Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011
THEN
December 11, 1946, in an effort to aid children living in perilous conditions in war-torn areas after World War II, the United Nations General Assembly establishes the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). In subsequent years, UNICEF becomes the leading advocate for international children’s rights. In 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child—drafted by U.N. Commission on Human Rights with the assistance of UNICEF—becomes the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.
NOW
The Rights of the Child treaty extends to children 18 years of age. In a report this year on the condition of children around the world, UNICEF said that after having focused the majority of its resources on children in the first decade of life, it is now necessary to put more resources into children in their second decade, giving them the means to continue schooling which lessens the likelihood of their falling into a cycle of poverty. “Investing in adolescents can accelerate the fight against poverty, socio-economic disparities and gender discrimination. Inequities often become starkly manifest during adolescence: children who are poor or marginalized are less likely to make the transition to secondary education and more likely to experience such protection abuses as child marriage, early sex, violence and domestic labor—especially if they happen to be girls.”
