Milestones in Children's Rights

Milestones in Children’s Rights

In the industrialized countries of the early twentieth 1959 The CRC addresses the complete welfare of the child. century, there were no standards of protection for 1989 1993 Underpinning the 54 Articles and three Optional Protocols The United Nations General Assembly adopts 1968 2002 the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which 1979 The Convention on the Rights of the Child is adopted The World Conference on Human Rights is a landmark children. It was common for children to work alongside recognizes, among other rights, children’s rights 1974 by the United Nations General Assembly and widely in human rights history. The Vienna Declaration issued of the CRC are four basic principles for the fulfillment 1924 The International Conference on Human Rights is The World Fit for Children agenda, adopted at the Special to education, play, a supportive environment and acclaimed as a landmark achievement for human The General Assembly declares 1979 as the at the Conference confirms all human rights are health care. convened to evaluate the progress made by countries rights, recognizing the roles of children as social, Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Children, International Year of the Child, in which UNICEF indivisible, interdependent, and of equal importance, 1999 adults in dangerous conditions. Growing recognition of The League of Nations adopts the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the in the 20 years since the adoption of the Universal Concerned about the vulnerability of women economic, political, civil and cultural actors. The outlines specific goals for improving the prospects of children of all child rights: non-discrimination, the best interests plays a leading role. The objectives of the Year and recognizes the full rights owed to women, children, 2011 Child, drafted by Eglantyne Jebb, founder of the Save the Children Fund. Declaration of Human Rights. An agenda for future and children in emergency and conflict Convention guarantees and sets minimum standards over the next decade. are to advance advocacy for children on the part 1990 those with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and all The International Labour Organization (ILO) work is drafted and national commitments to upholding situations, the General Assembly calls on for protecting the rights of children. UNICEF, which the injustices of their situation, and greater understanding of policymakers and the public, and to promote minority peoples. The Declaration calls for more of the child as a primary consideration in all actions The Declaration articulates that all human rights are bolstered. Member States to observe the Declaration helped draft the Convention, is named in the adopts the Worst Forms of Child Labour A new Optional Protocol to the 1989 Convention on programmes for children as an integral part of widespread ratification and meaningful implementation people owe children the right to: on the Protection of Women and Children document as a source of expertise regarding the The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare Convention, calling for the immediate prohibition the Rights of the Child is adopted. Under this Optional national social and economic development. of the CRC by Member States. of the special developmental needs of children, led to a • means for their development; in Emergency and Armed Conflict. The implementation of the Convention. of the Child was adopted by the African Union in and elimination of any form of work that is Protocol on a communications procedure, the Committee concerning children, the child’s inherent right to life, likely to harm the health, safety or morals of • special help in times of need; Declaration prohibits attacks against or 1990 and entered into force in 1999. The regional on the Rights of the Child can file complaints of child movement to better protect them. imprisonment of civilian women and children charter was created as African leaders felt there children. UNICEF has been working with the rights violations and undertake investigations. survival and development and the child’s right to express • priority for relief; and upholds the sanctity of the rights of are issues, practices, attitudes and concepts ILO since 1996 to promote the ratification • e conomic freedom and women and children during armed conflict. that effect children’s rights in Africa, but are not of international labour standards and policies protection from exploitation; addressed in the CRC. concerning child labour. his or her views freely in all matters affecting the child, The first modern articulation of child rights emerged and • an upbringing that instils with those views being given due weight. social consciousness in 1924, when the League of Nations established that and duty. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child recognizes “mankind owes to the Child the best that it has to give.” that child rights in Africa The Committee on the Rights of Child monitors the often face different sets

