Karnataka - Mangalore   

Parties asked to include child rights in their manifestos

MANGALORE: The “Campaign Against Child Labour – Karnataka” (CACL-K) has demanded that political parties contesting Assembly elections include children’s rights in their manifestos.

In a press release here on Monday, Reni D’Souza, convener of CACL-K, said that political parties were ignoring children’s issues.

“Children form almost half of Karnataka’s population. As per UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, a child is defined as a person below 18 years. India is a signatory to this convention in 1992. According to the spirit of this convention, children are citizens of not only tomorrow but also today. This fact and their sheer number demand that their rights and aspirations be considered paramount by political parties,” he said. Children might not have a direct say in the election process but they had a direct influence on parents who exercise their children’s “right to express” through votes. Political parties and their candidates in elections should take cognisance of this and place the demands of these “citizens” before the electorate and announce their strategy on how they intend to deal with children’s issues, Mr. D’Souza said.

To bring to fore the demands of children, non-government and community-based organisations had carried out consultations with children, child rights activists and researchers. “They conducted field studies and analysed statistics. They assessed the performance of legislators in the Assembly between 2004 and 2007 with respect to children and upholding child rights,” he said. Stating that this was discussed with representatives of NGOs recently, Mr. D’ Souza said a list of demands was prepared accordingly.

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