Child Rights Protection

Founders Vision

Human Real Needs Charitable Foundation Trust (Hrncf Trust) is not a conventional NGO or a typical institution, it is the ray of hope in millions of hearts, the first dream in their eyes, the first smile on their faces. It is the sky and wings together for innumerable children, excluded from human identity and dignity, with a desire to fly in freedom. It is the tears of joy of a mother who finds her rescued child back in her lap after years of helplessness and hopelessness. It is a battle to open the doors of opportunities, a fire for freedom and education in the hearts and souls of thousands of youth committed to wipe out the scourge of slavery and ignorance from the face of mankind.

Hrncf Trust is the first lamp lit by those who didn't believe in cursing the darkness, they dared to hold fire in their hands, determined to dig out spring from stones. In an age of ignorance, neglect and denial on the issue of child servitude, these ordinary youth had a vision to see beyond heavens. Equipped with a strong will to demolish age-old myths and misconceptions about child labor, they fought mighty criminals, slave masters and mafia with exemplary courage.

Beginning its operation in 31st January 2014, a mass movement was ignited to create a child friendly society where all children are free from exclusion and exploitation and receive free education of good quality. The movement engaged itself in identifying, liberating, rehabilitating and educating children in servitude through direct intervention, community participation, partnerships and coalitions, promoting ethics in trade, unionizing workers, running campaigns (on issues, such as education, trafficking, forced labour, decent work, building child friendly villages) and mobilizing the masses on a common action.

Hrncf Trust has triggered a ripple effect in India and in international community. The tide is turning in favour of children, a ray has multiplied itself into a sun which is constantly supplementing brightness and warmth to the lives of unprivileged children. We need more support... Hrncf Trust calls you to join hands in bringing a smile, the smile of freedom, love and peace, on the face of every child in this world.

What are Child Rights?

A right is as an agreement or contract established between the persons who hold a right (often referred to as the "rights-holders") and the persons or institutions which then have obligations and responsibilities in relation to the realization of that right (often referred to as the "duty-bearers".) Child rights are specialized human rights that apply to all human beings below the age of 18.

Universally child rights are defined by the United Nations and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). According to the UNCRC Child Rights are minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be afforded to all persons below the age of 18 regardless of race, colour, gender, language, religion, opinions, origins, wealth, birth status or ability and therefore apply to all people everywhere. The UN finds these rights interdependent and indivisible, meaning that a right can’t be fulfilled at the expense of another right.

The purpose of the UNCRC is to outline the basic human rights that should be afforded to children. There are four broad classifications of these rights. These four categories cover all civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of every child.

Right to Survival

A child's right to survival begins before a child is born. According to Government of India, a child life begins after twenty weeks of conception. Hence the right to survival is inclusive of the child rights to be born, right to minimum standards of food, shelter and clothing, and the right to live with dignity. Right to Protection: A child has the right to be protected from neglect, exploitation and abuse at home, and elsewhere

Right to Participation

A child has a right to participate in any decision making that involves him/her directly or indirectly. There are varying degrees of participation as per the age and maturity of the child. Right to Development: Children have the right to all forms of development: Emotional, Mental and Physical. Emotional development is fulfilled by proper care and love of a support system, mental development through education and learning and physical development through recreation, play and nutrition.

What is Child Protection?

UNICEF considers child protection as the prevention of or responding to the incidence of abuse, exploitation, violence and neglect of children. This includes commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour and harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage. Protection also allows children to have access to their other rights of survival, development, growth and participation. UNICEF maintains that when child protection fails or is absent children have a higher risk of death, poor physical and mental health, HIV/AIDS infection, educational problems, displacement, homelessness, vagrancy and poor parenting skills later in life. According to the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) Child Protection is about keeping children safe from a risk or perceived risk to their lives or childhood. It is about recognizing that children are vulnerable and hence reducing their vulnerability by protecting them from harm and harmful situations. Child protection is about ensuring that children have a security net to depend on, and if they happen to fall through the holes in the system, the system has the responsibility to provide the child with the necessary care and rehabilitation to bring them back into the safety net.

CHILD PROTECTION

PREVENTION	INTERVENTION	REHABILITATION
Law and Policies	Laws and Policies	Laws and Policies
Processes and Protocols	Access and Assistance	Long term care until age 18
Mechanisms and Systems	Immediate Relief (SOS attention)	Skills and Training
Monitoring	Restoration of rights/Status Quo
Sensitization and Awareness	Punish violators
Building

Understanding the Difference

It is important to understand the difference between these two concepts. Child rights are a set of principles or ideals. They are entitlements and some of them are justifiable in a court of law, but they are not tangible. Protection is one of these rights. But Child Protection is more than a right. It is a framework or system by which the rights of a child can come to be. The framework consists of various duty bearers such as the departments of the government, police, school, civil society, who all have roles to play to ensure that a child's rights are met, and in the case that a child's rights are violated that the violator be brought to justice and care be provided to the child. Child protection is not only treatment, but should also be preventive. Risk management needs to take place to reduce the risk of violation of child rights in any given circumstance or space.

Child protection is hence the means through which all other rights of a child can be upheld. For example a child has a right to live a normal childhood in a family environment. The child protection framework need to first take steps to ensure families are able to survive by providing them when health, education, and food for free or at minimal cost. The next step is to address the needs of children who have fallen through the cracks such as destitute, abandoned, and orphan children. The framework includes the mechanisms to relocate these children into caring families either through adoption or foster care and provide these children with access to health and education services. Hence the framework is not a single ministry or single government body it is the interlinking functions of all ministries and sectors.

