UN and Children's Rights

 May 2004

• UNICEF: Protecting the Rights of the Child

• WFP: Children's Right to Food in India

• WHO Support for Child Survival and Development in India

• ILO: Promoting Rights of Children in India

• UNHCR educates refugee children

UNICEF: Protecting the Rights of the Child 1

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, which met in January this year, to review India's progress on CRC implementation based on government of India's periodic report, has a comprehensive set of recommendations for India. The recommendations reflect the serious concerns on child rights in India. A number of progressive steps have been taken in India such as the Constitutional amendment for providing free and compulsory elementary education but there is need for much more. A large number of children continue to be denied their basic rights. The high rate of population growth, extreme poverty in some areas, coupled with massive inequities and persistence of deeply discriminatory attitudes are some of the reasons behind the lack of fulfillment of all goals. In addition, the contentious issues of child abuse, trafficking and child labour continue to deprive a large number of children of their rights.

Foremost among the priorities that the Committee sets before India, is the increase in the budget allocated to realisation of child rights. Budget allocations for social services have either been slow to increase or in some sectors have remained almost stagnant. It noted with some concern that the National Coordinating Mechanism, constituted over four years ago for coordinating all activities for the implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child had met only once. It recommended strengthening this mechanism to improve the implementation process.

UNICEF works closely with the nodal Department of Women and Child Development to advocate for progressive implementation of the Convention as well as for action on the concluding recommendations. UNICEF's programme of action in the country represents its contribution to the implementation of the CRC.

Among the comprehensive list of actions to be taken that the committee has suggested is a new plan of action for children. The Committee has suggested that this be adopted in consultation with civil society partners, to cover all the areas of the convention. This should also include the millennium development goals and reflect the World Fit for Children. It has also urged the government to expedite the adoption of the National Charter for children which should be based on the CRC framework.

The Committee was concerned over the insufficient data in some areas of the convention, even though there have been considerable efforts by the government to improve data collection. It has recommended developing a system of data collection and putting in place monitoring systems.

Quite appropriately, it has called for timely registration of all births. It has urged that gender discrimination should be addressed among others, by involving religious leaders. It may be recalled that UNICEF has already participated in such a process. Religious leaders were involved in sensitising people so as to stop them from getting sex selection tests done to abort the female foetus. The committee has urged strengthening programmes for disabled children, addressing issues of street children, working towards providing better health care, tackling sensitive issues of trafficking and sexual exploitation as also ill-treatment of children and corporal punishment.

The committee has recommended extending the Juvenile Justice Act to Jammu and Kashmir. It has recommended the amendment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) on provisions that relate to children. It has urged the government to fix the age for criminal responsibility such that it is higher than that in the Penal Code and reflects internationally accepted norms

The Committee is deeply concerned at the persistent social discrimination and the social practices that are detrimental to the child. It has recommended enforcement of the dowry prohibition Act and called for restraining the practice of child marriage. It has urged that the government work with community leaders, NGOs among others to check such practices. It has called for abolishing untouchability and implementation of the existing laws to check discriminatory practices.

It has called upon the government to ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; at the same time set up child-sensitive mechanisms to receive complaints against law enforcement officials regarding ill-treatment during arrest, questioning and police custody. It has urged the government to strengthen its effort to train the law enforcement personnel on the human rights of children. At the same time, it says the government should take all appropriate measures to ensure the physical and psychological recovery and social integration of child victims of torture or ill-treatment

It has recommended that the government enforce effective policies and programmes to improve the health situation of children. It has stressed that the government should ensure access for all children to quality health services. As high-levels of malnutrition amongst children in India has been of serious concern, the Committee has urged that programmes should promote healthy nutrition habits including breastfeeding. It has urged that the government improve the current status of immunisation of children. It has stressed on improving access to safe drinking water.

It has expressed concern over the increasing number of children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and also at the discrimination being experienced by them.

The committee recommends that the government should work with civil society partners such as teachers, administrative officials, judiciary, police, political leaders, religious leaders and non governmental organisations. Families and communities need to be involved in bringing about change in attitudes and mindsets within the home. The committee has indicated areas where UN agencies can work with the government of India to strengthen implementation of the CRC in the country.

