Convention on the Rights of the Child
Purpose of the Convention
To supplement the rights and freedoms addressed in the founding Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child affirmed human rights for all children, becoming the first legally binding convention to do so.
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"The States Parties to the present Convention,
Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world... Recognizing that the United Nations has, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...proclaimed and agreed that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind... Recalling that, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance..." -Excerpt from the Preamble to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 1989 |
Role of the Convention
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child positively impacted the manner in which children are viewed and treated. In the eyes of many individuals, children have transformed from "passive objects of care and charity" to "human beings with a distinct set of rights." As a result of the Convention, infant mortality rates have declined and school enrollment has increased throughout the world.
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"...until the Convention on the Rights of the Child was conceived and adopted...the rights of the world’s youngest citizens were not explicitly recognized by any international treaty, nor was there acknowledgement of the fundamental connection between the well-being of children and the strength of their societies. This is why the Convention was such an important milestone..."
-Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF
-Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF
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However, many children—particularly those who reside in developing countries—remain without the unalienable rights entitled to them in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Founding Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Such is indicative of the fact that, despite the significant progress achieved thus far, improvements can still be made to human rights worldwide.
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"We cannot claim that children’s rights are being upheld when 17,000 children under the age of 5 die every day, largely from causes we know how to prevent. When a girl in Afghanistan is kept home from school to perform household chores while her brothers gain an education. When a mother in Pakistan cannot access a simple polio vaccination for her child because they live in a remote community. When about one in four American children lives in poverty. When children are torn from their families, recruited into armed groups, and made to fight and die for causes they can barely understand." -Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF