CHAPTER 1

1.0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

• BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Despite significant progress in recent decades, millions of children continue to be denied human rights. Children’s lives are now more than ever being impacted by crime, war, and the effects of climate change. Around 800 million children live in vulnerable and conflict-affected areas around the world, where child rights are often denied and childhoods are robbed by neglect, exploitation, and slavery.

We believe that every child deserves a childhood in all of its glory, surrounded by caring families and communities free of abuse, and with the same opportunities as other children. Poverty, exploitation, and abuse do not have to be a part of life. Many of the issues that children face stem from exploitative practices and educational disparities in both developed and emerging societies.

The world’s most disadvantaged children will thrive and achieve their full potential in a safe environment where children’s rights are respected. We are dedicated to fighting for these rights so that children can have a complete childhood.

Simply put, child rights refer to a child’s civil rights. Every child has rights, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, income, or birthplace.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child enshrines these rights in international law (CRC). It recognizes the importance of treating all children fairly, equally, and with respect. The laws enacted under the Child Rights Convention are nondiscriminatory and always act in the best interests of the child.[1]

The United Nations (UN) children’s rights convention recognizes and defines a child as any human being under the age of 18 years old, unless maturity is reached earlier under the legislation applicable to the child.[2]

The UN’s child rights state that children are entitled to special protection and assistance because they are considered vulnerable. According to the CRC, all children should grow up in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity, and all nations have a responsibility to provide these rights by the law of the UN.[3]

The United Nations (UN) convention on children’s rights acknowledges and describes a child as any human being under the age of 18 years old, unless maturity is achieved earlier under the child’s relevant legislation.

Since children are deemed insecure, the UN’s child rights treaties state that they are entitled to special care and assistance. All children should grow up in a spirit of harmony, integrity, tolerance, independence, equality, and solidarity, according to the CRC, and all nations are obligated to provide these rights under UN law.

A history of children’s rights

Following the debilitating psychological and physical effects of twentieth-century world wars on children, the United Nations (UN) agreed that children’s human rights needed special safeguards.

Following World War I, the League of Nations (later to become the United Nations) drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which included the rights to life, food, shelter, education, freedom of expression and faith, justice, and peace.[4]

Recognizing the vulnerability of girls, the United Nations decided to adopt the Geneva Declaration on Children’s Rights. With only five statements, this declaration was concise, but it outlined a list of obligations for children who were deemed vulnerable.

The Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly after World War II. This declaration paved the way for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to be adopted in 1989, making it the first legally binding international document to protect children’s rights.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights for Children is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. It lays down the rules.

1. Children should not suffer discrimination.[5]
2. In all decisions affecting children, their best interests should be the main concern.[6]
3. Children have the right to survive and develop healthily.[7]
4. Children have the right to have their views taken into account in matters that affect them.[8]

The protection of the rights of children in Cameroon has always been subject to controversy. Even after the entry into force of the CRC, children’s right is still being violated. Our concern is to clarify these rights and to allow, readers understand the protection mechanisms that have been laid down by various conventions and the degree of violation of these rights in Cameroon.