Vital stakeholders in advocating & protection of children's rights
The current global society faces several challenges one of them being the increase in the number of orphaned and abandoned children. In war-affected regions such as the ongoing war in Syria, several children have been left to fend for themselves after the death of their parents/guardians. In other cases, early marriages have been the cause for the increase in the number of abandoned children. According to recent statistics from UNICEF, the number of orphaned children in 2016 is 132 million (Grovogui, 2016).
The same organization reports that there are over 30 million children forced to live away from their homes mostly due to conflicts. The worldwide figure could rise if the necessary measures are not put in place. Orphaned and abandoned children face many risks among them hunger, disease, lack of access to education as well as medical care. In light of these worrying statistics and the vast problems facing the orphaned or abandoned children in the world, this paper seeks to establish some of the most vital stakeholders responsible for enforcing the rights of these children.
Globally, the leading stakeholder involved in the protection of orphans' rights is the SOS Children’s villages. The organization was first established by Austrian Hermann Gmeiner to take care of children left without care after the world war two. Later on, other countries affected by the war such as France, Italy, and Germany also established SOS children's villages to take care of orphaned or abandoned children. Currently, the organization has spread to Asia, Africa, and America as well as in the Eastern Europe region. The mission of the organization helps provide safe, family-like and loving environments for the kids who are either abandoned or orphaned.
The SOS plan also includes the provision of medical services, education, as well as social services to the children who take refuge in such villages. Currently, SOS villages are present in over 130 countries globally and host about 800,000 children (Grovogui, 2016).
The United Nations Convection on the Rights of Children (UNHCR) in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is another vital stakeholder in the protection of the rights of abandoned and orphaned children around the globe. The UNHCR is responsible for the formulation and implementation of children’s rights covering various aspects of a person's life that is, the political, civil, cultural, and social rights. The UNHCR governs most of the actions conducted by UNICEF in funding programs to aid orphaned children. The latter is active around the world in most countries if not all are signatories to a treaty (CRC treaty) to offer distinct rights for all children. UNICEF relies on donations from the UN countries as well as individual donors. The proceeds are used in the implementation of the UNHCR missions in over 190 countries around the world ((Todres & Higinbotham, 2016). The focus has been laid on the war affected regions such as Syria, Afghanistan and other parts of the Middle East, where the number of orphans and children without care continue to increase.
Another important advocate and sponsor of the rights of the orphaned and abandoned children is the World Orphans. It is a USA non-government organization established by local churches to help develops orphanages for children in the USA and elsewhere in the world. The organization has shown tremendous efforts to increase care and support for the children; since its inception in 1993, the organization established 2-3 orphanages per year. Currently, the organization has about 500 homes for orphaned and abandoned children spread in 46 countries (Todres & Higinbotham, 2016).
In underdeveloped and developing countries, the right6s of children remain threatened due to high poverty levels as well as high incidence of the HIV-AIDS epidemic. Other diseases such as the Ebola epidemic continue to threaten the lives of many in the western African region where most countries are underdeveloped. Other African regions affected by this problem include the Congo region and South African countries where the widespread of HIV have claimed the lives of many parents leaving their children as orphans and suffering from the same disease. The ‘Bread for the World’, an organization founded under the auspices of the Protestant churches in Germany has continued to offer support to such regions and especially to the children left without care. The organization was founded in 1959 with the mission to reduce hunger and poverty in underdeveloped and developing nations. Since its inception, the organization has continued to offer support for basic human rights such as the right to water. For instance, in 2003, the organization launched a campaign to help people in developing countries have easy access to water. It is vital to note that this move cam important in reducing child labor as children in the affected regions are forced to travel long distances in search of water.
Lastly, it is vital to recognize the role that various personalities have played in the support of abandoned children as well as in advocating for the protection of children's rights in general. Some individual, such as media personalities, athletes, celebrities use their fame and worldwide recognition to campaign for the protection of children's rights. Additionally, some of them are actively involved in donations to fund the needs of children living in orphanages.
An advocacy plan for human rights & orphaned and abandoned children
A society where human rights are not recognized or respected is bound not to provide enough support for the protection of the rights of children, especially the orphaned children in the society. As the world citizens struggle to achieve a peaceful and equitable world to live in, it is vital that plans be developed to advocate for the rights of all human beings and children.
