The world recently marked the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty that established that children have the right to life, freedom from discrimination, and participation in decisions that affect their welfare and health. Over the past three decades, every nation except the U.S. has ratified the treaty, and yet humanity continues to fail its children, according to Susan Bissell of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights.
In a November 20, 2019 CNN.com opinion piece, Bissell wrote, “In a world of roughly 2 billion children, where approximately 1 billion of them experience violence each year, I’d say we are far from realizing [the treaty’s] general principles.”
Despite bleak headlines from Syria, the U.S./Mexico border, and South Sudan about the maltreatment of children, Bissell continues to hold out hope. “Violence against children is not inevitable; there are steps we can take to protect our children, today and for the future, if we can come together to make the change,” she wrote.
Read the CNN.com op-ed: What we owe children on a special 30th anniversary