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THE CHILD RIGHTS TO DEVELOPMENT

Sambas Wiradisuria

Department of Child Health, Medical School Padjadjaran University - Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia

Development is referred to as rights in the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Yet the purpose of the whole convention is, in a sense, to promote the development of the child. This paper analyses what the convention says about child development and shows how this fundamental right and complex concept can be translated into policy and programmes in countries with different cultural norms and economic conditions. The convention's principal formulation about‘development’is found in article 6:1) states parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life. 2) state parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child. Article 6 can be seen as a platform for other developmental principles found throughout the convention. Preamble of the convention of the Rights of the child states that children should be brought up in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity. While the convention is a result of a century-long effort of making children visible and acknowledging their specific needs, its actual content is quite modern. Building on contemporary science and validated experience, particularly the thinking of professionals working with children wisely, it has also been worded in an open-ended way that allows for new findings and evolving interpretations. When translating its principles and pro-visions inter practice, therefore, one also needs to take into account prevailing understandings of childhood, child development and related socialization and child-rearing practices in any given context. Apart from the child, him-or herself, families, governments (not least, local government) and child-related professionals including pediatricians, teachers and social services staff, all play key roles in the implementation of the child's development, In considering how the might work together in complementary ways to fulfil the rights of the child, it is important to understand that they may all have different perspectives and priorities, some of these are considered here.