On November 20, 2019, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child celebrates its 30th anniversary. On this occasion, Planète Enfants & Développement would like to recall its commitment to the defense of children's rights, look back on the progress made since its signing and reiterate its commitment alongside Groupe Enfance.
Respect for the Rights of the Child at the heart of our actions
As the Children's Ombudsman Geneviève Avenard rightly reminds us, these rights must be applied beyond borders and cultural differences, and are "duties of adults and our societies so that each and every one of us grows up freer, better educated, in full health and fully respected".
All the projects carried out by Planète Enfants & Développement since its creation are part of a process of building a society in which children are protected from all forms of violence and exploitation access theeducation and the health and blossom fully within their families and communities.
Since the signing of the Convention and thanks to the joint work of civil society organizations and field actors, many advances have been made.
Significant progress in child protection
Under the impetus of the Convention, most of the States of the world have progressively adopted a real body of legislation in favor of child protection.
These national laws have provided a framework for the implementation of action plans in many areas: access to health care and education, protection against violence, juvenile justice, etc.
Above all, it has allowed the development of a real culture of children's rights.
Prior to the Convention, no distinction was made between the rights applicable to children and those applicable to adults. This is no longer the case. In many countries, independent child protection institutions have been established and specific provisions are made for the best interests of the child.
However, the objectives of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are still far from being achieved and many challenges remain: 12 million girls a year marry before the age of 18, nearly 4 million refugee children are not allowed to go to school....
Planète Enfants & Développement calls for a full understanding of this.
Because all children must have the same opportunities to grow up in a better world, because without respect for human rights and children's rights, there is noequal opportunities possible, Planète Enfants & Développement works every day alongside the populations to advance these rights in the fields of the fight against violence, education and health (for more details on our actions : https://planete-eed.org/lassociation/raisons-detre/).
Alongside the Children's Group, we will be mobilizing on December 10 during a round table to take stock of the situation and make recommendations.
