The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. Only three UN member states, Somalia, South Sudan and the United States, have yet to ratify.
Ratified by Thailand in 1992, the Convention details the fundamental rights that all nations must guarantee for their children. These include children’s rights to:
• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and have a voice in decisions that affect their lives.
Every five years, each country must provide a progress report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee is based in Geneva and it monitors each country’s efforts to guarantee the rights laid out in the Convention.
After considering Thailand’s latest report in 2012, the Committee noted many successes, including setting up legislation and state structures for the protection of children and their rights. But the Committee also highlighted a number of areas of concern and recommendation, including:
• protecting the rights of asylum seeking and refugee children;
• ensuring full and effective implementation of national legislation;
• ensuring adequate national budget and resources;
• strengthening early detection and prevention mechanisms and ensuring full protection of child victims of sexual exploitation and abuse;
• ensuring access to basic services for the most vulnerable, including minority children; refugees; asylum seekers; migrant children; street children; children with disabilities, children in poverty; children affected by the violence in the far south; children in conflict with the law; and children who have been trafficked or otherwise abused;
• raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility beyond the current f 12 years of age and ensuring that detention is used as a last resort and for as short a time as possible;
• monitoring and data collection; and
• ensuring equality between regions and groups in Thailand.