The NGO/UNICEF Regional Network for Children (RNC)
Central and Eastern Europe/The Commonwealth of Independent States/The Baltics
and The NGO Alliance for Child Rights in Azerbaijan
 Say 'Yes' for Children
Across the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltics, 26 million people have pledged support to the Say 'Yes' for Children campaign, contributing more than one quarter of the 95 million pledges worldwide. The global campaign urges people to vote on ten priorities for children. In our region Leave No Child Out topped the poll. The Regional Network for Children (RNC) has taken Leave No Child Out as the focus for its region-wide public awareness campaign for 2003-2004.
"Every girl and boy is born free and equal in dignity and rights: all forms of
discrimination and exclusion against children must end."
From A World Fit for Children |
Exclusion
Every child knows what it feels like to be left out. It hurts. For many children, exclusion is part of life. They face prejudice because of their ethnicity, gender or social class, because of their traditions, their disability, ill health, or because they live in an institution. They do not have the chance to explore their potential, let alone live up to it. Can we do something about this? Yes!
The Rights of Children
Every country in the region has ratified the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC recognizes that every child is born with the fundamental freedoms and inherent rights of all human beings - civic, political, economic, social and cultural. Exclusion from society - for any reason - is a denial of child rights.
Children in CEE/CIS/Baltics
Children are natural barometers. They tell us how we are doing as families, communities and nations. One of the most telling signs of the impact of more than a decade of change in our region is the falling numbers of children. In 1989, this region had more than 120 million children under the age of 17. By 2001, that number had dwindled to 105 million. While there are fewer children, more of them are facing exclusion and discrimination:
- Poverty: by the late 1990s, around 18 million children in the region were living in poverty, in households surviving on less than US$2.15 per person per day;
- Conflict: one-third of countries in the region have suffered conflict since 1989. By 2000, 2.2 million people were internally displaced and almost 1 million were refugees;
- Disability: the number of children in institutions for the disabled has risen in many countries in the region;
- Institutionalisation: almost 1 million children in the region live in residential institutions;
- The stigma of HIV/AIDS: By the end of 2001, there were an estimated 1 million people with HIV/AIDS in the region, which has the fastest growing rates of infection in the world.
Time for Action
Throughout the 1990s, the region grappled with the many social and economic problems stemming from transition. A more positive environment for social progress is now emerging. Democratic elections mean new leaders and new impetus for reform in many countries. Economic growth has taken place in nearly every country since the late 1990s. A number of countries are poised to join the European Union. This is a time of growing optimism. This optimism must be harnessed to remove the barriers of exclusion, to ensure no one is left out of the gains that will flow from the hard-won changes in the region.
What can we do?
- Expose social exclusion and its impact on children;
- Promote public debate;
- Promote anti-discriminatory attitudes, behaviour, practices, policies and norms;
- Link-up with all players who are actively working against exclusion and discrimination, including human rights groups, youth organizations and groups campaigning on specific exclusion issues.
What is planned in Azerbaijan?
NGO Alliance for Child Rights has planned a draft plan of national as well as district level activities, which inter alia include establishment of a Youth and Children Media Center and its branches in districts, awareness raising activities such as competitions, TV programs, TV marathons, round-table discussions, conferences, concert etc. |
