508. UNICEF Praises Cuba's Promotion of Children´s Rights

By Redaction Ahora, September 21, 2011 

"The rights of the child in this country are sacred and fully adopted," said Tuesday José Juan Ortiz Bru, representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Cuba.

At a press conference marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the Cuban state of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Ortiz said that Cuba's achievements in this regard represent a paradigm for the international community.

The diplomat expressed recognition to the Cuban people and government for their continued efforts in implementing and protecting the children’s rights.

"What sets Cuba apart from other countries, rich or poor, is its determination to ensure compliance with the Convention," the envoy said.

In Cuba, UNICEF is currently working to improve the quality of the rights already achieved. About 57 local development projects are carried out in different part of the national territory.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children, was signed on 20 November 1989 and came into force on 2 September 1990, after it was ratified by the required number of nations.

Cuba signed the CRC on January 1990, and ratified it on August 21, 1991, becoming one of the first countries to do so. The treaty came into force on September 20 of that same year.