World Children’s Day and Gaza’s infants

Nations around the globe, human rights forums, civil society organizations, and the general public marked World Children’s Day on November 20th, to commemorate the 1989 adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the most widely ratified human rights treaty in mankind’s history. Historically, by ratifying this international legal framework, the nations across the globe acknowledged that all children have inalienable rights and they promised to protect and uphold those commitments in their countries at all cost. Unfortunately, today’s world is increasingly hostile to children’s rights, safety, and well-being.

According to an estimate, 400 million children, or 1 child in every 5 are currently living in or fleeing from conflict zones. Many of them have been injured, killed, or sexually abused and countless children lost their family members and friends. At the same time, child soldiers are being recruited, trained and armed for subsequent use in the conflict zones in this so-called civilized world. Meanwhile, rising poverty and inequality, public health emergencies, and the global climate crisis are existential threats to children’s health, and well-being and infringe on children’s rights in the contemporary world. This year, World Children’s Day is being celebrated under the theme of every child’s every right to reaffirm the commitment to safeguard the rights and well-being of children without any discrimination.

The recent World Children’s Day comes at a time when a humanitarian crisis is at its peak in occupied Palestinian territories including the West Bank and Gaza. Thousands of Palestinian Children are currently living in the worst conflict zone and their lives are at grave risk as the so-called survivors of the holocaust and Nazism have currently weighed a modern-day holocaust against humanity and launched a genocide and total disaster against innocent unarmed Palestinians on their land. According to the UN statistics, children and elderly people are the biggest victims of Israel’s aggression against Gaza which has entered into seventh week.

As said, more than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military and a majority of them are children, and women. The horrifying scenes of war, gunfights, bombardment, and ruination, along with dead bodies and seriously injured have an undying psychological impact on Palestinian children. In fact, the world is witnessing a children’s holocaust in Gaza where Palestinian children are experiencing ruthless hostility from brutal assassins instead of a war campaign of a regular army that is usually governed by the global convention of war, the Geneva Convention, and humanitarian laws.

Almost three and a half decades after the adoption of the Universal Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the UN, global community, and human rights forums failed to manifest those sane ideas into reality as the crimes against children, abuse of children’s rights still contour and the provision of their fundamental rights including access to free education, health, shelter, and safety could not be realized in most parts of the world from North America to Oceania and Asia to Africa. Hence, this day demands some practical steps from world leaders instead of issuing traditional sermons, media releases, and motivational speeches that amuse the audience but failed to bring any change in human society over the past 34 years.

The global community is worried about the rights, well-being, and safety of their children. However, they must not forget innocent Palestinian infants who face existential threats from occupier Israeli forces. It is the fundamental duty of global leaders to raise their voices against the ongoing inhumane atrocities against innocent Palestinians, particularly children. It is worth mentioning that today children’s rights are under attack and the need for reaffirming children’s status as distinct, independent rights holders and ensuring accountability for violations of children’s rights wherever they occur. The world community as a whole must raise itself to the promise of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to achieve its manifesto of every right for every child.