minorities, children living in poverty, children placed in institutions, children in detention, children with disabilities-who are at increased risk of abuse and possible adverse psychological consequences
- challenges in conducting distance learning
- domestic violence that has increased in a large number of states, cyberbullying, violations of the rights of children and divorced parents, mental health of children, extreme poverty, limited movement of children.
Precisely because of all the above, we are launching, at the initiative of children involved in the work of NEF Croatia and the Children’s City Council of Opatija, and within the Public Call for AD-HOC action projects in 2020 published by the Puzzle Foundation on behalf of the consortium managing the Active Citizenship Fund in Croatia within the EEA and the Norwegian Financial Mechanisms The “Children’s Rights in the first place” campaign. The aim of the “Children’s Rights in the first place” campaign is to educate children and the general public about the importance of protecting and ensuring access to children’s rights and the importance of children’s active participation in decision-making at local, national and EU level. For the development of civic competence, it is not enough for children to know only human rights, children’s rights, political concepts and processes, but they need to be enabled to practice democratic principles within school life and society.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
- View posts on SOC Opatija’s social networks every day.
- Read and listen to what the children told us.
- Share SOC Opatija’s posts via social networks in order to reach as many children and adults as possible, as well as all those who make decisions important for the lives of children today.
- The posts were designed by children. The campaign lasted until the end of August 2020.
