The UNCRC and Child Rights in Canada

Abstract

The need to realize the global attainment of children’s rights informed the purpose behind crafting of the Conventions on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the United Nations (UN) level. This research defines a child as anyone that is 18 years and below and that child rights are rights conferred to a human child. It is observed that children’s conditions during the two world wars catalysed the League of Nations in constituting the CRC. The championing of children’s rights started in 1919 with the International Labour Organization (ILO) prohibiting children from working in dangerous environments. It was until 1989 that the UN adopted the CRC as a charter that fights for the rights of children. The research notices that the CRC contains four key principles that spell out the rights of children, these are; non-discrimination, having the best interest of the child, the right to survival and development, and the right to possess a view. From the research, conventions unlike declarations are legally binding to their signatory members. Furthermore, the research states the recommendations the government of Canada has received in its commitment to the UNCRC framework. The recommendations include the inclusion of children’s views in children's rights formulation, hiring of key personnel and groups, and ensuring that laws governing children are equal in all Canada’s jurisdictions. Moreover, the research notices that children are entitled to services such as adoption, protection, treatment, and parent-caregiving support.

Keywords: UNCRC, child, child rights 

The UNCRC as a convention envisages that all its signatory members grow their efforts on meeting the rights of child persons. With regards to this statement, this research will look at the history and development that shaped the Conventions on the Rights of the Child as a United Nations movement. The research will also look at the four core principles of the conventions and the obligations that member states have to the convention. The research will look to examine the distinction between UN treaties and declarations and the recommendations that the Canadian government has so far received on her efforts to commit to child rights under the convention. Also, the research will seek to explore the different services that children should get as envisioned in the UNCRC charter. This research finds that the UNCRC is a key charter document that guides global governments in realizing the attainment of Child rights that have been agreed upon under the convention. 

Definition of Key Terms and Concepts

UNCRC

According to the Scottish Alliance for Child Rights (n.d.), the United Nation’s Conventions on the Rights of the Child commonly abbreviated as UNCRC is a ratified treaty that applies to all those below 18 years old. The sole mission of the convention is based on the need to ensure that children grow up in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality, and solidarity. Up to date, the UNCR continues to be the most ratified human rights leaning treaty in the world with a total of 196 countries being part of the convention (Scottish Alliance for Child Rights, n.d.). 

Child

Redmond (2008), asserts that the UNCRC defines a child as any human and/or person below the age of 18 years. The UNCRC convention acknowledges the primary role of the parents, the community, and the state in the protection and upholding of children’s rights.  

Child rights

Child rights refer to the human rights that demand children be treated with respect, equality, and dignity simply because they are human beings that inherently possess fundamental rights and freedoms. The UNCRC convention outlines that children enjoy the same human rights as adults from the rights of freedom of expression, movement as well as the right to privacy (Bessel & Gal, 2009). 

The UNCRC and Child Rights in Canada

The Development and History of the UNCRC

The need to understand and recognize the injustice, unfairness and imperfect treatment of children during the early 20th century birthed the idea of constitutionalization of child rights across the industrialized world. During that period, there were no standards that spelled child rights and thus children were often seen working alongside adults in unsanitary and unsafe environments (Fass, 2011). By the year 1989, global leaders envisaged a historic convention and treaty in the United Nations Convention of Child rights that was earmarked to transform the rights of children throughout the world. The UNCRC is recognized as the first legally binding international convention that seeks to contain the full range of children’s rights in their totality with the convention observed to be consisting of 54 articles and a preamble (Ben-Arrieh, 2008). The document is seen to be a by-product of the international commitments to human rights when the present conditions of children during the 20th century forced global leaders to rethink the welfare of children in wars. It was the two world wars that propped up the conversation about upholding child rights and welfare (Fass, 2011).