For accessing the complete document, go to www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(symbol)/CRC.C.15.Add.228.En

WFP: Children's Right to Food in India 2

The importance of the right to food for children can never be over-estimated. The CRSCR in its General Comment 12 on Article 11 of the ICESCR 1966, said that the right to adequate food is indivisibly linked to the inherent dignity of the human person and is indispensable for the fulfillment of other human rights enshrined in the International Bill of Human rights. The right to food is mentioned in Article 25(1) of UDHR and is further elaborated in Article 11(1) of the ICESCR 1966. According to General Comment 12, the right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, have physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is actively involved in ensuring that the right to food of children particularly between the age group of 6 months to 6 years and women are safeguarded. About 47% of India's children are underweight, 45% stunted, 16% wasted, 33% have a low birth weight and 69 out of 1,000 die before the age of one year. In every 7 seconds a child somewhere in world dies because of malnutrition or its related effects. Even if she/he survives, a malnourished child can never attain her/his full potential as her/his physical and mental growth becomes stunted. The WFP fights ravages of hunger and malnutrition by fashioning its food assistance programmes to move beyond commodity procurement and movement to address and encompass the four segments critical to food security namely, nutrition, poverty alleviation, agriculture and disaster mitigation. WFP contributes in achievement of the Right to food for all by using practical means to ensure the availability and accessibility of the food, especially in the emergencies whether man - made or natural. The Right to adequate food imposes three types of obligations on state parties: the obligations to respect, to protect and to fulfill. The obligation to fulfill incorporates both an obligation to facilitate and an obligation to provide. Assistance from WFP is one of the ways by which states discharge their obligation to fulfill.

In India, the WFP works in collaboration with the Centre and the State Governments, NGOs and other actors of civil society. In Indian scenario, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) are central for addressing nutrition and health requirements of women and children. It seeks to provide supplementary food rations, pre-school education, nutrition/health messages and health services. Its target groups are children under 6 and expectant and nursing mothers. Further, the Food for Education (FFE) programme makes an attempt to appease the short-term hunger of primary school age children. In addition, Food for Work (FFW) programme tries to give job opportunities and to place food in the hands of women and men in the most vulnerable pockets of the country where hunger and poverty is rampant. The current Country Programme (2003-08) plans of distributing 115260 MT of food as support to ICDS, 47,700 MT as support for FFE programme and 1,14,915 MT as support for FFW programme. It is estimated that the cost borne by the WFP for rendering above-mentioned support to the ICDS, FFE and FFW programmes will be US $ 5,15,61,640, US $ 2,11,58,148 and US $ 2,65,84,647 respectively. WFP plans on channeling in total US $ 99304435 in India under its current Country Plan.

The food assistance programme for children in India got a further impetus by the interim orders dated July 23 2001and November 28 2001 given by the Supreme Court in the Case of PUCL Vs Union of India and others (Writ Petition [Civil] No. 196 of 2001), where the Court gave directions to the Central and State Governments to introduce MDMS in all government run primary schools and to implement the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in full. 

WHO Support for Child Survival and Development in India 3

Child Survival and Development is one of the priority areas where World Health Organization actively supports Member Countries. Though significant progress has been made, it is a matter of concern that the rate of decline in child mortality has slowed down considerably in recent years. At current rates it is estimated that 2.3 million children under the age of five years die every year. A large proportion of these deaths (40%) occur in the first month of life. This fact underscores the need for more focused attention to interventions designed to address neonatal health.

Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)

The IMCI strategy promoted by WHO/UNICEF addresses the most common conditions responsible for child mortality and morbidity. These include acute respiratory infections (pneumonia), diarrhoea, measles, malaria and malnutrition. WHO has been an active partner of the government in adapting the generic materials suited to meet the needs of the child health programme in India. The adaptation gives due emphasis to management of the neonatal period and supporting mothers and families of newborn babies through domiciliary visits. For this reason the Indian adaptation has been christened Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI). IMNCI is currently under pilot implementation in 6 districts. WHO staff is providing technical support to the government in finalizing the World Bank supported Reproductive and Child Health-II programme.

Neonatal Health

Attention to neonatal survival is an imperative for achieving the child-health related Millennium Development Goal. Currently, neonatal mortality in India contributes to about two-third of deaths in the first year of life. WHO supports collaborative efforts in partnership with the National Neonatology Forum of India that involves capacity building of staff at primary health care institutions. Over the last few years medical and paramedical staff in about 120 districts spread all over the country have been trained to provide essential newborn care services.

