WHAT is DEFENCE for CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL – CANADA?
DCI-Canada is a Canadian not-for-profit charity whose mission is to promote and protect the rights of children in Canada and throughout the world. It is the Canadian Section of Defence for Children International (DCI), a movement for children/s rights that was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1979.
DCI – Canada came into being when some Canadians came together with the belief that it was time to provide children with an international covenant that would confirm that they are individual persons who can expect individual protection and benefits from the governments of the nations. Throughout the world similar groups were forming. Many of them joined under the wing of DCI in Geneva. We launched our Canadian section in 1988.
There are so many abuses in the world, apartheid, large-scale child prostitution, child slavery, abusive labour situations…Not in Canada, you say? YES, even in Canada! We have child prostition, children in adult prisons, sweatshops, child poverty and discrimination against minorities.
Since 1988, some of the things we have done include:
- We have been active champions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child since it was adopted by the United Nations in 1989.
- We have touched the lives of dozens of refugee children and families in Canada.
- We published an illustrated and annotated book on the UN Convention called CHILDREN HAVE RIGHTS TOO!!
- We have convened influential symposia and lectures on crucial youth-related topics.
- Governments, agencies, media and individuals have sought us out for our views on children’s rights issues.
- We collaborate with international and Canadian NGO’s and have completed CIDA sponsored projects in several developing countries. We are presently preparing to launch a two-year project to support the rights and needs of war-affected girls in Northern Uganda.
And, we aren’t done yet. We still must prove to the world that the children and youth are individuals who deserve protection and benefits from national governments.
YOUR SUPPORT MAKES SUCCESSES LIKE THESE POSSIBLE.
WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN US?
- To be a part of the solution to Children and Youth injustice
- To keep yourself informed on the pressing issues surrounding the protection of children and youth rights through DCI events and news letters
- To have a voice in how DCI will work to defend children and youth
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