BC Council for Families

2009 is the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – a time to celebrate the many improvements and efforts that have been made to ensure children’s basic human rights are protected. It’s also a time to recognize and address the disparities that still exist in children’s rights.

In Canada, the greatest human rights challenge facing the nation, according to UNICEF Canada, is the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children. Aboriginal children are at least two or three times worse off than other Canadian children in terms of poverty, access to health services and many other measure of health and well being. UNICEF Canada states that “the health conditions of Canada’s Aboriginal children are not what we would expect in one of the most affluent countries in the world.”

This year, Canada is due to report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child about its progress in improving the standard of Aboriginal children’s health. register their support for Jordan's Principle - a child-first principle to resolve inter-governmental jurisdictional disputes affecting the lives and health of Aboriginal children.

National Child Day on November 20th marks the date of the creation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Fun family activities and resources are available on the National Child Day site.