By Staff Reporter
November 21, 2019 (Ezega.com) -- November 20th has passed as an important date across the globe, a day the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959.
It is also the same date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since 1990, World Children's Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children's rights.
World Children's Day offers an inspiration to advocate, promote and celebrate children's rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for children.
Many schools and other educational institutions make a special effort to inform children of their rights according to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child whereas Teachers stimulate their students to think about the differences between themselves and others and explain the idea of rights.
Many countries, hold Universal Children's Day events to mark the anniversaries of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, the date of the celebration differs from country to country.
As one of the third diplomatic hubs in the world, Ethiopia also commemorates much of International celebrations including the Universal Children’s day.
The country has also adopted universal standard laws that seek to protect Children’s rights.
In this regard, the Ethiopian Ministry of Women and Children Affairs is following the implementation of international convention and national Laws pertinent to women, children and youth, conduct research and study, and prepare policy and guidelines
In spite of the Government of Ethiopia's remarkable strides in terms of growth and poverty alleviation in recent years, the rapid population growth particularly in urban areas increased pressures on government service provision, on opportunities for an increasing number of young job seekers, and on the environment.
There is an urgent need to address poverty levels, which remain high, particularly among households with children.
The economic situation of the country made it difficult for the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs as well as stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the policies on children as well as their safety.
Much of the population earns less than two dollars per day. Poverty is a major hurdle for Ethiopia to overcome development hurdles, blocking rights and proper living conditions for Ethiopian children.
The crushing poverty led to high infant mortality in the country which, according to Save the Children reports, are due to treatable illnesses such as pneumonia, malaria, roseola, and diarrhea While Malnutrition is still the main cause of death for children.
The birth rate of pf Ethiopia is also very high, which leads to increased poverty. Within these difficulties the Ethiopian Health Care system is gradually changing its policies and structure to cover much of the society.
While Poverty in the country also prevented Children from getting Education the existence of Discrimination, Child Trafficking and forced labor are the factors that are the cause for the vulnerability of Ethiopian Children, according to UNCIEF’s research.
In regional as well as national capitals, the issue of street children also dominates the issue of concern of Ethiopian Children.
An estimated 150,000 children live on the streets in Ethiopian cities. These vulnerable children left to their own means, often take on dangerous and degrading work. They often fall victim to drug addictions or sexual exploitation, among others.
To resolve the street children's Issue, it is to be recalled that Addis Ababa city administration launched a trust fund to provide shelter and basic needs for thousands of people living on the streets of the city, with a 100 million birr budget.
In a recent UNCIEF report, 65% of girls and women (ages 15-49) have undergone female genital mutilations (FGM/C) (47.1% in age 15-19), 3 million children are out of school (mainly from pastoralist and semi pastoralist communities). Only 3% of children under 5 have their births registered. Progress was made on malnutrition between 2000 to 2016 but still greater among children in rural areas (40 percent) than in urban areas (25 percent). The absolute number of poor has not changed between 2005 and 2013 (25 million people) and Multidimensional poverty and deprivation for children is very high: 90% of children (43 million) are deprived at least in 2 to 5 of the dimensions.
With all these shortcomings, the government of Ethiopia through its Ministry is expected to address timely issues on children as well as implement policies regarding children with a strong commitment to child responsive budgeting and accountability mechanisms.
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