Mexico City, May 20 (teleSUR-RHC) Mexico's national human rights commission, known as CNDH, said on Tuesday that poverty is a major obstacle to the protection of the rights of children and youth in the country.

CNDH also called attention to educational challenges, social inequality, and child labor as key issues impeding children's rights. It said government efforts to address underage labor and to sanction companies for child labor abuse have been “insufficient.”

At a meeting of the U.N. Committee of the Rights of the Child in Geneva, Switzerland to assess the child rights situation in various countries, including Mexico, CNDH's Ismael Eslava Perez highlighted the critical role of strong public policy in advancing children's rights.
“According to the 2010 Census, in Mexico, some 786,653 children lived in the 125 municipalities with the lowest Human Development Index,” UNICEF Mexico said.

CNDH noted that the situation of children's and teenagers' rights in Mexico demands structural change. It said that the role of the Mexican government is important to establish a “system of comprehensive protection that considers minors as people with rights.” It called on the government to ratify the international conventions related to child labor and implement improved workplace labor inspection.

Perez proposed the creation of a National Data Registry to track the status of children's rights to inform the state's work in overcoming key barriers such as access to basic education and social development in rural and indigenous areas.