Child rights in action
Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
To help stem the growing abuse and exploitation of children worldwide,
the United Nations General Assembly adopted two groundbreaking additions,
called 'Optional Protocols', to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, the treaty that spells out the rights enjoyed by all
children in the world.
These Optional Protocols address two concerns: children
involved in armed conflict and the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography. Governments
(States Parties) are invited to sign and ratify the
Optional Protocols, which were adopted 25 May 2000.
UNICEF advocates their speedy ratification, if possible
prior to the UN Special Session on Children in May 2002.
Worldwide, an estimated 300,000 children serve in armed conflicts
as soldiers, servants and/or sex slaves. Recruited or abducted to
join armies, these children - some younger than 10 years old - witness
or take part in acts of violence, often against their own families
or communities. The Optional Protocol establishes 18 as the minimum
age at which any child can directly participate in hostilities or
be compulsorily recruited into armed forces. It also requires Sates
to take all feasible measures to release under-age soldiers from
service and assist them with recovery and reintegration into society.
The Optional Protocol sets 18 as the minimum age for compulsory,
but not voluntary, recruitment. For this reason, States are required
to make a declaration stating the age at which national forces will
permit voluntary recruitment and describing the safeguards the State
will take to ensure that such recruitment is never forced or coerced.
UNICEF joins other organizations, child rights advocates and NGOs
in advocating that States ratify the Optional Protocol without reservation
and declare 18 as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment.
An increasing number of children suffer sexual abuse and exploitation
around the world - an estimated 30 million of them,
for example, are now victimized by traffickers. To help
safeguard children's right to protection from such abuse,
the Optional Protocol requires States to take legal
and administrative measures to prevent the sale, trafficking
and sexual exploitation of children - including child
prostitution and child pornography - and to make these
offenses punishable by law. The Optional Protocol calls
for international cooperation to address the cross-border
nature of these crimes. States agree to assist children
who have been the victims of such offenses, focusing
on the best interest of the child, and to inform communities
and children themselves about these issues.
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