Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Mains level: Issues related to Vulnerable groups;
Why in the News?
Recently, UNICEF’s Global Outlook 2025 emphasizes the urgent need for resilient systems to protect children’s rights amid crises like conflict, climate change, and economic instability, ensuring equitable access to essential services globally.
What are the primary challenges facing children in the current global landscape as per UNICEF’s Global Outlook 2025?
- Conflict and Displacement: Over 473 million children, or about 19% globally, live in conflict-affected areas—a figure that has nearly doubled since the 1990s. This exposes children to severe risks, including displacement, starvation, disease, and psychological trauma.
- Economic Instability: Nearly 400 million children live in countries in debt distress, where financial pressures are reducing investments in essential services such as education and healthcare, further deepening their vulnerabilities.
- Climate Change: Around 1 billion children are at extremely high risk from climate impacts. Disruptions from extreme weather events affect their access to education and healthcare, while only 2.4% of global climate finance is directed toward child-focused initiatives.
- Digital Inequality: The expansion of digital public infrastructure (DPI) offers opportunities to improve service delivery, but significant digital divides persist, disproportionately affecting children in low-income and marginalised communities.
What are the steps taken by the Indian Government?
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How can global governance and national systems be strengthened to support children’s rights and well-being?
Global governance:
- Strengthening International Mechanisms: The United Nations should develop specialized frameworks to protect children’s rights in the digital environment, ensuring online safety and privacy are integral to global governance policies.
- Ensuring Accountability: States and corporations must be held accountable for violations of children’s rights, with the adoption of measures like the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to ensure businesses prioritize child protection.
- Fostering Global Collaboration: Promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation can address challenges such as cyberbullying and online exploitation through shared best practices and coordinated efforts to safeguard children’s rights worldwide.
National systems:
- Developing Child Rights Governance Systems: Nations should establish comprehensive frameworks that integrate children’s rights into laws and policies, aligning with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to prioritize children’s needs in governance.
- Strengthening Civil Society Organizations (CSOs): Enhancing the capacity of CSOs through training programs can improve their ability to advocate for and implement child rights initiatives while effectively engaging with government institutions.
- Advancing Evidence-Based Advocacy: Utilizing data-driven approaches to shape policy priorities can ensure child rights are central to resource allocation and budgeting at global, regional, and national levels.
- Empowering Children’s Participation: Encouraging children to actively participate in decision-making processes helps create policies that address their needs and aspirations, fostering a more inclusive governance system.
- Establishing Robust Monitoring Systems: Implement mechanisms to regularly track and report on children’s well-being indicators to ensure accountability and measure progress in achieving child rights standards.
Way forward:
- Integrated Global-National Synergy: Strengthen collaboration between international frameworks and national systems to prioritize children’s rights in governance, focusing on accountability, digital safety, and climate resilience through coordinated policies and resource allocation.
- Child-Centric Policy and Participation: Develop evidence-based policies that directly address children’s vulnerabilities while empowering them to participate in decision-making, ensuring sustainable and responsive governance structures.
Mains PYQ:
Q The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 remains inadequate in promoting an incentive-based system for children’s education without generating awareness about the importance of schooling. Analyse. (UPSC IAS/2022)
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