I have my rights!

"I have my Rights!"

Over the last few months, I've been hearing that statement a lot lately as we begin to see things opening up, but still await life to return to "normal" and protests are increasing with people saying we have rights and what our freedoms!  Though it's tough, we know it's for a limited time, and are thankful that we live in a country with freedom and our rights are respected and valued. 

Sadly, it's not that way in many parts of the world. And it's often not that way for everyone - especially children. Thirty years ago, world leaders made a historic commitment to the world’s children by adopting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which is an international human rights treaty that has become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. It basically states children are entitled to 4 basic rights - survival, protection, development and participation. Sounds pretty basic, doesn't it? Yet, although it has had tremendous impact around the world, still today, millions of children still don't have those basic rights.  

Here's what got me thinking about this... I've been working recently on revising our VOH Africa's Standards to make sure they are up to date. We use them to monitor and evaluate each of our Centre's' performance and to ensure that they provide the highest quality of child care possible for the children in our care. 

I was so excited to see they are based on the UNCRC, acknowledging that "children are rights-holders with an entitlement to the realization of the minimum standards as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child." Based on this foundation, practical Standards and actions have been developed. 

Here's just a few examples:

• Each Centre will provide education starting from preschool through to high school.
• Based on Article 28, UNCRC: the child has a right to education. 

• Each Centre must provide health care services for children in need under their care.

• Article 24, UNCRC and Article 14, African Charter: every child has the right to the highest standard of medical care available and to enjoy the best attainable state of physical, mental and spiritual health. 

• Each Centre must uphold VOH Africa’s Child Safeguarding Policy. 
• Based on Article 19, UNCRC: children shall be protected from all forms of maltreatment perpetrated by parents or other persons responsible for their care, and appropriate social programs for the prevention of abuse and the treatment of victims should be established.

• Each Centre must ensure that mechanisms exist whereby children can speak out about how they feel, and such views are taken into consideration by the Centre.
• Based on Articles 12 and 13, UNCRC: the child has the right to express his or her opinion and to have freedom of expression and Article 15, UNCRC: children have a right to meet with others, and to join or form associations.

Cool eh? It encourages my heart to know the children are recognized and valued.

Here's an example of one right (freedom of expression) in action: Children's Committee in Burundi

At the Children's Committee in the Bwiza Centre, children get together to share their thoughts and opinions and have a voice. In their meeting this week, they were learning about the  "Rights of the Children" as defined by UNICEF. 

The members of the Children's Committee represent their peers at Lead Team meetings where they have the chance to express themselves, speak out and share with the Centre's leadership about issues from their point of view.

Not only does it give them a voice, but they build critical skills like communication, and more importantly, gives them a sense of empowerment and self-confidence that helps them see their worth as a child of God! 

Maybe you've always seen "Standards" in the past as boring, necessary documents. I can tell you, after working on the VOH Africa Standards this past month, they are far from boring - they're alive, active and relevant, and enable us  to impact the lives of children everyday in meaningful ways! I'm honored to be part of it!

As we celebrate Canada Day this week, let's be thankful for the rights and freedoms we enjoy, thank God for the VOHA Standards and the VOHA children who have their rights realized and are filled with self-esteem and opportunity because of them, and continue to pray for children all around the world still waiting.

For a full list of the UNCRC, go to: https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention