CHILD IS THE FATHER OF MAN

CRY AMERICA - CHILD RIGHTS CHARTER

• Ensure a universal definition of "child" to include all persons under the age of 18.
• All children aged 6-18 years, without discrimination, should be in formal, full-time schools that provide quality education.
• All children below 6 years should be provided pre-primary schooling opportunities.
• Governments should ensure that all children complete schooling. (The Indian governments expenditure on education should increase to 10% of GDP + the Indian Free and Compulsory Education Bill needs to be redrafted to remove sanctions on parents).
• Complete prohibition of all forms of child labor across sectors, including agriculture.
• Ensure that the child is protected from all forms of violence (home & outside) including abuse, exploitation, neglect, bullying, abandonment, discriminatory traditional practices, violent cultural rites, inclusion as messengers/agents in war scenarios and structural violence stemming from larger social, political & economical issues
• Eliminate the culture of silence & shame around child sexual abuse which is the best kept secret of most Indian homes & communities. Existing research reveals that children of both sexes are vulnerable to it and most abusers are people known to the children, including family members.
• No child should go to bed hungry and no child should be born underweight and stay undernourished. (Coverage of the Indian Public Distribution System needs to be expanded to include all poor and socially excluded families + Provision of nutritious mid-day meals needs to be made available in all public primary schools + the Integrated Child Development Services needs to be made available to all children under the age of six years as per the Supreme Court order of November 2001).
• India to increase budgetary allocations on Health to 5% of GDP.
• Revision of Policies for children from in line with the United Nations Charter on Child Rights (The Indian National Policy for Children (1974) to be redrafted in line with the Indian Constitution and the UN Charter on Child rights)