Cardillo's projesct children's rights

Cebu Normal University
College of Teacher Education
Graduate Studies
Osmena Boulevard, Cebu City

The Young’s Social Arms
An Outline of Children’s Rights

Diploma in Professional Education
Child and Adolescent Development

Submitted to
Ms. Marili Cardillo

Submitted by
Reynario Cabezada Ruiz Jr.

“Children’s Rights”
The following rights enumerated in this paper are based on Art. 3 of P.D.
No, 603 otherwise known as the Child and Youth Welfare Code of
The Philippines (*) and the provisions and principles of
The United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child.

1. Every child is a rights holders

Survival and development rights

2. Every child has the right to Life, Survival and Development
• Rights to health, health services
• Right to adequate nutrition
• Right to social security
• Right to adequate standard of living
• Right to healthy and safe environment
• Right to education
• Right to play

Protection rights

3. Every child has the right to non-discrimination of any kind
• Discrimination may take the form of:
o reduced levels of nutrition
o inadequate care and attention
o restricted opportunities for play, learning and education
o inhibition of free expression of feelings and views
o harsh treatment
o unreasonable expectations, which may be exploitative or
abusive
o ethnic origin, social and cultural status, gender and/or
disabilities
o Maltreatment within families, communities, schools or other
institutions

4. Every child has the Right to be treated with dignity
• freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

Participation rights

5. Every child has the right for their best interest
• care, health, education, etc
• all law and policy development, administrative and judicial decision-
making and service provision

6. Every child has the right to be respected for the views and feelings
• Right to freedom of opinion and of expression
• Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion

• express his or her views freely in all matters, to have them taken
into account
• child’s agency - as a participant in family, community and society
“The Child and Youth Welfare code of the Philippines”

(1) Every child is endowed with the dignity and worth of a human being from the moment
of his conception, as generally accepted in medical parlance, and has, therefore, the right to
be born well.

(2) Every child has the right to a wholesome family life that will provide him with love, care
and understanding, guidance and counseling, and moral and material security.

The dependent or abandoned child shall be provided with the nearest substitute for a home.

(3) Every child has the right to a well-rounded development of his personality to the end
that he may become a happy, useful and active member of society.

The gifted child shall be given opportunity and encouragement to develop his special
talents.

The emotionally disturbed or socially maladjusted child shall be treated with sympathy and
understanding, and shall be entitled to treatment and competent care.

The physically or mentally handicapped child shall be given the treatment, education and
care required by his particular condition.

(4) Every child has the right to a balanced diet, adequate clothing, sufficient shelter, proper
medical attention, and all the basic physical requirements of a healthy and vigorous life.

(5) Every child has the right to be brought up in an atmosphere of morality and rectitude
for the enrichment and the strengthening of his character.

(6) Every child has the right to an education commensurate with his abilities and to the
development of his skills for the improvement of his capacity for service to himself and to
his fellowmen.

(7) Every child has the right to full opportunities for safe and wholesome recreation and
activities, individual as well as social, for the wholesome use of his leisure hours.

(8) Every child has the right to protection against exploitation, improper influences,
hazards, and other conditions or circumstances prejudicial to his physical, mental,
emotional, social and moral development.

(9) Every child has the right to live in a community and a society that can offer him an
environment free from pernicious influences and conducive to the promotion of his health
and the cultivation of his desirable traits and attributes.

(10) Every child has the right to the care, assistance, and protection of the State,
particularly when his parents or guardians fail or are unable to provide him with his
fundamental needs for growth, development, and improvement.

(11) Every child has the right to an efficient and honest government that will deepen his
faith in democracy and inspire him with the morality of the constituted authorities both in
their public and private lives.

(12) Every child has the right to grow up as a free individual, in an atmosphere of peace,
understanding, tolerance, and universal brotherhood, and with the determination to
contribute his share in the building of a better world.

Children’s Rights as Implemented
Rights No. I

7. Every child has the right to Life, Survival and Development



Article I
Somalia: ‘Disaster fatigue’ must not dull compassion for starving children.

The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today made an impassioned appeal to the
world to save an estimated 390,000 starving children in famine-ravaged regions of Somalia, saying the
international community must not let the so-called “disaster fatigue” numb compassion and generosity.

“I have read in the last few days a number of articles noting a decrease of interest in the Horn of Africa in
the press and in the public’s. This must not happen. We cannot let a kind of disaster fatigue set in,” said
Anthony Lake, the UNICEF Executive Director, at a news conference at UN Headquarters to mark World
Humanitarian Day.

“The statistics can be mind-numbing, but remember that the data is sons and daughters. The statistics are
little boys and little girls, every one of them,” said Mr. Lake, adding that the situation in Somalia was a
“human disaster becoming a human catastrophe.”

In addition to the tens of thousands of Somalis who have already died as a result of the drought-induced
famine, which has been exacerbated by conflict and poverty, an estimated 390,000 children are suffering
from malnutrition. Four fifths of them are in the worst affected areas of the country’s south-central zone.

“In some areas there we are seeing already historically high rates of severe acute malnutrition… which
means that the number of children in that zone facing imminent death is approaching 140,000 children,”
said Mr. Lake. “In many ways this is a children’s crisis. Their plight demands and deserves our most
urgent, bold and sustained response,” he added.

“I think that in all of us there is a desire when confronted with the images of people suffering so much to
push them away, to categorize them as victims and to thus separate their lives from ours.

