The most important right of children is that they should be allowed to be children and adults must see to that, Minister of State for Family and Youth Affairs Katalin Novák said on Thursday at the National Conference on Child Protection in Budapest.

The Conference was held on 20 November, declared Universal Children’s day by the United Nations in 1954. Ms. Novák said children are not small adults, and accordingly their rights must be tailored to their specific needs. Children have the right to a carefree life, love, and physical and emotional safety, she added.

The primary responsibility for providing these factors falls with families, but communities, churches, NGOs and the state also each have a role to play, she said.

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Minister of State for Social Affairs and Inclusion Károly Czibere said at the Conference that families must receive all necessary support to be able to keep children within their respective families, but the system of responsibilities must be made clearer to ensure that children whose safety is in jeopardy always receive support.

The Government intends to reinforce the child protection service and its warning system to make sure that problems are both being detected and dealt with, he added.

On 20 November 1989, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of a Child, which was signed by Hungary on 19 March 1990. Universal Children’s Day was first observed in Hungary in 1997 and in the same year the Hungarian Parliament passed a law on children’s rights and fostering which includes all of the rights covered by the U.N. Convention.

(Ministry of Human Capacities)