Leading  Issues Journal  

Why Children Need to Know Their Rights

By Moira Rayner,  Director, London Children’s Rights Commissioner

Do Children have rights? Why do children need to know their rights are the key questions posed by Moira Rayner in this speech.

"I conclude that children do possess legal, procedural, social and moral rights even when it’s not clear whether or how they can be enforced. The fundamental problem is that they generally rely on adults to claim them for them – and often upon those very adults who might be least able or willing to do so." 

Rayner goes on to explore whether using rights language to and teaching children about them any positive use? 

"Some argue that it isn’t. Children need skills to claim rights effectively, and sensitivity to the rights of others. These can be acquired, and only acquired through practice. Children also need, as adults do, ways of identifying and resolving the conflicts that may arise, between some rights (autonomy/protection from harm) and between a particular child’s rights and parents’ duties not only to protect their best interests but also the rights of other children in the same family. I dare say that none of us have too high a standard of those. It is precisely these skills in claiming rights and getting what they need that I believe are at the core of my belief that children need to know their rights. I believe that children need to know their rights and develop the skills to claim them, if they are to be resilient."

In her conclusion, Rayner offers six statements that can be supported by research and experience for why children need to know their rights. She points out, "We are rightly concerned at the wrongs that are done to children – their homelessness, poverty, disease, offending, victimhood, abuse and neglect. But there will be no real improvement in the incidence of these until there is an improvement in the status of children: until their human rights are respected. If we were serious in saying that children have rights, no child would go to bed hungry or cold or ‘smacked’ tonight; no child would sicken or die of preventable diseases, or go to school unprepared or tired, or leave it humiliated, angry and untaught."

"The language of rights has changed the way we talk about children over the last ten years, thanks to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.  If ‘the other’ has rights, our relationships subtly change. Someone who possesses rights has to be taken seriously, and cannot be ‘dealt with’. Rights ownership implies respect and equality. In making sure children understand their own rights, we raise their status from a mere human body to a social being, from an object of concern to our fellow citizen." 

To view the speech by Moira Rayner, click on Why Children Need to Know Their Rights

Beyond Child Survival: UNICEF's State of World's Children Report 2001 says Key To Progress Lies With Very Youngest

In its annual assessment of the well-being of children - The State of The World's Children 2001 - UNICEF said that far too many political and economic leaders fail to grasp the essential truths about human development.

"The greatest tragedy is that many decision-makers simply don't know how crucial those first three years of life are," Bellamy said. "But we have made great strides in understanding human development, and we are now certain that those years are vital to everything that comes later. Investments made today will yield high returns to children and society in the future." Bellamy argued that investing in children aged 0-3 is the only way to ensure that every child has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. She said investment in early childhood development is also essential to making any real gains in education, economic development, crime reduction and debt reduction. 

The UNICEF chief noted that nearly 11 million children die every year from preventable diseases, 170 million children are malnourished, over 100 million never see the inside of a school and that one out of 10 children have disabilities. In addition to these tangible measures of the ways the world fails children, UNICEF argued that almost beyond measure is the lost human capacity that results from poor early childhood care. The State of the World's Children 2001 rallies individuals, governments, international agencies and donors to fully fund early childhood care, with a particular emphasis on ages 0 to 3. UNICEF says $80 billion per year is needed to give every new-born in the world a good start in life.

The report makes four key points:

1) Early childhood care is a human rights issue.
As a birthright, all children are entitled to registration at birth, sound nutrition, health care, clean water, adequate sanitation, basic education, cognitive stimulation and an opportunity to reach their full potential. Nations must strive to provide optimum care for all their children.

2) Early childhood care is grounded in sound science and practical experience.
Research in neuroscience and field experience point to critical windows of opportunity for the development of language, motor skills, personality, social behaviour and resiliency. Comprehensive early care provides the building blocks for social and intellectual competence that allow children to reach their full potential.

3) Early childhood care is a solid investment.
For every $1 spent on early childhood care there is a $7 return through cost savings. This figure is derived from studies showing that participants in pre-school and day care are less likely to suffer illnesses, repeat grades, drop out of school, or require remedial services later in life. Moreover, by shifting money within budgets, nations can create comprehensive programmes for their youngest citizens without adding large sums of money or further depleting their budgets.

4) Three major challenges loom : poverty, conflict and HIV/AIDS.
These three plagues remain the most pressing challenges for the world and compete with early childhood care for funding. In the poorest nations, scarce resources are used to pay loans. By investing in destructive war machines, many countries steal food, clean water, health care and schooling from their citizens. And in some countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has stripped health and education budgets to the bone.

