THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

What is it?

In November 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Conventions are international treaties with norms and regulations for specific situations or groups of people. In October 2015, Somalia became the 196th country in the world to ratify the CRC, making it the most widely ratified human rights agreement in the world.

What does it mean?

The CRC defines everybody under the age of 18 as a child, including teenagers. World leaders agreed that children and adolescents up to this age should have a special convention to ensure that they receive the special care and protection they need. By signing the convention, governments also recognized that the human rights apply entirely to children, too.

Tiny stories

A global campaign to highlight Universal Children's Day and focus attention on the injustice so many of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged children still face at the start of UNICEF’s commemoration of its 70th year.

Click here to read some tiny stories >>

 

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