CRC My Reflections

While the principles of the UDHR also cover children, they have the special status of being dependent on adults for the protection and promotion of their rights. This has made it necessary to have additional instruments to protect and promote their rights.

In the CRC, the peculiar rights that are especially applicable to children are stated and thus make their rights expressly stated without being subjected to the whims of some adults who may or may not have their interests at heart.

By having their rights explicitly stated in the CRC, children have these distinct rights which no individual or institution can arbitrarily violate or revoke.

The CRC is basically divided into three thus:
 SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS: these ensure children have access to resources, skills, and contributions necessary for the full development of their full potentials. So, children have an unalienable right to be provided with access to conducive training facilities/environments that will enable them nurture their natural skills/knowledge, and also acquire other necessary skills/knowledge to ensure they grow and mature into effective members of the society.

 PROTECTION RIGHTS: -These rights include protection from all types of abuse (Parental, structural discriminations, forced labour, sexual abuses etc.). They also seek to ensure that the society takes proper care of their needs to ensure an all round development. They are ensured the rights to be protected from all forms of cruelty, physical, psychological etc.

 PARTICIPATION RIGHTS: - The CRC states explicitly that children should have the rights to actively participate in matters concerning all facets of their lives.
Thus, the society is expected to put in place structures to allow children an opportunity to participate fully in matters that affect their society.
They are not to be discriminated against on the basis of their age when they seek to participate in societal issues. When decisions are to be taken especially on issues that directly affect the youths, their input must be sought and integrated into the final decision.


On the whole, the CRC explicitly identifies and states the basic rights that must be universally respected.
No individual or institution should make itself into a sole-decider of what rights to grant children in the context of the rights outlined in the CRC.

We live in societies where all decisions about societal matters are taken by adults-filled institutions, and without an instrument like the CRC, children will have their whole existence subject only to the decision of adults who may probably not have full compassion for or adequate understanding of what the children really need to grow up into effective and functional members of the society.