UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC)
Background
The roots of the UNCRC can
be traced back to 1923 when Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the
Children, summarised the rights of children in five points. Her
Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the League of Nations in
1924 and the five points subsequently became known as the Declaration of
Geneva.
Following World War II, and its atrocities, the
United Nations (UN) concentrated on producing the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which was adopted in 1948. Although the rights of children were
implicitly included in this Declaration, it was felt by many to be insufficient
and that the special needs of children justified an additional, separate
document. In November 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted the second
Declaration of the Rights of the Child. This consisted of ten principles and
incorporated the guiding principle of working in the best interests of the
child. However, this 1959 Declaration was not legally binding and was only a
statement of general principles and intent. Ten
years in the making, the UNCRC was adopted by the UN General Assembly
in 1989, exactly thirty years after the 1959 Declaration. On 2 September 1990
it entered into force as international law.
Brief
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a
comprehensive, internationally binding agreement on the rights of children,
adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989. This is a universally accepted definition of a
child and comes from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC), an international legal instrument accepted and ratified by most
countries. India has always recognised the category of persons below the age of
18 years as distinct legal entity. That is precisely why people can vote or get
a driving license or enter into legal contracts only when they attain the age
of 18 years. The Government of India
ratified the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on 12th November 1992. A child is defined in the UNCRC as a person under the age of
18 years. India signed this convention on It incorporates children's:
·
civil and political
rights (towards treatment under the
law);
·
social, economic and
cultural rights (towards adequate standard of
living); and
·
protection rights (towards abuse and exploitation).
Each
of the substantive articles, Articles 1-41, details a different type of right.
A common approach to the UNCRC is to group these articles together
under the following themes:
1. Survival rights: include the child’s
right to life and the needs that are most basic to existence, such as
nutrition, shelter, an adequate living standard, and access to medical
services.
2. Development rights: include the right to education, play, leisure,
cultural activities, and access to information, and freedom of thought,
conscience and religion.
3. Protection rights: ensure children are safeguarded against all forms
of abuse, neglect and exploitation, including special care for refugee
children; safeguards for children in the criminal justice system; protection
for children in employment; protection and rehabilitation for children who have
suffered exploitation or abuse of any kind.
4.
Participation rights: encompass
children's freedom to express opinions, to have a say in matters affecting
their own lives, to join associations and to assemble peacefully. As their
abilities develop, children are to have increasing opportunities to participate
in the activities of their society, in preparation for responsible adulthood.
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