Nutrition

Apart from profound effects on growth and development, malnutrition is a significant contributor to child mortality. Children in India carry a heavy burden of malnutrition. Almost 60% of children who die are malnourished. Almost one-third of babies born in India have low birth weight (less than 2500 gram); 60% of children under five are underweight and 74% of children under 3 are anaemic. WHO is supporting strategy formulation for Infant and Young Child Feeding,(including feeding in emergency situations and HIV/AIDS) capacity building for management of severe malnutrition, and technical support in management and monitoring of interventions for micronutrient deficiency (iron, vitamin A and iodine).

Immunization/Polio eradication

WHO is vigourously working towards a polio-free world. Currently, ending transmission of wild poliovirus in India is a crucial objective. WHO is also committed to eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus and reducing by 50% the number of children who die from complications associated with measles. WHO provides technical support in the areas of new vaccine introduction, vaccine supply and quality, training programmes for national regulatory authorities, and disposal of medical wastes including auto-disable syringes.

Maternal Health

The health of the mother and the care she receives during pregnancy, child-birth and the period immediately after birth is inextricably linked with the health of the baby. A critical factor in the continuum of care necessary for favourable maternal and infant outcome is skilled birth attendance. At present only 43% of women and their neonates get the benefit of services of a skilled attendant at birth. To assist the government in its efforts towards improving skilled birth attendance, WHO is providing assistance in developing Community Level Skilled Birth Attendants.

Emergency obstetric care has the potential not only of avoiding maternal mortality but also saving newborns. Shortage of anaesthetists is one of the factors that impede rapid expansion of emergency obstetric services. To overcome this shortage an 18-week training course has been developed and piloted.

Capacity Building for Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

The WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia has initiated action for orientation and capacity building for rights-based programming in the Region and a Child Rights Capacity Building Training Course has been developed.

The Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD), in the Ministry of Human Resource Development, is the nodal point responsible for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was decided to entrust advocacy and training activities related to CRC to the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, (NIPCCD) New Delhi, which is an autonomous institution working under the aegis of the DWCD.

Children's Environmental Health

WHO is continuing to support and promote activities to reduce the adverse effects that environmental factors can have on children's health. The main focus is on school education, research and policy advocacy. As such, together with governmental and non-governmental partners, an interactive educational game on environmental health is being introduced into the environmental education curricula (age group 10 to 16 years). Research on effects of indoor air pollution on children carried out in three countries of the Region has shown the urgent need for action. Key stakeholders working in the area of children's environmental health have initiated common actions to increase pressure for better and for more effective policies favouring children's rights to a healthy environment.

HIV/AIDS

Global estimates suggest that about 30% of children born to mothers with HIV/AIDS acquire the infection. Appropriate anti-retroviral therapy (ART) can prevent over 70% of the perinatal infections. WHO assisting the national programme in India to mobilize resources, especially from the Global Fund, to support the ART programme. By the end of 2003, more than 3,000 mother-baby pairs had received Nevirapine to prevent parent-to-child transmission (PMTCT) _ three times over the planned 2004 target.

India has developed implementation guidelines based on the technical protocols of the WHO "3 by 5" initiative which seeks to provide ART to three million people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries by 2005.. Training of medical personnel to provide voluntary counseling and ART services are being carried out through structured training curriculum. Fifty tertiary hospitals and 138 district hospitals located in major urban centres are successfully carrying out programmes to prevent parent-to-child transmission. WHO will also provide technical support in implementing this programme, specifically in designing the ART quality assurance system, as well as in designing and implementing the ART drug resistance sentinel surveillance system.

Evidence has accumulated in recent years that breast milk of HIV positive mothers is a potential source of infection for their babies. WHO has developed a course on HIV and Infant Feeding that enhances the capacity of health workers to guide HIV positive mothers to make informed choices about feeding their infants. WHO offers this course to health professionals in Member States including those from India.