“That is wrong. They are not simply victims to be pitied. They are courageous, resilient human beings
fighting under terrible circumstances to survive and save their children’s lives. They both deserve out
admiration and our support in their desperate struggle, and we are struggling to provide it,” said Mr. Lake.

He warned that the onset of the next rainy season is not due until October and projections indicate that the
entire central and southern Somalia will suffer the same extreme food and nutrition crisis now prevailing
in the five areas where famine has been declared, with almost 300,000 children in imminent peril.
“The crisis will get worse,” said Mr. Lake. “There will be no major harvest until the beginning of next
year and those are predicted to be below average.

“We are in a fight against time. We must take from these facts and projections not hopelessness, not
surrender, but a renewed determination to limit the deaths, to save lives and to know some day that we did
all we could today. We need all the support that we can get in order to do this,” he added.

Mr. Lake said that UNICEF had established hundreds of nutrition centers and programs in Somalia and
was reaching more than a million people with water and sanitation. The agency is also planning a measles
vaccination program that is expected to reach two million children in the coming months.

Speaking at the same news conference, Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs, said that despite stepped-up efforts aid agencies were not reaching as many people across the
drought-stricken Horn of African with life-saving assistance as they would like.

“We are all working as quickly as we can to provide life-saving aid and protection in the Somali capital,
Mogadishu, across the border in refugee camps particularly in Kenya and Ethiopia and increasingly in the
south, in Al Shabaab-controlled areas.

“But we are still not reaching enough people. Donors and the public have continued to give generously,
but we still need more than a billion dollars to provide all the aid that is needed,” said Ms. Amos, who is
also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Rights No. II

Protection rights

o Maltreatment within families, communities, schools or other
institutions

(5) Every child has the right to be brought up in an atmosphere of morality and rectitude
for the enrichment and the strengthening of his character.


Article II
At Home or in a Home
by Eurochild / Unicef

Two United Nations agencies have urged governments in Europe and Central Asia to immediately end the
practice of placing young children in State-run homes for infants because of the risk of neglect and abuse.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) have launched a campaign against sending children to State-managed homes after two new
reports documented abuses of children in such institutions.
The reports showed that across Europe and Central Asia, including in States that are members of the
European Union (EU), more than a million children and adults are living in long-term residential care,
where they languish, often for a lifetime.

Hundreds of thousands of babies with disabilities are routinely placed in State-run homes, severely
hampering their development, with many suffering in appalling conditions, according to the reports.

The report by OHCHR, entitled Forgotten Europeans – Forgotten Rights, outlines international and
European human rights standards relevant to the situation of people in institutions.

The UNICEF document, entitled At Home or in a Home – Formal care and adoption of children in
Eastern Europe and Central Asia, provides an overview of the major trends and concerns about children
in formal care and institutions, as well as adoption in 21 countries and one entity in Central and Eastern
Europe and Central Asia.

At a meeting in the European Parliament hosted by Irish legislator Mairead McGuinness, the two UN
entities urged governments across the region to make the needs and rights of the youngest children a
priority in policy-making, budget allocation and services development, while following international and
European standards.

The call to action includes restricting placement of children in institutions to short-term emergency
measures or a planned stay not exceeding six months – and only when it is absolutely necessary and in the
best interests of the child.

“Children belong where their best interests are met – in loving, caring homes, not in institutions where we
know they all too often receive substandard care,” said Anthony Lake, the UNICEF Executive Director.

“We need to support initiatives that help families stay together by increasing their access to social
services – and governments need to invest in building stronger social protection systems that reach the
most vulnerable families and most disadvantaged communities.”

Jan Jarab, OHCHR’s regional representative for Europe, said: “Many Central and Eastern European
countries have largely maintained the system of large-scale residential institutions for children of all ages.

“Placement of children into institutions – including those under three years of age – is still the society’s
main response to disability, poverty or perceived lack of parental skills, rather than a measure of
protection from individual abuse, from which these societies often fail to protect children.”

* Eurochild is a network of organizations and individuals working in and across Europe to improve the
quality of life of children and young people, for more details visit the link below.

Rights No. III

10.Every child has the right for their best interest
• all law and policy development, administrative and judicial decision-
making and service provision


(11) Every child has the right to an efficient and honest government that will deepen his
faith in democracy and inspire him with the morality of the constituted authorities both in
their public and private lives.

Article III

Chris’s Story
07 May 2008 / Posted by cr

Chris lived through a horror story for twelve years, passing in and out of
Michigan’s child welfare system — and getting bounced around from one
foster home to the next — before he was finally adopted at the age of 14.

At two, he was removed from the home of his alcoholic mother — and returned home after 18
months. At eight, he was removed again — along with his brother and two sisters — when
neighbors and teachers reported signs of physical abuse.

Chris and his brother were separated from their sisters and placed in a home where their
foster mother physically abused them. They were moved again — twice — and ended up with
a family that wanted to adopt them both. But Michigan’s Department of Human Services had
decided that the boys should be separated — and, appallingly, they were.

Chris’s brother was sent to a residential treatment facility, where he was routinely beaten under
the supervision of institutional staff. Chris stayed with his fourth foster family for two more
years before he, too, was placed in an institution — despite meeting none of the criteria for such
a move.

Chris finally moved in with his adoptive father in December 2005. The adoption became final in
August 2006, and his brother has now moved in with them and is awaiting adoption.

On August 8, 2006, Children’s Rights filed a federal class action against Michigan’s
Department of Human Services on behalf of the 19,000 children like Chris in state custody.
The case is ongoing.

