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The Rights of Palestinian Children
By June Kunugi and Monica Awad
Pop quiz: Which human rights treaty is the most widely and rapidly ratified in the world? Answer: The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which marks its 25th anniversary this year. Advocates for children’s rights and human-rights sceptics alike nod their heads and say, “Of course, people will agree to anything for children…”
The reality of the situation of children in the world today shows that there is still far, far more that needs to be done to achieve the standards and principles set by the Convention. Yet there is no denying that much has been achieved since its entry into force. As a binding instrument of international law, it has guided legal reforms to better protect children, and set the best interests of the child as the principle by which actions and decisions should be taken on behalf of children.
The State of Palestine is demographically a very young state. Out of a total of 4.4 million Palestinians residing in the State, there are more than two million children below the age of 18 (more than 1.2 million children in the West Bank and more than 860,000 in Gazai), comprising 47 percent of the total population.ii Given this proportion, the Palestinian agenda should be a children’s agenda, focused on investing in them and maximising their potential as the most strategic, cost-effective, and morally right approach to building state, economy, and society.
Measures to protect children’s rights in the State of Palestine are deep-rooted in Palestinian history. Between 1995 and 2004, the Palestinian Authority and non-governmental organisations with the participation of children worked diligently to promote and advocate for the rights of children, which culminated in the development of the first Palestinian Child’s Rights Law.
Challenges to the fulfilment of Palestinian children’s rights
Yet despite these milestones, Palestinian children are born and grow up in an environment in which there are many challenges and obstacles to the fulfilment of their rights, including their rights to survival, to quality education, and to protection from violence. Due to the decades-long occupation coupled with internal instabilities and strife, children continue to live with acute levels of distress, poverty and other deprivations, and violence.
Adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18 comprise nearly a fifth of the Palestinian population and are considered among the most vulnerable groups of children. They are more exposed to violence, child labour, substance abuse, school drop-out, and early marriage. They live in an environment marked by increasing vulnerabilities and violence, and a lack of safe play areas, particularly for girls. One-third of adolescents aged 16 to 17 are out of school. The majority of them are boys - 41 percent of 16- to 17-year-old boys are out of school.iii Adolescents also lack opportunities to develop their skills, talents, and self-confidence, and to participate constructively in their communities. Alternatives to formal education are lacking as opportunities for vocational education remain limited. All these trends put adolescents at higher risk of violence, abuse, and exploitation.
Children with disabilities are at an even higher risk of violence, abuse, and exploitation. Although the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) has recently adopted an inclusive education policy, children with disabilities still face a wide range of physical, social, and environmental barriers to full participation in society, including reduced access to health care, education, and other support services. They are also thought to be at significantly greater risk of violence than their peers without disabilities.
Violence against children in the home, in school, and in the community is one of the most pressing issues faced by Palestinian children. A 2011 survey by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics found that 51 percent of children aged 12 to 17 years were exposed to violence inside the household, by a member of the household.iv It also showed that 69 percent of children in the same age group had been exposed to psychological violence, and 34 percent to physical violence by their parents.v The impact of the occupation and conflict-related violence, and the widespread acceptance and perpetuation of violence within society present major challenges to securing children’s rights to protection and their ability to live in a safe environment.
While mortality rates among children under 5 years of age dropped from 33 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 23 in 2010, due to the Ministry of Health’s dedicated efforts and support from the international community, there is now a need to focus on tackling neonatal mortality (during the first 28 days of a child’s life), which accounts for an overwhelming majority of deaths of children under the age of 5. Another major obstacle to child survival is injuries and accidents, the majority of them traffic-related, which reportedly are the single largest factor of deaths of children under the age of 4.vi
Children also face challenges due to inadequate access to quality basic services. With the lack of Palestinian control over water resources, children and families lack access to safe, sufficient, and affordable water. In the West Bank the Barrier has cut off certain Palestinian communities from their water sources and caused damage to community water networks; wastewater from some Israeli settlements flows downhill into Palestinian communities and seeps into groundwater and surface water sources alike.vii In Gaza, water quality is the main issue, as the aquifer has been contaminated with sewage, toxic chemicals, and seawater, and the World Health Organization has assessed that up to 95 percent of it is unfit to drink.
In Gaza, the closure has seriously inhibited rehabilitation of conflict-damaged infrastructure and slowed new construction of sanitation facilities. Poor sanitation infrastructure and poor water management and hygiene practices at household level represent major obstacles. These include sub-optimal cleaning of water tanks and cisterns, and poor hygiene standards, which contribute to depriving children of their rights to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.
While enrolment rates of children in basic education are very good, quality education is still not provided.viii Poor learning environment marked by increased violence in schools, including in classrooms, is a major obstacle to quality education for many of the 1.2 million students attending 2,573 schools in the West Bank and Gaza. Children are learning in dilapidated, overcrowded, and unsuitable school premises. Teachers are too often under-qualified and under-motivated, using outdated methods and curricula. Restrictions on access and movement, and harassment of school children by soldiers and settlers have a damaging effect on learning outcomes.... READ MORE
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