Goodbye Little Orange Box

These are comments we received on our tumblr regarding the Halloween orange box campaign. There is a reason as to why we have not been seeing those boxes lately. Unfortunately, the little boxes we fondly remembered are no longer a Halloween tradition in Canada. A yearly Trick-or-Treat routine that began in 1995, ended its 50 years tradition in 2006. Why? Canadians had donated an average of $3 million a year for the final 15 years in its campaign. Can you imagine $3 million worth of pennies, nickles and dimes? The campaign ended as "rolling pennies is very labour intensive." UNICEF was one of the first organizations we encountered at an young age, how do you think the withdrawal of the campaign will impact children's views of helping someone "like themselves?"

Investing in Young Girls

The bad news: 31 million primary school aged girls were not enrolled in school

The good news: more girls than ever are attending school 

When you educate young girls, you are placing a long term investment back into the community. October 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child. This year's focus is Innovating for Girls' Education. Countries around the world are getting creative by thinking outside the box to create innovated programs to break down the barriers of girls' education. An innovation is more than providing girls the basic tools necessary for school: it is about providing them the opportunity to be heard, and a chance to reach their full potential. Below is a video of how some countries are creating innovated way to solve the problem of girl's unequal access to education.

Girl Power!

"There are approximately 57 million children of primary school age who are not in school, including 32 million girls and almost 30 million children living in situations of conflict. Moreover, many children do not complete primary school - in developing countries only 87 out of every 100 children complete their primary education. Seventy-one million children of lower secondary age are out of school, and millions of young people are not provided the education and training to develop the skills and competencies needed for a successful transition to adult life and decent jobs" (UNICEF, 2013)

From as far as I can remember, I have always been in school. I was at school more than I am at home. I stayed late after school just because I could. I graduated from elementary school, went on to high school and will soon graduate from my second program in college. I have close to 20 years of school experience and there most likely will be more ahead of me. Growing up, I always thought the right to education was universal. However, i was wrong. Because of their gender, something that was not their choice, some girls are not allowed to have proper or higher education in their country. 

As a student and a female, it pains me to see that there are girls around the world who are unable to attend school. I cannot understand what it is like to live in a society where I am not allowed to learn due to my gender. I mean, it does sound silly, right? Not being able to attend school because of my gender... Well, it is true and it is happening around the world. UNICEF is currently promoting the rights of education for girls in developing countries. UNICEF and their partners are committed to ensuring girls get obtain an education by overcoming barriers by helping girls play an active role in their own learning and achievements.

Informing Children of Their Rights

A common theme from the comments we've been receiving have been revolving around the Little Orange Box.  From the comments and discussions from classmates, many remember taking home the donation box but few remember the underlining reason as to why the donations were important or the role UNICEF played in promoting children rights. We feel that this time of year would be a great opportunity to inform children of their rights and privileges, however from experience, educators and caregivers are overlooking rights that may not be more well-known.

Article 5: Your family has the responsibility to help you learn to exercise your rights, and to ensure that your rights are protected.

Article 42: You have the right to know your rights! Adults should know about these rights and help you learn about them, too.

If we are not informing children of their rights, are we, as adults, violating their rights? How does one pass on this knowledge in a child friendly way? Are we not informing because we feel that children will not understand the extent of the content or simply because we did not know these rights existed?

Convention on the Rights of the Child

We know that UNICEF advocates for the rights of the children, but what are their rights?
The set of basic human rights standards are minimum privileges and freedoms that all children under the age of 18 are entitled too. The Rights are listed under the United Nations Conventions of the Rights of the Child. The Convention is a set of universally agreed set of non-negotiable standards and obligations that almost every country has agreed to. The Convention was created as a result of world leaders beginning to recognize that children under the 18 years of age needed special care and protection different from adults. The legally binding international instrument made the world recognized that children, too, are entitled to basic human rights. The Convention contains 54 articles and two Optional Protocols. Below is an overview of how the Convention protects children.

Every child is entitled to:

• the right of survival
• to develop to the fullest
• to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation
• to participate fully in family, cultural and social life

The Convention protects children's rights by setting standards in:

• health care
• education
• legal, civil and social services

The four core principles of the Convention are:

• non-discrimination
• devotion to the best interests of the child
• the right to life, survival and development
• respect for the views of the child 

Reference:
UNICEF. (2013, April 4). Convention on the rights of the child. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/crc/