Statement made on 18 November 2009 by Senator Roméo Dallaire
Hon. Roméo Antonius Dallaire:
Honourable senators, November 20 is National Child Day. It also marks the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted on November 20, 1989.
This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize and celebrate children in Canada and across the world. It is also a time to take stock of what we have achieved over the last 20 years and to look ahead at where we can improve on efforts to protect and promote the rights of every single child.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child has changed the way we think and talk about children. It has made us more aware of the challenges facing children and young people in this complex world. It has made us much more aware of our obligations toward them.
The four core principles of the convention are: non-discrimination, respect, not tolerance; the best interests of the child; maximum survival and development, not use as instruments of war; and respect for the views of the child, hearing the child and child participation. These principles have helped guide us for the last 20 years and the Convention has played a central role in the ongoing transition toward a rights-based approach to dealing with children and young people.
For example, in 2006, the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on violence against children became the first real attempt to document the reality of violence against children around the world and to map out what is being done to stop it. The report concludes that while some children may be particularly vulnerable, violence against children can stretch across geographic, cultural and socio-economic boundaries and even home life.
The Secretary-General's report also concluded that:
No violence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable.
Identifying our shortcomings around child rights is the first step. It is encouraging that in the last 20 years we have become more willing to speak honestly about our treatment of children and more willing to tackle the problems head-on instead of turning a blind eye. Certainly the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that no child under the age of 18 should be used or trained in any instrument of war, signed in 2000, is a perfect example of the positive evolution of protecting children and their rights from abuse by adults.
As legislators and parliamentarians, we must keep this in mind. We have a special responsibility to listen to children and to take their views and concerns into account when we are making decisions, policies and legislation that affect their lives. We must foster their desire to get involved in public life, to become activists, and to show their presence and capability. We must help equip them with the skills and confidence to tackle the serious problems facing the world today.
Honourable senators, the future of the children of today is not 20 years down the road, but five or six years down the road. They, in this incredible revolution of communications, are the globalized generation that can take on human rights, environment, and nuclear disarmament.