What is the importance of children's rights from UNICEF's point of view?
What is the importance of children's rights from UNICEF's point of view?
What is the importance of children's rights from UNICEF's point of view?
Children are individuals
Children are neither the property of their parents nor the state, and they are not just people in training; They have equal status as members of the human family.
A child begins his life as a completely dependent being
Children must depend on adults for the care and guidance they need to grow up to be independent. Ideally, the child's family would provide this support, but when the primary caregivers are unable to meet the child's needs, it is up to the state as the duty bearer to find an alternative that is in the best interests of the child.
Government actions, or inactions, affect children more severely than any other group in society
Virtually all areas of government policy — from education to public health — affect children to one degree or another. Short-sighted policy-making processes that fail to take children into account also have negative consequences for the future of all members of society.
Children's views must be heard and taken into account in political processes
In general, children do not vote in elections, nor do they traditionally participate in political processes. Without special attention to children's views—as expressed at home and at school, in communities and even in governments—their views remain unheard on many important issues that affect them now or will affect them in the future.
Many changes in society have a disproportionate, and often negative, impact on children
The shift in family structure, globalization, climate change, the spread of digital technologies, mass migration, shifts in work patterns and the shrinking of the social welfare net are strong impacts on children. The impact of these changes can be particularly devastating in situations of armed conflict and other emergency situations.
The healthy development of children is critical to the future well-being of any society
As children are growing and developing, they are especially vulnerable — more than adults — to poor living conditions such as poverty, lack of health care, nutrition, safe water and housing, and environmental pollution. The effects of disease, malnutrition and poverty threaten the future of children, and thus affect the future of the societies in which they live.
The cost to society of failing to deal with children is enormous
The results of social research show that children's early experiences strongly influence their future development. The course of their development also determines their contribution to society, or what they cost society, over the course of their lives
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