Growing with Rights
Understanding and supporting the evolving capacities of the child
Highlights
The international standard on children’s rights – the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child – adopted by almost all countries in the world more than three decades ago – affirms that all children hold inherent rights to survival, development and participation in society, including freedom from violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination.
The nature of childhood itself is changing rapidly due to multiple factors and pressures including fragile contexts, climate change and digital transformation. New developments in understanding children’s development across disciplines necessitate updated understanding of children’s evolving capacities and how policymakers, practitioners, parents and caregivers can best respect and support these capacities.
The report draws on evidence from multiple fields to present a framework for understanding children’s evolving capacities across three dimensions: developmental, protective and emancipatory. It also provides specific questions that policymakers, practitioners, parents and caregivers should consider when making context-specific decisions related to children’s rights.
Suggested citation: United Nations Children’s Fund Office of Strategy and Evidence – Innocenti, Growing with Rights: Understanding and supporting the evolving capacities of the child, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, February 2026
