Every Right for Every Child: Governance and Accountability

Abstract

327 Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 22 No. 1 (Spring 2012) ISSN: 1546-2250 Every Right for Every Child: Governance and Accountability Thukral, Enakshi Ganguly (2011). New Delhi: Routledge; 284 pages. $95.00. ISBN 978-0415678377. This volume addresses the nuts and bolts of children’s rights. Planning, budgeting, regulating and monitoring may be mundane issues, but the realization of children’s basic requirements and of their dignity as citizens is fundamentally dependent on the commitment and responsiveness of government at all levels to these everyday concerns. Aware parents and active communities can only do so much—and all too often they are neither aware nor active enough on behalf of their children. Although almost every country in the world has committed itself in formal terms to realizing children’s rights, it is abundantly clear that formal commitments can be little more than show. The contributions to this volume, edited by Enakshi Ganguly Thukral, the co-founder of the Delhi-based HAQ Centre for Child Rights, discuss some of the concrete ways that these commitments can be acted on by government—or not. The collection tackles some common assumptions. One of these assumptions is that a lack of attention to children’s priorities is related to the lack of resources in low-income countries. Dr. Assefa Bequele, director of the African Child Policy Forum, makes it clear that effective attention to children’s rights is not primarily a function of resources, but of political will and the effective use of what is available. Drawing on the findings of the Child Friendliness Index, which scores and ranks African countries on their overall performance in child protection and provision, he points out that some countries with relatively low GDPs (Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Burkina Faso) are among the best performers in the continent; other countries, including Equatorial Guinea and Angola, are way down on the list despite being relatively wealthy. It is a matter of priorities: Eritrea, for instance, which ranks second lowest on this 328 index and lowest of all in terms of child-related expenditures has the highest military spending in the continent. Thukral, the editor, tackles another widespread assumption—that most policy decisions and actions are age-neutral. There are, for sure, certain governance domains that are especially relevant to children, like education, health and child protection. But little recognition is generally given to the fact that children can also be profoundly affected by decisions made in other realms of government, including housing and land management, transportation, agriculture, import policies and the like. Ensuring that children’s needs are addressed in these areas is best accomplished, Thukral argues, not only through separate ministries but also by bringing a “child lens” to all decisions and actions, and ensuring that every government department incorporates an understanding of children’s concerns into its portfolio. Nevena Vuckovic Sahovic, drawing on the case of Serbia, provides a concrete example of the failure of a children’s watchdog group to generate integrated attention for children. In Serbia, the body tasked with implementing and overseeing children’s rights is the Child Rights Council, the primary coordinating role of which has never been realized. It is not backed by any law, nor does it have adequate resources or trained staff. Except for this Council, there are no other mechanisms of cooperation among different government sectors, and there is poor coordination between different levels of government; nor does government coordinate with civil society. The absence of integrated attention for children is reflected, Sahovic argues, in the critical lack of improvement in the general status and well being of children in the country. Given the editorial emphasis on mainstreaming attention to children in all areas of governance, it is a bit surprising that more chapters do not expand on this important concern. For the most part, contributions focus on the areas of action and budgeting most traditionally associated with children—primarily health, education and social protection. Shanta Sinha, for instance, provides a good overview of measures in India to get children out of work and into school; Anita Ghai discusses provision for children with disabilities 329 primarily with regard to schooling and healthcare; Enrique Vasquez looks at allocations within Peru...