Who's Children?

                                                                                                         Image: wallcoo.com

A child is defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as 

"Every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable under the child majority is attained earlier". 


other related information :

image: mindforums.com

 Article 19 of the convention specifically addresses child abuse and recommends a broad outline for its identification, reporting, investigation, treatment, follow-up and prevention

image: nuwrite.northwestern.edu

Role of the healthcare community in monitoring and reporting child abuse, as a channel of advocacy and direct technical support in other countries. 

image: wallpaperswide.com

"Child’s social, spiritual and moral wellbeing and physical and mental health to achieve of fullest possible physical development in all areas.” 

Source: http://www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm.

The role of planners

I was read an article by Mildred Warner regarding "Child care and Economic Development : The Role of Planners". It is a good article actually. This article opened my eyes on the scope of planner which is not only focus on development and economy but the truth is "PLANNING is EVERYTHING". It makes me proud of my field. Ok..let move on to the input of this article.

Firstly, the writers touch on the problem facing among working parents nowadays where they need a place or person to take care of their children. The problems is not only to FIND a place or a PERSON to take care of their children, BUT the financial problem caused this scenario become serious. In addition, an increasing in living cost give pressure among parent especially for low income family. 

Warner, Ribeiro and Smith 2003 stated that child care is now being recognized as part of the social infrastructure for economic development. The writer said that the challenge of child care extends beyond the concerns of working families. It affects land use planning, economic development strategies and both public and private finance.

Basically, there are three fundamental issues :

1. The structural challenges of an economy that fails to produce jobs that pay a family wage

2. The lack of workplace policies that support the dual role of parents workers.

3. The failure of planners and policymakers to build an adequate infrastructure for child care in America.

The Evolution of international standards on child rights

image: black-socrates.blogspot.com


1924

The League of Nations adopts the Geneva Declaration on the Rights ofthe Child. The declarationestablishes children’s rights to means for material,moral and spiritual development;special help when hungry, sick,disabled or orphaned; first call on relief when in distress; freedom from economic exploitation; and an upbringing that instils a sense of social responsibility.

1948

The UN General Assembly passes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which refers in article 25 to childhood as “entitled to special care and assistance.”

1959

The UN General Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which recognizes rights such as freedom from discrimination and the rights to a name and nationality. It also specifically enshrines children’s rights to education, health care and special protection.

1966

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are adopted. The covenants advocate protection for children from exploitation and promote the right to education.

1973

The International Labour Organizations adopts Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, which sets 18 years as the minimum age for work that might be hazardous to an individual’s health, safety or morals.

1979

The UN General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which provides protection for the human rights of girls as well as women. It also declares 1979 as International Year of the Child, which sets in motion the working group to draft a legally binding Convention on the Rights of the Child.

1989

The UN General Assembly unanimously approves the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which enters into force the following year.

1990

The 1990 World Summit for Children adopts the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children along with a plan of action for implementing it in the 1990s.

1999

The International Labour Organization adopts Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

2000

The UN General Assembly adopts two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child: one on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the other on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

2002

The UN General Assembly holds a Special Session on Children, meeting for the first time to specifically discuss children’s issues. Hundreds of children participate as members of official delegations, and world leaders commit themselves to a compact on child rights, ‘A World Fit for Children.’

2007

The five-year follow-up to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children ends with a Declaration on Children adopted by more than 140 governments. The Declaration acknowledges progress achieved and the challenges that remain, and reaffirms commitment to the World Fit for Children compact, the Convention and its Optional Protocols.

Children at risks? Do u know that?

I was being a children. I was growing up in rural area somewhere at Kg.Teluk Bedayung, Lambor Kanan, Bota, Perak Darul Ridzuan. I'm proud to be a LAMBORIAN!! ahaks!! FYI, My grandparents, especially my "Opah" was taking care of me for about 17 years old. She was taking care of me in a perfect way and during my children's lifetime, as i remembered, i've never been exposed to problems like the previous post in my blog. Alhamdullilah, i was lucky at that time and some other reasons perhaps the surrounding environment during my childhood and my grandmother is not working so she can give 100% commitment on me. By the way, everybody has their own destiny and it has been written. TODAY is not as the same as the past.  

As the development growth, the surrounding and its people also "growth" and keep changing. Growth in thinking aspect and way of life. It's good. We become a positive thinker and we are not only think the consequences of our issues and problems in several aspect but it covers every aspect related. Usually, the elders think differently and there's a GAP between the elders and the young generations. In addition, our life become more easier when there are infrastructures, technologies, facilities and so on. Ahhha..."it sounds good" BUT there is something we missed out !! 

Although urbanisation generally results in more educational opportunities, improvements in the status of women and children, increased life expectancy and lower infant mortality, it can also bring with it a range of risks, threats and stresses.

Challenges associated with urbanisation in Malaysia include the increasing gap in family relations and isolation as well as social and environmental problems such as drug abuse, crime, squatter settlements and traffic congestion. Unfortunately, children and young people are amongst the most vulnerable and exposed to these threats. The following issues and its impact on children and young people are of particular concern today to the Government and UNICEF:

• Increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS with the doubling every three years of reported HIV cases.
• Increased reporting of violence against children and young people including sexual abuse.
• Increase in juvenile offences.
• Increase in substance abuse.
• Shortage of parental time for child-rearing and care of young children and the lack of quality services for early childhood care and development.
• Accident and injury being the leading cause of child morbidity and mortality.
• A widening gap between the richest 20% and poorest 20% and its possible implications on child survival, development, protection and participation. 
• Migration of people movement resulting in large numbers of unregistered, sometimes invisible children.

every child born should be brought up in a healthy environment, provided with all necessary protection against diseases, receive proper nurturing, care and affection, receive general and higher education as far as possible, receive appropriate skills in necessary fields, imbued with cultural and human values”. 

