This week UNICEF Egypt launched a special edition of its flagship publication The State of the World's Children. Amany Abdel-Moneim reports Throughout history, children have been subjected to exploitation and abuse, and in the years following the end of World War II the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights acknowledged that children need special care and protection. Later, in 1989, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), aiming to guarantee human rights to children everywhere. By signing the convention, nations throughout the world promised to set basic standards in healthcare, education, protection and social services for children, and they also guaranteed children the right to play, to express themselves and to have a say in decisions that affect them. In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the CRC, the United Nations International Children's Fund, UNICEF, has dedicated a special edition of its flagship publication The State of the World's Children (SOWCR) to children's rights. The report focuses on the ground-breaking convention, assesses its impact on children's well-being over the past two decades, and highlights progress achieved in reaching out to children who are sometimes still being denied their rights to life, development, protection and participation. It also addresses the challenges for the next 20 years and outlines an agenda for action to ensure that the convention's promises become reality for every child. The celebration of 20 years of the convention started when celebrities, children and public figures from across the Middle East and North Africa lent their voices to a UNICEF video, Every Child Counts, that delivers a unique message on children's rights. At an event in Cairo, the achievements of the CRC on a global and local level were discussed by Minister of State for Family and Population Mushira Khattab, UNICEF's country representative in Egypt, Erma Manoncourt, and actor and UN Goodwill Ambassador Khaled Abul-Naga. By putting children onto the global agenda, the CRC has already changed the lives of millions of children, participants said. The convention has also brought hidden subjects, like sexual exploitation and child trafficking, into the open and helped to protect vulnerable children from abuse. Nevertheless, while many countries have changed their laws to bring them into line with the convention, there are still too many that do not follow through on their obligations. According to Khattab, the importance of the convention lies in the legal responsibility that countries have, with "each country being bound by law to protect children and give them their rights." All the countries in the world "have signed the CRC, except the United States and Somalia, and I believe that President Obama won't let this celebration pass without the US also signing the CRC," she added. "Granting children their rights is not an act of charity or sympathy: it is an investment in a sound society," Khattab said, adding that Egypt was one of the first countries to sign the convention and that it has also ratified all the convention's additional protocols. Khattab says she deeply regrets that Egypt marks the Orphan Day, considering it a stigma on the country. " I wish the day would come when Egypt becomes orphans free." The special edition of the UNICEF publication The State of the World's Children showed the many achievements Egypt has made in realising the aims set forth in the convention, Khattab said, including significantly reducing maternal and infant mortality rates to the point that the country is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of Reducing Child Mortality by 2015. The publication also noted that Egypt had passed a comprehensive child law in 1996, together with amendments in 2008, which included the establishment of child protection committees, banning the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and the establishing of a Ministry for State for Family and Population. "UNICEF is pleased that Egyptian children now have a champion at the ministerial level in government to advocate for a child-focussed agenda that is rights-based and results-oriented," Manoncourt said. She affirmed that UNICEF will continue to assest national efforts in putting children at the heart of the development agenda. Internationally, according to the SOWCR the annual number of children dying under five years old has dropped almost 28 per cent from 1990, as a result of the global commitment by governments and civil societies to the CRC. According to the report, between 1990 and 2006, 1.6 billion people worldwide gained access to improved water services, including millions of children. Furthermore, around 84 per cent of primary school-aged children are in classes today, and the global gender gap in primary school enrolment is narrowing between boys and girls. The SOWCR also states that the age at which young people and children can get married is rising in countries that previously allowed marriage at a very early age, and the number of girls subjected to female genital mutilation internationally is falling. At the meeting organised to launch the publication, Abul-Naga listed "five dreams" he had for children in Egypt. His dream would be "an Egypt free of female genital mutilation, an Egypt where clean water and proper sewage systems were available nationwide, an Egypt where there was equality between all children, regardless of their religion or gender, and an Egypt where there was equality in education and where children were protected from the effects of climate change." However, despite the achievements, globally "the rights of children are still far from being assured," Manoncourt said, who added that, "it is unacceptable that children in some countries are still dying from preventable causes like pneumonia, malaria, measles and malnutrition." "Many of the world's children never