Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child for a General Comment on Children in Street Situations, 2016
Daly A., Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child for a General Comment on Children in Street Situations, 2016
4 Pages Posted: 29 Sep 2017
Date Written: April 1, 2016
Abstract
This submission considers and emphasises the relevance of Article 15 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to children in street situations. Article 15 enshrines: “[T]he rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.” In doing so, it is recognised that children have rights and needs to participate in and influence the social and political lives of the communities in which they live. Because of the nature of the experiences of children in street situations, CRC Article 15 is a crucial provision. Such children may form groups in order to maximise survival, they may find themselves lacking in working rights, and authorities often try to disperse them from the streets. Yet these activities and experiences are rarely understood as issues of association and assembly rights. Children are not often recognised as having or needing rights outside the family and child protection context. They often associate and assemble with others in more informal ways than adults, which are more difficult to protect legally and politically. It is argued in this submission that a General Comment on Children in Street Situations is an important opportunity, therefore, to highlight the fact that association and assembly rights are as relevant to children as to adults, if not more so.
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