Safeguarding the rights and dignity of all children
By Oneli Nonis
Children are the heartbeat of every nation, the promise of tomorrow and the carriers of dreams yet to be fulfilled. In Sri Lanka, as in the rest of the world, they represent both joy and responsibility.
World Children’s Day is commemorated on November 20, the date on which the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989, which is ratified by 196 countries and remains the most widely embraced human rights treaty in history. The UK signed it in 1991, while the US, despite signing in 1995, has still not incorporated it into domestic law, making it the only UN member state to have refrained from fully adopting the world’s most important children’s rights framework. Sri Lanka ratified it in 1991, legally binding itself to protect, respect and fulfil children’s rights.
Why do we celebrate World Children’s Day? The answer lies not in symbolism alone but in the recognition that children are too often marginalized and voiceless.
Childhood in Sri Lanka is marked by two very different realities. On one side are the privileged, those who grow up in families where love, care and education are constants. They attend good schools, go for extra classes, play cricket or ballet after school and live in homes filled with safety. For them, childhood often resembles the ideal we imagine – innocence, learning and dreams for the future. Yet for many others, childhood is far from idyllic. In thousands of homes, children live in silence as they watch their families fracture under the weight of poverty, migration and violence. Parents who leave for foreign employment as domestic workers or labourers in the Middle East may send money home, but the absence leaves scars that no remittance can heal. In other households, domestic violence turns homes into battlegrounds with children absorbing trauma that shapes their futures in devastating ways.
Then there are the darkest realities: young girls who endure rape and sexual abuse, often at the hands of those they should have been able to trust most. Beyond these harrowing cases are the children of the streets in Colombo, those in plantation communities in Nuwara Eliya and those in war-scarred villages in the North and East who continue to live without stability, comfort or opportunities. These two faces of childhood in Sri Lanka – the privileged and the marginalized – show us why there must be reflection and change.
The statistics bring this reality into sharper focus. Sri Lanka has made admirable progress in many areas of child health. Immunization rates remain among the highest in South Asia, an achievement credited to decades of strong public health programs. Yet beneath these achievements lies a troubling truth: malnutrition is a persistent crisis. Nearly 15% of children under five are underweight, while 17% suffer from stunting caused by chronic undernourishment. This means thousands of children go to bed with empty stomachs or survive on meals that do not meet their nutritional needs.
In education, literacy rates remain above 90%, a figure Sri Lanka is rightly proud of, but these numbers mask stark inequalities. Children in the estate sector and rural regions face high dropout rates, with many leaving school before completing secondary education. Girls are particularly vulnerable, often pulled out to help with household work or early marriages.
Mental health is another silent crisis. Studies suggest that nearly one in five Sri Lankan adolescents suffer from conditions like depression and anxiety, often triggered by exam pressure, family conflict or trauma. Yet mental health services for children are inadequate, with stigma preventing many families from even acknowledging the problem. Child labour, too, remains a hidden issue. Although illegal, thousands of children are still employed in exploitative forms of labour, particularly as domestic helpers, where they remain invisible to the public eye. These realities show that statistics are not just numbers; they represent lives, futures and rights either fulfilled or denied.
World Children’s Day is a moral checkpoint, a moment to ask whether we, as a society, are doing enough to ensure that every child has the chance to live, learn and dream. Many gaps remain. The UNCRC is the backbone of this effort; it established a clear framework of rights that belong to every child. These include the right to life, survival and development; the right to medical care and nutritious food; the right to rest, leisure and play; the right to education; the right to be protected from violence, neglect and exploitation; the right to express opinions freely and be taken seriously; and the right to information that is safe and beneficial. These are not luxuries granted at the discretion of adults but inherent entitlements that children carry by virtue of their humanity.
The gulf between law and lived reality is wide. Case studies in Sri Lanka reveal painful gaps in justice. In Anuradhapura in 2022, a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a neighbour, but the trial dragged on for years, leaving her family with neither closure nor safety. In the estate sector, children as young as 12 continue to assist in tea plucking or domestic chores, sacrificing their right to education. In family courts, custody battles often disregard the voices of children. These stories reveal the shortcomings of systems where legal recognition of rights is undermined by slow enforcement, cultural silence and inadequate resources.
There are organizations working tirelessly to bridge this gap. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) investigates abuse cases, raises awareness and enforces protective laws. The Department of Probation and Child Care Services manages adoption, orphanages and rehabilitation centres. UNICEF Sri Lanka collaborates with the government to strengthen systems for child health, education and protection. Civil society organizations such as Save the Children, ChildFund and numerous grassroots groups advocate for reforms and provide hands-on support to vulnerable communities. Yet even these efforts face limits. Cultural attitudes often normalise silence, resources are stretched thin and political will can waver.
Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of children’s rights is the right to be heard. Too often, adults speak about children without ever listening to them. But when given a chance, children articulate their needs with clarity. During a UNICEF consultation in 2024, Sri Lankan children spoke of wanting safer schools, less exam pressure, more opportunities to play and greater respect for their opinions. Many asked for better access to mental health support and for families that showed care and understanding. These requests, simple yet profound, reflect the essence of the UNCRC: recognising children not as passive recipients of adult decisions but as active participants in shaping their lives.
The path forward requires strengthening child protection systems so that justice is delivered swiftly and compassionately. It requires investing more heavily in healthcare, education and mental health support so that every child, regardless of background, can reach their full potential. And it requires a cultural shift -one that replaces silence with openness, shame with dialogue and neglect with compassion.
The future of Sri Lanka will not be written in parliamentary bills or policy documents but in the everyday lives of children in the classrooms of rural Hambantota, the playgrounds of Colombo, the tea estates of Nuwara Eliya and the homes where they laugh, cry, and grow. We must ensure that every child has the chance to live with dignity, to be loved and to dream without fear.
-This article was originally featured on groundviews.org
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