As you may know from our advocacy alert, the United States has yet to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The U.S. did, however, ratify two optional protocols, which help ensure that children never serve as soldiers, and which prohibit child prostitution, child pornography and the sale of children. In January, the United States presented a report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on its implementation of both protocols. The Committee noted that the U.S. has made significant progress since ratifying the treaties a decade ago, but it also highlighted some areas where the U.S. Government might make improvements.
Most Americans probably missed it, but November 5 was an important milestone for the United States – on that date was the United States’ first ever presentation of a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely accepted human rights treaty in history. To date, 193 nations have ratified this important treaty. The only two UN member states that have not ratified the CRC are Somalia and the United States.
Imane Tirich is one of six young photographers who will be travelling to Cannes this week to accept a Sony World Photography Award sponsored by UNICEF and the World Photography Organization.
Along with other young advocate/photographers from Romania, Israel, Brazil, New Zealand and the USA, Ms. Tirich set out to capture an image relevant to the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Warning – you will be humming this melody all day long. /p>
No, really – they’re still humming it in space, where Lullaby, the new UNICEF anthem, was broadcast late last year,and where sound is notoriously long-lived but hard to hear.
This week’s Thursday video brings you the Lullaby reprise. A stunningly gorgeous video bedded with the same swelling theme composed by UNICEF Ambassador Steve Barakatt, “For Every Child” goes out to the children of THIS world – and to the very grounded governments and changemakers who are charged with ensuring the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Thirty years ago, only one out of five children were immunized against killer diseases like measles and polio. Throughout the developing world, millions of children were dying of illnesses that had all but disappeared in the world’s wealthier countries. Since then, a near miracle has taken place. Now, four out of five children are protected by vaccines. Polio is on the verge of elimination. Measles and tetanus deaths have been reduced dramatically. This miracle did not happen by itself.
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