The following is a brief introduction of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on Nov. 20, 1959.
The first children's rights proclamation, a Declaration of the Rights of the Child, was drafted in the early 1920s by the Geneva-based International Save the Children Union, one of the earliest international organizations to champion children's welfare.
This Declaration with five core principles was adopted by the League of Nations on Sept. 26, 1924, as the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
On Nov. 20, 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted a much expanded version as its own Declaration of the Rights of the Child, with 10 principles in place of the original five.
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, drafted by the UN Commission on Human Rights, placed stronger emphasis on children's emotional well-being and asserted that it was children's right to be "among the first to receive protection and relief" in all circumstances.
According to the Declaration, every child, without any exception whatsoever, should be entitled to the rights set forth in the document.
Every child should be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation, while the best interests of the child should be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and guidance, it said.
The UN General Assembly proclaims this Declaration to the end that every child may have a happy childhood and enjoy for his own good and for the good of society the rights and freedoms herein set forth.
It calls on parents, upon men and women as individuals, and on voluntary organizations, local authorities and national governments to recognize these rights and strive for their observance by legislative and other measures progressively taken in accordance with the ten principles.
However, this document is a non-binding resolution of the UN General Assembly. Exactly 30 years after the 1959 Declaration had been accepted, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Nov. 20, 1989.
The Convention, the first legally binding international convention to affirm human rights for all children, came into force in September 1990. |
