Unofficial Summary

Children's Rights

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Unofficial Summary of Main Provisions of the Convention

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 cultural values of the child's community, and the vital role of international cooperation in securing children's rights.

Schoolgirls on march in Porto-Novo, Benin for AI Benin's Stop Violence Against Women campaign. ( © Terry J. Allen )

Article 1 - Definition of a Child
A child is recognized as a person under 18, unless national laws recognize the age of majority earlier.

Article 2 - 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.

Article 3 - 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, fall to do so.

Article 4 - Implementation of rights
The State must do all it can to implement the rights contained in the Convention.

Article 5 - Parental guidance an 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.

Article 6 - 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.

Article 7 - 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.

Article 8 - 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.

Article 9 - Separation from parents
The child has a right to live with his or her parents unless this is deemed 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.

Article 10 - 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.

Article 11 - 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.

Article 12 - 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.

Article 13 - Freedom of expression
The child has the right to express his or her views, obtain information, and make ideas or information known, regardless of frontiers.

Article 14 - 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.

Article 15 - Freedom of association
Children have a right to meet with others, and to join or form associations.

Article 16 - Protection of privacy
Children have the right to protection from interference with privacy, family, home, and correspondence, and from libel or slander.

Article 17 - 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.

Article 18 - 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.

Article 19 - Protection from abuse and neglect
The State shall protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or other responsible for the care of the child and establish appropriate social programmes for the prevention of abuse and the treatment of victims.

Article 20 - 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.

Article 21 - Adoption
In countries where adoption in 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.

Article 22 - 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.

Article 23 - 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.

Article 24 - 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 morality. They shall encourage international cooperation in this regard and strive to see that no child is deprived of access to effective health services.

Article 25 - 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.

Article 26 - Social security
The child has the right to benefit from social security including social insurance.

Article 27 - 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.

Article 28 - 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 be consistent with the child's rights and dignity. The State shall engage in international cooperation to implement this right.

Article 29 - 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.

Article 30 - 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.

Article 31 - Leisure, recreation, and cultural activities
The child has the right to leisure, play, and participation in cultural and artistic activities.

Article 32 - 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.

Article 33 - 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.

Article 34 - Sexual exploitation
The State shall protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse, including prostitution and involvement in pornography.

Article 35 - Sale, trafficking and abduction
It is the State's obligation to make every effort to prevent the sale, trafficking, and abduction of children.

Article 36 - 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.

Article 37 - 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 for release are prohibited for offenses 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 interest not to do so. A child who is detained shall have legal and other assistance as well as contact with the family.

Article 38 - 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.

Article 39 - Rehabilitative care
The State has an obligation to ensure that child victims of armed conflicts, torture, maltreatment, or exploitation receive appropriate treatment for their recovery and social reintegration.

Article 40 - 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 defense. Judicial proceedings and institutional placements shall be avoided wherever possible.

Article 41 - Respect for higher standards
Wherever standards set in applicable national and international law relevant to the rights of the child are higher than those in this Convention, the higher standards shall always apply.

Article 42 - Implementation and entry into force
The provision 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 evaluation 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 in 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.

Source: UNICEF and International Catholic Child Bureau (ICCB).