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THE CHILD'S RIGHT TO PLAY
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Consultative Status with UNICEF
International Association for the
Child's Right to Play
Association Internationale pour le Droit au Jeu de l'Enfant
Internationale Vereinigung für das Recht des Kindes zu
Spielen
Asociación Internacional por el Derecho del Niño
a Jugar
The IPA Declaration of the Child's
Right to Play was originally produced in November 1977
at the IPA Malta Consultation held in preparation for the
International Year of the Child (1979). It was revised by
the IPA International Council in Vienna, September 1982, and
Barcelona, September 1989.
The IPA Declaration should be read
in conjunction with
Article
31 of the U.N. Convention
on the Rights of the Child (adopted by the General Assembly
of the United Nations, November 20, 1989), which states that
the child has a right to leisure, play, and participation
in cultural and artistic activities.
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WHAT IS PLAY?
CHILDREN are the
foundation of the world's future.
CHILDREN have played at all times throughout
history and in all cultures.
PLAY, along with the basic needs of nutrition,
health, shelter and education, is vital to develop the potential
of all children.
PLAY is communication and expression, combining
thought and action; it gives satisfaction and a feeling of achievement.
PLAY is instinctive, voluntary, and spontaneous.
PLAY helps children develop physically, mentally,
emotionally and socially.
PLAY is a means of learning to live, not a
mere passing of time.
ALARMING TRENDS AFFECTING CHILDHOOD
IPA is deeply concerned by a number
of alarming trends and their negative impact on children's development:
- Society's indifference to the importance
of play
- Over-emphasis on theoretical and academic
studies in schools.
- Increasing numbers of children living
with inadequate provisions for survival and development.
- Inadequate environmental planning, which
results in a lack of basic amenities, inappropriate housing forms,
and poor traffic management.
- Increasing commercial exploitation of
children, and the deterioration of cultural traditions.
- Lack of access for third world women to
basic training in childcare and development.
- Inadequate preparation of children to
cope with life in a rapidly changing society.
- Increasing segregation of children in
the community.
- The increasing numbers of working children,
and their unacceptable working conditions.
- Constant exposure of children to war,
violence, exploitation and destruction.
- Over-emphasis on unhealthy competition
and "winning at all costs" in children's sports.
PROPOSALS FOR ACTION
The following proposals are listed
under the names of government departments having a measure of responsibility
for children.
HEALTH
Play is essential for the physical
and mental health of the child.
Establish programs for professionals
and parents about the benefits of play from birth onwards.
Ensure basic conditions (nutrition, sanitation,
clean water and air) which promote the healthy survival and development
of all children.
Incorporate play into community
programs
designed to maintain children's physical and mental health.
Include play as an integral part of all
children's environments, including hospitals and other institutional
settings.
EDUCATION
Play is part of education.
Provide opportunities for initiative, interaction,
creativity and socialization through play in formal education
systems.
Include studies of the importance of play
and the means of play provision in the training of all professionals
and volunteers working with and for children.
Strengthen play provision in primary schools
to enhance learning and to maintain attendance and motivation.
Reduce the incompatibilities between daily
life, work and education by involving schools and colleges, and
by using public buildings for community play programs.
Ensure that working children have access
to play and learning opportunities outside of the system of formal
education.
WELFARE
Play is an essential part of family
and community life.
Ensure that play is accepted as an integral
part of social development and social care.
Promote measures that strengthen positive
relationships between parents and children.
Ensure that play is part of community-based
services designed to integrate children with physical, mental
or emotional disabilities into the community.
Provide safe play environments that protect
children against abduction, sexual abuse and physical violence.
LEISURE
Children need opportunities to play
at leisure.
- Provide time, space, materials, natural
settings, and programs with leaders where children may develop
a sense of belonging, self-esteem, and enjoyment through play.
- Enable interaction between children
and people of all backgrounds and ages in leisure settings.
- Encourage the conservation and use of
traditional indigenous games.
- Stop the commercial exploitation of
children's play, and the production and sale of war toys and
games of violence and destruction.
- Promote the use of co-operative games
and fair play for children in sports.
- Provide all children, particularly those
with special needs, with access to a diversity of play environments,
toys and play materials through community programs such as
pre-school play groups, toy libraries and play buses.
PLANNING
The needs of the child must have
priority in the planning of human settlements.
- Ensure that children and young people
can participate in making decisions that affect their surroundings
and their access to them.
- When planning new, or
reorganizing existing
developments, recognize the child's small size and limited range
of activity.
- Disseminate existing knowledge about
play facilities and play programs to planning professionals
and politicians.
- Oppose the building of high-rise housing
and provide opportunities to mitigate its detrimental effects
on children and families.
- Enable children to move easily about
the community by providing safe pedestrian access through urban
neighborhoods, better traffic management, and improved public
transportation.
- Increase awareness of the high vulnerability
of children living in slum settlements, tenements, and derelict
neighborhoods.
- Reserve adequate and appropriate space
for play and recreation through statutory provision.
AFFIRMATION
IPA is determined to sustain the
momentum created by the International Year of the Child in 1979
to arouse world opinion for the improvement of the life of children,
and:
AFFIRMS its belief in the United
Nations' Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which in Article
7 states "The child shall have full opportunity to play and recreation,
which should be directed to the same purposes as education; society
and the public authorities shall endeavor to promote the enjoyment
of this right;" and endorses its belief in Article 31 of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
RECOGNIZES that the population of
children in developing countries is three quarters of the world's
total child population, and that efforts directed at the promotion
of education and literacy, and the stopping of environmental deprivation
would improve the capacities of the poorest.
AFFIRMS its commitment to working
with other national and international organizations to ensure
basic conditions of survival for all children in order that they
may fully develop as human beings.
ACKNOWLEDGES that each country is
responsible for preparing its own courses of public and political
action in the light of its culture, climate and social, political
and economic structure;
RECOGNIZES that the full participation
of the community is essential in planning and developing
programs
and services to meet the needs, wishes, and aspirations of children;
ASSURES its co-operation with UN
agencies and other international and national organizations involved
with children;
APPEALS to all countries and
organizations
to take action to counteract the alarming trends which
jeopardize
children's healthy development and to give high priority to long
term programs designed to ensure for all time:
THE CHILD'S RIGHT TO PLAY
ORGANIZATION
IPA is an interdisciplinary non-governmental
organization, providing an international forum and advocacy for
the promotion of play opportunities.
IPA membership is open to any individual,
group or organization which endorses the IPA Declaration of the
Child's Right to Play.
IPA organizes regional and national conferences,
workshops, symposia and study tours and holds a triennial World
Congress. IPA also publishes a magazine, PlayRights, and produces
publications and audio-visual material on aspects of play.
IPA offers advice to national governments
and UN agencies on issues and problems related to the implementation
of the Child's Right to Play.
IPA AND THE UNITED NATIONS
In 1971, the IPA Board decided that
it was important to cooperate with the UN organizations. We are
recognized by, ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council), and UNICEF,
and work in agreement with their principles. They give a context
to our work, as follows:
- Our focus on human rights, specifically
the Child's Right to Play as stated in the UN Declaration of the
Rights of the Child, and now embodied in the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
- Our feeling of solidarity with children
all over the world.
- Our involvement in peace education.
IPA has been appointed as a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations.
- Our commitment to the development of
each individual to the maximum of their potential, the protection
and enhancement of their culture, and the importance of the family
and the community.
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