“Article 36: You have the right to protection from any kind of exploitation (being taken advantage of).”
“Save the Children defines protection as measures and structures to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence affecting children.”
All children have the right to protection, as expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and in other international human rights, humanitarian, and refugee treaties, conventions, as well as national laws.
Our focus is children survivors or those at risk of gender-based violence (sexual abuse, child/early marriages, female genital mutilation, gender discrimination), children exposed to physical and humiliating punishment, juvenile justice (child detainees and ex-detainees, children sheltered in social welfare institutions), children affected by armed conflict, and children most at risk (marginalised children, street children, children living in conflict areas and refugee children).
In 2009-2012 Save the Children Sweden will focus on establishing and strengthening National Child Protection Systems as well as promoting the development and enforcement of child protection policies and protocols at national and civil society levels in the three main countries of operation, Yemen, OPT and Lebanon, as a follow up to the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence Against Children.
Situation in the Middle East and North Africa
All the states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Following the ratification of the CRC, MENA countries have enacted or proposed to enact laws that protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. A number of countries have put in place comprehensive child laws that bring together legal provisions for the protection of the child. In countries where no comprehensive child laws have been introduced, specific laws have been adopted or amended to better promote child protection.
Nevertheless, countries in the MENA region need to expedite the adoption and enforcement of the proposed laws, to strengthen efforts and provide better legal protection for children, as well as ensure that relevant domestic laws are in full conformity with the principles and provisions of the CRC, through enacting new legislations and or amending existing ones.
Child protection remains a serious issue for all countries in the region, despite progress in the legislative and programmatic fronts – with many of the governments in the MENA working with civil society groups, international NGOs, regional bodies, donors and United Nations agencies to better protect children. The nature and extent of child protection issues vary by country and include issues such as violence against children – whether at homes, schools or institutional settings – harmful practices, particularly female genital mutilation and early marriages, juvenile justice, exploitative child labour and birth registration.
We work towards.:
- Children enjoying their protection rights and experiencing less violence in their daily lives
- Improving and strengthening structures and measures at all levels of society that safeguard children’s right to protection.
In the MENA region we work on protecting children from abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation and discrimination. We do this through working directly with children and also with government as well as civil society stakeholders and parents on improving legislations, policies, mindsets and introducing best practices.