Right to Survival – A Basic Right of a Child
A call came to our CHILDLINE
number - 1098 at 4.20 p.m on June 19, 2014 and the informer said
that he found a new born baby with a family who were not the parents of the
child at Karimadom slum. Our team rushed
to the spot and found a four days old baby with a physically challenged man and
a blind woman who were incapable of caring for the child. They could not explain
whose child it was. “A woman from Selam has been staying here for last three
months and she gave birth to a child four days ago and left the place yesterday”
said the neighbours.
Baby’s health was very
critical as it was not receiving breast milk. Our staff rescued the child and handed
over to the child to Child Welfare Council (Sisukshema Samiti) to care for the
child. We provided the details of the
baby to the District collector Mr. Biju Prabhakar. He ordered an inquiry and
asked the council to admit the baby to Thycaud Hospital for immediate medical
care.
“Right to Survival” is a
basic right of a child. According to the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Child Rights are minimum entitlements and freedoms
that should be afforded to all persons below the age of 18 regardless of race,
colour, gender, language, religion, opinions, origins, wealth, birth status or
ability and therefore apply to all people everywhere. The UN finds these rights
interdependent and indivisible, meaning that a right cannot be fulfilled at the
expense of another right. A Child’s right to survival begins from conception. The
right to survival is inclusive of the child rights to be born, right to minimum
standards of food, shelter and clothing, and the right to live with dignity.
Our team’s timely
intervention has saved the life of the child and it is proved again that there
can be no compromises where the right of a child is concerned. Let us join
together to protect and uphold the right of every child!
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