Rights No. IV


11.Every child has the right to Life, Survival and Development
• Right to social security

(12) Every child has the right to grow up as a free individual, in an atmosphere of peace,
understanding, tolerance, and universal brotherhood, and with the determination to
contribute his share in the building of a better world.

Article IV

Manny’s Story
15 May 2008 / Posted by cr

Manny was just three years old when he and his brother were first taken away
from their home and placed in foster care after multiple confirmed reports of
abuse and neglect.

In the years that followed, they would be bounced around to more than ten different homes
and subjected to one ordeal after another.

At times, the two brothers were separated from one another. Manny was placed in the wrong
grade at school. At one point, he was moved all the way to Florida and placed in a home where
authorities later discovered more than 20 other children living under intolerable conditions.

Back in New Jersey, Manny was reunited with his brother — in a home where their foster
parents kept them locked in the basement, in the dark, feeding them bowls of table scraps. The
foster parents spoke mostly Spanish. Manny speaks only English.

Manny’s nightmare came to an end when a foster mother named Joan fought to get him and his
brother out of the abusive home to which the state of New Jersey had confined them. Children’s
Rights named both of them as plaintiffs in the class action that we brought against the state
in 1999, seeking top-to-bottom reform of its failing child welfare system.

Since the landmark settlement of the case in 2003, great progress has been made. A cabinet-level
children’s agency has been created. Adoptions for children who cannot return to their parents are
up and caseloads among the state’s child welfare workers have been reduced, enabling them to
provide children like Manny with the care and attention they need. In 2007, the state more than
tripled its number of licensed foster and adoptive families as compared to the year before. It also
finalized a record 1,540 adoptions — exceeding the court-ordered requirement of 1,400 and the
previous state record of 1,418 adoptions in 2002 — and reduced the number of children on its
waitlist for adoption, from 2,260 in January 2006 to 1,295 a year later.

Manny was one of the children who had been on that list. On December 17, 2007, in a brief
ceremony at a courthouse in Essex County, New Jersey, he was legally adopted by his
foster mother, Joan.

Manny is finishing high school now. He plays lacrosse and basketball on his school’s varsity
teams and also enjoys football. He is already looking forward to attending college, possibly in
Boston, and plans to study either history — his favorite subject — or sports management. He is
thriving with his loving family in his permanent home.

Rights No. V


Protection rights

13.Every child has the right to non-discrimination of any kind

Article V

Russian children protected better than young people in the
UK

27th May 2011

There has been a steady growth in the incidence of childhood illnesses identified by The Russian
National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (RNCNIRP) as "possible diseases" arising
from mobile phone use.

Of particular concern is the increasing number of affected young people aged 15 to 19 years (it is very
likely that most of them are mobile phone users for a long period of time).

Since 2009, central nervous system disorders among 15 to 17 year-olds has been growing rapidly, the
number of individuals with epilepsy or epileptic syndrome has also increased, and the number of blood
disorders and immune status disorders has nearly doubled.

In younger children we see the same thing happening, though they have not quite caught up with
their older brothers and sisters yet.

Because of this the RNCNIRP considers it very important carry out more scientific research to find out
for certain whether the growth in serious childhood disease results from EMF exposure from mobile
phone use or whether it is being caused by other factors.

Taking into account the RNCNIRP position and the precautionary measures suggested by the World
Health Organisation (WHO), the Committee considers that the following urgent measures must be
taken because children don't seem to recognise for themselves the potential harmful nature of the
phones, and that using them can expose them to life-threatening diseases.

New RNCNIRP priority measures aimed at the protection of children and teenagers

1. It is required that the information that a mobile phone is a source of radiofrequency
electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) is clearly shown on the phone itself (or any other
telecommunication device).
2. It is required that the "User's Guide" contains information that a mobile phone is a source of
harmful RF EMF exposure. Usage of a mobile phone by children and adolescents under 18
years old is not recommended (UK department of Health say under 16s should only use a
mobile in emergencies) and mobile phone use should be used with great care in order to
prevent health risks. Mobile phone use by pregnant women is not recommended in order to
prevent risk for the growing baby.
3. The easiest way to reduce RF EMF exposure is to move the mobile phone away from your head
during the phone call. Keeping calls short is another way to reduce the exposure.
4. The RNCNIRP considers it is reasonable to develop mobile phones with reduced EMF exposure;
even forced limitation as to the number and length of calls allowed in any given period.
5. Include courses on mobile phones use and issues concerning EMF exposure in school
timetables.
6. It is reasonable to set limits on mobile telecommunications use by children and adolescents,
including a ban on all types of phone adverts aimed at youngsters, especially adverts with
children in them.
7. The RNCNIRP is ready to assist the mass-media in their awareness-raising work and EMF
educational activities and, in particular, to provide information about the newest research
showing the impact of EMF on human health and the measures to reduce the negative impact
of this technological hazard.
8. Better safety criteria for children and teenagers are required as soon as possible. This should
take into account the need for protection for growing, vulnerable children, whose cells,
growing and changing rapidly, can be damaged severely, leading to serious health problems.
9. Development of an impartial national program (without influence from the telecommunications
industry) for studying possible health effects from chronic EMF exposure of the developing
brain is necessary.

http://www.emfields.org/news/20110527-russian-children-emf-exposure.asp

Children’s Rights as Violated
Rights No. I
Protection rights

a. Maltreatment within families, communities, schools or other
institutions

b. unreasonable expectations, which may be exploitative or abusive


Article I

Is it OK to Touch?
A boy strokes a girl’s bum. She giggles. Does she like it or is it a nervous
giggle? What do you think? Sexual bullying is a pressing issue and it occurs in
all levels of society, and this includes schools. Can education stop this? Just
what do we define as ‘sexual bullying’ and where do we draw the line?

