Terre des Hommes published today reveals that the AfD's positions contradict key aspects of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
"We are launching an information campaign to raise awareness of 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 been committed to the recognition, enforcement, and observance of children's rights, to which 196 states have committed themselves at the United Nations. However, the notion that all children have these rights equally is once again being seriously questioned – 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 like obedience and discipline. They also demand that children with special educational needs be excluded from mainstream schools. This form of a two-tier society already divides children and contradicts the educational principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” says Joshua Hofert.
That the AfD instrumentalizes children for political purposes is evident in their demands. For example, the AfD advocates holding children as young as 12 criminally liable, but at the same time opposes lowering the voting age to 16. Furthermore, the AfD rails against state intervention in education, but wants to deprive parents and children of the freedom to choose gender-affirming measures. "We oppose this child policy with the Convention on the Rights of the Child as the standard for children's rights and call once again for children's rights to be enshrined in the Basic Law," said Joshua Hofert.
Press contact
For inquiries and interviews: Wolf-Christian Ramm, phone +49 541 / 71 01-158, c.ramm@tdh.de.
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