Indian Child delegates participated in Asian Children’s Summit 2019 at Bangkok

Two Odia Girls amongst the delegates
Bhubaneswar: The year 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of United Nation (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the most widely ratified international human rights treat body. The UN CRC is considered a land mark treaty that recognizes children as human beings who are entitled to a distinct set of fundamental rights. It sets out non-discrimination, best interest of the child, right to survival and development and child participation as the guiding principles for the realization of children rights. The UN CRC complemented by three optional protocols on the involvement of Children in armed Conflict (OPAC), Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (OPSC) and Communications Procedure (OPIC).
To commemorate CRC@30 the Asian Children’s summit was organized by Regional Secretariat of South Asian Initiative for Ending Violence against Children (SAIEVAC), Child Right Coalition, Asia and ACWC Thailand for ASIAN Region, hosted in Bangkok, Thailand from 25 to 29th November 2019. It was an effort to create a common voice for children of Asia in a child – friendly, inclusive and gender sensitive space. Children from South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia came together to form their opinions and give recommendation on the realization of their rights. The objective of the Summit was to contribute to the realization of the right of the child to be heard.
In this summit India was represented by 4 child participants namely Preetimayee Sahoo, Milonee Mishra, from Odisha Prathit Singh and Sasha Agrawal from West Bengal The child delegates were nominated by National Action and Coordination Group for Ending Violence against Children (NACG EVAC), India through a national level nomination process. They were accompanied by Ms. Anuradha Mohanty, Executive Director, PECUC and Mr. Sisir Thanikal of IJM, Kolkata. Around 22 countries from Asia participated in this summit. The specific aim of the summit was to gather children’s recommendations on the realization of their rights, to build the children’s advocacy capacity and to provide a venue for cultural exchange. The principal theme was Justice for Children, leave no one behind. The sub theme was violence against children, children’s right to a healthy environment, children in digital environment and children on move.