The universal declaration of human rights provides all of the international recognized human rights; such include the right to life, arbitrary arrests, speech, privacy, nationality, and others. Even with the declaration of such rights, several people around the world remain unaware of their rights as world citizens, even worse; some are deprived of their rights. For instance, the killings of innocent people in war conflicted regions represent a deprivation of the most fundamental human rights that is the right to life.
As such, one of the most effective ways to advocate for human right is through raising awareness for it from the grass root levels. This could empower people to identify their rights as well as forms that they can use to report abuse. Non-government organizations, as well as the government organization that defends human rights, should develop close relationships with people to advocate for human rights. For example, domestic violence has risen to become of the most significant threats to women’s rights. As such, working closely with the government and other organizations could help minimize the incidences of gender-based violence and discrimination (Grovogui, 2016). This type of advocacy is called personal advocacy where people are equipped with the knowledge of human rights and provided with the opportunity to practice them freely (Todres & Higinbotham, 2016). The opposite of this type of advocacy that is most useful on a national level is the systems advocacy where the government in conjunction with non-government organizations that support human rights promote the awareness and protection of human rights.
The issue of war and political conflict affecting some of the human rights cannot be ignored. As such, it would fit for the government to formulate an international treaty that protects the citizens from the war effects of politics. Additionally, those countries, which are not signatories to the UNHCR, should make an effort to join. The organization provides education as well as monetary support for the development of human rights all over the world. This also provides countries with military interventions in case of war to protect the rights of innocent citizens.
Development of truth commissions and war crimes tribunal is another critical tool that can be used to enhance human rights and safeguard the right of the future generations in countries affected by war and political crimes. Truth commissions are set up by independent agents to identify or investigate issues relating to abuse of basics human rights such as arbitrary arrests or killings (Todres & Higinbotham, 2016). Through such, the offenders of human rights are brought to book through the international criminal court.
The subject of protection and support of the rights of the orphaned and abandoned children weighs heavily on those organizations that strive to protect their rights while providing for their needs. The dramatic increase in the number of children in the world as well as those who need care. As in the case of human rights, the first step in advocating for human rights is the education of the public. This should be accompanied by financial support to enable the proliferation of children’s rights to societies in the grass roots while helping fund local homes for the orphaned and orphaned children. On this note, the government should educate some of its officials such as the police to be on the lookout for incidences of abuse of children's rights. Infringement of children’s rights includes the increasing trend of child labor, which is particularly a challenge in Africa.
Dialogue is another method that can be used in a plan to advocate for children's rights. Through this platform, members of a society can engage in talks with each other as well as children's rights representatives on various ways to avoid cases of abandoned children in the society. This would go a long way in reducing the financial burden on organizations catering to the needs of orphaned children. For example, through such dialogues, members of the society, particularly at the grass root levels can be educated on the importance of children’s education and the dangers of early marriages. The latter is responsible for a majority of the abandoned children in third world countries as the young parents lack the financial capabilities to raise children. Focusing on the primary trend that has been the cause of the rise of orphaned and abandoned children, the international community should develop methods to arbitrate between the conflicting factions or communities.
This would reduce the number of parents fighting and dying in senseless wars only to leave their children without the care of a parent. A joint effort by the international community can help end conflicts that lead to the increase of both human rights violation and the increase of the reliance of children on orphanages by sending troops to intervene and possibly end the wars that claim the lives of many parents. This measure would be highly appropriate in some of the leading regions in the world with high rates of orphaned children. If these measures do not prove effective in the short term, development of humanitarian aid should fit in the near future to care for the children left homeless or without the care of their parents due to war and political conflicts.
As a conclusion, the plight of needy orphaned children has for long been disregarded and they fail to receive the care that is essential in their development. Different individuals and institutions are some of the stakeholders that have established platforms aimed at helping such children. For instance, the SOS children’s homes and the UNHCR are some of the institutions that have played an imperative role in taking care of orphaned and abandoned children. An advocacy plan provides well established outline and description of measures and ways of taking care of such abandoned children.
References
Grovogui, S. N. (2016). To the Orphaned, Dispossessed, and Illegitimate Children: Human Rights Beyond Republican and Liberal Traditions. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 18(1), 41-63. doi:10.2979/indjglolegstu.18.1.41
Todres, J., & Higinbotham, S. (2016). Human rights in children's literature: Imagination and the narrative of law.