Students attending Islington Arts and Media secondary schools feel that sexual bullying isn’t
really looked into. A majority of young people get sexually bullied and don’t know about it.
A 15-year-old female student believes that it’s a young person’s right to know what is wrong and
what is right: “I think a lot of people get sexually bullied at school and do not know it. It could
be touching the bum, and for some people that might be alright, but sometimes it’s over the top.”
People should have the confidence to say no and be able to draw the line on what they feel is ok,
and when it becomes sexual bullying.
Head of Humanities Mr Urtone said: “Sexual harassment can happen at most secondary schools
all over the country. I define it as any sexual activity that is physical or verbal that is unwanted.
“Sometimes you go around the school and hear young boys talking about or directly to girls in a
derogatory manner and I would say that that is a low level of sexual bullying.
“Young people are going through puberty and have a lot of hormones flying around, some trying
to impress their friends with their actions. The victims might not have the life skills to be able to
say ‘no, I don’t want to be touched in that way.’”

A 15-year-old female pupil added: “Maybe it happens because their parents haven’t taught them
to respect the opposite sex, or it’s because it’s easy to access porn on the internet and this makes
young people think that what they are seeing is normal.”
Students have expressed the need for more sexual health education to be part of the school
curriculum. They feel that they need the lessons to give them a better understanding of what
sexual bullying is and how it could be prevented.
An ex-year 11 male student says that they haven’t had enough sexual health education since
they’ve been at school.
Lead Learning Mentor, Lynette Brown thinks that education is the key: “We need to make
everyone aware. If we make as many young people aware of all the things that are out there then
it’s a start.”
Teacher, Mr Brown said : “Sometimes young people act in a certain way and think that they are
just messing around. But if they were out on the street or the work place they would get arrested
for it and I think it has to be made clear what the boundaries are.”
The school does run lessons on sexual health and relationships, however the school can only fit
four of those lessons a year, and Mr Urtone believes it is probably not enough.
“PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) lessons are important because it gives young
people life skills that they need to make good decisions. Life is not just about academia and
typing on keyboards, some of it is how you interact and deal with problems that arise and
unfortunately I think that not all young people are equipped to make those right decisions. But
schools are not able to give enough time to these lessons.
“I don’t think it’s an issue of money. I think it’s a time thing and the school has too much
academic pressure and its main responsibility is to get young people good grades and a good
education.
“Maybe we can have them in assemblies. But I was teaching a sexual health lesson for year 7s
about puberty, and it can be very embarrassing for the students and the teacher. And to do that in
front of 180 children! It begs the question, are the teachers qualified to teach these kinds the
lessons?”
So sexual bullying still seems to be left in the shadows. Without education we don’t know if
people are suffering from it and sometimes they might not even know that what is happening to
them is sexual bullying.
If this issue is highlighted more we might know how to deal with it and have the confidence to
say stop.
In class we learn that a child is born innocent and their primary and secondary surroundings
influence them. School is one of those surroundings and that means they need to influence us in
the right way.
This article was produced by Renais Mejeh, 15, Aderayo Adealy, 12, Ylyn Crowstaff, 11,
Kevin Struett, 12, Aisha Ajona, 15, Ada Ismaili, 15 and Miranda Williams, 15.

Rights No. II

14.Every child has the right for their best interest


Protection rights

• ethnic origin, social and cultural status, gender and/or disabilities

Article II

Growing Up In Care
Do you ever wish you could get rid of your parents? Don’t they really annoy
you sometimes? Well, I don’t really blame anyone who thinks that way. But
imagine if you had to grow up without your parents. Would you be or have
been able to handle it? Hamida Begum, 14, interviewed a couple of care
leavers to find out more about life in foster homes.
Hoz, 21, who has recently left care, had to come to this country from Congo. He says: “because of my
ethnic background, I had to get away.” When Laurent Desire-Kabila took over from Mobutu Sese Seko as
Congo’s President those who belonged to the Mungala, Mobutu’s ethnic group, were persecuted. Hoz is
of Mungala descent himself.

When Hoz was just 16, a man who claimed to be a friend of his father took Hoz travelling along with
him. “He made me travel to one country then to another. I was travelling with three different people and
out of the three I knew just one. He proposed to help which at that point didn’t seem like an option to
discuss. So I accepted his help.”

Shahinera, 23, who has also now left the care service, was taken away from her parents at the age of 13.
She explains how she had been “young and naïve” back then, roughly 10 years ago. “I thought I was
going on a holiday or something. At that time my thinking was like a child.” As far as I’m concerned
there’s never really a right time for children to deal with foster care.

After 3 years in care Shahinera went back to live with her parents. Her younger brother and sister also had
to go into care but unfortunately they lived separately to Shahinera. When asked if they kept in contact,
she replied: “We did but it was really not that often just once in a while or something. We didn’t keep in
touch so much with my family as well.”

Hoz however was an only child. Sadly, his parents and grandmother passed away. His Dad had been in
the army, on the subject of his father Hoz says: “I didn’t see my Dad that much. If I had to count how
many times I’ve seen my Dad I would say 20 in my whole life.”