ILO: Promoting Rights of Children in India 4

The ILO brings together governments and workers' and employers' organizations to formulate and implement policies and programmes that promote rights of children, particularly the right to be protected from economic exploitation, enshrined in Article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The work is largely achieved through standard setting, i.e. evolving consensus amongst countries for adoption of conventions and recommendations, promoting research and information on working children and extending technical cooperation.

The ILO's global estimates in 2000 revealed that around 211 million children in the age group of 5-14 years and 141 million aged 15-17 years are currently engaged in economic activities and a majority of them in worst forms of child labour. Eliminating child labour is an essential element in the ILO's goal of "Decent Work for all".

The ILO, has a long history of work in the field of child labour, beginning with the first International Labour Conference in 1919 where the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (No. 5) was adopted. After a series of nine sectoral Conventions, the ILO reached an important landmark with the Minimum Age Convention (No138) in 1973 which has been ratified by 125 member States. In 1992, the ILO established the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). It was followed by adoption of the ILO's Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No.182) in the year 1999. The Convention focused world attention on the need to take immediate action to eradicate the worst forms of child labour. The elimination of the worst forms of child labour is the beginning, which should ultimately lead to the elimination of all types of child labour.

India was the first country to join IPEC in 1992. Since then, the ILO-IPEC, in collaboration with government and non-government organizations, trade unions and employers' groups has implemented a number of interventions on the elimination of child labour. It has built up capacities of organizations and institutions to take action against child labour. In the process it has rehabilitated more than 150,000 children directly and many times that number indirectly.

The ILO-IPEC, since 2003 has been implementing INDUS Child Labour Project, which is a technical co-operation project of the Government of India (GoI) and the Government of United States of America. The project has been developed within the framework of the "Joint Statement on Enhanced Indo-US Co-operation on Elimination of Child Labour" (JS) signed between these two governments on 31^st August 2000. The ILO is executing the project. The project targets 80,000 children employed in hazardous sectors such as hand rolled beedi, brassware, brick making, fireworks, leather, and footwear, hand-blown glass bangles, lock making, stone quarries, silk etc., in four states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

The overall approach of the project is to create an enabling environment where children will be motivated to enroll in schools, induced to refrain from working, and households provided with income generation alternatives that will not make it necessary for them to send their children to work. It seeks to work with two major programmes of the GoI: the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) and Sarva Shiksa Abhiyan (SSA)( Programme for Universalisation of Elementary Education).

The project seeks to develop a comprehensive child labour elimination model for India by offering four relatively new components into ECL (Ending Child Labour) efforts in India. These are: (i) strengthening public education as a measure to prevent child labour, (ii) providing vocational skills training to adolescents in the age groups of 14-17 years, (iii) monitoring the impact of child labour elimination efforts by tracking each beneficiary on the one hand and developing a child labour monitoring system on the other to capture the shifts in child labour across different sectors and (iv) providing income generating opportunities to the families of child labour. In addition the project will seek to create a movement to end child labour through social mobilization and an awareness raising campaign. This will be combined with the building of capacity and training of government agencies and civil society partners.

The project seeks to develop this model by closely working with the NCLP/SSA Schemes of the Government of India. The project proposes to develop a model, which can be replicated in all the NCLP districts, which are currently 100 in number and proposed to be extended to 250 districts in India during the current (Tenth) Five Year Plan (2002-07).

The project plans to undertake an active ownership exercise for the community to eliminate the dependence on external support of project personnel in the long run. Children and their parents are natural allies whose services will need to be harnessed for eliciting active support of allies like governments, community based organizations and workers' organizations so that positive environment is built in the entire area not limited to project target area but much beyond across the district and the States in the country, as a whole. At the end of the project period, it is anticipated that a sustainable model for elimination of child labour would be working in the field and available for replication elsewhere.

It is expected that this successful working model will culminate in sustained community efforts to prevent child labour and eliminate this menace forever, thereby protecting ``the rights of child'. With education and skill training, "all" children, even in a developing country like India can hope to acquire meaningful earning capacity in adulthood. The current generation can be saved from deprivation and adult citizens of tomorrow can contribute to future development and also share the fruits of development. This would be a meaningful step forward towards sustainable development.

UNHCR educates refugee children 5

UNHCR recognises every refugee child's right to primary education. A subsidy for uniforms and books is made available for all school-going refugee children through UNHCR's implementing partner, the New Delhi YMCA.