Child Rights Advocacy with a Focus on India

Abstract

In the rights-based approach, children are viewed as citizens, entitled to all that has been promised to them under the Constitution of India and the United Nations Child Rights Convention (CRC), rather than as objects of sympathy or charity. Children are no more residual categories who are just part of the families or an appendage to the adults. They are young citizens with their own rights which are recognized by the global community. The UN Convention on children’s rights adopted by the general assembly of United Nations in November 1989 is both a culmination of numerous efforts in the past and a new beginning of the era of children’s rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) lays down the principles of non discrimination in the best interest of the child along with the common standards for the various rights of children. It takes into account the different cultural, social, economic and political realities in which children live. India ratified the Convention on the 11th of December, 1992. Yet, the rights granted to the children under the Convention are far from the reality in India. Children are no more residual categories who are just part of the families or an appendage to the adults. They are young citizens with their own rights which are recognized by the global community. Children’s right to participation is upheld by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and right to participation implies a right to expression, right to be heard, right for their opinion to be seriously considered in matters relating to them. They are no more just victims of violations but are potential liberators of themselves. In this perspective, children’s right to association and making their voices heard becomes important. They must have right to express their opinion on the prevailing situation and spell out the new situation which they would visualize. They must have a right to participate in the process of changes and creation of new structures and society for themselves. It is no more sufficient to work for children. It is absolutely necessary to work with them in the search and struggle for a better world.