Interview: Placing Children in the Limelight
Placing Children in the Limelight
In the projects children are actively involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation. Photo: Christoph Engel
Why this theme of the year?
We wanted to stress the importance of the rights of children for our work. There are also three important dates coming up in these two years. On 10 December 2008, The General Declaration of Human Rights will be sixty years old. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, like many other human rights conventions emanates from this. And in 2009, not only will Kindernothilfe celebrate its 50th anniversary, but also the Child Rights Convention will be twenty years old. It was passed by the United Nations in 1989.
Work related to child rights plays a vital role at Kindernothilfe. What developments have there been in the course of the years?
A decisive change began in 2002 with a new focus being introduced in our project work. We realised that it was not enough to look after children in day care centres or to enable them to attend school. We would need to involve their entire environment - parents, neighbours, and people in the village. They all must be empowered to be in a position to take on responsibility for their sons and daughters. In this way, children and their rights are connected to the question about what the causes of poverty are - but also to the question: what can the community contribute to the well-being of their children? What strategies are necessary to sustainably change living conditions?
The Convention on the Rights of the Child has led to a change in perspective - children are independent personalities and possess rights. They enjoy not only rights of protection and support, but also have the right to participate. That represents a seminal change in behaviour towards children.
Starting at the beginning of the 90s, discussions took place in development and human rights circles about the so-called human rights approach. The discussions centred on seeing people no longer as deprived or in need of help but as possessing rights which they can insist on. Kindernothilfe demands the same for children and young people - they should not be reduced to objects that accept help but should be regarded as subjects who can use their own strengths and abilities and ideas to change their lives.
What role do child rights play in Kindernothilfe's lobbying activities?
Lobbying and advocacy, that means working as an advocate and being committed to change in the political framework, has become an integral part of our work. We are, for example, a member of the National Coalition for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Germany and we are also a member of both the Forum for Human Rights and the German Alliance against Child Soldiers. One of the things we are particularly committed to is to have the Child Rights Convention strengthened by an individual complaints procedure - then children and their representatives could complain directly to a UN committee when their rights have been violated. Other human right treaties already offer this opportunity.
How is the theme of the year reflected in the work here in Germany?
Child rights have always been a topic in our public awareness work. They have been described and explained in the teaching material and magazines we published and illustrated through examples from the work in the projects. Particularly important are action campaigns like "Action!Kidz - Kinder gegen Kinderarbeit (Children against Child Labour)" which Kindernothilfe got started in order to sensitize children on the subject of child rights and encourage them to get involved.
Besides its lobbying for an individual complaints procedure, Kindernothilfe is also campaigning to get Germany to withdraw its reservations on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The German government of the time ratified the convention, but under reservation, one of which was that refugee children do not have the same rights as German children. Moreover, every five years Germany has to submit a report to the UN committee on the implementation of the convention. Kindernothilfe examines this report very carefully and if they see that the German government tries to conceal deficiencies they join with other organisations in making this public in so called shadow reports. As well as that Kindernothilfe has been running a media award for the last eight years "Kinderrechte in der Einen Welt (Child Rights in the One World)", for the best contributions from newspapers/magazines, radio, television and the photography sector.
What is the connection between child rights and sponsorships?
Sponsorships can lead to a greater awareness of child rights and of the violations of child rights. If children are strengthened and given participation, and that happens through sponsorships, they prepare themselves for their roles as adults and thus assist in the democratic advancement of a country. In turn, with sponsorship, the sponsor stands up for children and their rights.
Where will Kindernothilfe be with regard to child rights at the end of 2009?
We are resolved to make the Convention on the Rights of the Child better known and to generate more understanding for child rights. And we want children more actively involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of projects. At the end of 2009 we plan to have a conference to discuss with other aid organisations and youth institutions ours and their experience with the child rights' approach. In the field of advocacy we want to achieve the situation where a UN work group tackles the introduction of an individual complaints procedure.
Barbara Dünnweller, Child Rights Expert
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