Support the CRC
Find out if your government has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. If it has not done so, find out why.
Background
Article 38 of The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) requires governments
to take all possible steps to ensure that children under the age
of 15 have no direct part in hostilities. It states that no child
below 15 should be recruited into the armed forces. While many people
feel that the CRC should have taken a stand against the use of children
in armed conflict under the age 18 (the Convention defines a child
as anyone under the age of 18, and all other rights in the Convention
apply to those under 18 years of age), the Convention also sets out a number of other
rights that are relevant to the lives of child soldiers.
Read the full text of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
Identify what additional rights it offers to child soldiers.
Taking Action
To date, the United States and Somalia are the only two countries
in the world that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. If you live in one of these countries, find out:
- Why it has not ratified the CRC
- If there's anything you can do to promote its ratification
Illustration:
Felicity O. Yost. Source:
Marie, In the Shadow of the Lion, by Jerry Piasecki. ©
United Nations, 2001 |
