As we wrap up 2008 one begins to reflect back over the year and analyze if we've come close to our new year's resolutions, and when looking at the wellbeing of the world children, one can immediately realize that while progresses continue to be made year after year, the fight for children's rights across the globe remains an uphill battle. But this uphill battle is not one for which we should back down from, it is a battle that can be won and year after year we can come closer and closer as we conquer one problem after another.
2008 was marked with a number of events that greatly affected children, yet did not recieve as much media attention as their impact on the lives of children, including;
The October 3, 2008,signing of the Child Soldiers Accountability Act into law by the United States. The Act "makes it a federal crime to recruit knowingly or to use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to prosecute any individual on US soil for the offense, even if the children were recruited or served as soldiers outside the United States."
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which received its 20th ratification just this year on 3 April 2008, triggering the entry into force of the Convention and its Optional Protocol 30 days later, on May 12, 2008.
While great progresses have been made over the past few years has undoubtedly taken place, the continual suffering and violation of children's rights across the globe continue. The prevailing obstacle is the eradication of global poverty. Poverty compounds the level and degree of violations against children's rights, and complicates the ability to effectively and sustainably meet the needs of children and ensure the protection an promotion of the rights of all children across the globe. Additionally the number of children dying before their fifth birthday continues to remain at unacceptable levels (number). The fight for child mortality is continual battle against malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, and as well as preventable diseases such as; malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, and other preventable diseases (guinea worm). The lack of adequate education and access to education is a considerable obstacle to the development of a child's well being, as education is a key tool in combating poverty health, as well as abuse. The number of children who are subject to violence, exploitation, abuse, gender inequity and discrimination, remain at appalling levels.
The number of children suffering the consequences of entrenched poverty is overwhelming and over 200 million are engaged in child labor worldwide (ILO 2008). More than 70 million, 55 percent of whom are girls, are missing out on primary school (UN 2008). In Africa and South Asia, over 40 percent of girls are married before age eighteen (UNFPA 2005). Every year, 1.2 million children are trafficked for cheap labor and sexual exploitation (UNICEF 2006). Every day, over 26,000 children die before their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable causes (UNICEF SOWC 2008), with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that 11 million children under age five die each year from preventable or treatable diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, and measles, over half of which were related to malnutrition. International agencies and organizations acknowledge that investing in children's welfare is a moral obligation and an economic imperative (UNICEF 2008). It is also increasingly recognized that empowering women is essential to improving children's health and wellbeing. Yet, lack of voice in decision-making and low status of women persists in many societies (UNICEF 2008).
What needs to be done in 2009? We need to work as a global community to break the cycle of poverty, work to see that we achieve all of the international development goals, especially the Millennium Development Goals, and work to ensure that the global community works to establish an environment which benefits and encourages the welfare of all children and ensure the recognition of all the rights of the child.
