November 20 2006
Empowering Children
20 November - Children's Rights Day
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted on 20 November 1989. Since then, that date has marked Universal Children's Day or the International Children's Rights Day. SOS Children's Villages calls for children's needs and the issues that they face to be taken into account when making political decisions. Children should also be given the power to defend themselves.
Child Participation in Bangladesh
Child Protection and Children's Hotline in Kenya
Children's Council in Bethlehem
The UN children's rights catalogue which has been ratified by almost all states in the world confronts a reality, clearly shown in figures, of the living conditions and prospects for the future of coming generations. Across the world, 223 million children are subjected to sexual violence. In industrial countries alone, around 3,500 children die every year as a result of abuse and neglect. It is only explicitly forbidden to use physical force as a means of disciplining children in 16 countries. A total of 200 million children have to work and 1.2 million are victims of child trafficking. Millions of children are victims of war, displacement, treatable diseases and a lack of resources.*
Carers at SOS Children's Villages are confronted with the consequences of these violations on a daily basis; that is mainly with the effects of neglect, abuse, experience of divorce and violence, as well as the loss of a family. The children can only rid themselves of these destructive effects gradually, with great care and through intensive relationship work and therapy. On the other hand, there are children whose fates are shaped by external conditions - war, disasters and discrimination. In this case, it is often only possible to carry out reactive work - emergency relief programmes, for example. No catalogue of rights shows the effects of the experience of war, the loss of one's country or the exploitation of the mental and emotional health of children and the consequences these have in adulthood. This mental and psychic damage is a direct consequence of the systematic infringement of fundamental rights and children's rights.
This is demonstrated by the direct correlation between external factors (political, economic and social) and the inner stability of families. All political and economic decision-makers are called upon to take steps and create the basic conditions to support families and protect children in this respect.
Together with other NGOs, SOS Children's Villages lobbies for children's interests and needs. Organisations that help children are responsible for giving children a voice in all possible organisations and for insisting on establishing requirements so that children can have better living conditions. This is one way of giving back children their rights.
Another way is to actually put the ball in their court, so that they are not only seen as "victims" who depend on the help of adults, but so that they see themselves as being social actors who have a right to a voice, can set limits, have a right to protection, and can ask for help. At all levels within SOS Children's Villages, whether that be the SOS mothers, village directors, educational support staff, school directors or kindergarten staff, are included in this process.
It involves forming opinions, creating awareness and creating a security network for children in the care of SOS Children's Villages. When developing child protection guidelines, we also work with other NGOs in the countries, such as UNICEF or Save the Children or as a member of the Keeping Children Safe Coalition, which has developed a special range of methods and materials to provide information for adults on the topic of child protection.
Child Participation in Bangladesh
It is particularly important for children to take part in making the decisions that affect their life at SOS Children's Villages. In Bangladesh for example children and young people are present at all official staff meetings. At the child protection workshops it also became clear that children's rights must be communicated to children in a child-friendly language and a basic explanation of the different forms of abuse that children are subjected to should be given. This not only includes adults assaulting children but also children assaulting other children.
A "Young Adult Meeting" was also held for the first time this year. Eighteen young people, who are currently experiencing the most difficult phase of becoming independent, participated in the meeting. Some of the topics that were raised were: their experience as part of their SOS families, the relationship between boys and girls, helping them to integrate into the labour market and issues regarding marriage.
Child Protection and Children's Hotline in Kenya
SOS Children's Villages Kenya has been concerned about children's rights and child protection for years. Staff members, for example, sign a code of conduct in which they commit themselves to telling children about their rights and showing them where they can turn if they have problems. Workshops were organised for staff members, where they learnt about children's rights, the prevention of abuse and the empowerment of children. Since people who have themselves been abused fall into the same pattern that they experienced more easily, workshops were also offered for SOS mothers to work on the traumas that they have experienced.
A children's hotline, aimed at the general public, means that children in Kenya can talk about their problems around the clock, anonymously and free of cost. It is estimated that one in three girls and one in five boys under the age of 18 are sexually abused. SOS Children's Villages, in cooperation with ministries, authorities and the national telephone company Telkom, has formed the following hotline, which is a member of Childline International (
http://www.childhelplineinternational.org).
Children's Council in Bethlehem
The latest initiative on the topic of children's rights and child participation was started at SOS Children's Village Bethlehem in the West Bank. In October, a children's council was elected, in which nine children or young people over the age of twelve represent their contemporaries in the planning phases within the SOS Children's Village and act as the bridge between the children and staff - mainly the SOS mothers. It also involves shared responsibility, mutual respect, conflict resolution and democracy within the small village community. The whole nomination process, the election and the training of the small "people's representatives" was organised in cooperation with the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizen's Rights and Defense for Children International/Palestine Section. A meeting also took place with the governor of Bethlehem on issues regarding democracy and government responsibility towards the population. On the election day, all of those who live in the village (all children over the age of eight, mothers and staff) went to the ballot box and cast their votes.
In Bethlehem it is hoped that this initiative will mean that children's interests will be communicated more effectively via children, that the children and young people will actively manage the changes that directly affect their lives and that the exchange between carers and those receiving the care will be open and constructive - a democratic political micro-project for children and adults.
*Source: WHO, UNO, ILO, OECD