Malaysia’s Vision 2020

THEY are facing these PROBLEMS

Military Use Of Children

The children is used as a military. Alhamdullilah, in Malaysia, the children still  can smile and take a deep breath. Military use of children happened in a country with war and no peace. For example like Palestinian children are taught to hate Jews, to glorify "jihad", violence and death. These children started their journey as military almost from birth as an essential part of their culture and destiny where they have to protect their country.

Trafficking and Slavery

What is child trafficking? Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people for the purpose of exploitation'. Trafficking of person includes the threat, coercion or use of force, to abduct and/or deceive vulnerable persons for the purpose of exploitation either sexual or nonsexual. They are including victims of child soldiers, child labor and child pornography. What happened to them? They have been transported to the other country or state to be victim of trafficking.

Source: Foreign Policy Association

Internet Child Pornography

What is child pornography? Legal definition defined it as the idea of protecting children from sexual exploitation is relatively modern. As late as the 1880s in the United States, the age of consent for girls was just 10 years.In 1977, only two states had legislation specifically outlawing the use of children in obscene material. The first federal law concerning child pornography was passed in 1978, and the first laws that specifically referred to computers and child pornography were passed in 1988. Since that time, there has been a steady tightening of child pornography laws.

OTHER DEFINITION : 

Any record of sexual activity involving a prepubescent person. Pornographic records include still photographs, videos, and 

audio recordings. The images themselves vary considerably 

in their graphic content. In some cases individuals may 

collect images that do not involve overt pornography and 

are not technically illegal. There are 10 levels of image 

severity:

1.   Indicative: non-sexualized pictures collected from 

legitimate

       (e.g., magazines, catalogs).

2.   Nudist: naked or semi-naked pictures of children in 

appropriate settings collected from legitimate sources.

   

3.   Erotica: pictures taken secretly of children in which they reveal varying

    

degrees of nakedness.

4.   Posing: posed pictures of children in varying degrees of nakedness.

5.   Erotic posing: pictures of children in sexualized poses and in varying

      degrees of nakedness.

6.   Explicit erotic posing: pictures emphasizing the genitals.

7.   Explicit sexual activity: record of sexual activity involving children but not   

       involving adults.

8.   Assault: record of children subjected to sexual abuse involving digital

       touching with adults. 

9.   Gross assault: record of children subjected to sexual abuse involving 

       penetrative sex, masturbation, or oral 

sex with adults. 

10. Sadistic/bestiality: record of children subjected to pain, or engaging in 

       sexual activity with an animal. 

Source: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/e04062000.pdf

Child Prostitution

Child prostitution also means youth prostitution,  juvenile prostitution, teen prostitution and adolescent prostitution, as long as the young woman who is involved in this activity is below 18 years 

old. The word ‘child’ and ‘young  woman’ will be used interchangeably. At present moment, the 

involvement of children and young women below 18 years old is very important to deal with as they 

make up the majority of those engaged in prostitution (O’Leary and Howard, 2001). 

Child Labour

Child labor is work that harms children or keeps them from attending school. The pressure in family (living cost) forced millions of young children out of school and into work. The International Labor Organization estimates that 215 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 currently work under conditions that are considered as illegal, hazardous or extremely exploitative. Most of these children work in commercial, agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, mining and domestic service. Not only that, some of them also engage in drug trade and prostitution or other traumatic activities like serving and soldiers.

Child Neglect

National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) defines neglect as a type of maltreatment that refers to the failure by the caregiver to provide needed, age-appropriate care although financially able to do so or offered financial other means to do so. Usually, the close contact with the children is the suspect of  this case. The suspect like physicians, nurses, day care personnel, relatives and neighbors. These children suspected of being neglect when they are at school. The indicators of child neglect such as poor hygiene, poor weight, inadequate medical care or frequent absences from school.

Picture: http://www.globalangels.org

Lack of Access to Education

We supposed to appreciate what we have right now. There are thousands of people lack of access to education throughout the world. The statistics are :

130 million children lack access to education

94% of children who don't attend school live in developing world

104 million children ages 5 to 12 do not attend school

Children labor is one of the main reasons children drop out of school

2/3 of students who drop out of school are girls. Girls are kept at home to help run the household or are married at a young age 

Source : UNICEF

Poverty

According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. Around 27-28 % of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions which having extremely poverty are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

c h i l d r e n

Why CHILDREN? It's such a precious moment when we are looking back to our children's lifetime. Do You?? No matter what, i'm very sure you are smiling right now thinking of the past episodes at your children age BUT not every of you feel the same situation like others. There are some of them have the bad thought and tragedy in their past time.This topic has been chosen after i found a statement 

"TODAY, AROUND 21,000 CHILDREN DIED AROUND THE WORLD"

                                                       by Anup Shah 

t h a t   i s   e q u i v a l e n t   t o :

1. 1 child dying every 4 seconds
2. 14 children dying every minute
3. A 2011 Libya conflict-scale death toll every day
4. A 2010 Haiti earthquake occurring every 10 days
5. A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every 11 days
6. An Iraq-scale death toll every 19–46 days
7. Just under 7.6 million children dying every year
8. Some 92 million children dying between 2000 and 2010

OH MY GOD!! that's the word came out from my mouth. 

Why the number is high?? 

Who are they? 

Why? Why? Why? 


At that time, the only reason i can captured in my mind through my previous reading is MALNUTRITION issue especially among the third world country like South Africa and Siberia. Then, i keep searching all the information relates with children. Finally, i realized that there's something need to be done PEOPLE must aware about these issues. If not, we do not have the FUTURE LEADER to lead this world.