WHAT ARE CHILDREN’S RIGHTS?

Children’s rights are human rights. Children must be treated with equality, respect and dignity, not because they are “the future” or the “adults of tomorrow”, but because they are human beings today. All humans are born inherently with fundamental freedoms and rights.

Children must enjoy the same human rights as everybody else – from the right to freedom of expression to privacy. This means all human rights laws apply equally to children and adults.

However, children are afforded a low status in most societies. For example, in almost every country children under the age of 18 are denied political power because they cannot vote, and most countries allow parents to hit their children even though they would be prosecuted for assault if they hit an adult.

This means children have specific rights to help protect them from the threats, exclusions and discrimination they are vulnerable to. These rights are embodied in international law in the Convention on the Rights of the Children (CRC) and its Optional Protocols – one on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; another on armed conflict; while another sets up an international complaints mechanism so cases of children’s rights abuse can be taken to the UN.

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About Flickers of Hope

Flickers of Hope is a Non-Governmental Organization with a primary focus on Education. We aim to educate, mentor, empower and equip young people, as beacons of hope for the nation.

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Flickers of Hope

Flickers of Hope is a Non-Governmental Organization with a primary focus on Education. We aim to educate, mentor, empower and equip young people, as beacons of hope for the nation.