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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 Constitution of India guarantees Fundamental Rights to all children in the country and empowers the State to make special provisions for children. But along with the government civil societies are playing a major role in child welfare. National Policy for Children recognizes every person below the age of eighteen years as a child and covers all children within the territory and jurisdiction of the country under it. India with 1.21 billion people constitutes as the second most populous country in the world, while children represents 39% of total population of the country.
Issues related to Child
a) Child health and nutrition- 2.7 million children under 5 die every year. At 43 deaths per 1000 live births, India's Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is worse than many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. One out of ten Indian children will not reach the age of 5. India has the highest number of neonatal deaths (within the first 28 days of birth) in the world. India's Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) of 40 per 100,000 live births (2002) amounts to 60 per cent of infant mortality and over half of all deaths of children under 5 years of age. Malnutrition contributes to over 50 per cent of child deaths. At any one time, one fifth of all children suffer from diarrhoea and nearly a third has fever. Poverty and lack of awareness prevent mothers from providing adequate care for their children.
b) Education- Education is both the means as well as the end to a better life; means, because it empowers an individual to earn his/her livelihood and the end because it increases one's awareness on a range of issues – from healthcare to appropriate social behaviour to understanding one's rights, and in the process evolve as a better citizen. Out of every 100 children, only 32 children finish their school education age-appropriately. Only 2% of the schools offer complete? school education from Class 1 to Class 12 (District Information System for Education (DISE) 2014-15).
c) Child Labour- ‘Child Labour’, as defined by the International Labour Organization, refers to work that leads to the deprivation of one’s childhood and education opportunities. Effects include a loss of potential and dignity in self, which is harmful to a child’s physical and mental development. The term child labour is defined as ‘the work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity and, that is harmful to their physical and mental development’. According to the Census 2011 figures, there are 82.2 lakh working children in the age group of 5-14. India’s biggest hub of child labour is Uttar Pradesh and it accounts for almost 20% of India’s child labourers. ROLE OF
d) Child Marriage- Child marriage, defined as a formal marriage or informal union before age 18, disproportionately affects girls. According to UNICEF's "State of the World's Children 2009" report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural areas. The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India.
e) Child Abuse- Child abuse which is termed as, physical, emotional and sexual, neglect or negligent treatment, exploitation etc. are predominantly observed in India is often a hidden phenomenon especially when it happens in the home or by family members.
f) Tribal children- 104 million tribal peoples, 11.5 million tribal children of 0-5 years, one of the most excluded communities in India. Every second tribal child in India is chronically undernourished. In respect to the 8 most tribal populations equated states in India (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan). Dropout rates amongst ST children are very high. Majority of children drop out in class I itself. Official dropout rates of tribal children from school were as high as 78% between classes I and VIII. Stunting in tribal children, like that of all other children, is influenced by a multitude of factors including household food insecurity, maternal nutrition, poor feeding and care practices in the first two years of life and poor access to water, health and sanitation services.
g) Drugs and Alcoholisms amongst Children
h) Street Children
i) Children with Disability- In India 1.67% of the 0-19 population has a disability. 35.29% of all people living with disabilities are children. Other estimates say that India has 12 million children living with disabilities. Only 1% of children with disabilities have access to school and one third of most disabilities are preventable. Under-nutrition is a severe problem with children who suffer from cerebral palsy. In India 80% of children with disabilities will not survive past age forty. Many of the causes of disability are preventable by providing expecting mothers will better prenatal and post natal care as well as proper nutrition for infants and mothers.
Civil society organizations continue to help promote the rights of the child in the following ways:
• advocating for changes in existing laws at the provincial and national levels to protect children’s rights; • tracking and analyzing national and provincial budgets and expenditures; • collecting and assessing data related to children’s rights over the years; and • Educating the public and raising awareness of issues related to children’s rights.
CSOs work on a broad range of child-related issues. Some for example, focus on strengthening child protection systems in relation to violence and sexual abuse, while others implement strategies for improving access to basic health services for mothers and children. CSOs also work to create community-led plans for hygiene improvement and water safety and to ensure that all children have access to education. Some CSO partners focus specifically on children whereas others address a range of issues, including poverty, climate change, health, gender equality and violence. CSOs also work together with communities to engage in advocacy and policy reform and to promote child participation. Some partnerships focus on responding to emergencies or humanitarian crisis, providing basic services to populations in need. Others concentrate on working with governments to ensure they meet child rights obligations. Some CSOs carry out a combination of all of this work, whereas others focus exclusively on a single area.
Thus, Civil society and nongovernmental organizations can:
• Lead grass-roots mobilization and advocate that healthy diets and physical activity for children should be placed on the public agenda; • Support the wide dissemination of information on the prevention of non-communicable diseases in children through balanced, healthy diets and physical activity; • Form networks and action groups to promote the availability of healthy foods and possibilities for physical activity in children; • Advocate and support health-promoting programmes and health education campaigns for children; • Monitor and work with other stakeholders such as private sector entities; • Contribute to putting knowledge and evidence into practice. The involvement of civil society institutions brings transparency and accountability in the system. Their voice of accountability for children issues plays an important role in ensuring universal coverage and equitable access of progressive requirement to public domain.
Conclusion - Child protection and welfare is the duty and responsibility of various stakeholders 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. Cooperation and coordination among them is important for establishing a safe, secure and peaceful society.
By: Abhishek Sharma ProfileResourcesReport error
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