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child rightsnot even let her look at her brotherstextbooks. She stays at home withher mother to cook and clean. Hulais 14 years old. There are another68 million girls like Hula, who donot receive any education at all.Article 24 CRC:“States Partiesrecognise the right of the child to theenjoyment of the highest attainablestandard of health.”Article 7 CRC:“The child ….(has)the right to know andbe cared for by his orher parents.”It is fair to saythat a lot hasbeen achievedin the last10 to 15 years,a very shortperiod,given themiseryhundreds ofmillions ofchildrenlive in.Monica is connectedto a feeding tube. Hercheeks are puffy, herstomach distended andweighs only 10 lbs. Shedoes not smile, laugh oreven cry. She lies therewith a blank look onher face. She probablywill not make itthrough the end of themonth. She is a crackbaby. Her mother lefther on the front step ofan American hospital.Again, this is oneexample of the manyMonicas in this world.Many more children diebefore they can celebratetheir first birthday.In fact, every 24 hours about35,000 children die of preventablediseases.Article 33 CRC:“States Partiesshall take all appropriate measures…toprotect children from theillicit use of narcotic drugs.”Micky started using heroin whenhe was 10. He uses any needle hecan get his hands on. He’ll even sellhis body. Three of his Canadianfriends have died from AIDS in thelast year.Article 19 (1): “States Parties shalltake all appropriate….measures toprotect the child from all forms ofphysical or mental violence…includingsexual abuse.”Article 27 CRC:“States Parties recognizethe right of every child to astandard of living adequate for thechild’s physical, mental, spiritual,moral and socialdevelopment…States Partiesshall…assist parents and otherresponsible for the child to implementthis right and shall in case ofneed provide materialassistance…particularly with regardto nutrition, clothing and housing.”Jule was raped by aneighbor. She takescare of her infantdaughter with the scantmoney she earns frommaking bread. The restof her family died fromAIDS. She has neverbeen to school in Ghana.Jule is 13 years old.Musa was about 16years old when he washeld in a detention centrein Chernokovo, atown in Chechyna, fromJanuray 16. 2000 untilFebruary 5, 2000, andhe was severely beatenand tortured every day.He was left with a fracturedspine, which maycause permanent paralysis.Another boy (17years old) was broughtto prison; his teeth were sawn offwith a metal file and his lips areshredded, leaving him unable to eat,drink or speak.Unfortunately, many more examplesof torture, and inhumane anddegrading treatment of children canbe given. Organisations, likeAmnesty International, HumanRights Watch, and OMCT(Organisation Mondiale Contre IaTorture), regularly report on themany instances of violence againstchildren, which happen in many differentways and in a wide variety ofsettings, such as families, fostercare, schools, institutions, andfacilities that serve law enforcementpurposes.These and many other examples ofviolations of children’s rights seemto suggest that the CRC-operationalfor more than 10 years has had littleor no impact. It may be true thatthe CRC had little, if any, meaningfor many children, particularly thevery poor and the most vulnerable.But at the same time, it is fair to saythat a lot has been achieved in thelast 10 to 15 years, a very short period,given the misery hundreds ofmillions of children live in, is theresult of many decades of structuralneglect of children and their rights.But, it is also true that a lot stillneeds to be done. Let me elaboratea little bit (more will result in abook) on these two elements: theachievements and the challenges,with particular attention to howthese challenges can be addressed.A Change of Policy andAttitude?The developments in the field ofchildren’s rights since 1990 (theCRC had entered into force on Sept.2, 1990) can be characterised withwords like awareness raising, training,change of laws, efforts to changeattitudes, and the development ofnational plans of action. These activities,changes and developmentswere and are the result of major andvery visible international events andof less visible, but ongoing andrather structural, activities withinthe framework of the monitoring ofthe CRC implementation by theCRC Committee. The first, and veryvisible, event that should be mentionedis the World Summit forChildren (WSC) organised byUNICEF in September 1990, whereover 70 Heads of States and a largenumber of other StateRepresentatives adopted a declarationand a plan of action for the survivaland development of children.The WSC was important for variousreasons. For example:The WSC contributed unmistakablyto an unprecedented level of14 combat law • April - May 2004