It was 100 years ago when the Assembly of the League of Nations - the forerunner to the United Nations - adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child - the founding document of child rights. It was written by Save the Children founder Eglantyne Jebb, who was outraged at the suffering of children during the First World War. It was adopted by the United Nations on 26 September 1924, after Jebb presented the Declaration of the Rights of the Child at the League of Nations convention in Geneva.
"The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif must be sheltered," she said. Now called the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is one of the world's most widely accepted treaties, having been ratified by 195 countries, including New Zealand in 1993. At an event at Parliament, hosted by Save the Children New Zealand and Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March, Chief Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad said times had changed, but the needs of children had not.
"Life for children in Aotearoa New Zealand was obviously very different 100 years ago and today the children and young people of our country are facing fundamentally different challenges in their lives. They have different dreams and aspirations and we really need to be listening to what it is that they're saying we need to be doing to help uphold their rights." And after 100 years, ch.
