Leo Semashko

About the UN Convention o­n the Rights of the child and its addition

The UN Convention is good as a text, humanitarian norm and cultural value, but it is bad (unsatisfactory) as a state mechanism, executive tool and pragmatic, vital institute. Therefore Convention practically is not carried out anywhere, it almost everywhere idling and always inefficient. It recognizes o­ne’s UNICEF, which initiative it was developed and accepted by the UN. For 15 years Convention could not overcome the tendency of deterioration of a situation with children in the world. The UN Special Session o­n children (May 2002), initiated by UNICEF was compelled to recognize, that the modern society leaves children in "poverty, discrimination and neglect". Children remain the most humiliated and marginal part of the population all over the world. The honest and fair protection for children today does not exist anywhere in the world. The Convention in its modern condition IS UNABLE to break or even to brake this tendency, destroying childhood. This tendency can be broken o­nly then, when children become a priority of society and centre of its attention and financing. o­nly with an universal LAW “About Children’s Suffrage Executed by Parents and Guardians”, concretized for culture of each country and civilization can create a priority to children, to make their by centre of public attention and budget financing. The project of a such law is developed by me for Russia and submitted in my booklet and o­n the website "A New Culture of Peace from Harmony and Children’s Priority" (http://www.peacefromharmony.spb.ru/docs/2-4_eng.pdf ). A final conclusion: that the Convention became an alive practical tool it should be complemented by children’s suffrage executed by parents. After that the long years are required to embody this universal right in the appropriate national laws. o­nly so the Convention will work. o­nly children’s suffrage executed by parents will force to work all its other rights, will create a priority to children and will put them in the centre of society. Other, easier and simple way for this purpose, in my opinion, does not exist.(It is from presentation at the International Conference "Childhoods - 2005" in Oslo, in June 2005)