Terre des Hommes published today shows that the AfD's positions contradict the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on key points.
"We are launching an information campaign to draw attention to the dangers that the AfD's positions pose to the well-being and rights of children. This issue has received far too little attention and analysis to date," says Joshua Hofert, spokesperson for the board of Terre des Hommes .
Terre des Hommes has advocated for the recognition, enforcement, and observance of children's rights, to which 196 states have committed themselves at the United Nations. But the idea that all children have these rights equally is once again being massively questioned today – including in Germany.
"While we see school as a place where children can develop their potential according to their abilities and learn to respect the rights of other people and cultures, the AfD advocates for authoritarian schools with virtues such as obedience and discipline. It also demands that children with special educational needs be excluded from mainstream schools. This form of two-class society is already dividing children and contradicts the educational principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child," says Joshua Hofert.
The fact that the AfD instrumentalizes children for political purposes is evident in its demands. For example, the AfD advocates for holding children as young as 12 years old criminally accountable, but at the same time opposes lowering the voting age to 16. Furthermore, the AfD polemicizes against state intervention in education, but the free choice regarding gender reassignment measures is to be withdrawn from parents and children. "We counter this child policy with the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a standard for children's rights and once again call for children's rights to be enshrined in the Basic Law," said Joshua Hofert.
Press contact
For questions and interviews: Wolf-Christian Ramm, phone 05 41/71 01-158, c.ramm@tdh.de
More information and can be found on our campaign page .