Jordanian teens assess report on status of Convention on Rights of the Child

AMMAN — Ensuring that the opinions of Jordanian children are included in the 6th Report on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) on Tuesday organised a workshop in cooperation with UNICEF, where teenagers across the Kingdom expressed their views on the previous issues of the report.

Jordan is currently preparing the newest edition of the report to be presented to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva next month. 

The observations expressed by the workshop participants will soon be published in a child-friendly booklet to be distributed among children and youth, according to NCFA sources.

During the opening of the session, NCFA acting secretary general,  Mohammad Miqdady,  said: “This workshop is a proof of one of the most fundamental rights of children —to have their opinions heard and to get involved in decision making on the issues that concern them.”

Building on the conclusions of previous reports, the CRC stressed the need for “the discrimination against children without family support to be stopped”, calling for the national legislation to cease using the term “illegitimate children”.

Karama school student Batool Mohammad expressed that “we [children] are here today to spread awareness on how we are being raised”, noting that “adults talk to us about children rights, but certain societies have no idea of what a child’s right is, and they raise kids to become their exact copies”.

“Children are to communities what the roots are to a tree,” the student continued, adding that “if children are not taken care of, the future of society is doomed”.

Several students pointed out that the Jordanian youth is looking for greater support for their projects and initiatives. 

“We are looking forward to using the knowledge we are getting here today to develop new ways of helping children,” 17-year-old student Riv said, voicing hopes to support other children in their learning path.