Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/implementing-the-united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child/5023130/
This is the second of three articles by members of the World Forum Foundation’s Working Group on Children’s Rights (WGCR), which together explain the core principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), explore a range of children’s rights issues, and invite you to join our project.
The first article, “A Beginning — Images of Rights: Children’s Perspectives Project” (Exchange, March/April 2016) introduced the UNCRC, the Working Group on Children’s Rights, and the Images of Rights Project. This article will discuss the history of children’s rights and the development of the UNCRC, including its three categories: Provision, Protection, and Participation. The article also highlights how several countries have implemented the UNCRC. Early in 2017, the third article will address strategies for action on behalf of children’s rights and remind readers to continue contributing to the project.
Past as Prologue
Discussion about children’s rights began in the late 19th century, largely as a result of changing views of and beliefs about children, particularly in Western Europe and North America. Writers and thinkers like Kate Douglas Wiggin in the United States (Wiggin, 1898) and Ellen Key in Sweden (Key, 1909) published writings on children’s rights at the turn of the 20th ...