Rights of the Child

My first post is dedicated to the commemmoration of 20 years of Convention on the Rights of the Child.

I think it is a moment for all of us to reflect on our actions and to restrategize our efforts with renewed vigour and spirit. Here in Bhutan, we now have the 'Constitution' that clearly states the basic principles, rights and duties related to the child; the new yet-to-be-formed local governments to take forward the cause; and the civil society gearing up to support the cause through resource mobilization and advocacy. I think we are more ready than ever before with our institutional strengths and driving forces.

At the individual family level:

Our emotional 'love' for our children cannot be debated, but what needs taking care is provision of an 'environment' conducive to the child's holistic development right from age zero. We forget what we are feeding the child when we mothers consume excessive alcohol with the child inside the womb. We forget what we are exposing the child to when we consume excessive alcohol in front of him/her on a daily routine basis and resort to violence. If we love our child as we claim we do and we know we do, we must love responsibly. This, I think, is a first step to child protection and not a responsibility of the government but an individual responsibility.