| |
Children
are born with the fundamental freedoms and the rights of all the human
beings. This is the essential premise of the convention on the children's
rights, an international treaty of human rights which has impacted
children´s and their families lives, over the ten past years,throughout
the entire planet. 32
Nowadays
the countries of the world, except for two, have accepted to observe
the norms of this treaty, in which is underlined the importance
that everybody , especially the governments, protect those children
under eighteen years old.
In
the Colombian state a according to the constitution ammended of
1991 children´s rights are fore there is a committed respect
ans protection of human dignited of the children.
Picking up what stated by Esmeralda Ruiz in the document "The
sense of the social projects", the rights are in turn universal
values of coexistence, based in the human dignity, the reason and
the justice. They conform the individual's and community awareness
and they imply the recognition of some minimum conditions of material
and spiritual order which should be guaranteed to all people.
In spite of the fact that the rights have been conceived as the
essential, the essence of the democratic system, has proven that
in spite of being applicable to everyone without discrimination
of any nature, there are certain groups of people that are not protected
in the enjoyment of their rights by diverse reasons. A clear example
of this situation in Colombia has to do with the serious violation
of the human rights of children and adolescents. When going over
the different areas of the law, we broadly find the following situation
on the subject of childhood rights:
Life
and Survival Area
- Massacre
and violent murder of minors
- Malnutrition
- Infantile
mortality for anticipated causes
- Increase
substance abuse that begins before ten years
- Deficiency
health Services
Development
and Education Area
- School
desertion
- Low
quality education
- 11%
of illiteracy at national level
Protection
area
- Inter-family
violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse
- Prostitution
- Juvenile
delinquency
- Lying
- child
labour
- Street
children
- Children
linked to the armed conflict
Participation
Area
- School
and authoritarian family
- Limited
recognition or respect for the participation of boys and girls
in the matters that concern them
Many
of the situations mentioned demostrated absence of the state. It
has also been notorious the absence of the society and the family
exercising their citizenship. Not only doesthe state has had in
its programs a "assistantship mentality" within its programs,
but also the civil society hopes that the actual government will
solve the problem.
"Assistantship
mentality": the government only provides physical things and
does not implement processes of self solution or actualization.
Nowadays,
we have significant advances as the ratification of the children
rights and the constitution of 1991,but there is still a lot of
things to do. The guarantee of the childhood rights has not been
assumed in a responsible way neither by the state, nor the family
and nor the society. For this reason, it is imperative that for
each of the instances specific actions must be developed for the
construction of a better country, so that as a result, the culture
grows in favor of the children, rooted in full validity and respect
of the rights.
Children´s
rights should not only be a group of principles but they must become
grounds for social policies, and challenges which focus on actions
and programs which improve life conditions of children and their
families. The success indicators must not be different from those
that reflect government and civil society's concern to provide the
best conditions of life to the population. These indicators should
be objective records on the access and participation of children
in the services that guarantee the satisfaction of their basic needs
of health, education, recreation, culture, protection, nutrition
and growth, etc.
To
set up the lines of action around the diffusion and the practices
of children's rights, it is a good idea to differentiate two levels:
the cultural ethical-value based dimension and the pragmatic or
operative dimension these two levels must maintain a close relationship.
a.
The cultural ethical-value based dimension
The
conception that one has about the boy, the girl and the factors
that affect their developmented process, is one of the main aspects
of people culture. This cultural dimension can not be forgotten
in the moment of defining policy and programs in favor of the childhood,
because of its affectation depends the continuity and the final
impact of the specific actions and programs. It becomes necessary
to promote a "cultural rupture" that allows the boy and
the girl in the development process to be the center of all concerns
of all the agencies in the society.
The
aim is to consolidate a culture which overcomes the childs rhetoric
as a future citizen and recognizes the opportunities and life conditions
of the present as the base or ecological environment that facilitates
or impedes the development of the human abilities.
b)
The program dimension (offer and demand of services)
This
dimension responds to the satisfaction of the basic needs for the
survival and full development. Its practice begins with the recognition
and acceptance of such needs to satisfy those rights. It is a responsibility
of the state and the society in general to recognize the social
investment in the childhood as a priority, not for charitable reasons,
but because it corresponds to a model of society and an ethics which
treats children as equals.
|
32
Ortiz, Nelson. Diseño y evaluación de proyectos, una
herramienta para el fortalecimiento Institucional. Fundación
Antonio Restrepo Barco - UNICEF, junio del 2000, Pg. 134. |
| |
In
order to have a conscious and critical appropriation of the rights
of the childhood from the same children, the parents, the family and
the society in general, the programs that benefit the child should
include in strategy the following principles:
- Community
organization and participation
The
execution of the rights and the satisfaction of childhood needs
are a responsibility of the whole society and therefore, a wide
participation of all the sectors is required in the planning and
development of the programs, the objective is to provide better
life conditions, as well as bigger and better opportunities for
the harmonic development of all children.
- Planning
with a gender perspective
The
programming, evaluation and pursuit with a gender perspective must
be a basic principle of each of the actions and projects. The situation
analyses will give visibility to the specific problems of the girls,
adolescents and women so that gender needs may be identified.
The
programs and strategies of rasing a child can not be continued configuring
under the supposition that the responsibility of the upbringing
and care are a mothers ´problem or strictly "feminine".
In this traditionally macho and authoritarian culture, the fathers
also need to learn the language of affection, the fondness of the
paternity and the reconciliation with the leisure dimension.
- Education
and increase of consciousness
Besides
the situation of poverty that affects a great part of the population,
the conditions for the development of the childhood are determined
by cultural factors that are always expressed in beliefs, attitudes
and behaviors that are not favorable for children and teen girls
of growth. Therefore it is required to base all action or politics
on a deliberate and intensive educational process and reflection
which affect the practice of upbringing, the popular conception
on the infantile development and the relationship models within
the socialization processes.
This
process to increase public awareness and to educate will be guided
preferentially to the family unit in their diverse forms and dynamics,
as basic context of the human development. The family in its different
forms and configurations, establishes the net of relationships that
forms the social relationships in general.
It
is not to improve the situation to today's children, but to contribute
to the effectiveness of the social mechanisms for the realization
of equality. Therefore, it will be necessary to promote the use
of programs with little coverage to impact governmental and public
policies. It is indispensable to promote the establishment of agreements
of social and political consents that allow the implementation of
the political state that overcomes the plans of the development
situation.
It
is necessary to benefit the community in general, to have impact
on the expectations and the residents' beliefs and to affect positively
the culture on the childhood, so that the changes in the rules of
upbringing can be lasting and widespread.
The coherence with the declaration of the rights of the child, is
to create the necessary conditions so that all children and teen
girl, without exception, can fully enjoy their right to live in
an atmosphere of affection and protection, under the guidance and
care of their parents and other adults, under good nutritional conditions,
with free and appropriate services of health and education, as full
citizens, with a vision and an own logic and to interpret the world
that surrounds them. They need games, exploration, and the learning
experiences, to develop all their potential and to participate as
active members in its social group.
|
 |
