Perspectives
Yanghee Lee is the current Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. She examines how the Convention, since its creation, has adapted itself to new threats facing children and underlines the importance of continued review and evaluation.
Javier Solana is Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. His essay explores how the EU can implement the ‘Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child’ adopted in 2007.
Jacques Barrot is currently Vice President of the European Commission for Justice, Freedom and Security. He outlines the three strategies essential for achieving children's rights: an increased protection against violence, the integration of all children into societies and strong European Union leadership.
Om Prakash Gurjar, born into a family of bonded labourers, was liberated in 2002 and is now a student in the eleventh grade. His essay depicts the struggles of child labourers and demonstrates the important role youth have in advocating for their own rights.
Marjorie Scardino is the Chief Executive of Pearson, the international education and media business made up of Pearson Education, Penguin and the Financial Times Group. As the leader of a Fortune 500 company she identifies the responsibilities and opportunities private sector organizations have for supporting children’s development and rights.
Ishmael Beah, bestselling author of A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, describes how he came to understand the value of the Convention and explores the manifestation of several articles in both his life, and the lives of children throughout the world.
Awa Ndèye Ouedraogo is a former member and Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. While the Convention has enabled children to claim their own rights, she argues governments should build on its mandates to combat issues such as child-trafficking, which has thus far been unsuccessfully impeded.
Andres Velasco is one of the foremost development economists in the world. As Chile’s Finance Minister his macroeconomic policy during the global financial crisis has allowed the country to maintain its commitment to social programmes and education.
Hanna Polak is an academy-award nominated filmmaker whose documentary, The Children of Leningradsky, exposes the despair and dangers for children living on the street. Her essay focuses on the transformative power advocates and artists have in sharing the stories of children who do not have a voice.
Tan Sri Dato Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education of Malaysia, uses his Government’s policies as a lens to examine the role of states in providing education and institutional protection to children.
Tim Shriver has served as the Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics since 1997. His essay highlights the importance of the Convention in protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, and articulates several of the challenges to the realization of children’s rights that are unique to children with intellectual disabilities.
Reverend Miyamoto is the leader of Myochikai, a Japanese Buddhist organization, the president of the Arigatou Foundation, and the founder of the Global Network of Religions for Children.
Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Council of Europe and former member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, advocates firmly for greater child participation in the administration of the Convention.
Jacque Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee advocates for the power of sport in transforming youth's lives and in creating healthy and vibrant communities.
Peter Woicke is the Chairman of Save the Children, the eminent non-profit whose leadership in the early 20th century initiated the child rights movement. Mr. Woicke makes the case for accountability and enforcement mechanisms in enabling the realization of the rights prescribed in the Convention.
Amihan Abueva, the Chairwoman of End Child Prostitution and Trafficking International – a leading organization in the fight against child exploitation – illuminates the Convention’s tangible impact on laws and advocacy efforts.
Brazilian diplomat and legal scholar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro discusses the challenges facing youth in conflict with the law, and the importance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in protecting children from institutional violence.
Dr. Gordana Djurovic, Professor of Economics in Podgorica, shares how the Convention on the Rights of the Child's impacts the laws of the Convention's most recent member.
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