By: Dr. Babar T. Shaikh

The UN declaration of Rights of the Child says that all the children of the world have:

• The right to a name and nationality.
• The right to affection, love and understanding and to material security.
• The right to adequate nutrition, housing and medical service.
• The right to special care if disabled, be it physically, mentally and socially.
• The right to be among the first to receive protection and relief in all circumstances.
• The right to be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation.

• The right to full opportunity for play and recreation and equal opportunity to free and compulsory education, to enable the child to develop his individual abilities and to become a useful member of society.

• The right to develop his full potential in conditions of freedom and dignity.

• The right to be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among people, place and universal brotherhood.

• The right to enjoy these rights regardless of race, color, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, and property, birth, or other status.

It is sad that in our time we still have to be reminded that children have rights. Some 200 million of them are still malnourished, and half the deaths of the 15 million who died under age of 5 could be attributed to malnutrition. Out of 100 children born each minute in the year, 15 would be dead before the end of their first year of life. Globally, an estimated 12 million children under 5 die every year, most of easily preventable causes. Some 130 million of children in developing countries are not in primary school. About 160 million children are severely or moderately malnourished. Many unwanted children find shelter in orphanages where education and health care is denied. These children are often physically abused. An estimated 250 million children are engaged in some form of labor. 600 million children are living in absolute poverty. 13 million children have lost at least one percent to AIDS by the end of year 2000.(Source:UN)

Children deserve to be wanted and loved. Give a little love to a child, and you got a great deal back, so wrote the 19th century English writer and critic John Ruskin. It is an established fact that a child who has not been loved, is biochemically, physiologically and psychologically very different from the one who has been loved. Children who are denied their right to be wanted and loved may become bitter, taking out their frustration on those who have neglected them or possibly on society as a whole. Unloved and unwanted young's are tempted to run away from house to escape their problems, only to find bigger ones in cities plagued with crime, drugs and immorality. Today, the imperfect human economic and political system has failed to provide suitable education, sufficient food and protection from the scourge of child labor and deplorable living conditions. Millions of children continue to endure the dreadful indignities of poverty, effects of conflicts and economic chaos and are maimed in wars or orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

Today there is a strong need of developing a realistic appreciation among the service providers of the diverse social and personal characteristics of child population. We have to recognize that opportunities for intervening with this high-risk population exist prior to the disease attack and each of the case requires different response. The health services for this sensitive population needs to be accessible as well as socially and culturally relevant to be successful. To achieve this, we have to analyze the needs of the service providers to connect them with the target population. Moreover, we have to make other supportive individuals play their vital role in delivering required services to the concerned population and by their involvement, we can foster an awareness that community has a key role to play in the development of comprehensive intervention strategies designed for this high-risk population.

It is truly boasted by UN and no doubt that today more children are born healthy and more are immunized, more can read and write, more are free to learn, play and simply live as children. But there is much remains to be done...