The Convention on the Rights of the Child

Human rights law defines a child as any human being below the age of 18. In 2014, UNICEF estimated the total number of children in the world at 2.2 billion (The State of the World’s Children 2014 In Numbers: Every Child Counts). The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him. Pablo Casals Children are human beings, so they have exactly the same human rights as adults. However, children have been recognised as being in particular need of care and assistance, and for that reason they also have their “own” human rights treaty – the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC was adopted by the United Nations in 1989 and entered into force on 2 September 1990. The CRC applies to all children under the age of 18 in those countries that have accepted it – and nearly every country in the world has done so.