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Children's rights or the rights of children are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.
Understanding this framework is important to promoting, protecting and realizing children’s rights because the Convention on the Rights of the Child – and the rights and duties contained in it – are part of it.
Children are neither the property of their parents nor are they helpless objects of charity. They are human beings and are the subject of their own rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the rights that must be realized for children to develop to their full potential.
- Definition of a child. A child is any person under the age of 18.
- No discrimination. All children have all these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what language they speak, what their religion is, what they think, what they look like, if they are a boy or girl, if they have a disability, if they are rich or poor, and no matter who their parents or families are or what their parents or families believe or do.
- Best interests of the child. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. All adults should do what is best for children.
- Making rights real. Governments must do all they can to make sure that every child in their countries can enjoy all the rights in this Convention.
OVERVIEW. There are about 2.3 billion children in the world, nearly a third of the total human population. Children are defined by law as people who are under the age of majority in their country, usually 18 years old. Whatever their age, all children have human rights, just as adults do.
Children’s rights are civil and political rights, such as the right to identity, the right to a nationality, etc. Children’s rights are economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to education, the right to a decent standard of living, the right to health, etc.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the basis of all of our work. It is the most complete statement of children’s rights ever produced and is the most widely-ratified international human rights treaty in history.
