The UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child
Central articles
In the Universal Declaration on Human Rights it is stated:
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All
children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social
protection.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child gives all children in the
world the same equal rights. It’s basic principle is to ensure that the best
interests of the child prevail in all decisions concerning the child and its
life.
The State Parties are obliged to ensure:
• children’s fundamental rights – food, health and a place to live
• children’s right to development – education, leisure activities, act of
play, information
• children’s right to co-determination – influence, participation,
freedom of expression
• Children’s right to protection – from wars, violence, abuse and
exploitation
This principle must come through in legislation, public management,
general initiatives and singular decisions and actions such as a placement
outside the home.
Art. 3. 1: In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public
or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative
authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a
primary consideration.
Art 3. 2: States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and
care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the
rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals
legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all
appropriate legislative and administrative measures.
Art. 3. 3: States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and
facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform
with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in
the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as
well as competent supervision.
Article 2:
1. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention
to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of
the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or
other status.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected
against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities,
expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members.
The principle of non-discrimination means that the
kindergarten, school, a special care home and other forms of
provided services are obliged to adjust to each individual
child, its personal character and the specific values it brings
from its lifeworld.
In article 6 the State Parties recognise that
1. States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent
right to life.
2. States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent
possible the survival and development of the child.
In Article 12 it is made clear that State Parties shall ensure every child its right
to express its own views in all matters concerning the child and its life. And
these views must be given due weight appropriate to the child’s age and
maturity.
Art. 12. 1:
States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own
views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child,
the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and
maturity of the child.
The convention also emphasises State Parties’ obligation to give the child
possibility of expressing its views in any case or matter handled by judicial or
adminstrative authorities concerning the child.
Art. 12. 2: For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the
opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings
affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an
appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national
law.
According to Art. 12. 2, the child must be heard. This is of great importance
concerning children in public care as the authorities must ensure the child gets
the possiblity to enjoy and use this right.
In the meaning of the convention, the child is a fully fledged member of society
with equal civil rights as everyone else. This is expressed in articles 7 and 8 that
state that from birth the child has the right to a name and nationality and
protection of its fundamental identity.
Art. 7. 1: The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have
the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as
possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.
Art. 8. 1: States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve
his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as
recognized by law without unlawful interference.
Children have the right to:
• express their views and feelings
• search, receive and pass on information
• determine and practice their beliefs
• create or participate in associations and peaceful assembly
Art. 13. 1: The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall
include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds,
regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or
through any other media of the child's choice.
Art. 14. 1: States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion.
Art. 15. 1: States Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of
association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.
Article 16 describes children’s right to privacy, the right not be subject to
unlawful interference with their family, home or correspondence or experience
attacks on their honour and reputation.
Article 17 describes children’s right to access to national and international
sources of information.
Both articles are important in the case of placed children. A care home must be
designed so the children are ensured their privacy and are free from interference
with their homes and correspondence and the work in care homes must be
organised to support this. Likewise, a care home must provide the child with a
broad range of different kinds of information.
The state is obliged to ensure that when a child is placed outside the
home the responsible authorities make periodic reviews of the
placement, its facilities, the treatment and all other circumstances
relevant to the placement (art. 25).
The state shall also recognize for every child the right to benefit from
social security (Art. 26. 1) and a standard of living adequate for the child’s
physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development (Art. 27. 1).
State Parties must assist parents, and others responsible for the child, to
implement this right and provide material assistance and support
programmes (Art. 27. 3).
The state shall recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure and to engage
in play and recreational activities and it must respect and promote the right of
the child to participate in cultural and artistic life (Art. 31).
Children must have the opportunity to be children, to play, see their friends and
do what children do. And a care home must give them a chance to do this while
also protecting them from using drugs.
State Parties shall also take appropriate measures to protect the child from illicit
use of narcotic drugs and other psychotropic substances and prevent the use of
children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances (Art. 33).
And State Parties shall take all approrpiate measures to promote physical and
psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of any kind
of violence, physical harm, abuse, exploitation etc. and such recovery and
reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, selfrespect and dignity of the child (Art. 39).
When a child has experienced physical harm, abuse, exploitation etc. the
state is obliged to ensure the child recovery and re-integration. To put the
child in some sort of care or programme that re-builds the child’s health, trust
and self-esteem.
For every child, who one way or other has committed a crime, the state must
treat the child in a manner that promotes the child’s sense of dignity and
worth and reinforces the child’s respect of human rights and fundamental
freedoms of others and considers the child’s reintegration and assuming a
constructive role in society (Art. 40).
Concerned at the large number of children who are abandoned or become
orphans owing to violence, internal disturbance, armed conflicts, natural
disasters, economic crises or social problems,
When care by the child's own parents is unavailable or inappropriate, care by
relatives of the child's parents, by another substitute - foster or adoptive family or, if necessary, by an appropriate institution should be considered.
Declaration on Social and Legal Principles relating to the Protection and
Welfare of Children