19 January
To protect and promote the rights of children in Myanmar, the Child Rights Law was enacted after years of discussion and debate.
Every effort by the Union Government has targeted socio-economic development and the rule of law in the country. In other words, current efforts would result in a superior heritage for the country’s next generation, who are now children.
Hence, for our next generation the new child rights law was written, and is consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and is to be adaptable to changing situations in the country.
There must be rules within the new Child Rights Law to implement the rights of our children. Before the law, every child must have equal opportunities. Therefore, the rules which will be drafted soon must guarantee granting equal rights and benefits for every child in different areas.
The new law defines a child as anyone younger than 18, and provides that all children born in Myanmar have the right to their births being registered.
Hence, we should pay more attention to issues related to the care and punishment of children, when the rules are drafted. At the same time, child adoption must be allowed without deviation from the country’s existing rules and regulations.
It is also necessary to have clear tasks for implementing the rules of the new Child Rights Law, which sets higher standards for safeguarding the rights of children in all circumstances, and these directives should be in line with the law.
We are confident that the ability of experts who make up the committee for writing the rules of the law would overcome possible challenges in their work through negotiation and coordination.
We need to take into account the role of the parents and relatives whom children rely on. Only then can we enforce the legal framework and achieve the success of the policy of the Union Government.
Children are the most important and vulnerable part of society. We used to focus on institutional care, but now we are aiming to branch out to alternative care. The process is not easy, but if everybody is dedicated and willing to protect the nation’s children, it is not impossible.
No law is perfect. But we did our best in enacting the law, and now need to again do our best in creating the rules of the law.
We are going to protect child rights in the interests of children, and not for the benefit of others. The value of human society depends upon how it protects its children.
GNLM
