CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

CRC – CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 20^th November 1989. The world leaders came to a consensus that children, till 18 years of age, require special care and protection. They also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children too had human rights.

The Convention is the first legally binding international instrument that spawns the full range of human rights – civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights in the context of a child. It has set minimum entitlements and freedoms of children that the governments are supposed to protect regardless of race, color, gender, language, religion, wealth, birth status or ability. On 26 January 1990, the opening day of the session, 61 countries signed the convention.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child which is divided into three parts and fifty four Articles, articulates five sets of basic rights, based on four core guiding principles:

i)                 Equality and non-discrimination

ii)               Best interests of the child

iii)              The right to life, survival and development

iv)             Respect for the views of the child

Every right spelled out in the Convention is inherent to human dignity and all round development of every child. Briefly stated the Convention delineates the Rights of Child as follows

-        The right to survival

-        The right to develop to the fullest

-        The right to protection from harmful influences

-        The right against abuse and exploitation

-        The right to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.