Children’s Rights

Recent articles have dealt with celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. I am wondering how many citizens of our country are aware that the United States is the only nation of 185 member nations of the United Nations which has not ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is a treaty that simply consists of a set of goals for the protection and well-being of children.

There are children in the U.S. who suffer from many of the problems addressed in the convention. Ratification would focus our government to address these issues and every five years submit a report reevaluating its success in dealing with these problems.

The U.S. has championed human rights issues for many years. Ratification would boost domestic efforts to protect children and give the U.S. more credibility when pressing other countries to protect, for example, their children from inhumane labor for clothing manufacturers.

WENDELL HARTER

Manhattan Beach