MOSCOW, November 20 (Sputnik) — On Thursday, the world observes Universal Children's Day, timed to the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly in 1959 and 1989 respectively.
According to the Convention, a child refers to any human being under the age of 18. A child is to be registered at birth has a right to acquire a name and nationality, and, as far as possible, the right to know his or her parents and to have parental care.
Parties to the convention are to ensure that children are not separated from their parents against their will, except when authorities deem that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child, such as in cases where the child is ill-treated and neglected by his or her parents.
Parties also respect children's right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. They recognize the right of children to living standards necessary for their physical, intellectual, spiritual, moral and social development. A child's parents or legal guardians are responsible within the scope of their abilities and financial opportunities to provide appropriate conditions for his or her development.
Parties should, in compliance with national conditions and within the scope of their authority, provide, if necessary, financial aid and promote programs providing food, clothing and housing.
Parties recognize a child's right to education, and in order to allow the child to gradually exercise this right based on equal opportunities, are to make primary education free and compulsory, encourage various forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, provide its accessibility to all children and implement appropriate measures such as providing free education and rendering financial assistance where necessary, take measures encouraging school attendance and reducing drop-outs.
Parties recognize the right of children to be protected from economic exploitation and from doing any work that can interfere with their education, or to be harmful to their health, or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
On January 26, 1990, the Convention was signed by 61 UN member states, which allowed its swift ratification. Once the convention was ratified by 20 member states, including the USSR, it came into force on September 2, 1990, and became part of international law in these countries.
In order to protect children's rights and for sake of their survival and development, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was founded. It ensures that the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women are fulfilled. UNICEF operates in 191 countries cooperating with national governments, international organizations, civil society and youth groups, aiming to provide every child with health care and education, and to promote equality and prosperity.
In 2000 global leaders set Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include pledge to halve extreme poverty by 2015, stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide universal primary education. Although the goals are set for mankind as a whole, the greater part of the goals relate to children's needs and life improvement.
According to a report published in 2013 by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division, child mortality has reduced by half compared to 1990, when the number of deaths of children under the age of 5 exceeded 12 million.
That means that in absolute figures 17,000 fewer children under the age of 5 die annually, with four out of five deaths occurring in Africa and South Asia, according to UN data.
In Russia, child mortality has reduced threefold over the last 30 years. In 2013, the mortality rate of infants with extremely low body mass was by 5 percent lower.
Statistics show that children born to poor families are twice more likely to die as children from a better social background. Children born to educated mothers have the lowest mortality rate. The experts explain the reduction of child mortality rates with technological growth and advances made in diagnosing diseases early.
