CHILD Protection & Rights > International and Regional Level.
Numerous instruments and goals have been set up by the International Community at International and Regional level to protect and to promote Child Protection and Child Rights.
1 - The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
2 - The 2 Optional Protocols
Human rights apply to all age groups; children have the same general human rights as adults. But children are particularly vulnerable and so they also have particular rights that recognize their special need for protection.
Lots of Human Rights treaties refer to Child Protection and Child Rights and all of their provisions apply to children. However, it was felt that children needed a separate convention and a clearer definition of children’s legal status under international law.
The main instrument for Children at international level is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC).
The roots of the UN CRC can be traced back to 1924 when the League of Nations (the predecessor of the United Nations) adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, written by a British social reformer and the founder of Save the Children, Eglantyne Jebb.
Read more on the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1923
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, drafted by Eglantine Jebb and adopted by the International Save the Children, Geneva, February 23, 1923 and endorsed by the League of Nations General Assembly on November 26, 1924:
" By the present declaration of the Rights of the Child, commonly known as the Declaration of Geneva, men and women of all nations, recognizing that mankind owes to the Child the best that it has to give, declare and accept it as their duty that beyond and above all considerations of race, nationality or creed:
1. The child must be given the means requisite for its normal development, both materially and spiritually.
2. The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif must be sheltered and succoured.
3. The child must be the first to receive relief in times of distress.
4. The child must be put in a position to earn a livelihood, and must be protected against every form of exploitation.
5. The child must be brought up in the consciousness that its talents must be devoted to the service of its fellow men.”
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In 1948, the United Nations adopted a second Declaration of the Rights of the Child that included seven points of concern related to children. This same year, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) recognized in Article 25(2) the “special nature of childhood and motherhood” which are “entitled to special care and assistance."
And, in 1959 the United Nations adopted a more expanded version, the Declaration on the Rights of the Child.
This consisted of ten principles and incorporated the guiding principle of working in the best interests of the child. However, this 1959 Declaration was not legally binding and was only a statement of general principles and intent.
After a 10 year drafting process the UN CRC, the first legally binding document concerning Child Rights and Child Protection, was adopted by the United Nations on 20th November 1989.
Read More on the 10 year drafting process:
1978 was proclaimed the International Year of the Child by the United Nations. Child rights Non-Governmental Organizations used preparations for this event as a platform to lobby for a legally-binding Convention for Child Rights. The Government of Poland took the lead on this initiative and proposed a draft text. The Polish draft was essentially the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child with the addition of legal text on implementation of the ten-point declaration.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights established a working group to review and expand on the Polish text. The group consisted of a broad range of governmental representatives and members of civil society groups. Independent human rights experts and observer delegations of non-member governments and UN agencies also participated in the drafting of the onvention. Their work continued for ten years, from 1979 to 1989, when the Convention was unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
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