ChildFund Australia has produced a delightful short film capturing the views of children across the world about child rights and their hopes for the future. The film, entitled More Than Words, has been released to mark the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (20 November).

The film reveals children have their own ideas about rights -what they are, why they are important and how they impact on their lives. It also highlights the challenges some children face in realising their rights, for example, to education and to safety and security.

"The narrative of the film is really that while the Convention on Child Rights may be a long and laborious document full of legalese, child rights actually do mean something to children," says ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence. "Children are very clearly able to articulate why rights are important and express ideas about how to improve their lives and communities. It is vital that we listen to their views as a fundamental right and to be effective in our development work with children and communities."

The film features children aged 10 to 16 years from ChildFund program areas in Cambodia, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia, as well as children from Australia and New Zealand. Each country contributed its own footage, which was developed into a short film by Australian independent filmmaker Robert Nugent.

Mr Spence said the motivation behind the project was to celebrate the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the changes it has brought for children.

"The Convention marked a historic change by asserting that all children have fundamental human rights, including rights to an identity, education, healthcare, protection from abuse, freedom to play and an adequate standard of living," says Mr Spence. "It has been hugely influential in shaping policy and legislation - the movement for universal primary education, initiatives to reduce child mortality, stronger child protection systems and laws to prevent child labour are some of the progressive changes we've seen."

Children's rights are of central importance in ChildFund's work. Realisation of the right to clean water, education, food, protection and basic healthcare is a key driver of all projects. ChildFund's approach also supports children to actively participate in the design and implementation of programs affecting their communities.

"Progress is being made," says Mr Spence. "However, it is obvious that many children continue to experience violation of their rights due to poverty, war, injustice, abuse and the disproportionate impact of natural disasters. They require even greater support over the next 20 years."

View the short film More Than Words at www.childfund.org.au