Child Rights

Fundamental to being a child centred organisation is a commitment to child rights. This means that we base our attitude, approach and practice in regard to helping children, on an understanding of child rights.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere - without discrimination – have. These are:

• the right to survival
• the right to develop to the fullest
• the right to protection from neglect, abuse and exploitation
• the right to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child guides international best practice in relation to working with and for children. Since its adoption in 1989 the Convention has been ratified more quickly and by more governments (all except Somalia and the US) than any other human rights instrument.

Our interpretation and application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to child centred community development is based on the notion that children are active participants in the development process, not passive recipients. This is done in a way that is sympathetic to other factors. We take into consideration:

• the context including culture, language and religion
• our knowledge about how children develop
• the economic circumstances of the country, community and family
• our experience of doing community development work.