Children and human right

is the UNCRC?

The UNCRC is the most widely ratified international human rights instrument. All children and young people up to the age of 18 years have all the rights under the convention.

The UK (State Party) signed the UNCRC in 1990 and ratified it in 1991. That means the State Party (comprising of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) now has to make sure that every child has all the rights in the treaty except in those where the government entered a specific reservation.

A convention is an agreement between countries to obey the same law. When the government of a country ratifies a convention, that means it agrees to obey the rules set out in that convention.

What the treaty means

When the treaty came into force, every child in the UK has been entitled to over 40 specific rights. The different rights are not ranked in order of importance; instead they interact with one another to form dynamic parts of an integrated unit