During Workshop 5, it came to light that there was confusion surrounding the US's stance on signing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child of 1989. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that, upon my research that was carried out in preparation for Workshop 5, the US has HAS signed the Convention but has yet to ratify it. The US's signature was marked in 1995. This clearly shows that, not only does the US have no confidence whatsoever in drafting international conventions but it also plays a paramount role in undermining the credibility of it. How is it possible to expect other countries around the world to abide by this Convention and yet the key player in drafting this Convention fails to support it? I can understand why Somalia has delayed signing and ratifying the Convention as the country is in a sad state of affairs with no central government but the US has no excuse. There is clearly something not quite right here.
Critics give several reasons for delaying to ratify the Convention. One of the most striking for me is the fact that the Convention will under mine the rights of American parents. I strongly disagree to this and I find this a total disrespect and an embarrassment for states that have signed the Convention and to children around the world. In my opinion, the US government should be put to task for this if ratification does not come evenutally.
For more information please log onto;
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/18/us-ratify-children-s-treaty
As I am of the view that I discussed this issue previously in one of my posts, I wanted to reiterate the position of the US as this proved an issue of contention during our Workshop. Apologies for repeating information you all know already. Thank you.
ReplyDelete