CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD [SELECTIONS]
Adopted and Opened for Signature by United Nations General Assembly
Resolution 44/25 on 20 November 1989.
Entered into Force 2 September 1990.
PREAMBLE
The States Parties to the present Convention,
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Taking due account of the importance of the traditions and cultural values of each people for the protection and harmonious development of the child,
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Have agreed as follows:
PART I
Article 1
For the purposes of the present Convention a child means every human being below
the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority
is attained earlier.
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.
Article 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.
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.
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 4
States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative,
and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present
Convention. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties
shall undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources
and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation.
Article 5
States Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents
or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community as provided
for by local custom, legal guardians or other persons legally responsible for
the child, to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of
the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the child of
the rights recognized in the present Convention.
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Article 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.
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Article 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.
2. The exercise of this right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these
shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) for respect of the rights or reputations of others; or
(b) for the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public),
or of public health or morals.
Article 14
1 States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion.
2. State Parties shall respect the rights and duties of the parents and, when
applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child in the exercise
of his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the
child.
3. Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be subject only to
such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public
safety, order, health, or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of
others.
Article 15
1. States Parties recognise the rights of the child to freedom of association
and to freedom of peaceful assembly.
2 No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of these rights other than those
imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society
in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre
public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the
rights and freedoms of others.
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Article 17
States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media
and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from
a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at
the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical
and mental health. To this end, States Parties shall:
(a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social
and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article
29;
(b) Encourage international co-operation in the production, exchange and dissemination
of such information and material from a diversity of cultural, national and
international sources;
(c) Encourage the production and dissemination of children’s books;
(d) Encourage the mass media to have particular regard to the linguistic needs
of the child who belongs to a minority group or who is indigenous;
(e) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of
the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being,
bearing in mind the provisions of articles 13 and 18 [ed. note: article 18 on
parental responsibility].
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Article 20
1. A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment,
or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment,
shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State.
2. States Parties shall in accordance with their national laws ensure alternative
care for such a child.
3. Such care could include, inter alia, foster placement, Kafala of Islamic
law, adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions for the care
of children. When considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the desirability
of continuity in a child’s upbringing and to the child’s ethnic, religious,
cultural and linguistic background.
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Article 24
1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness
and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no
child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.
2. States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular,
shall take appropriate measures:
(a) to diminish infant and child mortality;
(b) to ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care
to all children with emphasis on the development of primary health care;
(c) to combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary
health care, through inter alia the application of readily available technology
and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water,
taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution;
(d) to ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers;
(e) to ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children,
are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic
knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breast-feeding, hygiene
and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents;
(f) to develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning
education and services.
3. States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view
to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.
4. States Parties undertake to promote and encourage international co-operation
with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right recognized
in this article. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs
of developing countries.
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Article 28
1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a
view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity,
they shall, in particular:
(a) make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
(b) encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including
general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every
child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education
and offering financial assistance in case of need;
(c) make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every
appropriate means;
(d) make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible
to all children;
(e) take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction
of drop-out rates.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that school
discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human
dignity and in conformity with the present Convention.
3. States Parties shall promote and encourage international co-operation in
matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to
the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating
access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In
this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.
Article 29
1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:
(a) the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and
physical abilities to their fullest potential;
(b) the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and
for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
(c) the development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own
cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country
in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate,
and for civilizations different from his or her own;
(d) the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in
the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship
among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous
origin;
(e) the development of respect for the natural environment.
2. No part of this article or article 28 shall be construed so as to interfere
with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational
institutions, subject always to the observance of the principles set forth in
paragraph 1 of the present article and to the requirements that the education
given in such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be
laid down by the State.
Article 30
In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons
of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous
shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her
group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practice his or her own
religion, or to use his or her own language.
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