As the world marked the 70th anniversary of the United Nations’ Convention on Human Rights, which asserted the primacy of human rights and the commitments contained in the UN’s founding Charter, it emerges that, 28 years after ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Malta has yet to transpose to national legislation the children’s right to participate in policy development.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty that sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. It defines a child as any human being under the age of 18 years, which is the age of majority.
Nations that ratify the convention are committed to it by international law and compliance is monitored by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Governments of countries that have ratified the convention are required to report to, and appear before, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child periodically to be examined on their progress with the implementation of the convention and the status of child rights in their country.
In view of the above, one wonders why should Malta decide to ratify a convention but then fail to implement it in full. Children’s human rights in this country are generically catered for by the Constitution but this does not contain specific provisions for children, instead treating them along the same lines as adults. A position paper by the National Institute for Childhood, a body within the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, exposed this serious shortcoming within Malta’s legislation despite the recent inclusion of children’s rights in the portfolio of the Ministry for the Family.
The position paper is expected to be presented to Parliament shortly, probably after the Christmas recess. It calls for “meaningful and purposeful participation” by children. Although this is a right defined by the UN convention, the measure still does not have any legal standing in Malta. Local literature points towards an underlying lack of emphasis on the full and active participation of children and the establishment of a permanent structure that encourages and implements it.
Instances of lack of participation cited in the position paper within the health sector, for example, include the fact that children’s views are rarely sought and they are not usually directly involved in the decision-making processes affecting their health.
As to strategies for engaging children more fully in the process of policy development, the institute’s position paper makes a telling point by highlighting the way so-called “nominal participation” is paid lip service to - for example, children reading out scripts at school prize day ceremonies that would have been written by adults and, so, highlighting adult interests and priorities – without necessarily reflecting their real voice or concerns.
The Minister for the Family should be urged to take two immediate steps to remedy the oversight that had persisted for almost 30 years.
First, he should ensure the transposition of children’s rights set out in the convention into Maltese law and its consequent policy development affecting children.
Secondly, he should put in place the organisational and policy instruments necessary to ensure that meaningful and informed participation by children is viewed as a right under Maltese law and implemented accordingly.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial