HOW DOES THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MONITOR AND SUPPORT THE PROGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD.
It is without doubt that one of the most vulnerable groups are the children. They are vulnerable to war, exploitation, malnutrition, physical and psychological throughout the world, children has always been at the receiving end of every negative occurrences. It is again saddening that children rely heavily on adults that abuse their rights to see to enforcement and protection of their rights. It is important to state that children are young people below the age of eighteen (18) and their full rights are clearly stated out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child. The convention on the Rights of the Child at Article 2 states clearly that state parties must do everything possible to respect and acknowledge the rights of a child. These rights include, Right to Health, Right to Education, Right to Family Life, Right to Adequate standard of living and to be protected from any sort of danger or harm. It merits emphasis to state categorically that Children’s rights cover their developmental and age appropriate needs and these changes as child grows up. It is important to state that Article 23 of the Child Rights Acts contains a provision on Children with Disabilities and Article 24 (20 ) (d) provides that states should ensure that appropriate prenatal and post natal and post natal health care for mothers.
The United Nations General Assembly opened the Convention of the Rights of the Child for signature on the 20th of November 1989 and it came into force on the 2nd of September 1990 after it was ratifies by the required number of Nations.
It is imperial to state that there are other international instruments that seek to Rights of Children, the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which seeks to condemn make criminal the use of child soldiers . So also, there is an Optional Protocol on the sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child pornography of 2000. It should be clearly stated that these optional protocols are supplements to the Child Rights Act. It should also be known that apart from the Child Rights Act, notable international documents like Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) have in them certain provisions seeking to the well being of children. For instance Article 25 (2) of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “motherhood and childhood are entitles to special care and assistance, all children whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection ”. International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that “every child shall have without any discrimination as to race, color, sex, religion, national or social origin, property or birth, the right of such measures of protection as required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, society and the state ”
Internationally, states have been enjoined to ratify and implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Section II paragraph 21 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action is a testimony to this, in all actions concerning children, non-discrimination and best interest of children are to be made a primary concern and adequate considerations must be given to children. Children shall receive education which shall include religious and moral education, in tandem with the wishes of their parents whether their parents are alive or not, again state parties are to do everything available to facilitate the reunion of families temporarily separated. Children not up to the age of fifteen shall not take part or recruited into Armed Forces or take any part in hostilities
There are four general principles vivid on all Children’s right and they are:
1. NON-DISCRIMINATION and this signifies clearly that children are of equal footing under the law, no child should be denied all necessary amenities because of his/her color, language, disability, race or nationality. They should all be given equal and leveled grounds to develop their innate potentials.
2. THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD, this opines and can be seen clearly that what is of paramount importance is the best interest of children. What would serve the children better are to be first considered before any other thing.
3. THE RIGHT TO SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT, this underscores how important it is to allow every child develop his God given potentials, no child should be sacrificed for the success or progress of another, in fact, a child with disability shall be provided effective mechanisms that will aid his development and growth despite the fact he/ she is disabled.
4. ALLOWING CHILDREN AIR THEIR OPINIONS, this suggests that children are also to be heard, they must be allowed and permitted to air their opinions and how they feel about certain things. They should be consulted before making decisions that will definitely affect them.
Other international Instruments that concern children and their rights include:
1. The World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and its plan of Action adopted at the 1990 World Summit on Children.
2. The Outcome Document of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children (A World Fit For Our Children)
3. Follow-Up Meting to the World Summit on Children
4. The 1990 United Nations Guidelines for Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guidelines)
5. The 1985 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules)
6. The 1990 United Nations Rules for Protection of Juvenile Deprived of their Liberty
7. International Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Women and Children 1921.
It merits emphasis to state that most of the instruments written above are supplementary to the Child Rights Act, efforts at achieving the essence of the Child Rights Act gave birth to them.
MONITORING AND IMPELEMENTATION OF THE CHILD RIGHTS ACT
Nations that ratify the Child Rights Act are bound by international Law compliance which is monitored by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee comprises of members from different countries around the world and the committee once in a year submits report to a Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, the third Committee of the General Assembly also listens and hears directly from the Chairman of the Committee on Rights of the Child and a resolution is there and then adopted. It is important to state that about 196 countries are signatories to the document, although some states have reservations or have their own interpretations; this means all members of the United Nations except the United States of America . The main excuse brought forward by the United States bothers on the life imprisonment for children and the death penalty for children. The United States have signed the Document but failed to ratify it. The issue of domestication has been a bane on the implementation and enforcement of the Act, for instance, in Nigeria; only two Nigerian states are implementing the Child Rights Act because it must pass through stages of legislation of each state unit to be enforceable in federating units. Governments of countries that have ratified the Child Rights Act are expected to report and appear before the Committee and to tender their reports on hoe the Acts is being implemented and followed and also tell the Committee challenges facing them in the implementation of the Act .
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is one of the eight United Nations Human Rights treaty bodies; the committee was established on the 27th of February 1991. The members are eighteen in number and can also act in their personal capacities. The committee receives periodic reports from member states and does not entertain individual complaints except in special circumstances. It is important to state that one third of the Countries that have ratified the Child Rights Act including all those of Sub-Saharan Africa and central and eastern Europe have had new guidelines/constitutions and many areas of these constitutions pertains to various categories of rights of the child but most times incorporating these provisions into national enforcement standards or means are lost .
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHT MECHANISMS/ REGIME IN SEEING TO IMPLEMENTATION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS
(1) United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
The role for the OHCHR is to protect and promote human rights. It is the main office is the United Nations that deals and works to ensure that human rights standards are applied in all of the United Nation’s activities. It collaborates with governments to strengthen their human rights capabilities, encourages states to develop policies and institutions that are conducive to human rights and provides advice and give technical assistance to achieve these goals.
(2) Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council :
These include the open ended working group to consider options regarding the elaboration of an optional protocol to the International covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which include an individual complaint mechanisms, special procedures with thematic mandates include special Repporteurs on adequate housing, Right to Education, the question of Human Rights and extreme poverty, The right to food and the right health, and for children, who are able to receive information on specific allegations of human rights violations and send urgent appeals or letters of allegation to governments asking for clarification as well as reporting on visits and investigations which uphold the basic principles and core values of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights .
The special procedures of the Human Right council are independent Human Rights experts with mandate to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country specific perspective. The system of special procedures is a central element of the United Nations human Rights machinery and covers all human rights . With the support of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) special procedure undertakes country visits with the support of the office of the United Nations High Commissions for Human Rights at national level. During such missions, the experts assess the general human registration in a given country, as well as the specific institutional, legal, judicial, administrative and do facto situation under their respective mandates. They will meet with national and local authorities, including members of the judiciary and parliamentarian members of the national human rights institutions, if applicable; non- governmental organizations, civil society organizations and victims of human right violations. Country visits’ findings, conclusions and recommendations by special procedures are published in mission reports to the Human Rights Council . The mission report aims at raising awareness of the human right recommendations coming from these mechanism and assisting states, national human right institutions, civil society organizations and United Nations partners with their implementations.