what's so funny bout' peace, love, and a convention on the rights of the child...

on november 20, 1989, the united nations adopted the convention on the rights of the child, a landmark for human rights...here for the first time was a treaty that sought to address the particular human rights of children and to set minimum standards for the protection of their rights...it is the only international treaty to guarantee civil and political rights as well as economic, social, and cultural rights generally thought of as,

• freedom from violence, abuse, hazardous employment, exploitation, abduction or sale
• freedom from hunger and protection from diseases
• free compulsory primary education
• adequate health care
• equal treatment regardless of gender, race or cultural background
• the right to express opinions and freedom of thought in matters affecting them
• safe exposure/access to leisure, play, culture and art

not surprisingly the convention on the rights of the child is the most widely accepted human rights treaty - of all the united nations member states, only the united states and the collapsed state of somalia have not ratified it...

surprisingly to most of our citizens the united states continues to lead a defensive action against children's human rights lobbying against further measures designed to protect children - most recently against efforts to stop the use of child soldiers...

these last 10 years have seen an enormous growth in awareness of children's rights...activists have learned important lessons in successfully implementing the convention on the rights of the child...one of the convention's key strengths is that it recognizes that rights must be actively promoted if they are going to be enforced - awareness isn't enough...although children's human rights are still a long way from realization - amnesty international has a powerful tool for campaigning for the protection of children's human rights in the almost worldwide acceptance of the convention on the rights of the child...

to find five educational ideas on how to provoke debate, raise awareness, and foster activism in your community click here...

a sample letter for you to send to your senator supporting ratification (what if every neighborhood coffee gathering passed around and mailed out these letters, huh?) can be found here...

take action today or i will personally come to your house and sing "i believe the children are our future," and you really, really don't want that...

peace out <3