Foster care is when young people under the age of 18 have stand-in careers as their guardians. This
happens as they have been taken away from their biological parents for various reasons. While the child
in question is under foster care, one of the following three plans is determined for the child’s future:
reuniting with the child’s birth parents, making the child’s foster home into his/her permanent home or
adoption and placing the child with another legally permanent family.

Fortunately for Shahinera, she was reunited with her parents after 3 years in care. Yet things weren’t that
easy for Hoz as he had no family back in Congo: “With my ethnic background it wouldn’t really be an
option to go back because things aren’t that good.” He also says how when he first arrived to the UK he
was: “dropped in front of the home offices.” The person who had brought him to the UK said: “’just walk
in there and I’ll explain the situation and they’ll give you help.’” And with that Hoz was left by himself in
a foreign country at 16 years old.

Fostering appears to be quite a positive arrangement, but Hoz and Shahinera tell us about negative
experiences. Shahinera: “My younger brothers and sisters. I think they were bullied in their foster care
home by their foster brother. The bullying was quite bad for my brother because when he thinks about it,
he gets quite emotional. I was bullied, when my foster sister was putting me down, I didn’t realize.”

Hoz talked about a girl he knew who went through something similar: “Her foster mother was extremely
mean to the girl; she wasn’t doing anything for her and wasn’t buying her anything. When she went out
she asked the girl to get out and stay outside the house and she would lock the house. She would come
back whenever she wanted to. The girl couldn’t explain what was happening because she couldn’t speak
English.” Luckily, the social services were eventually told by someone who knew her language as well as
English, this helped to right the situation.

Shahinera shares another bad experience; “My first foster mother wasn’t that understanding. She bought
stuff for her adopted daughter but nothing for me. I used to lock myself in my room but she never tried to
come in and see if I was okay.”

It wasn’t just the foster residencies which led to problems; it was also the Social Workers: “Sometimes
you get the impression that you have to shout to get something,” says Hoz. Whilst Shahinera adds: “They
take action after the damage is done. Whenever it suits them.”

Yet not all Social Workers were bad, Hoz says: “I had a Personal Adviser and she was really good, she
was efficient. Once the carpet was dirty, so she asked the manager if the building had a vacuum cleaner.
The manager said there was only one which was used by the cleaner who did the corridors and stairs. The
rooms are the responsibility of the residents. Two days later she got me money for a vacuum cleaner.”

Hoz also experienced conflict with others in care: “I was in a sharing accommodation and one boy used to
always use my stuff in the kitchen and leave it dirty. I ignored it at first. One day I said to him, ‘if you use
my stuff can you please clean it?’ He got aggressive and he had a knife and I thought that was it for me.”

After their own experiences with fostering, both positive and negative, Hoz and Shahinera are both
willing to give it a try. Shahinera says: “I wouldn’t mind because there are a lot of children who have
been abandoned but it’s not easy. You need to put a lot of commitment into it.” Hoz adds: “there are
children in need of a guide and if I have what it takes I will be willing to do it.”

This article was written by Hamida Begum, 14.

Rights No. III



Article III
The worst country in the world to be a sick child
by Sarah Boseley
Save the Children

Sep 2011 (The Guardian)

A league table from Save the Children establishes the safest - and most dangerous - places in the world
for a child to fall sick, which correlate closely with their chances of getting to see a health worker.

Chad and Somalia are the riskiest places in the world to fall sick if you are a child. Switzerland and
Finland are the safest.

That’s the conclusion of an index produced by Save the Children, which ranks 161 countries based on the
availability of health workers.

There is an inevitable link, it seems. The analysis shows that children living in the bottom 20 countries –
with just over two health workers for every 1,000 people - are five times more likely to die than those
further up the index.

It stands to reason. Children die of malnutrition, of diarrhea, of malaria, of pneumonia and many other
diseases in the poorest countries in the world. They need treatment, but often it is not just the drug or the
food supplement that is lacking - it is the nurse or the community health worker who can diagnose what is
wrong and do something about it. In some places, children never see a health worker in their sometimes
pitifully short lives.

The index is being published ahead of a UN high level meeting on non-communicable diseases in two
weeks time, which campaigners hope will call for increases in the numbers of doctors, nurses, midwives
and community health workers for the developing world.

The World Health Organization estimates that the world is 3.5 million short. The index not only reflects
the numbers in each country, but also their success in reaching children. It takes into account the
percentage of children receiving three doses of the vaccine for diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus
and the number of women giving birth with a skilled birth attendant.

On those measures, the worst places in the world for sick children are Chad, Somalia, Lao, Ethiopia and

Nigeria. The best are Switzerland, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Belarus. The UK comes 14th and the US
15th.

This is what Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children, says:

A child’s survival depends on where he or she is born in the world. No mother should have to watch
helplessly as her child grows sick and dies, simply because there is no one trained to help.

World Leaders must tackle the health worker shortage and realize that failing to invest in health workers
will cost lives. Even the poorest countries in Africa can make real progress if they stick to their pledge of
investing 15% of their budgets in health.

Some countries have done remarkable things in spite of the shortages, says the charity. Community health
workers are not as expensive as nurses and are more likely to stay. Bangladesh and Nepal have made
strides in bringing down children’s death rates by investing in community health workers and are on track
to meet millennium development goal 4, which is to reduce mortality by two-thirds.

But more help is needed from the rich world - and only eight developing countries have met a
commitment to spend 15% of their national budgets on healthcare, Save the Children points out.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has just published a report showing that - in spite of Sierra Leone’s
much-vaunted free healthcare for pregnant women and their children - mothers are still being asked to
pay for drugs they cannot afford.

Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International’s Africa programme director, says there is no monitoring or
accountability system, allowing poor practice and mismanagement to go unchallenged and allowing some
people to plunder expensive medicines. He adds: The healthcare system remains dysfunctional in many
respects. Government figures show that since the introduction of the initiative, more women are
delivering their babies in health facilities.

However, many women continue to pay for essential drugs, despite the free healthcare policy, and women
and girls living in poverty continue to have limited access to essential care in pregnancy and childbirth.

Rights No. IV



17.Every child has the right to non-discrimination of any kind

Article IV
Survival of millions of children in Horn of Africa at risk, warns UNICEF
by ReliefWeb / UN Children"s Fund

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that two million children are malnourished as
a result of the drought in the Horn of Africa, and half a million could soon die or suffer long-lasting
mental or physical damage.

The agency appealed for urgent funding to assist millions of children and women in Kenya, Somalia,
Ethiopia and Djibouti, which are all facing a crisis that is being called the worst in 50 years.

“UNICEF estimates that over two million young children are malnourished and in need of urgent life-
saving actions, if they are to survive conditions in drought-affected countries in the Horn of Africa,” the
agency said in a press statement.

“At least half a million of those children are facing imminent life-threatening conditions, with long lasting
consequences to their physical and mental development.”

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it is already assisting six million people in the affected
countries, plus eastern Uganda, “but as the impact of the drought grows, we expect this number will rise
to as much as 12 million.”

Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), told a conference in Rome that a
combination of natural disaster and regional conflict was affecting more than 12 million people.

"We are seeing all the points able to distribute food completely overwhelmed," she said, adding that a
camp in Dadaab in Kenya that was built for 90,000 people now housed 400,000.

"We want to make sure the supplies are there along the road because some of them are becoming roads of
death where mothers have to abandon their children who are too weak to make it or who have died along
the way."

Women and children were among the most at risk in the crisis, Ms Sheeran said, calling it the "children’s
famine" given the number of children at risk of death or permanent stunting of their brains and bodies due
to hunger.

"I believe it is the children’s famine, because the ones who are the weakest are the children and those are
the ones we’re seeing are the least likely to make it," she said.

"We’ve heard of women making the horrible choice of leaving behind their weaker children to save the
stronger ones or having children die in their arms."

High food prices and prolonged drought are worsening an already dire situation for thousands of families
in need of food and water, according to UNICEF.

“Thousands of families are crossing the border from Somalia as emergency feeding centres are being set
up by UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies in neighbouring countries,” the agency said.

“The threat of disease on already weakened young children is of particular concern and UNICEF is
urgently setting up child immunization campaigns. UNICEF, government agencies, NGOs [non-
governmental organizations] and other UN agencies will be working in the vital areas of water, food and
sanitation in the coming days to ward off a massive emergency,” said the agency.

“However funding shortfalls, and in some areas the denial of access, threaten to disrupt these essential

services. UNICEF is asking for $31.9 million for the coming three months to provide life-saving support
to the millions of affected children and women.”

WFP estimates it will need around $477 million to address hunger needs in the region through to the end
of the year, but it currently has a 40 per cent shortfall in funding amounting to around $190 million.

Advance planning and forward-purchasing of food has positioned WFP to respond to the current needs,
but as food requirements grow, more resources will need to be mobilized to address the needs of the
hungry across the Horn of Africa region, the agency said.

Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, started a two-day mission to
Ethiopia today, to review the humanitarian situation and response to the drought.

“We urgently need to scale up our response in Ethiopia, as in Kenya, Somalia and other countries, to
minimize the loss of human life and livestock, which are the chief asset of pastoralist households,” Ms.
Amos, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said after meeting with government and
humanitarian officials.

WFP, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the British-based Oxfam agency today
issued a joint appeal for a more resilient and longer-lasting response to the drought and other “slow-
onset” humanitarian crises.

Although the international community responds to sudden crises, “unfortunately, ‘slow-onset’
humanitarian crises, such as the worsening drought in the Horn in Africa, have not received the same
attention, leaving millions of women, men and children vulnerable to devastating hunger and
malnutrition,” they stated.

The three agencies asked the international community to commit to longer-term, longer-lasting solutions,
such as sustainable food assistance, support for small farmers, and support for policies and investments
that address core challenges such as climate change adaptation, preparedness and disaster risk reduction,
rural livelihoods, conflict resolution, pastoralist issues and access to essential health and education.

19 August 2011

Rights No. V
Protection rights

18.Every child has the Right to be treated with dignity
• freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

(1) Every child is endowed with the dignity and worth of a human being from the moment
of his conception, as generally accepted in medical parlance, and has, therefore, the right to
be born well.


Article V

60,000
Today in Rwanda, there are at least sixty thousand households run by children. These are families which were left
without parents after the genocide five years ago.
Here you can listen to these children reflecting on the genocide and talking about how they are rebuilding and
raising their families.

alone
Tribal fighting between the Hutus and Tutsis led to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. An estimated one million
people died in the violence.

Of the children who survived, many fled to the refugee camps situated on the borders of Rwanda. Disease was rife
and both adults and children died in the camps.

Some of the surviving children have now returned to Rwanda and are living in child-headed households. These are
homes where there are no resident adults.

Habasa, 17
Rwanda

'The militia would come and snatch us carrying us on their shoulders.
They told us we must produce for them as many children as possible.
They said they would use them in the future to help them fight.

Habasa, 17
Rwanda
'In the bush I was allocated to a man to be his second wife.
If you refused to show respect you were beaten thoroughly.'

Estella, 15
Rwanda 'You know I am still very young and I cannot manage.'
'But I have no alternative,
I have got to do what I am supposed to do.'

Habasa, 17
Rwanda
'I cannot go to school today because the baby is ill with malaria and diarrhoea.
This is what happens every time he falls ill.
I want to go to school.'

rape
During the war, many girls were raped by the militia and soldiers on all sides. In addition to raising their
siblings, these girls are also bringing up the children they conceived when they were raped.
Nyira is one of these girls.

Poems from Rwanda
'This is the story of an old man coming from a long journey. He was very tired and ill. His children came

to him asking for wealth thinking he is about to die. He told them that their wealth is in their country. He
told them that they should build on love and not on tribalism, whether a person is a tutsi, hutu or mtwa.
He said we are all Rwandese. He told them to work for their country and build on love and not on hatred.
He told them to forget the genocide because it would tear them all apart. He stressed that the most
important thing is loving one another.'

'Peace is what we children of Africa want. Peace here in Africa, peace in our country Burundi, in our
country Rwanda and in our country Uganda. We children of Africa are tired of wars. We children would
like peace, peace is what we want.'

'We children of Africa would like unity, peace and serenity in our countries. We would like these because
unity is strength and that is what brings about development. Oh father, oh mother do not teach me about
tribalism, because that is poisonous and we children of Africa do not want or like that. We just want
unity, peace and security.'

Nyira's story:
'I was raped by a soldier when I went to the field to search for food. The soldier told me that he would
make me his wife. I had gone with a small child. The soldier threatened to shoot us with his gun if we
made any noise. So I told him to do whatever he wanted. So he grabbed me by force.
When we got back to the camp we did not say anything because we were afraid. When we got to Goma
we were placed with the family of Mapendano. After a while Mapendano called me because she noticed
my body was changing. She asked me if I had slept with a soldier. I said yes. She told me not to abort my
pregnancy.'

Responsibility
Three quarters of all child-headed households are led by girls. There are households where the age of the oldest
child is just eleven years old and there may be as many as eight children in a household.

Finding money for food and clothes usually leads the children to beg. Some girls resort to prostitution to raise
money. Fetching water, cooking and cleaning are all tasks that are shared amongst the children.

17-year-old Habasa heads a family of five children. She was raped in a camp and is now bringing up her 2-year-old
son, 2 sisters and 2 cousins. She finds it hard to combine bringing up a family with going to school.

Habasa's story: Part One
'I cannot go to school today because the baby is ill with malaria and diarrhoea. This is what
happens every time he falls ill. I want to go to school.
It's not easy looking after the baby as well as my young brothers and sisters.

We get some help from the neighbours and the government but it's not enough. Sometimes
it is available, sometimes not.

Interviewer: 'As the oldest in your family, what do you worry about most?'

'Looking after the children. You know I am still very young and I cannot manage. But I have
no alternative, I have got to do what I am supposed to do.'

Interviewer: 'When you remember life before losing your parents what was it like?'
'It's enough to drive you mad but then what do you do except pray to God. You learn to
cope.'

new roles
Sometimes the property of these children's parents has been destroyed.
If not it may have been claimed by neighbours and relatives.
The children have to build new houses, or repair damages to existing homes.
Out in the countryside some homes just consist of plastic sheeting.

Habasa's story: Part Two
Interviewer: ' What do you miss most in life?'

'Now that I have this baby, I don't think much about it. But I pray it does not happen to
others.
If there is anything I would like to have most now it is to have some help to lead a better
life, maybe build a house for us to let and provide us with some income, instead of begging
all the time.

Interviewer: 'Habasa, you are a family of five, how do you share the workload?'

'We take turns, cooking, fetching water, cleaning etc. The little boy lives with us, he helps
whenever he can mending broken things and fetching water. The younger ones don't do
much. We teach them a few tasks. At weekends we go to church and my sisters earn a bit
of pocket money performing dances and songs at various places, for example at weddings.'

Reflections
Children’s rights as Implemented
Article I

Filipinos are, to say, lucky enough if to be compared to the people of
Somalia. I mean, unfortunately thought it is not something to be glad about but I
think this is something that should make us think of the fortune we have especially
in terms of the condition of living.
The Somali children are in extreme peril but gladly there are people like Mr.
Lake who cares; sadly, there are just few people like him. The United Nations, as I
see it, is doing its part to the best that it can to save lives and as to the question of
“are they doing enough?”, I don’t think so which is probably because they don’t
have enough, the reason why they are calling for more help and support.
Another thing that I think the article wants us to realize is that in extending a
hand for help, it should be supported with a sustained courage. There is no room
for fatigue. Never feel fatigue in helping for there are more than that feeling which
is worse if we would feel so and the very fact that lives of our future are at greatest
risk.
Think of a situation where a loved one of yours is at risk of falling on a cliff
and to die if he falls. You are holding his arm, will you still entertain fatigue,
knowing that if you let go a life will be cut short?

