Newsflash
The Children Council Declaration
National Child Congress Province Commissions Agreement

Just before the Children's Festival in April 23, around 1000 people from all over the Country including Education, Health, Justice, Labor, Social Welfare Ministers, members of Parliament and NGOs, met in Ankara and discussed the situation of children in Turkey.

This was one of the milestone activities of the year- round Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Promotion Campaign, launched by the President in November 20^th 1999.

As a preparatory step to the Congress, Provincial Child Rights Committees, composed of children, youth, government officials, and NGOs, prepared reports on the status of children in 81 provinces. The reports identified the priority problems based on 25 “quality of life” indicators, and also proposed solutions to address them. The reports were consolidated and the delegates from the provinces were de-briefed about the general situation of the children in Turkey.

The delegates, through intensive two days work, prepared a "ten point" declaration underlying what could be the most concrete steps for the next 12 months to overcome the problems of Turkey's children. The achievements will be reviewed in the next Children's Festival in 2001. The Declaration was Submitted to the President Süleyman Demirel at the Presidential Palace with two young delegate. The President re-affirmed that their recommendations would receive due attention.

The Congress provided an excellent platform for children and adults to think, discuss, and make action plans together. As a follow up, the Congress Delegates created a network to closely monitor the achievements in reference to the points in the Declaration.

On CRC Day of November 20^th 2000, child delegates from all over the Country will again come together at Children's Forum to review the progress and take corrective actions if and when needed.

• Malnutrition among children
• Insufficient and irregular medical screening of children
• Children's increasing tendency to dangerous habits
• Problematic children due to parental ignorance, intra-family marriages

• Insufficient education and information of parents and teachers on various subjects such as health, development, violence, etc.
• Inequalities in education, health or economy and gender due to regional disparities
• The intensity of class schedules and learning system
• Violence in education and improper discipline regulations at schools
• Violence in all sections of the community, such as education, media, family, public, or computer games
• Children are exposed to violence (at home, school, media); and as a result, their physical and mental development are heavily affected
• Existence of unacceptable form of child labor
• Insufficient rehabilitation, education, transportation and job opportunities of orphans, working children, child in conflict with law or disabled children
• Insufficient sports activities and facilities
• Restriction of child's social rights due to child labor
• Due to traditional values, marrying girls at an early age causes school drop-out
• Disapproval of male and female relations by society;
• Marriages without registration and as a result, children do not have identity cards;
• Insensitivity of media, distorted and exaggerated news about orphans, working children, children in conflict with law or disabled children;
• Virtual world created by magazine news and as a result children get confused
• Ineffective participation of children at home or in schools regarding the decisions or implementations on behalf of them, both at national and local levels;
• Incomplete legal regulations required for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the disorganized current policies
• Make the following recommendations:

• Increase the consciousness of family and community by collaborating with media,
• Give free health services to all children.
• Ensure the rehabilitation of substance-addicted children. Replace the dangerous substance in the market with volatile substances.
• Prevent vocational high school university candidates from losing points in university exams.
• Ensure equal opportunities in education (economical, female, male, regional and different children groups).
• Totally eliminate physical violence in schools and to ensure discipline punishment.
• Strengthen the education system regarding research, improvement and implementation.
• Raise the awareness of the community, especially parents by organizing panels and seminars.
• Establish Alo Violence line.
• Ensure the adaptation of orphans, working children, child criminals or disabled children to the daily life (city planning, transportation, education, rehabilitation, and job opportunities).
• Increase the number and quality of child courts.
• Create new social activities and to increase the number of activity environments or to help children discover their interests and talents.
• Censor written publications or visual programmes in media containing violence.
• Increase the number of programmes considering child rights development and education.
• Form child committees for written and visual press.
• Increase the sensitivity of local administrators on the issue of children.

AS A PROVINCE REPRESENTATIVE WE PROMISE THAT WE ARE GOING TO GIVE REPORTS QUARTERLY ON THE IMPROVEMENTS TO ELIMINATE THESE PROBLEMS IN OUR PROVINCES.

WE WOULD LIKE TO STATE THAT WE WILL MEET IN ANKARA ON 20 NOVEMBER TO MAKE AN ASSESSMENT.

• No detailed data base at national nor local level regarding the status of survival, development, protection and participation of children;
• No effective collaboration between agencies and institutions giving service for children and among
• NGOs and other national and local institutions;
• The increase in infant, child and mother mortality rates and the increase in the regional disparities are still continuing;
• The rate for breastfeeding is decreasing and the rate for unbalanced diet is increasing;
• From the birth of the child, there is an insufficiency regarding the home, school and environmental conditions that should contribute the physical and cognitive development of the child;
• The compulsory education has not yet reached to all groups, especially female children; and it is not contemporary and sufficient;
• The number of children living and working in streets, children under abuse, children in conflict with law, children in difficult conditions is increasing;
• The services ensuring disabled children to be integrated in normal life process are not efficient;
• Children do not have enough participation opportunities regarding the decisions and implementations taken on behalf of them and this includes children at home or in schools, both at national and local level;
• The legal regulations required for the exact implementation of the CRC have not yet been completed and therefore current laws can not be sufficiently implemented;

WE ENSURE THAT WE ARE GOING TO DO OUR BEST IN ORDER TO PUT INTO PRACTICE THE PROPOSALS IN SHORT AND LONG TERM.

PROPOSALS

• To establish a detailed data base both in national and local levels concerning the survival, development, protection and participation of the child and to present it by the help of an effective data-communication network to all sectors serving for the interest of children, a long with policy makers and decision givers.

• To launch a campaign for children not registered; in order to make their registrations.
• To establish Child Rights Platforms with the active participation of children both in national and local levels in order to provide an effective collaboration among agencies, institutions, non-governmental organizations and especially PRESS AND PUBLICATION ASSOCIATIONS.
• Among the children at the age of 0-18, with the assurance of free health services and medicine; to ensure public participation in order to increase immunization rates, to reduce frequent pregnancies, early marriages, infant, child and mother mortality rates.
• To give support to families in order to widespread breastfeeding in the first six months and to develop practical measures providing mothers and children with sufficient and balanced nutrition.
• To widespread service models considering family education, financial effective and home-public centered early childhood development and pre school education in order to form stimulating environments totally ensuring the cognitive development of children as well as their physical development from the beginning of pre natal period.
• To improve qualitative, contemporary, active learning and effective guiding and monitoring systems in order to provide children, especially female children under difficult circumstances, such as living and working in streets, under abuse, or in conflict with law with education opportunities and to provide all children with compulsory education.
• To ensure the re adaptation of children working in streets, under abuse, or in conflict with law to the society and to their families and to take measures for the urgent approval of "Emergency Action Convention on the Elimination of Child Labor in Bad Circumstances" prepared by ILO according to 182 numbered law.
• To diversify services enabling the integration of disabled children to daily life process, to maintain the determination and monitoring studies for disabled children and adolescents and to train a special training personnel for the education of these children.
• To launch activities in order to increase the consciousness of adults having face to face relations with children as well as the legal regulations enabling the children to participate in the decisions or implementations at home or in schools, both at national and local level and to enable children to present their bulletins to the Ministry of National Education and Health Congresses and other congresses by establishing Child Councils.
• To complete the legal regulations and adaptation laws required for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as soon as possible and to widespread the child courts.