"When the lives and rights of children are at stake," said Unicef director Carol Bellamy, "there must be no silent witnesses". In the 20 years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was applied to Hong Kong, there has been much progress, although some rights remain unfulfilled. While Article 3 states that "in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative bodies or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration", views diverge on the way forward. The criminal justice system, in particular, has taken giant steps towards ensuring that people who commit crimes against children are accountable, not least by facilitating the evidence of young victims. Strict evidential rules have been relaxed, and child victims can now testify by means of a live television link, avoiding the trauma of a court attendance. Although the UN convention recognises that children must be cared for emotionally as well as physically, the child cruelty law in Hong Kong is deficient, The law needs tightening, as in England, to fully criminalise psychological harm, even without physical injury. There are an estimated 1.1 million children under the age of 18 in the city, and their interests require protection, just as their voices need to be heard. Although the government has done much to alleviate poverty, with the overall poverty rate, according to official figures, falling from 14.5 per cent to 9.5 per cent of the population, the situation of many children remains alarming. The Hong Kong Institute of Education has estimated that one in four of Hong Kong children, or roughly 275,000, are living in poverty, with the problem being particularly acute among new immigrant and single-parent families. In the 2014 policy address, the government announced plans to "nurture young people through education, employment and whole-person development", but the success of its proposals is, inevitably, tied to better living conditions at home. Although the policy address envisaged a HK$3 billion-per-year Low Income Working Allowance to help more than 200,000 poor families, this has fallen foul of mindless politicking in the Finance Committee. It may not now come to pass until 2016, if at all, which is a crying shame, with children being the big losers. Those behind the filibustering must remember that their antics are doing nothing to advance social justice, quite the reverse. After all, in 2013, Oxfam Hong Kong found that while 60 per cent of low-income parents were cutting down on food and medical expenses to provide for their children, cash shortages left 30 per cent of their children short of learning materials and unable to participate in activities outside school. The problem, however, is more deep-seated, and a survey by the Society for Community Organisation has shown the difficulties many children face trying to do homework in cramped living conditions, often without their own bed. Privations in formative years inevitably put many children at a severe disadvantage in later life. Moreover, when children live in highly straitened circumstances, domestic tensions simmer, and sometimes erupt, to their inevitable detriment. Harmony House, for example, has reported on significant levels of child abuse among Primary one to Primary Four pupils. The Commission on Poverty is committed to helping underprivileged young people to realise their potential, and to providing them with equal opportunities, but once a child is entrapped in the cycle of poverty it can be very difficult to escape. All too often, the child's perspective is neither heeded nor understood by policymakers, which means that valuable insights into grass-root problems are being lost. After all, Article 12 of the UN convention embodies "the right of all children to be heard and taken seriously", although the actual weight to be placed on a child's views will depend on age and maturity. The Children's Council, sponsored by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, has given secondary school students, aged 12 to 17, a means to participate in civil society. Since 2002, the council has interacted with officials, legislators and educators on issues as diverse as school bullying, mental health, overeating, poverty, sex education and the impact of divorce. Moreover, non-governmental organisations, including Against Child Abuse and the Hong Kong Committee on Children's Rights, have found that children have useful views on domestic, educational and welfare issues, and are fully capable of being advocates for their rights. In 2006, for example, Kids' Dream, the first child-led organisation in Hong Kong, was launched to collect views from children and to promote the UN convention. However, to ensure that the UN convention is fully honoured, an independent child commission is now essential, as in other places. If this long-overdue proposal, twice endorsed by the Legislative Council, is included in the chief executive's forthcoming policy address, it will demonstrate good faith, and bring some belated festive cheer. Grenville Cross SC is honorary consultant to the Child Protection Institute