New York -
Every child should enjoy the benefits of innovations that could help tackle some of the world's most pressing issues, the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) said in a report released on Thursday as it marked the 25th anniversary of a landmark treaty on children's rights.
The Unicef report notes that new ideas and methods have radically changed the lives of children in the past 25 years and calls for investment in innovative methods and products that can ensure that basic rights of children are respected.
“Inequity is as old as humanity, but so is innovation - and it has always driven humanity's progress,” said Anthony Lake, executive director for Unicef.
“In our ever-more connected world, local solutions can have global impact - benefiting children in every country who still face inequity and injustice every day.”
The report warns that the poorest 20 percent of children in the world are twice as likely to die before age 5 than the richest 20 percent, while millions of children around the world also face abuse, discrimination and lack access to education and clean water.
The report also includes a crowd-sourced compilation of innovations that could have a large impact on the welfare of children, such as a urine-powered electricity generator invented by four Nigerian girls.
Other innovative methods highlighted include a community-based model of care to tackle malnutrition and a mobile-phone-based system to engage Liberian youth amidst the Ebola crisis.
Bisman Deu, a 16-year-old innovator from India, was also featured in the report for developing an eco-friendly building material using unwanted side-products of rice plants, which farmers usually burn, worsening air pollution.
“The right to participation... increases our responsibility to understand that we are citizens of today and the future does lie in our hands,” Deu said at an event launching the report.
“We're positioned to make a change.”
The report came as the United Nations on Thursday celebrated the 25th anniversary of the most comprehensive human rights treaty on the promotion and protection of children's rights known as the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the document as the most widely ratified human rights treaty that has led to legislative changes to protect children's rights around the globe.
However, Ban warned that despite the success of the convention, children still suffer from grave injustices with 168 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 being stuck in child labour in 2012 and 11 percent of girls being married off before age 15.
“To make the vision of the convention a reality for every child will require innovative solutions, a major increase in resources and political will to invest in children and put their well-being at the centre of the political, economic and social agenda,” Ban said. - Sapa-dpa