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30th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Posted by: Elin Hofverberg

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The following is a guest post by Elizabeth Boomer, a legal research analyst in the Global Legal Research Directorate. Elizabeth has previously written for In Custodia Legis on Technology & the Law of Corporate Responsibility – The Impact of Blockchain.

Children Playing in Sand [1922]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.42112
Today, November 20, 2019, marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It also marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and the 65th anniversary of World Children’s Day, which was established as Universal Children’s Day in 1954. This year, in honor of the UNCRC anniversary, 47 countries made 192 pledges to educate the public on children’s rights, take legislative and other measures to implement the Convention, ensure all children have access to education, ensure children’s view are respected, and protect children from violence.

The UNCRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history, with 196 ratifications. To commemorate these anniversaries, the UN Human Rights Council, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and their partners will host events in Geneva and New York. The Committee on the Rights of the Child is the independent body of experts that monitors implementation of the UNCRC and, since 2014, is able to accept individual communications from children regarding specific violations of their rights under the UNCRC.

The Law Library of Congress has a large collection of materials related to children’s rights, in addition to a number of published reports and blog posts covering legal issues affecting children.

Update (11/25/2019): The UN Audiovisual Library of International Law has made available a recent lecture by Professor Diane Marie Amann on Child Rights, Conflict, and International Criminal Justice to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the UNCRC. The lecture provides insight into the development of preventing and punishing crimes against children by addressing the intersections of the UNCRC and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

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