Sunday Times 2
Keeping a promise 25 years on
“My name is Pramuditha. I am eight years old. I am not a prince but I am a village boy! Thanks to the United Nations’ Child Rights Convention, my health rights are respected. I have the freedom to learn…. I have the freedom to think, to express myself and to enjoy the art. Therefore, let us all get together to protect the rights of the other kids too.”
Pramuditha Udayakumara, the child star of the movie, Siri Parakum was not reluctant to remind adults of the need and the importance to listen to the children and to ensure their rights are respected. A promise that the world made, 25 years ago, by ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which Sri Lanka too adopted. Pramuditha was speaking at a recent press briefing hosted by UNICEF Sri Lanka last week to mark the 25th Anniversary of the CRC.
(From left) Mahela Jayawardene, Pramuditha Udayakumara and Pooja Umashankar. Pix by Anuradha Bandara
The event brought together several celebrities -star cricketer Mahela Jayawardene, Indian film star Pooja Umashankar, singer Neela Wickramasinghe and the accapella group, Voice Print on a common platform to lobby for the promotion and protection of children’s rights.
The Convention guarantees the basic rights of the children including the right to survive and be healthy, right to education and protection from violence abuse and neglect. According to the UNICEF Representative of Sri Lanka, Una MacCauley, there had been significant achievements made, since the ratification of the Convention by Sri Lanka and after it came into force in the year 1991.
“Tremendous progress has been achieved, including near universal access to free primary health and education as well as legislation to protect children from violence, harm and abuse,” she said while emphasising the shared responsibility to protect the rights and wellbeing of the children.
The celebrities present pledged their commitment for this cause.
Singer, Neela Wickramasinghe sharing her personal experience as a child afflicted with polio elaborated on what made her want to contribute to making Sri Lanka polio-free.
“I had a polio attack six months after I was born and that made me suffer a lot as a child. I could not cry, I could not suck milk or move like other kids. At the age of three, I could not stand properly. I could hardly take a few steps at the age of five. In 1989, I got the chance to volunteer for a Polio advertising campaign. Since 1994, there have been no Polio cases reported in Sri Lanka. I am proud of making a valuable contribution for Polio eradication in Sri Lanka. I will do whatever I can, for the children of Sri Lanka in future,” she said.
Cricketer Mahela Jayawardene said that despite the progress over the years, there is definitely room for improvement. “As professional cricketers, we always feel there is little bit more that we could do better, think out of the box or get involved, no matter how much is being achieved.”
UNICEF Representative of Sri Lanka Una MacCauley
Speaking about children’s rights in Sri Lanka, he said, the word ‘rights’ generally has a tendency to make people scared, whereas it is something we should be proud of, “because we are fighting for their education, we are fighting for their health and enjoyment. We are fighting to make them grow up to be better human beings,” he said.
Explaining about the Cancer hospital project initiated in the North and East, Mahela said, having in place child-friendly treatment such as new methods of treating kids, was a main requirement felt in that unit. “That is something that we need to bring into our system so that they have better health care,” he said.
Mahela who spoke about the Murali Harmony Cup Cricket Tournament project initiated few years ago for the children in the North and East said, the idea behind the project was to get the children in the war-affected areas to play cricket; something they have not done for so many years.
“We visited schools in the North and East and provided them with professional help, equipment, etc. We built combined teams by inviting few schools from Colombo and the South also to take part in the tournament. The Eastern Province combined team performed brilliantly at this tournament. The experience we had during the tournament was that, children are fresh to the game. They are willing to learn, to play and enjoy. These kids are fantastic. This is what we can do. These are what we call children’s rights. Things we should fight for,” he said concluding his speech in cricketing terms, “let’s bat for these kids, let’s bowl for these kids, and let’s field for these kids.”
Sharing her thoughts actress Pooja said, “As a kid I understood that it is because my father and mother respect that I have the right to have the best education that they could provide, that I was sent to a hostel to study at a convent. For me, I had fabulous teachers and nuns in the Convent reminding me of my right to play. This made me learn that it was my right to play, dance and express myself. The fact that my education is what made me a confident, strong and passionate individual who is able to stand in a platform and talk like this makes me want to give 100% to see that children are educated.”
“At first, I did not know I had 30 Fundamental Rights. I only knew the basic five or six. I learnt about it six months ago. Since then, I have been on a warpath to let people know about them. When I was invited to this event I learnt there are 54 child rights. We have to tell the public that. It is sad that we have to fight for the rights of the children. We should not be fighting for it. We are fighting for it because people do not know about it,” she said adding that whether from Jaffna or Matara or from Batticaloa and right up to Colombo, every child in Sri Lanka has equal rights. “If that can be achieved I think we are going to have, not just a beautiful Sri Lanka but a beautiful world,” she added.