The First Nearly Universally Ratified Human Rights Treaty in History
United States
(Contributed by the US Committee for
UNICEF, Washington, D.C.) Somalia
PREAMBLE
The preamble recalls the basic principles of the United Nations and
specific provisions of certain relevant human rights treaties and
proclamations. It reaffirms the fact that children, because of
their vulnerability, need special care and protection, and it
places special emphasis on the primary caring and protective
responsibility of the family. It also reaffirms the need for legal
and other protection of the child before and after birth, the
importance of respect for the cultural values of the child's
community, and the vital role of international cooperation in
securing children's rights.
Definition of a child
child is recognized as a person under 18, unless national laws
recognize the age of majority earlier.
Non-discrimination
All rights apply to all children without exception. It is the
State's obligation to protect children from any form of
discrimination and to take positive action to promote their rights.
Best interests of the child
All actions concerning the child shall take full account of his or
her best interests. The State shall provide the child with adequate
care when parents, or others charged with that responsibility, fail
to do so.
Implementation of rights
The State must do all it can to implement the rights contained in
the Convention.
Parental guidance and the child's evolving capacities
The State must respect the rights and responsibilities of parents
and the extended family to provide guidance for the child which is
appropriate to her or his evolving capacities.
Survival and development
Every child has the inherent right to life, and the State has an
obligation to ensure the child's survival and development.
Name and nationality
The child has the right to a name at birth. The child also has the
right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, to know his
or her parents and be cared for by them.
Preservation of identity
The State has an obligation to protect, and if necessary, re-
establish basic aspects of the child's identity. This includes
name, nationality and family ties.
Separation from parents
The child has a right to live with his or her parents unless this
is deemed to be incompatible with the child's best interests. The
child also has the right to maintain contact with both parents if
separated from one or both.
Family reunification
Children and their parents have the right to leave any country and
to enter their own for purposes of reunion or the maintenance of
the child-parent relationship.
Illicit transfer and non-return
The State has an obligation to prevent and remedy the kidnapping or
retention of children abroad by a parent or third party.
The child's opinion
The child has the right to express his or her opinion freely and to
have that opinion taken into account in any matter or procedure
affecting the child.
Freedom of expression
The child has the right to express his or her views, obtain
information, make ideas or information known, regardless of
frontiers.
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
The State shall respect the child's right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion, subject to appropriate parental guidance.
Freedom of association
Children have a right to meet with others, and to join or form
associations.
Protection of privacy
Children have the right to protection from interference with
privacy, family, home and correspondence, and from libel or
slander.
Access to appropriate information
The State shall ensure the accessibility to children of information
and material from a diversity of sources, and it shall encourage
the mass media to disseminate information which is of social and
cultural benefit to the child, and take steps to protect him or her
from harmful materials.
Parental responsibilities
Parents have joint primary responsibility for raising the child,
and the State shall support them in this. The State shall provide
appropriate assistance to parents in child-raising.
Protection from abuse and neglect
The State shall protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by
parents or others responsible for the care of the child and
establish appropriate social programmes for the prevention of abuse
and the treatment of victims.
Protection of a child without family
The State is obliged to provide special protection for a child
deprived of the family environment and to ensure that appropriate
alternative family care or institutional placement is available in
such cases. Efforts to meet this obligation shall pay due regard to
the child's cultural background.
Adoption
In countries where adoption is recognized and/or allowed, it shall
only be carried out in the best interests of the child, and then
only with the authorization of competent authorities, and
safeguards for the child.
Refugee children
Special protection shall be granted to a refugee child or to a
child seeking refugee status. It is the State's obligation to co-
operate with competent organizations which provide such protection
and assistance.
Disabled children
A disabled child has the right to special care, education and
training to help him or her enjoy a full and decent life in dignity
and achieve the greatest degree of self-reliance and social
integration possible.
Health and health services
The child has a right to the highest standard of health and medical
care attainable. States shall place special emphasis on the
provision of primary and preventive health care, public health
education and the reduction of infant mortality. They shall
encourage international co-operation in this regard and strive to
see that no child is deprived of access to effective health
services.