The State of the World's Children implores the global community to invest in its children as the best hope for overcoming these scourges. Poor, malnourished and weak children make for a poor and powerless state. By investing in children and families, a nation ultimately invests in its own sustained development. Saying that "poverty reduction starts with children," Bellamy urged donor nations to shift aid allotments to reflect a commitment to early childhood development.

"The state of the world's youngest children, citizens with the same rights as all others, is not nearly as good as it should be," Bellamy concluded. "It will only get better when we alter current priorities and accept the sound economic, social and political sense it makes to prioritise the world's youngest."

Source: UNICEF Press Release

To view statistics on children in the world see:   The Global Child

ABC Interview with QC Geoffrey Robertson - USA Retaliation and Justice

The deepening anger over the terrorist attacks has led to many assessments of the eventual scale and moral right of the world's only superpower to avenge itself. Just how US military forces and those of its allies will be deployed and the eventual legal justification for the promised retaliation is still unclear. Prominent international QC Geoffrey Robertson who recently wrote the book, Crimes Against Humanity, throws light on what is allowable under international law. (ABC Lateline) 

Robertson emphatically says, "What happened last Tuesday was not a war in any meaningful sense, it was a crime against humanity, a crime so black that we're all diminished as humans by the idea that other people can commit it. It was a systematic attack by use of multiple murder. Now, that, it seems to me, should be treated as an international crime.

We have an international court, an international criminal court, in The Hague and America and its allies can be justified so long as the use of force and threats are directed to bringing Bin Laden, the prime suspect - there is a good deal of evidence against him - before that criminal court. "

You will find his interview at: ABC Interview with QC Geoffrey Robertson

Would you support the involvement of Australian armed forces in US military retaliation over the terrorist attacks in America?

Channel Nine's Sunday program is surveying whether Australians support sending retaliatory troops with the USA military. Please register your vote.

On 21 September 01, it  stood at No: 37%; Yes: 63%.

To vote, go to: www.ninemsn.com.au/sunday  At the right hand side of the page you will see the poll. Click the box to register your vote and you will then see the current figures.

ACTU Study: Fifty Families- What unreasonable hours are doing to Australians, their families and their communities

A Report commissioned by the Australian Council of Trade Unions by Barbara Pocock, Brigid van Wanrooy, Stefani Strazzari, and Ken Bridge was released in July 01. This study, commissioned by the ACTU and conducted by researchers at the Universities of Sydney and Adelaide, makes an analysis of just over 50 families who experience long hours or hours that are 'unreasonable' and describes what these patterns of work are doing to Australians, their families and their communities.

These long hours or hours that are unreasonable include very long hours, changes in time zones, irregular shift work, unpredictable hours, or combinations of these. Our study includes individuals and, in almost two-thirds of cases, their partners. It suggests that the majority of employees and their families are negatively affected by unreasonable hours, and that the individuals who work long hours, or unpredictable long hours and shifts, suffer serious effects from such hours.

To view the Executive Summary click here: http://www2.actu.asn.au/campaigns/50FSUMMY.PDF 

Job Security No 1 poll issue for women

Job security, health and education are the top federal election issues for women voters, according to a national survey of more than 1100 women released by the ACTU in September 01.

The ACTU Women's Committee developed a checklist for women voters which was launched on International Women's Day. Women were asked to identify the most important issues a government could act upon to make it easier to balance paid work and family life.

The list comprised the following issues:

• Family-friendly workplaces
• Job security
• More control over working hours
• Family leave and paid maternity leave
• Affordable and accessible child care
• Equal pay
• Fair workplace laws
• High quality health, housing, aged care and other community services
• Pay increases for low paid workers
• Equal access to quality, fully funded education and training opportunities
• Any other issues: ....................................

To view all the Results: see ACTU finds Job security No 1 poll issue for women 

Labour Market Outcomes for Young People Report

A Report by ANTA (Australian National Training Authority) Centre for Post-Compulsory Education and Training (CPET) examines labour market outcomes, job search experiences, training strategies and expectations of work of young people who leave school early. Concerned with both VET and non-VET groups, the Report aims to relate various measures of employment success and failure to the whole platform of education and training from which young people launch their employment strategies.

Source: ANTA and Educational Outcomes Research Unity, University of Melbourne

Knowledge economy rocks research foundations too

The knowledge economy demands changes in traditional research methods, just as it is changing the rest of the world, author and academic, Dr Dale Spender told ANTA's (Australian National Training Authority) annual research jamboree earlier this year. Dr Spender, a digital media specialist, was keynote speaker at the two-day event in Brisbane in March.