©UNICEF of challenges. The Archives of the State of Geneva A UNICEF eye specialist examines students in Morocco. The movement coalesced following World War II, as safeguard the original 1924 Declaration ©UNICEF/UNI43224/BUBLEY implementation of the Convention and its three Optional on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the International Save the Children Union and Posters and stamps are used Leaders and representatives, including United Nations Secretary-General adopted by the League of Nations. Kofi Annan and UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, applaud the opening nations unified to create a shared standard for the rights The 1968 International Conference on Human Rights in Iran is the first of its around the world to spread Protocols (on armed conflict, the sale of children and ©CH AEG ARCHIVES PRIVÉES 33 of the Special Session on Children. kind. awareness and engage Goodwill Ambassador Audrey Hepburn pauses for a photo with children at Conference Secretary-General Ibrahima Fall and President of the Conference ©UNICEF/UNI37011/MARKISZ ©UN/361476 support for the International United Nations Headquarters as the General Assembly adopts the Convention Alois Mock shake hands at the conclusion of the World Conference on Year of the Child. on the Rights of the Child. Human Rights held in June 1993. owed to all people of all nations. ©UN/G.REED/275930 ©UN/319241 These students in Korba are trained reporters. Greater knowledge of children’s individual complaints by children to the Committee): rights advances greater protection of those rights. ©G.MCBEAN ©UNICEF/UNI112234/HALLE’N Poverty often leads to children being pulled out of school to help support Young boys in Viet Nam play with spent rockets. their families. these are additional legal mechanisms that complement ©UNICEF/NYHQ/1972-0007 ©UNICEF/UNI31538/HORNER The passage of child centered policy, the ratification of the Convention and need to be ratified separately. States child rights instruments, and the emergence of child must report to the Committee every five years. UNICEF, focused organizations that took place in the subsequent civil society organisations, and children themselves can decades reflect growing recognition of the obligations provide extra information to help the Committee assess that society holds towards children. how States are implementing the Convention. These child focused organizations championed the need 1948 1990 1996 2010 After it was adopted, the CRC became the most widely to uphold children’s rights in a binding agreement, and 1966 1978 2012 The United Nations General Assembly passes the Universal Declaration The World Summit for Children brought together the leaders of more than Following a recommendation by the Committee on The United Nations Secretary-General ratified treaty in history, establishing how children around The Commission on Human Rights puts forth of Human Rights, in which article 25 entitles mothers and children to With the International Covenants on Civil and Political 70 countries to adopt the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and the Rights of the Child to the General Assembly, the 2000 issues the report on the status of The Child Rights and Business Principles their efforts led to the adoption of the Convention on the a draft of a Convention on the Rights of the Child 1985 1991 ‘special care and assistance’ and ‘social protection’. Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Development of Children. Within the Declaration were commitments to reduce Secretary-General appoints Graca Machel to undertake the CRC, which reports that the guide companies on what they can 1973 for consideration by a working group of Member The United Nations General Assembly adopts two the world are to be viewed and treated. It also inspired United Nations Member States promise to uphold equal infant deaths, to provide access to clean water and to ensure basic education for all a study on the impact of armed conflict on children. The implementation of the rights of children States, agencies and intergovernmental and do at work, in the market, and in the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989. rights – including registration, citizenship, education and The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the children. Articulating ambitious aims, and having the highest levels of government Experts from UNICEF, Save the Children, Machel Report led to the establishment of the office of Optional Protocols to the 1989 Convention on the during early childhood is critical to non-governmental organizations. community to uphold children’s rights. protection – for all children. The International Labour Organization Administration of Juvenile Justice detail the principles commit to achieving those aims, became a model later used for the Millennium Defence for Children International and other the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Rights of the Child, obligating States Parties to take reducing future inequity in society and other instruments for children’s rights, such as the African adopts Convention 138, which sets 18 of a justice system that promotes the best interests of Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. organizations meet to discuss data gathered Children in Armed Conflict. key actions to prevent children from partaking in prescribes measures for continued as the minimum age for undertaking the child including education and social services and from the reporting process of the Convention hostilities during armed conflict and to end the sale, advancement of the CRC. Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990) and Building upon children’s rights declarations from 1924 and work that might be hazardous to a proportional treatment for child detainees. on the Rights of the Child. The meeting leads sexual exploitation and abuse of children. person’s health, safety or morals. to the formal establishment of the Child Rights 1959, as well as international treaties on civil and political International Network (CRIN) in 1995. the Children’s Rights and Business Principles (2012). The Standard Minimum Rules for A returned Lord’s the Administration of Resistance Army rights and economic, social and cultural rights, the CRC Juvenile Justice are abductee. also known as the ©UNICEF/UNI41962/ The CRC has also been used as a framework to Beijing Rules. LEMOYNE specifically sets out the human rights which apply to all Through advocacy, research and monitoring, CRIN works with partners around the world to advance children’s rights in policy help tackle the situation of the most vulnerable and and practice. children to ensure they are properly protected, nurtured disadvantaged children. Under the rallying cry of the The Covenants recognize the rights of children to individual political and and increasingly empowered, in line with their evolving social identities. CRC, organizations that advocate, defend and research capacities. World leaders take a group photo at the 1990 World Summit for Children, for which an unprecedented number of Heads of State gathered to commit to the cause of children. Graca Machel speaks with a former child soldier during a visit to a UNICEF ©UNICEF the rights and welfare of children now exist across Eugeniusz Wyzner presents United Nations Secretary-General Boutros assisted camp near Freetown in Sierra Leone. The Principles contain ten actions that companies Boutros-Ghali with the 1991 United Nations Yearbook. Wyzner, as the ©UNICEF/UNI29698/GROSSMAN Permanent Representative to the UN from Poland, presented the first draft can take to be more aligned with the protection of of the Convention on the Rights of the Child for the consideration of the children’s rights. government, civil society, academia and public life. Commission on Human Rights in 1978. ©UN/845 Large posters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are distributed in English, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish in December 1949. A baby is weighed at a baby-friendly tent operated by a ©UN/63484 Haitian organization with support from UNICEF. Health in Boys in a UNICEF work-study programme in La Paz early childhood is critical to continued development. stand in front of flagstones they have made. ©UNICEF/UNI100388/LEMOYNE ©UNICEF/UNI51471/HORNER