Article II

No one is exempted from the law and it should be that no children are
exempted form he rights that they deserve.
In the very first place abandonment is always a no no and no one has the
right to do so. Putting children into a place where they will just live a life to suffer
should be something that a conscience should know that by doing so, it is a crime
of leading one’s life to the fires of hell (for the religious people) and death (for
those who couldn’t get it).
Consciousness is an important factor in making people understand that even
children who are physically challenged are important and deserve to live a happy,
safe, quality and loved life.
The actions taken by the UN deserves support, why? Because they just
deserve it and it because of its intentions. There are victims and there will be more
if we will fail to recognize the need to take action the immediate time as possible.

UN alone should not take the responsibility alone because this is a social
responsibility. A “Response Ability” for all, for everyone who lives a life.

Article III

Sometimes people are deceived by what a word carries into it. Wee innocent
of what is going on. Does the word imply the meaning that it carries or is it
furtherly deviated from it because of the people using it?
It is not always a sure thing that a good intention of a program is exercised
and be productive as expected. In this very case vigilance is needed. In the process
of mismanagement and failure to give justice to the intentions of a program in the
course of its implementation are the victims. Victims who are very innocent, very
pitiful and very much of every chaotic experience. This irresponsible act of the few,
who distorted the truth of what is good and the meaning of goodness and of the
meaning that lies within the word must and are needed to be stopped. Let’s
recognize it, plan what needs to be done, implement it firmly. Mind the victims,
they are victims unnecessarily.

Article IV

Most fantasy stories start with a tragic beginning and culminate into a happy
ending. Yes, partly this is also true to the children who are into foster care. I am
happy to the fact that at least it ends happily but I am also saddened to ask “why
do they need to experience this fantastic life?” I mean, this isn’t necessary but why
is it happening? What went wrong? Who made the big mistake? In my own strong
opinion, in dealing with innocent lives, active intervention is never appropriate
instead people involved in this need and must have a proactive view to take away
the risk of adding the “victim” thing.

Article IV

The article depicts an effort to protect the children by giving them safety. The
technology that our time provides is not leveled with the corresponding safeness
because as we know our use of the current technology is an ongoing experiment.
This factual fact calls us to see and protect the safety of the holders of the future
(the youth).
The good quality of living condition the children will have in the coming
future lies on the expertise of the people in the present. A big challenge is how and
in what way and to what extent can we intervene for the young and to their future
to be good if not great?

Reflections
Children’s rights as Violated
Article I

Yes, information is important but it is as useless as a piece of garbage if not
included and used to educate those who are lacking of it. Maybe one of the best
ways to protect the youth is to educate the people around them. It is not the law or
the policies alone that are to be taken cared of but it should be the subjects as well.
In any problem, especially if the issue is social in nature, it is always best to
take education as one of the solution, I mean, education is always should always be
an option though it is not the solution alone but it will always be one.

Article II

As matured adults we always have the power. As children they have nowhere
else to be, if in bad circumstances, but to be victims of adult’s mistakes, greed,
conflicts and all alike. Undefended, their future is at great risk of being ruined.
A child looses his/her parents, I think, in these ways. First is when their
parents leave them because of death, second is when they are abandoned by their
parents just because their parents are stupidly not ready to take the responsibility
of becoming one and thirdly if there are other people or events causing them to be
separated; a war for example. Among all of these, children remain to be a scrap
being stepped, hurt and wounded. They will never become the actor of importance,
I mean, the hero or what but still victims no matter where on a square’s sides or
angles we view it.
Understanding this is together with the hope that people will have the
courage to help and ignite a change for the better, for the future, for the children.

Article III

Health is and will always be an issue for everyone, the thing is, the most
pitiful individuals in this particular issue are children and for some cases are the
most deprived. They are always vulnerable to both positive but much of the
negative circumstances of life.
In the case of the article earlier, it is important to view the unseen, I mean,
the message along with it. It is that which we need more of understanding and to
help in order to extend or help to the children. Not all places on this round earth is
blessed with the grace of making life conducive to living and in this, it is here that

they need help that others, for sure, are capable of giving. A gift can be in the
forms of help.

Article IV

As I was reading the article, I was also scanning pictures of the Horn in Africa
and I must say it was one of the things I can call “unbelievable.” It is pain and not
sadness anymore to feel seeing that people especially children has this life worse
than the situation of an abandoned dog in the middle of nowhere.
I do recognize the existing efforts of some to save them but I want to ask;
when will it become enough? When will it end? The combination of natural disasters
and armed conflicts are sacrificing lives and future which is too much to be
defended by any unjustifiable reason a rational being can do.
I could say that in some instances, the nature of law is not much of it being
obeyed but of being violated. In this case, among all victims, a single child is
incomparable to anything even a mansion or a jewel or even the most priced
artifact in history. As of now we may say “we’ve done much” but in my opinion,
there is still more than that “much” that could be done to save more.

Article V

Among all the articles presented in this reading material, this particular
article in the one that I felt anger and an exploding feeling.
They are still children and I could hardly imagine that crazy people like those
who are abusing them uses them like factory which is so evil to be felt by any of my
six senses.
I by chance I can suggest a solution for this problem I would strongly say,
“Why don’t we build a community, a place, for them which is far and more
conducive for them. We can no longer protect them in that place so why not take
them away from there and place them to a place where life is possible. Just like
how the Brazilians built Brazilia, it is possible. We can’t solve the problem if they
will stay to that kind of harsh and unsustainable environment; let us take them
away from that hell. The UN is capable of doing this as a single country can do.
Why not if we are capable of doing so, for the sake of life? We are exploring other
worlds outside earth and develop planets so why not develop first a place in this
earth for the people especially for the children in Africa.

Cardillo's projesct children's rights

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