Children's Right:
India has signed the Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC). The three most important principles of
this Convention are the rights to participation, to
association or the right to organisation, and the right to
information. These are essential rights if children and
youth are to realise all their other rights. CRC does not
concern itself only with the protection of children and
the delivery or provision of services and programmes,
but also ensures that children have the right to determine
the quality and nature of these services and of upholding and preserving the best interests of
children.
Although CRC guarantees children the right to
express their views freely in all matters affecting them,
and to exercise freedom of expression, children are
frequently denied the opportunity to participate in
decision-making processes and activities that effect their
lives and futures. The right to participation also depends
on the realisation of other primary rights such as access
to information, the freedom of association, and the
right to formulate opinions free from influence and
coercion. The principle of participation should be
integrated into all areas of concern for children.
In reality, social, political and economic structures
are still very much hierarchical; children and youth are
the most marginalised sections of society; their effective
participation depends largely on the extent to which
they are given the opportunity to organise themselves.
Coming together gives them visibility, strength and a
collective voice. The participation of individual,
‘hand-picked’ children or youth is fraught with
discrimination, and is ineffective because such
‘representatives’ represent no one but themselves; it
excludes the less vocal and less visible; and it gives more
room for manipulation.
On the other hand, the organised participation
of children and youth, especially the more
disadvantaged children, gives children strength, access
to more information, confidence, an identity and
ownership. Individual children or youth representing
such groups voice the views and aspirations of the
collective. Their coming together also enables them to
find collective ways to solve problems. However, what
needs to be ensured is that all children and youth have
an equal right to participate in the development of this
collective voice