Periodic review of placement
A child who is placed by the State for reasons of care, protection
or treatment is entitled to have that placement evaluated
regularly.
Social security
The child has the right to benefit from social security including
social insurance.
Standard of living
Every child has the right to a standard of living adequate for his
or her physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
Parents have the primary responsibility to ensure that the child
has an adequate standard of living. The State's duty is to ensure
that this responsibility can be fulfilled, and is. State
responsibility can include material assistance to parents and their
children.
Education
The child has a right to education, and the State's duty is to
ensure that primary education is free and compulsory, to encourage
different forms of secondary education accessible to every child
and to make higher education available to all on the basis of
capacity. School discipline shall be consistent with the child's
rights and dignity. The State shall engage in international co-
operation to implement this right.
Aims of education
Education shall aim at developing the child's personality, talents
and mental and physical abilities to the fullest extent. Education
shall prepare the child for an active adult life in a free society
and foster respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural
identity, language and values, and for the cultural background and
values of others.
Children of minorities or indigenous populations
Children of minority communities and indigenous populations have
the right to enjoy their own culture and to practise their own
religion and language.
Leisure, recreation and cultural activities
The child has the right to leisure, play and participation in
cultural and artistic activities.
Child labour
The child has the right to be protected from work that threatens
his or her health, education or development. The State shall set
minimum ages for employment and regulate working conditions.
Drug abuse
Children have the right to protection from the use of narcotic and
psychotropic drugs, and from being involved in their production or
distribution.
Sexual exploitation
The State shall protect children from sexual exploitation and
abuse, including prostitution and involvement in pornography.
Sale, trafficking and abduction
It is the State's obligation to make every effort to prevent the
sale, trafficking and abduction of children.
Other forms of exploitation
The child has the right to protection from all forms of
exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child's welfare not
covered in articles 32, 33, 34 and 35.
Torture and deprivation of liberty
No child shall be subjected to torture, cruel treatment or
punishment, unlawful arrest or deprivation of liberty. Both capital
punishment and life imprisonment without the possibility of release
are prohibited for offences committed by persons below 18 years.
Any child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless
it is considered in the child's best interests not to do so. A
child who is detained shall have legal and other assistance as well
as contact with the family.
Armed conflicts
States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that
children under 15 years of age have no direct part in hostilities.
No child below 15 shall be recruited into the armed forces. States
shall also ensure the protection and care of children who are
affected by armed conflict as described in relevant international
law.
Rehabilitative care
The State has an obligation to ensure that child victims of armed
conflicts, torture, neglect, maltreatment or exploitation receive
appropriate treatment for their recovery and social reintegration.
Administration of juvenile justice
A child in conflict with the law has the right to treatment which
promotes the child's sense of dignity and worth, takes the child's
age into account and aims at his or her reintegration into society.
The child is entitled to basic guarantees as well as legal or other
assistance for his or her defence. Judicial proceedings and
institutional placements shall be avoided wherever possible.
Respect for higher standards
Wherever standards set in applicable national and international law
relevant to the rights of the child that are higher than those in
this Convention, the higher standard shall always apply.
Implementation and entry into force
The provisions of articles 42-54 notably foresee:
(i) the State's obligation to make the rights contained in
this Convention widely known to both adults and
children.
(ii) the setting up of a Committee on the Rights of the
Child composed of ten experts, which will consider
reports that States Parties to the Convention are to
submit two years after ratification and every five
years thereafter. The Convention enters into force -
and the Committee would therefore be set up - once 20
countries have ratified it.
(iii) States Parties are to make their reports widely available
to the general public.
(iv) The Committee may propose that special studies be
undertaken on specific issues relating to the rights of
the child, and may make its evaluations known to each
State Party concerned as well as to the UN General
Assembly.
(v) In order to "foster the effective implementation of the
Convention and to encourage international co-
operation", the specialized agencies of the UN - such
as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), World
Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) - and UNICEF would be able to attend the
meetings of the Committee. Together with any other body
recognized as 'competent', including non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) in consultative status with the UN
and UN organs such as the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they can submit
pertinent information to the Committee and be asked to
advise on the optimal implementation of the Convention.
