For our children's rights

Oftentimes when people start blogs, you wonder what it is that they feel is so important that they have to share with the world at large in a way that hasn’t been stated before. Sometimes you might wonder whether it’s just another way of people whiling away time that might be put to more productive use in other ventures.

In my opinion there are different categories of people two of which I’ll refer to here: there are those who are very quick to point out faults and errors inherent in various systems and spheres of life. This first group turn complaining and fault-finding into a favourite pastime to the point that you get discouraged just listening to them. The other group of people however make up their minds to do something however little to correct or solve the problems that they can see. They realise that each of us can make a difference in the world we live in if only we never give up. This second group of people are not utopians or idealists, they just believe in making a concerted effort along with others of like minds to improve the workings of a failed system.

This blog is only intended for the second group of people; realists not utopians not hardened cynics either. To be more specific, the target audience here are people of sub-Saharan African descent within the continent itself as well as in the diaspora with more than a passing interest in human rights and development of our continent. The contents of this blog are not in any way endorsed by any organisation neither are they intended to belittle any organisation whatsoever. It therefore has to be made clear that inflammatory/insulting/discriminatory comments are not allowed and will be removed with immediate effect.

In the field of human rights and development in general, some books will be reviewed with a view to see of what value or merit the proffered solutions are.
With just under 5years to the review period of the Millennium Developments Goals (MDGs), there will be an assessment of the real merit or otherwise of this seemingly-important yardstick for development.

I dare say that in the last three to four decades, there have been countless number of people of African descent who have studied or carried out research in the field of human rights and development – the writer of this blog included. The question to ask ourselves is this: of what use is the research and the study we have done if we don’t collectively address the issues that face our continent? Maybe in our generation the image of Africa as a war-torn, impoverished and diseased continent can be changed not on a superficial level but in terms of measureable outcomes that detractors will not be able to refute.
If my proposition seems to be utopian or idealist to you then I will implore you to think again. If we don’t work together as a people, if we reckon wrongly that the resilience of the African people in the face of untold ills and injustices isn’t enough to build upon; then we do injustice to those amongst our peoples whose voices need to be heard.
The legacy we leave to our children will be determined by the choices we make today; whether we’re willing to stand up and be counted.

Last month, I found out from the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) website that there was an event geared towards celebrating the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) the most widely-accepted human rights instrument (ratified by all countries bar two). Before we start debating about whether children’s rights is a Western concept or not, one has to bear in mind that Africa has its own regional instrument: the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child which came into force in 1999. I’m unaware of any statistical analysis being done to look at what proportion of adults and children alike are aware of such an instrument let alone how to mobilise civil societies and communities to hold State Parties accountable to their obligations to respect, promote and fulfil the children’s rights.

In my view turning 20 normally should be a cause for celebration after having put infancy and adolescence firmly behind. For the average African child, the realities of day-to-day living do not inspire the kind of spectacular celebration that one will expect maybe because the concept of human rights do not come up on the list of some State Parties’ priorities. Whilst one appreciates that even in developed countries, there are deficiencies in the mainstreaming of children’s rights, this isn’t an avenue to compare notes or point fingers. For the sake of our children and future generations, we have to come up with some answers to these issues and we can only do this collectively.

With the number of books and research that has been produced about the inefficacy of aid, it’s time to put our heads together. So we’ll start with children’s rights because we’ve all been through childhood and I’m sure we can agree, that the Africa of today has not made the realisation of children’s rights an easy task...

So people where do we begin?