The first huge steps regarding the creation of what is now the UNCRC happened in 1919 when the first legally binding treaty was signed by the ILO. This document outlined prohibitions that were concerned with children working in hazardous environments. It was in 1924 that the League of Nations endorsed the non-binding conventions from the Geneva Declarations that sought to protect child rights. After the end of the First World War, human rights principles contained in the United Nations (UN) Charter and the Universal Declarations of Human Rights that came into being in 1948 provided the foundational basis of what defined children’s rights in full and in legally binding ways (Fass, 2011). Thereafter, in 1959, the UN adopted the declaration of the rights of the child before the CRC which had a faint conception of children’s rights. By the year 1989, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), officially adopted the CRC framework as the international benchmark that aimed at championing children’s rights (Fass, 2011; Ndulo, 2009).  

The Core Principles and Provisions of the UNCRC

The UNCRC charter and framework are built on core principles and/or provisions that illustrate the fundamental rights of a child (Philips, 2014). According to Unicef (2019), the core principles and provisions contribute to a general attitude towards children as they are based on the premise that children too are equal as human beings. According to Harlow and Smith (2021), the recognition of the right to play signifies the fact that childhood is merely one’s transitional zone into adulthood and that the zone has immense value in the growth and developmental aspects that are concerned with children. To protect and safeguard children, the UNCRC convention contains four core principles and provisions that have an ethical and ideological dimension as to what constitutes children’s rights. The following subsection reveals the four core principles and/or provisions of the UNCRC convention.

Non-Discrimination 

A key principle that was identified by the drafters is that all children should freely enjoy their rights without experiencing any form of discrimination. This provision that obligates member countries to provide equal opportunities among all children envisages that all countries should respect the convention principle that calls for the non-discrimination of children based on the child’s; parents or guardian, language, religion, sex, color, political or other opinions, national, ethnic, social origin, poverty, disability birth or another status (Unicef, 2019)

Best Interest of the Child 

The principle of having the best interest in children calls for the support of very young, vulnerable children, and those who need special support to realize their enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms. In the UNCRC document, article 3:1 demands that the best interest of children be of primary consideration in whichever action is taken by public or private social welfare institutions, administrative authorities, and law-making bodies (Unicef, 2019). 

The Right to Survival and Development 

Children’s social and economic rights are observed to have been raised in the right to life article. The article does not only state the right not to be killed but goes further to include the right to survival and development as envisaged in article 6:2 of the charter document. This article states, "State parties shall ensure to the maximum extend possible the survival and development of the child" (Unicef, 2019).

The Right to Possess a View

A key dimension of this convention calls for respect for the views of the child. It is logical that to harbor the best of interests when it comes to children, then state parties and communities should listen to children. This is addressed in article 12:1 of the charter which reads that state parties should grant freedom of expression to children who can make their own opinions, especially in matters that affect them the most. The provision further calls for the view of the child’s opinion to be given due weight in accordance with age and maturity levels (Unicef, 2019).   

UN Treaties: Distinctions between UN Conventions and Declarations 

According to the Government of Canada (2017), a treaty is comprised of signed participants that pass legislation that legally binds them to it per international law. As for a declaration, this is a solidarity statement on a universally valid principle. Unlike a convention, countries do not have to ratify declarations and/or commit to comply with them. Some notable conventions by the UN include; (a) Conventions on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) that commits the nation to improve the rights of persons with disabilities, (b) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, (CEDAW), this convention states that women should have the same rights as men in all areas of life, and (c) International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), this convention seeks to protect people from being treated badly because of their race or ethnicity(Our Site, n.d.).

On the other hand, some notable declarations made by the UN include; (a) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), this declaration seeks to rally the world in the respect of an individual’s universal human rights, and (b), the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) that establishes a framework on dignifying and protecting indigenous people (Engle, 2011).  

