November 20th marked the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. To date, 193 countries have ratified the Convention and significant progress has been made on several aims worldwide, including primary education, health care, and protection against violence. The United Nation's Children's Fund, UNICEF, published a video and report called "The State of the World's Children" to assess the Convention's first 20 years and it can be found here.
Although progress has been made by some highly committed governments, donors, organizations, and individuals, much still needs to be done. Children are arguably the most vulnerable to and most affected by social ills like poverty, disease and exploitation, and thus require more protection against them. Each generation of children is comprised of the leaders of tomorrow; as such, the strength of the foundations of our society depends upon the strength of the character of our parents.
In the words of the great Nelson Mandela, modern South Africa's founding father, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
Find out more about UNICEF, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and non-profit organizations working towards children's rights at the links below.
http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/index.html
http://www.nelsonmandelachildrensfund.com
http://www.freethechildren.com/
http://www.righttoplay.com
