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It is the Universal Children's Day today (November 20). The legal rights of children are violated and they live below the necessary standards of living in Turkey as well as across the world.
Children's rights refer to all inherent rights of the child including those of education, health, housing and the right of protection from physical, psychological and sexual exploitation. These rights are guaranteed by the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Though the Convention on the Rights of the Child grants and guarantees these rights regardless of the identities, genders, religions or social statuses of the child, the violation of children's rights is quite prevalent in Turkey, which is also confirmed by official statistics.
Child labor
According to the statistics shared by the Turkish Statistical Institute, 393 thousand children in Turkey go to work instead of going to school.
The same statistics also show that 44 percent of the 893 thousand children, who engage in economic activities, work in a seasonal agricultural job. Half of these 393 thousand children do not go to school and work for more than 40 hours a day. The rights of education, healthcare and protection from economic exploitation of these children are being violated.
Gender and education
A report released by the UNICEF has also demonstrated that though gender equality has been almost fully achieved in primary education in Turkey, it is not the case for the further levels of education.
While the rate of girl children at the ages of 15-19, who are not students or workers, is 28.2 percent, this rate is 16.5 percent for boy children in Turkey. The rate of girls under the age of 15 subjected to sexual abuse is 9 percent.
According to the Turkey Population and Health Research, 15 percent of the women between the ages of 20 and 24 have still been stating that they got married before they turned 18.
1.7 million Syrian refugee children
3.9 million refugees, a majority of whom are from Syria, have been living in Turkey. 1.7 million of these refugees are children.
While 616 thousand children have been registered in a school in Turkey in 2018, almost 430 thousand children still do not go to school.
Children constitute 28.3 percent of Turkey's population
According to the statistics shared by the TurkStat, children constituted 28.3 percent of Turkey's population in 2017, which accounts for 22 million 883 thousand 288 children.
The statistics of the Ministry of National Education show that the net schooling rate in primary education in Turkey was 91.2 percent in 2016-2017.
About Universal Children's Day United Nations Universal Children's Day was established in 1954 and is celebrated on November 20th each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare. November 20 is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child as well as the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since 1990, Universal Children's Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the declaration and the convention on children's rights. The Convention, which is the most widely ratified international human rights treaty, sets out a number of children's rights including the right to life, to health, to education and to play, as well as the right to family life, to be protected from violence, to not be discriminated, and to have their views heard. |
(HA/SD)
