UNICEF Official: Challenges Abound in Advancing Children's Rights

A UNICEF official has said here that many countries, including the Russian Federation, have made progress in advancing children's rights, but challenges still abound, and there are many areas where children's rights remain weak.

In the run-up to November 20, which marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Bertrand Bainvel, the UNICEF representative in Russia, said that consistent betterment could be seen in many areas of children's rights worldwide, but governments were still confronted with grim problems like mortality rate, the institutionalization of children and the threats of the HIV epidemic.

Bainvel said that so far, no countries had reached the goals stipulated in the CRC, and more work needed to be done to implement the rights convention.

"Be it children living in Guangzhou, St. Petersburg, or other cities, the Convention is a universal instrument, which is relevant in Beijing, and other places in the world," he said in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Bainvel, who has worked for UNICEF for about 15 years, spoke highly of the Russian government's efforts to improve children's rights.

"Russia was one of very early ratifiers of the convention, and it's one of the countries which took it very seriously," he said.

Since the ratification, there have been quite a few advances for children in the country, both in terms of the improvement of the standards of living for children, and also the enaction of new legislation.

"Very recently, President Dmitry Medvedev established a position of ombudsperson for child rights at the federal level, which is a great advance for the country and for children," Bainvel said.

Despite the notable progress, challenges remain. Child mortality rate in Russia is four times higher than in Western Europe. Statistics show that about 156,000 children in Russia are currently housed in orphanages or boarding homes. Many of the country's 500,000 children with disabilities are without access to quality education.

There is also growing concern about the children most in danger of falling off the radar of state and social authorities -- including migrant children, street children, children with HIV and others in crisis.

An increasing number of children end up in institutions because they are abandoned or because the parents are deprived of their parental rights.

"UNICEF and our partners are very much aware of that. An institution is the last resort for a child ... We know if we direct children to institutions, they will have fewer chances of being integrated into the rest of the society," he said. Therefore, combating institutionalization is one of the major tasks of Bainvel's office.

The increasing threat of HIV can also jeopardize the rights of children, as it has been the cause of abandonment and forced abortion. "Plus, there are stigma and discrimination against children whose parents are infected by HIV," Bainvel said.

Besides, healthy lifestyles for adolescents and teenagers, prevention of drug abuse, alcoholism, early unwanted pregnancy are also major areas the UNICEF office needs to attend to. "There are the challenges to tackle in the country, which require us to continue to work with our counterparts -- the government, the public and the society. This is endless work," Bainvel said.

Another noticeable challenge is to promote peace and children's rights in the southwestern part of Russia, which is troubled by terrorism.

In two separate cases in Moscow, 2002, and in Beslan, 2004, hundreds of Russian children were taken hostage by terrorists, and a remarkable number of children died.

"It's important for people to understand what happened, but also for them, to give them the skills and strength to overcome possible factors of division." he said.

Bainvel said that in the modern society, people also needed to make sure that children were not over-burdened as they grew.

"Childhood is a time of 18 years. These 18 years will not come back in your life, never, so you have to also enjoy it ... so I think it's very important to protect this window as part of life, which is childhood, make sure that children enjoy it, thrive, play, learn and find the right balance," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2009)