Millions of children still suffer, 20 years after child protection pact

Twenty years after a landmark agreement to protect children, 1 billion children are still deprived of food, shelter or clean water, and nearly 200 million are malnourished. Around the world, ceremonies are taking place today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the UN says has transformed the way children are treated.

Since the agreement 30% more children live beyond the age of five and more than 80% of children now go to school. But the UN children's fund (UNICEF) said last night a billion children in the world still go without food, shelter or healthcare and that millions are facing lives of poverty and abuse.“The challenge for the next 20 years is to build on the progress achieved, working together to reach those children who are still being denied their rights to survival, development, protection and participation," UNICEF Director Ann Veneman told a news conference.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees children the right to life, to education, the right to play and to be protected from abuse. It has the widest international support of any human rights treaty and has been ratified by 193 countries. Only two countries – the United States and Somalia – have not ratified it. Over 20 years, Veneman said, more than 70 countries have used the convention to incorporate codes protecting children and ensuring their rights in national legislation. The convention has also brought measures "to ensure that children are safeguarded from violence, abuse, discrimination and exploitation," Veneman said.Still, the report said 500 million to 1.5 billion children are estimated to experience violence annually. One of those was a former child soldier from Uganda, Grace Akallo, 29, who was at the conference.

Among the convention's most outstanding achievements was an increase in HIV prevention and treatment for children, and an increase in primary school education.In 2002, some 115 million children weren't going to school, while in 2007 the number dropped to 101 million, the report said. However, while the gender gap has narrowed, girls are still losing out, it said. Despite progress, UNICEF said children's rights are far from assured."It is unacceptable that children are still dying from preventable causes, like pneumonia, malaria, measles and malnutrition," Veneman said in a statement. "Many of the world's children will never see the inside of a schoolroom, and millions lack protection against violence, abuse, exploitation, discrimination and neglect."

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children