Dag Hammarskjöld Library at Uppsala University
Rights of the Child
- © United Nations
The United Nations recognizes that children have rights as human beings and need special care and protection for their survival and development.
These principles are laid down in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which was passed unanimously in November 1989 and entered into force in September 1990. It stands out among all human rights covenants as the one having obtained the highest number of ratifications. At present, all members of the United Nations have ratified the Convention - with the exception of the United States and Somalia. They have signed the Convention, but not yet ratified it. The main body for enforcing the convention is the Committee of the Rights of the Child (CRC), which monitors the implementation of the Convention by its State Parties.
Two additional Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child were adopted by the General Assembly in 2000. They entered into force two years later and are intended to prevent involvement of children in armed conflict and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
In 1990, the UN Commission on Human Rights created the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
to investigate the exploitation of children around the world.
UNICEF works to assist governments in promoting children's rights. In 1990, the World Summit for Children took place under the auspices of UNICEF. The World Summit adopted a Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and a Plan of Action for implementing the Declaration in the 1990s.
The Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Children took place in 2002. It was the first of its kind devoted exclusively to children and with children as official delegates.
The ILO is engaged in setting international standards to fight the worst forms of child labour.
Documentation
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child carry the following symbols:
CRC/- | Committee on the Rights of the Child |
Ex. CRC/C/65/Add.21 | Committee on the Rights of the Child. Country report no 65. Addendum 21 |
The State Parties are obliged to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention on The Rights of the Child for consideration by the Committee. These State Party Reports are posted in the Treaty Body Database at the UN official web site, Section Human Rights. Reports in print for earlier years are included in the UN Collection of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala, and the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva.
The Committee reports and comments are posted under CRC as Concluding Observations in the Treaty Body Database.
The official web site of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, under section Human Rights at the UN official web site, provides background information and news, full text reports and documents, conventions and protocols, lists of signatures, ratifications and reporting guidelines and a link to the Treaty Body Database.
Documents for recent years from the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography are posted at the UN official web site, section Human Rights.
We the Children is a review of the progress made in meeting the commitments of the 1990 World Summit for Children. The report is posted at the UNICEF official web site.
ILO convention no. 138 concerning minimum age for admission to employment or work, Minimum Age Convention and no. 182, Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, are posted at the UN official web site, section Human Rights, International Law, and in the database ILOLEX at the official web site of the ILO.
Yearbook of the United Nations provides an excellent overview of the United Nations work relevant to the rights of the child with a detailed subject index. A complete collection of yearbooks is held by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala, and the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva. Since October 2008 the complete full text collection of The United Nations Yearbooks is available online at http://unyearbook.un.org/.
Databases and Indexes
The UN Library online catalogue UNBISnet contains reports, documents and articles related to UN activities with links to full texts for recent years. Subject search can be performed using relevant terms from the UNBIS THESAURUS.
Full text documents related to the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be retrieved from the Treaty Body Database, at the UN official web site, section Human Rights.
The reports of the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council can be accessed through the Charter Body database at the UN official web site, section Human Rights.
A web portal with links to UN main bodies and focal points and full text documents and reports is posted at the official web site of the United Nations, section Global Issues, Children.