see the inside of a classroom, and millions still lack protection against violence, abuse, exploitation, discrimination and neglect," she said. UNICEF has been working in Egypt since the 1950s. Al-Ahram Weekly asks Erma Manoncourt, UNICEF Country Representative since 2005, about the organisation's work in the country This year marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. What is UNICEF doing to ensure its application? UNICEF is active in over 190 countries in the world and has more than 60 years' experience of working for children and with families, communities and governments. As the only organisation mentioned in the convention as a source of expert assistance and advice, UNICEF has unique access to the highest levels of government in all the countries where we work. We talk to leaders and ministers on issues related to children and share lessons learned and global good practices. On the ground, our work with local partners ensures our expertise stays close to the communities we want to help. We put civil servants and communities in touch and equip them with the skills they need to fulfil the rights of every child. We don't just help people to help themselves: we help nations to help themselves. What can governments, the private sector and NGOs do to help advance the principles set out by the Convention on the Rights of the Child? The challenges facing children exceed the capacity of any single organisation. UNICEF believes that we can only ensure children's rights by working together and uniting our efforts with governments, civil society organisations, the private sector, celebrities and communities. Globally, UNICEF has adopted the slogan, "Unite for Children", with the aim of mobilising forces, both in the public and the private sectors, to maximise the dividends from efforts made for children. Today more than ever, the role played by the private sector in partnerships for development has grown significantly. Many companies are willing to be more socially responsible, and they have a lot to offer to make society a better place: they are innovative, efficient, and have resources that can be invested for solutions and interventions for change. We are pleased to see that in Egypt more companies are now keen to play a significant role in helping children. How do you see Egypt progressing towards achieving children's rights? What are some of the biggest challenges you face? Egypt was one of the first signatories of the convention and it has also ratified the optional protocols. The Egyptian government has succeeded in reducing maternal and infant mortality rates significantly over the past 20 years, to the point that the country is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of Reducing Child Mortality by 2015. Moreover, Egypt has eradicated polio and is no longer facing endemic maternal and neonatal tetanus. In the education sector, over the past 20 years Egypt has witnessed an increase in gross enrolment from 89 per cent to 96 per cent and a decrease in drop-out rates from 3.85 per cent to 0.49 per cent. We have also witnessed a decreasing gender gap in primary education, where there are more girls in school. Egypt's recent amendments to the law governing the rights of children, including the establishment of child protection committees, the setting of a minimum age for marriage, the putting in place of a ban on the practice of female genital mutilation, plus the establishment of a Ministry of State for Family and Population, are important actions in the best interests of children. To what extent do societal norms make your mission harder? UNICEF respects diversity and authenticity. Every society has its own norms -- our focus is on trying to understand them and the ways in which they can be used to promote positive action. Therefore, we are convinced that any social communication strategy must be based on evidence, recognise recent research and involve all stakeholders. This will allow us to work for change within a wider framework and to find culturally relevant solutions and develop sustainable actions. What is the role of local communities in facilitating children's involvement in finding solutions to their problems? Children are extremely resourceful. They should be given the opportunity to express their views on decisions that affect them, and those views must be respected and taken into account. We know that adolescents and young people have opinions about their lives, and we need to engage them more since they will be tomorrow's leaders. Now is the time to prepare them for the future. We are happy that Egypt is paying more attention to youth empowerment, and UNICEF supports a media club project in Cairo and Qena that provides children and adolescents with training in multimedia skills that they can use to express themselves in innovative ways. In what ways can UNICEF develop capacities to realise children's rights? UNICEF functions as a knowledge centre on young child, adolescent and youth issues and human development, all within a children's rights framework. Therefore, we are committed to supporting both individual and institutional capacities to make Egypt an even better place for children. This month, for instance, UNICEF helped launch the mustaqbalak (Your Future) Internet portal. This is a pioneering project that provides Egyptian young people with information on organisations and programmes that can assist them in finding jobs and training opportunities that will qualify them for the labour market. Finally, we are continuing our work to ensure that the five promises made to all children, as articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, are fulfilled. Specifically, we advocate that: every child in Egypt has a right to a childhood; every child has a right to be healthy; every child has a right to be educated; every child has a right to be treated fairly; and every child has a right to a voice.
