Mexico ignores children's rights

According to KidsRights , the gap between the rights established on international treaties and the everyday life of Mexican children is quite significant.

KidsRights

and the Erasmus University Rotterdam collaborated to create the 2019 Index , which reports that Mexico is particularly behind in regards to the right to protectio n, especially concerning child labor and the prevention of teenage pregnancies . In relation to teenage pregnancies, the study places Mexico in the 91st place among 181 countries.

Ellen Vroonhof,

the head of the Programs Department from KidsRights told EL UNIVERSAL that “it is evident that Mexico needs to implement policies focused on guaranteeing that all minors have access to sexual education .” Mexico also shows backwardness in areas such as the right to health and education , since it was placed in place 67 and 66, respectively.

Vroonhof

claims that Mexico has failed in regards to the years of education a person is expected to take after being born: 14.4 years for women and 13.8 years for men. “A very low number compared to other countries in the region,” said the expert, mentioning the case of Chile , where women are expected to study 16.6 years and men 16.1 years.

Considering the 20 indicators and the five domains that form the study, Mexico is in the 33rd place worldwide . “Although this is a slight improvement compared to 2016, (when it) occupied the 37th place, there is a lot of margin for improvement,” she said. For the organization based in Amsterdam , some of the most alarming problems in Mexico are the continuous discrimination against Indigenous, Afro-Mexican, migrant, disabled, LBGTQ+, homeless, and poor children .

The lack of permanent forums to promote the participation of children is also alarming, as well as the limited budget allocated to children's rights.

The annual study is based on information provided by the Unicef , the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child , and the U nited Nations Development Program , and it's designed to measure up to what point do countries respect the rights of children .

The best countries for children are Iceland, Portugal, Switzerland, Finland, and Germany . Some of the most challenging countries for children are Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and the Central African Republic .

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