Poverty & children's rights

...thoughts contributed by students from Clarence High School

I see: A family taking shelter in a small and badly constructed house they look sad and not very healthy.

I think: The reason that they are living in such bad conditions is because they don’t have any money so they can not get any food or a better house.

I believe: That they want a better house and more food and fresh water.

Did you know that eleven million children die per year before reaching five years of age?

A child in a developing country is ten times more likely to die of a vaccine preventable disease than a child in a built up industrialized one. This is only one of the many problems though. A child also dies from an AIDs-related disease every minute in some countries, but the most common cause of death, not just for children, but for all ages is malnutrition and poverty, because poverty seems to be a leading factor in why a lot of these deaths happen.

Poverty is a condition where you do not have the means to support yourself, such as you do not have enough money, food, education even housing. It effects single families in countries all over the world, and we see its effect most in the 125 developing countries.

Did you know that if all the food produced throughout the world was divided equally to every single person we would all be able to consume 2,760 calories a day, which would be more than enough to keep everyone going? The problem that I’m putting forward to you to think about is what can we really do to help these countries?

More vaccines for most children would solve a lot of deaths. If we could make them not so costly or with no price tag at all, they would be more accessible to most. Obviously AIDS and HIV are incurable once you’ve got it, so more protection for men and women would be suitable. Once for instance, a woman has it, it’s most likely to spread to the baby and then they grow up with it. As they will probably pass it on, it just turns into a vicious circle, so protection is a must.

Malnutrition and poverty are harder to crack. We can not directly solve them with one solution. There are many reasons for poverty, like in Zimbabwe it’s to do with their leader taking away all of the white farmers, so it’s not always to do with lack of money or food. So to make a difference become involved with an organisation that does help, someone like UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Fund). You can either donate or you can more than likely become involved, and hopefully with a team we can fight for freedom from poverty!

I See: In the image above I see a young boy from Afghanistan. He is clearly living in a poverty stricken area. The boy is fairly happy at that moment he is playing with a very makeshift toy. I also clearly see this boy is living in poverty.

I Think: This young boy is very poor. He lives in a country full of turmoil and his future is uncertain. He may be able to live how he is. The happy look on his face and his acceptable clothes show he may not be the worst off in the world.

I Wonder: How this boy really lives? I know he’s poor but how poor is he really? Does he have parents or family around him living with him? If so, is any of them sick? Even if this little boy is sick, how does his life compare to some of the worst case African children? How this boy’s life will turn out?

An Afghan refugee boy plays with makeshift toys in Pakistan, UN Photo #153554C, http://www.un.org/av/photo/subjects/childrenportraits.htm. Prepared by the Department of Public Information/News and Media Division/Photo Library.

"Millions of children die every year from malnutrition and disease or become victims of slavery, torture and sexual exploitation." UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN's lead advocate for children, has described the world's children as the 'forgotten quarter of the Earth's people.' It is the United Nations that, in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, has provided a standard, a benchmark against which the behavior of nations can be tenaciously and perpetually measured and improved.

There are masses of stories about children’s rights been violated, some of them extremely serious and often we don’t hear about how brutal some of the stories are.

They are often targeted in poverty or war stricken countries.

They can barely defend themselves.

Children can be targeted violently or to became slaves, soldiers, drug runners or work in factories.

Something needs to be done to stop this.

Since 1990 the Convention on the Rights of the Child treaty has been in place to try and stop these sorts of things happening.

However achieving this through the treaty is very difficult and governments have to do more.

Andrew

I SEE… A boy suffering from the effects of poverty. Being comforted by an adult.

I THINK… He is in pain, scared, not understanding why he’s suffering.

I WONDER… What will happen to him? Will he ever live a healthy life? Will he ever be happy and be able to smile?

I SEE… A boy who is worried, scared and unsure of his life.

I THINK… He is standing there wondering if his life will ever improve.

I WONDER… What he’s thinking? How he feels?

I SEE… A little boy with a cup, sitting there, who is looking a little unsure of his life.

I THINK… He looks sad, scared and innocent.

I WONDER… Is this the first or last drink he’ll get, and for how long?

“Studies show that for every dollar spent on children, the whole community benefits seven-fold.” UNICEF

Children are by far the most important thing the world has on offer, without them there would be no hope of a future. Yet still, in many countries across the world children are abused, enslaved, gender stereo-typed and many are forced to live in conditions that are not in any way suitable for a child.

I believe it is unfair that so many children are forced to suffer these travesties during their day to day lives, often with no one to help them, guide them in the right direction or even care about them. It’s very concerning to think that these young minds – the future of their country - are being treated so disrespectfully by the older generation, when the children will most likely be taking care of them in the future.

In the hopes of beginning to take action against this mistreatment of children and to provide help to children and their mothers in suffering, UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) was formed. This organisation, amongst many others, exists as an attempt to stop the violation of children’s rights.

The Rights of the Child are:

The right to equality regardless of race, colour, sex, religion or nationality.
The right to a name and nationality.
The right to adequate housing, nutrition and medical services.
The right to free primary school education.
The right to be protected from work and anything that may stop them from going to school and be harmful to health.
The right to rest and play.
The right to love, understanding and protection.
The right to special care and treatment if disabled.
The right to be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and abuse.
The right of children to have all the help they need to recover from neglect, cruelty or abuse and return to a safe place.
The right of Indigenous children to enjoy their own culture, religion and language.
The right to be protected in times of war and conflict.
The right to be among the first to receive aid and relief in times of disaster.
The right to seek refugee status and receive appropriate protection and assistance. Efforts should be made to reunite the family.
The right to freedom. No child shall be imprisoned unlawfully.

An adaptation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989. Read the full Convention or a plain English version.

Cartoons for Children’s Rights is a UNICEF broadcast initiative that aims to inform people around the world about child rights. So far, the effort has forged partnerships with nearly 70 animation studios in 32 countries that have developed 30-second non-verbal public service announcements (PSAs).

See also UNICEF's photo-essays on Children’s Rights.