Celebrating a quarter century of Child Rights

Nov 20 is an important day for children. Twenty-five years ago, at the largest gathering of world leaders at that time, an international convention was adopted at the United Nations that transformed the way we think about children. The way we legally treat them. The way we perceive them. And the way we act to meet their needs.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was a watershed moment when world leaders agreed that all children had rights. They became our youngest citizens entitled to a set of fundamental services and protection that is the responsibility of every government to uphold and safeguard. It was an accumulation of more than a decade of advocacy and lobbying among governments, civil society and development actors for it to finally come into being.

As the first international treaty to articulate the entire complement of rights - economic, social, cultural, civil and political - relevant to children, it is legally binding on all countries that have ratified it, and with its 194 state parties, it is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.

There is no doubt that around the world, including in China, the Convention has been a very important tool that has mobilized us all to action. The lives of millions of children have improved since 1990, when the Convention took affect across the globe. Countries have incorporated the provisions of the Convention in their laws, constitutions, policies and budgets. Children are now widely viewed differently - as holders of their own rights to healthcare, adequate nutrition, education, participation, freedom from violence and exploitation, and the time and space to play.

Yet we know despite the enormous progress that has been achieved in the last quarter of a century, millions of children around the world continue to lack essential services that can ensure their survival, reduce their vulnerability to disease and malnutrition, provide them access to improved water and sanitation, increase their access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services, and allow them to obtain quality education. Millions of children lack a protective environment that shields them from violence, exploitation and abuse - in their homes, schools and communities. Millions of children continue to live in extreme poverty, a number that is disproportionate to their share of the global population.