Convention on the Rights of the Child
For 30 years the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been protecting children and adolescents from vulnerable situations
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Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has changed the way children are viewed and treated as human beings with a distinct set of rights instead of passive recipients of charity. It recognizes that childhood is a vulnerable time, and that children need special care and protection.
The CRC is the first global set of legally binding rights to apply to all children. It has been ratified by every country on earth, with the exception of the United States, making it the most widely ratified human rights agreement in history.
Through its 54 articles, the CRC sets minimum standards for children’s well-being at each stage of their development. It applies to everyone under the age of 18 (the definition of a child), regardless of their gender, origin, religion, disability.
The CRC is guided by four fundamental principles that apply to every child.
- Non-discrimination (Article 2).
- The best interests of the child (Article 3).
- Survival, development and protection (Article 6).
- Participation (Article 12).
Optional Protocols to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The UN General Assembly adopted two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2000: to protect children from involvement in armed conflicts and from sexual exploitation. Since 2014, a third Optional Protocol has enabled children to report violations of their rights directly to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors compliance with the CRC.
For more information:
The Convention on the Rights of the Child
The Optional Protocols
Children and the Agenda 2030
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by world leaders in 2015 and apply to all Member States and to every citizen within them. The SDGs aim to ensure equity, with everyone having the same safeguards and life opportunities within every country - rich or poor - by 2030.
The achievement of all 17 SDGs aims improve life for everyone, children as well as adults. However, some of the SDGs and their related targets are particularly relevant for the well-being of children.
Goal 1: No poverty
1.2. Halve the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty.
Goal 2: Zero hunger
2.1. End hunger and ensure access by all people, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food.
2.2. End all forms of malnutrition, including achieving internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under five years of age by 2025.
Goal 3: Good health and well-being
3.2. End preventable deaths of newborns and children under five.
Goal 4: Quality education
4.1. Ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
4.2. Ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
Goal 5: Gender equality
5.1. End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
5.2. Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls.
5.3. Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
8.7. Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.
Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
16.2. End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.
For every child, results
UNICEF works for the rights of every child, every day, across the globe.
Over the past 30 years, children’s lives have been transformed...
More than 50 per cent
reduction in deaths of children under 5 since 1990
Almost halved
the proportion of undernourished children since 1990
2.6 billion
more people have cleaner drinking water today than in 1990
...but millions are still left behind and childhood is changing rapidly.
262 million
children and youth are out of school
650 million
girls and women were married before their 18th birthday
1 in 4 children
will live in areas with extremely limited water resources by 2040