Obligations to States that Are Signatory to the UNCRC Framework 

Children possess rights as observed in other international human rights treaties. The UNCRC documents that all children and young people under the age of 18 years old have unique rights. Thus the document includes additional rights which only children need. This convention is separated into 54 articles or sections (CRAE, n.d.). The rights in the treaty call nations towards ensuring the exercising of children’s rights such as those concerned with; the right to education, the right to play, the right to privacy, the right to family life, the right to nationality, and the right for name, identity, and companionship. Furthermore, some additional obligations of the charter demand that children should not be discriminated against based on their disability, sex, race, and age. Also, member countries that are signatory to the charter are to align their national laws with the convention. This means that the UNCRC charter can be cited in domestic courts, tribunals, and administrative proceedings such as conferences, seminars, reviews, and school and community panels (CRAE, n.d.). 

The Key Recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Provided as Feedback to Canada

According to the CRC (2012), Canada as a signatory member still has gaps in realizing the implementation of the convention. The CRC committee opines that the Canadian government which includes its federal, provincial, and territorial governments should do the following to realize its pledges thus enabling its conformity to the Conventions of the Rights of the Child;

First, the committee called on Canada to do whatever it could to satisfy the recommendations that the committee made in 1995 and 2006. This pledge raised the concerns of previously unmet conditions for Canada as set by the UNCRC committee. Second, the recommendations made in 2012 called on Canada to remove the previously held reservation that allowed parents to be in detention with their children (CRC, 2012). This recommendation called for children to be kept separate from adults if they are in a detention center.

 Third, another recommendation advised the government of Canada including its provincial and territorial bodies to have uniform laws that would safeguard all children across Canada. The laws should be the same and be applied equally to all of Canada’s jurisdictions (CRC, 2012). Fourth, the UNCRC recommendation advised the government of Canada on drafting a national plan that would guide the federal, provincial, and territorial governments in upholding children’s rights. This recommendation further urged the government to consider adding the general public including children when drafting the plan. Further, the recommendation emphasized the need to have a well-stated plan that had clear priorities, targets, and responsibilities (Unicef Canada, 2013). Fifth, the UNCRC committee advised the Canadian government on the creation of a country’s group that contained specially trained personnel who would work towards the realization of the plan. This group would work across Canada with children, youth, and the wider public in the advancement of child rights (CRC, 2012). 

Children Services from Four UNCRC Provisions and a Personal Reflection on Challenges that can be experienced

The UNCRC provision articles identify various services that children can get either from their parents, communities, state, and its various actors. For instance, in article 8 of the convention, the state is obligated to provide protection services to children who lack proper identity, nationality, and family relations. In article 18, another child service is the assistance that parents can get from state personnel on how to bring up their children in the best way possible (UNCRC, n.d.). This service may include the building of institutions, facilities, and amenities such as parks and playgrounds that aid in the growth and development of children. Congruently on services meant for children, article 19 states the government’s responsibility for the prosecution, treatment, prevention, and follow-up of issues regarding child maltreatment. Lastly, article 20 mentions services such as those concerned with adoption that can be given to children who are temporarily or permanently deprived of their family environments (UNCRC, n.d.). In the provision of such services, the challenges that I would face include balancing the resources such as capital that communities are given to advance child rights when carrying out social work or its related duties. Another challenge would include the lack of proper coordination between inter-governmental agencies that are involved in the securing of the rights of Canada’s children.

To summarize, this research has unearthed the development and history of the CRC. The research states that the CRC was a result of the global government’s concern for the rights of children in the wake of the two world wars and the poor economic and social conditions of the 20th century. The research also looked at the four core principles of the UNCRC which informed child rights, these are; non-discrimination, having the best interest of the child, the right to survival and development, and the right to possess a view. From the research, it is realized that conventions unlike declarations are legally binding to their signatory members. Furthermore, the research states key recommendations that the government of Canada has been advised with regards to their application of UNCRC provisions. One recommendation advised the need of including children when drafting national goal plans concerned with children’s rights and welfare. Moreover, the article notices that children are entitled to services such as adoption, protection, treatment, and parent-caregiving services. 

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