Know your rights

Today we live in a world where almost everyone agrees that anyone below 18 years old is a child and has the right to special care and protection.

© UNICEF/HQ93-1897/Pirozzi

A girl from the nomadic Peul Bororo tribe in the village of Kehene, Niger.

But that has not always been the case. It has only been since 20 November 1989, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), that the world has benefited from one set of legal rights for all children and young people. 

Once we got it though, almost everyone was quick to agree to it.

Only a few months after it was adopted, 20 countries had already ‘ratified’ the Convention (given it legal force). And today, 'over 190' countries have ratified the CRC. In fact, only two countries in the world — Somalia and the United States — have not yet given the CRC legal force, although both have signed it, showing that they intend to give it legal force, but have not done so yet.

"We want a world fit for children, because a world fit for us is a world fit for everyone. In this world, we see respect for the rights of the child." From A World Fit for Us, the statement produced by young people at the Children's Forum, UN Special Session on Children, May 2002

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human rights agreement in the world. It details your rights and how they should be applied in its 54 articles, plus two optional extras (or 'protocols').

The Convention starts off by saying that everyone under the age of 18 (the definition of a child), regardless of gender, origin, religion or possible disabilities, needs special care and protection because children are often very vulnerable (articles 1 & 2 — the numbers in brackets correspond to the relevant article in the Convention). It also says that governments must take action to ensure your rights are respected (4). It ends by describing ways of putting theory into practice and monitoring progress (41–54, see the feature 'Promises to keep' for more about this).

Although the Convention has 54 articles in all, it is guided by four fundamental principles:

• Non-discrimination (2): you should neither benefit nor suffer because of your race, colour, gender, language, religion, national, social or ethnic origin, or because of any political or other opinion; because of your caste, property or birth status; or because you are disabled.
• The best interests of the child (3): laws and actions affecting children should put your best interests first and benefit you in the best possible way.
• Survival, development and protection (6): the authorities in your country must protect you and help ensure your full development — physical, spiritual, moral and social.
• Participation (12): you have a right to have your say in decisions that affect you, and to have you opinions taken into account.

As you are exploring the various rights, try to see how each of these four fundamental principles informs them.

These are your rights. If you do not know what they are, how will you know if they are being denied? So start investigating!