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Make children's right high on national
agenda-UNICEF
Accra, Nov. 19, Ghanadot/GNA - The United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) on Monday called on governments to place
children's right high on national agenda by further
strengthening social systems, legal frameworks and securing
sufficient budget for their needs.
A statement issued in Accra to mark the 18th anniversary of
the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) which falls
on Tuesday said despite efforts to secure children's
efforts, about 27,000 children under the age of five were
still dying every day, mainly from preventable causes whiles
one person dies of malnutrition every three seconds.
According to the statement, malaria kills a child,
especially those under five years every 30 seconds, and more
than 15 million children have lost their mothers or both
parents to AIDS.
It said more than two million children are living with HIV
or AIDS in 2006, but only 15 per cent of those who needed
antiretroviral drugs received them.
"UNICEF is therefore appealing to societies at large to
strive and further expand the child rights movement by
continuous awareness raising about what still needs to be
done.
"If strengthened and supported by all parts of society, this
movement will radically change the world for all new
generations to come', it added.
On the anniversary celebration, the statement said the
occasion would highlight the important differences the CRC
has made to the lives of millions of children and call for
further commitment to create a world fit for children.
It said Convention had strengthened and galvanised an
already existing drive for universal education, brought
about special programmes for vulnerable children and those
orphaned by HIV/AIDS as well as other programmes that had
created understanding on the importance of education during
conflicts and natural disasters.
The statement said child mortality had also reduced
considerably over the past two decades, saying in 1990,
around 13 million children died before their fifth birthday,
but the figure dropped to 9.7 million in 2006, almost 25 per
cent decline.
It said the Convention had also resulted in positive
development in child protection and more attention to issues
such as commercial sexual exploitation, abuse, and
trafficking and female genital mutilation.
The statement said the event, which would be celebrated
worldwide would include campaigns to convince governments to
establish a children's commissioner to monitor the
implementation of the Convention, following the example of
other countries.
GNA
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