"For research, the change in mindset is from the analytical to synthesis; from critique and deconstruction to construction," she said. "Check that your research solves a problem and creates new issues." Reflecting on the short lifespan of knowledge, Dr Spender said research had to be more of a "work in progress" in the knowledge economy. "Research has generally been about validation and authentication, about studying records, showing how often, when and where," she said. "Now it has to be along the lines of a methodology to monitor, to check things out, more of a process than a finding. "The capacity to monitor ongoing change has to be built into the model."

Dr Spender also urged researchers to consider their research skills and work as  commercial products.

"One of the big differences between the old economy and the new is that the major needs of the new economy are solutions, methodologies and strategies," she said.  "The new information has to fit with a new way of doing something and help make everything faster and better. This becomes a knowledge product that can be sold.  "Increasingly researchers will be selling their skills and solutions rather than being commissioned to find out about a problem."

Source: ANTA

How can women be involved in CHOGM? 

Hazel Brown, Secretary General, Commonwealth Women's Network invites all Australian women to participate. 

CHOGM, The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is being held in Brisbane from 6-9 October, 2001.  Every two years, the Heads of Government of the 54 Commonwealth countries hold their 'official' summit - the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). In the upcoming CHOGM hosted by Australia in Brisbane from 6 to 9 October 2001, the theme is "The Commonwealth in the 21st Century: Continuity and Renewal".

Hazel Brown, Secretary General, Commonwealth Women's Network indicates how women can be involved in CHOGM.

"There will be a very large People's Festival running in Brisbane from 2-8 October. Non-government organisations from many countries that are concerned to influence CHOGM will be attending the People's Festival and accredited NGO's will be participating in CHOGM NGO processes. Input by women in the CHOGM process - both formally and informally is being encouraged and coordinated by the Commonwealth Women's Network. I am the Secretary General of the Network and I am encouraging Australian women's NGO's to strongly participate in the NGO processes and to share information about CHOGM and NGO activities through their networks.

The Commonwealth Women's Network was established in September 1991 by women's NGO's from many Commonwealth countries. The purpose of the Network is to create and strengthen: - relationships among women in the Commonwealth - links with policy-makers in the Commonwealth - links among women NGOs in the Commonwealth. The Network works toward ensuring that governments treat women's issues as priorities on their agendas, and that the needs of grassroots women in our societies are articulated both nationally and within Commonwealth structure.

The Commonwealth Women's Network will mount a display illustrating activities relating to women's issues, particularly work to increase women's participation in politics. They will be organising women's caucus in the mornings of 4th, 5th, 6th & 8th October for debriefing on the official meeting and networking and running workshops on the 4th, 5th and 6th on the following topics: - Women and Information and Communications Technology - 50/50 by 2005 Campaign, Getting the Balance Right in the Commonwealth - Building a Commonwealth Vision on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

For information about how to participate please see http://www.tntol.com/cwn/  where you can use the discussion board to share your questions and views.

U21 New Online University

$US50 Million Joint Venture Between Thomson Learning And 15 Universities Worldwide 

 Thomson Learning and Universitas21 (U21) today signed a final agreement that forms a joint venture to establish a new online university, U21global. Each partner has pledged $US25 million in funding. The Asian-based venture will address the estimated $111 billion global demand for higher education by offering business and technology degrees via the Internet, starting January 2003. Course offerings will receive multi-jurisdictional accreditation from the 15 universities that are participating in U21global. 

Mr. Bob Cullen, president and CEO of Thomson Learning's International Group will lead the Thomson' involvement in the joint venture. He welcomed the agreement that has now been reached, saying, "U21global is the embodiment of our learning strategy, which is to deliver tailored, high-quality solutions in support of the learning process anywhere in the world. Combining the different, but complementary expertise of Thomson and Universitas 21 is not only powerful but also crucial to our success." 

Professor Alan Gilbert, chair of the Universitas 21 Implementation Committee, said that the participating universities were confident about the academic integrity and commercial viability of U21global because "the fundamental business architecture, brand value and market demand are right, and because Thomson is a superb partner, with the resources, skills, experience, infrastructure and focus in on-line learning necessary to leverage the brand value and accreditation capability of Universitas 21." 

Professor Graeme Davies, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, Chair of Universitas 21, said that he was delighted that this final stage had been reached in the establishment process. "The challenge will now be to provide relevant, accessible higher education of a consistently high quality to students who in many cases will have no access to conventional campus-based education," he concluded.

Thomson Learning is a global provider of tailored learning solutions. Thomson Learning serves the needs of individuals, learning institutions and corporations with products and services for both traditional and distributed learning. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut with offices worldwide, Thomson Learning is a division of The Thomson Corporation. Universitas 21, incorporated in London, UK, is an international network of 18 research-intensive universities in Europe, North America and East Asia, including South East Asia and Oceania.

Source: EDNA (STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ )