November 20, 2014, marks the 25th anniversary of when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
As this anniversary approaches, the Campaign for U.S. Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child released a letter addressed to the President of the United States asking him to support the ratification of the CRC. You will find the signature of Brother Dennis Malloy, FSC, Chair of the Regional Conference of Christian Brothers and Visitor of the District of Eastern North America (DENA), on page five, on behalf of Lasallians in our Region.
Dr. Margaret McCarty, Executive Director of Christian Brothers Conference, and Brother Ernest Miller, FSC, from DENA, represent the Lasallian mission on the Campaign for the Rights of the Child. The Campaign for U.S. Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a volunteer-driven network of academics, attorneys, advocates for child and human rights, educators, members of religious and faith-based communities, physicians, representatives from non-governmental organizations, students, and other concerned citizens who seek to bring about U.S. ratification and implementation of the CRC. The CRC was drafted with the specific purpose of promoting and protecting the well-being of all children, regardless of national boundaries.
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From left, Brother Timothy Coldwell, Brother Larry Schatz, Brother Dennis Malloy and Brother Robert Schieler signed the advocacy statement in 2011.
This letter is not the first time Lasallians have expressed support for the CRC. On November 19, 2011, at the Huether Lasallian Conference, the Region’s General Councilor and Visitors who were serving at that time signed a “Standing for Children” statement advocating for the promotion and protection of the rights of children and committing themselves to helping children achieve their full human dignity. In addition, the RCCB also signed the CRC letter to the President of the United States in 2012.
The CRC calls upon political and religious leaders, as well as civil society organizations in this country and throughout the world, to move toward achieving real progress in the protection of children’s rights. Adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989 and instituted as international law in 1990, it is the first legally binding international document that incorporates the full range of human rights (civil, cultural, economic, political and social) into a single text. All countries have ratified the CRC, except for the United States and Somalia.
November 20 has become known as Universal Children’s Day. Resources are available on the Campaign for the Rights of the Child website to promote the effort on that day.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]