The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Overall Canadians have it pretty good. Our standard of living is up at the top of the list. That is why it's so aggravating that, in a country of such wealth, a new study shows First Nations infants in B.C. are at a substantially higher risk of preventable, premature death. Due in large part to poverty, First Nations infants in B.C. are two to three times more susceptible to infant mortality. What's worse, is that this situation is preventable, except for the fact that many families still live in poor conditions and have no access to support services. Canada can afford to do better. November 20 is Universal Children's Day. What better time to demand the government respect the promises it made in adopting the Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1959), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). All of Canada's citizens also need to be assured of those rights. The adoption of those documents, and the creation of Universal Children's Day reflect the growing recognition that children are important and valued members of society. Canada needs to back up that assertion with action ? both at home and abroad. Think about it. If this study is an accurate representation of what happens to the poor in Canada, imagine how people are faring in the rest of the world. Don't children in the developing world have rights too? My work with one of Canada's oldest overseas development organizations ? USC Canada ? keeps me grounded. I am reminded daily that children in the developing world are fighting for the right to be free from exploitation, the right to express their opinions, and the rights to education, health care, and economic opportunity. Worldwide, 121 million primary-school-age children are denied schooling. More than half of them are girls. Let us mothers make it our mission to ensure children are no longer denied an education simply because they are girls, or live in rural communities, or are from poor families. Girls denied an education are more vulnerable to poverty, hunger, violence, abuse, and exploitation. They are more likely to die when giving childbirth and are at greater risk of disease, including AIDS. But the positive impacts of educating girls are equally dramatic. I have seen first hand how USC Canada's work overseas helps people turn their lives around through simple education and health initiatives. Thankfully this is not an either/or situation. We have the resources not only to take care of our own citizens, but also to look beyond our own borders and help others. We just need the political will to do it.