Child Right

They are abandoned. They do not get a chance to step in a school. They are left to fend for themselves on the streets. They suffer from many forms of violence. They do not have access to even primary healthcare. They are subjected to cruel and inhumane treatments every day. They are children – innocent, young and beautiful – who are deprived of their rights.

In the history of human rights, the rights of children are the most ratified. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) defines Child Rights as the minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be afforded to every citizen below the age of 18 regardless of race, national origin, colour, gender, language, religion, opinions, origin, wealth, birth status, disability, or other characteristics

These rights encompass freedom of children and their civil rights, family environment, necessary healthcare and welfare, education, leisure and cultural activities and special protection measures. The UNCRC outlines the fundamental human rights that should be afforded to children in four broad classifications that suitably cover all civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of every child:

Right to Survival

Right to be born

Right to minimum standards of food, shelter and clothing

Right to live with dignity

Right to health care, to safe drinking water, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help them stay healthy

Right to Protection

Right to be protected from all sorts of violence

Right to be protected from neglect

Right to be protected from physical and sexual abuse

Right to be protected from dangerous drugs Right to Participation

Right to freedom of opinion

Right to freedom of expression

Right to freedom of association

Right to information

Right to participate in any decision making that involves him/her directly or indirectly Right to Development

Right to education

Right to learn

Right to relax and play

Right to all forms of development – emotional, mental and physical

Impact of the Convention of the Child Rights

A milestone in the international human rights legislation, the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’ has been instrumental in putting all the issues pertaining to children issues on the global as well as national agenda. In addition to this, it has extensively mobilized actions for the realization of the rights and development of children worldwide.

It was not an overnight initiative that resulted in the adoption of the Child Rights. It took several years of movements and activism on shaping favourable, positive and constructive attitudes toward children, and also inciting actions to improve their well-being. The enormous efforts involved toward the implementation of the Convention, the significant amount of resources committed to this cause, and the overall effectiveness of the systems put in place for the execution process have a bearing on the success of child well-being outcomes.

Over the last 20 or so years, implementation of the Convention and its effect on child well-being varied from country to country and from one region of the world to the other. Based on analysis, there has been outstanding progress at a global level in addressing the issues related to children. These include progress in access to services, reaching their fullest potential through education, enactment of laws that upholds the principle of the best interests of child, and child survival.

Though a noteworthy progress has been achieved, yet in developing countries, particularly India, there is still a long way to go in realising the rights of children. Though all the relevant rules and policies are in place, there is a lack in enforcement initiatives. As barriers, there are several factors that forbid effective implementation of the laws. Due to relatively low success in achieving concrete child development outcomes in India, the condition ofunderprivileged kids and underprivileged youth is harsh and needs urgent attention. There is a need to intensify efforts for children welfare at all levels to implement the rules and provisions of the Convention and contribute to create a world suitable for children.

Child Rights and the world

People from across the world striving for social justice have often directed their efforts toward the most vulnerable in society—the children. From Princess Diana's charitable work on behalf of children to the efforts of activists like Grace Abbott and the youngest Nobel laureate in history—Ms. Malala Yousafzai, these famous children's right activists have put commendable efforts in helping improve the lives of the youngest citizens.

2014 Nobel Peace Prize awardees—Ms. Malala Yousafzai and Mr. Kailash Satyarthi have reminded us all of the need to keep on advancing in providing opportunities that has an important effect on all children. The opportunities are meant to be meaningful enough to allow them to learn and gain the mindsets and skills that would empower them to be free, develop themselves, their communities and the world.

Mr. Kailash Satyarthi’s struggle to liberate children from child labour had cost him many life threats, including bullet wounds by those who exploit young boys and girls for economic gain. Wearing flak jackets, and armed with strong determination, he and his team raided many illegal factories and mines to rescue the children who are sold into servitude. It has been 30 years now since he started his movement. A movement that has one clear purpose—no child shall be a slave.

On the other hand, when one thinks of Ms. Malala Yousafzai, the first thing that pops in one’s mind is education. The second is—education for girls. In 2009, when she was just 11, she wrote to BBC about the norm of banning female education under the Taliban regime in the Swat Valley (her hometown). Her article gained tremendous momentum worldwide. She started her fight for the education of girls at that small age and began to speak publicly and to the press, which caused her and her family receive constant death threats.

“I strongly feel that this is a big honour to hundreds of millions of the children who have been deprived of their childhood and freedom and education.” – Mr. Kailash Satyarthi. “I speak not for myself but for those without voice... those who have fought for their rights... their right to live in peace, their right to be treated with dignity, their right to equality of opportunity, their right to be educated.” – Ms. Malala Yousafzai

The Right to Education

The father of modern education—John Amos Comenius proposed – “all persons should be educated, so we could have peace in the world”. Visionaries of the world understood that peace meant guaranteeing every person certain rights that are conditional for humanity—education being one of the most important.

The addition of the Right to Education (RTE) in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 was the beginning of a remarkable expansion of educational opportunities around the world. The parliament of India enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE) on August 2009. The same got enforced on April 1st 2010.As per the act, education is a fundamental right of every child who is between 6 and 14 years old. The act also states that until the completion of elementary education, no child shall be held back, expelled or required to pass a board examination. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age.