Although awareness of the importance of children’s rights is greater today than ever before, the legal framework in Germany is still inadequate. The Humanist Association of Germany is calling on the future federal government to incorporate children’s rights into the Basic Law immediately after the new elections and thus send a clear signal for the protection and promotion of children’s rights. “The anchoring of children’s rights in the Basic Law is long overdue,” explains Britta Licht, Federal Commissioner for Children’s Rights of the Humanist Association of Germany. “This would not just be a symbolic measure, but would bring the interests and well-being of children more into the focus of legal and political decisions.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has impressively demonstrated how necessary such anchoring is: children and young people were often not given sufficient consideration during the crisis. Their rights and interests were put on the back burner and the consequences are still being felt today – whether in education, the healthcare system or social support measures.
The Humanist Association of Germany therefore urgently appeals to future political decision-makers to strengthen the rights of children and young people by amending the Basic Law. The enshrinement of children’s rights would impose an obligation on state bodies – from the legislature to the executive to the judiciary – to give special consideration to the interests of children and to place them at the center of all decisions that affect them.
“Children’s rights must not just exist as political promises, but must be firmly anchored in the legal system of the Federal Republic of Germany,” says Britta Licht. “Children are not just our future. They already have rights today that must be protected and respected.”
The Humanist Association of Germany had already supported the call by a broad alliance in 2021 to enshrine children’s rights in the German Basic Law independently of parental rights.
