To coincide with the days on which the Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child[1] (UNCRC) were adopted in 1959 and 1989, respectively, November 20 was set for the world to specifically promote children’s welfare (although some countries have set other days, the intention remains).
With November 20 nearing, we take this opportunity to revisit and remind readers of the significance of the UNCRC provisions. For the complete text, please go to Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 1. In general, all those under 18 are deemed children.
Article 2. Children have the right to protection against discrimination irrespective of their, their parent's or legal guardian's race, color, sex, language, religion, opinion, origin, property, disability, birth or other status.
Article 3. 
In all actions affecting children, their best interests shall be the primary concern. The child’s protection and care must be ensured.
Article 4. All appropriate measures must be taken to implement children’s rights.
Article 5. Children must be provided appropriate direction and guidance, in a manner consistent with their capacities, by parents/guardians.
Article 6. Every child has the right to live. The child’s survival and development must be ensured.
Article 7. Upon birth, the child shall be registered immediately and shall have the right to a name, to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, to know and be cared for by his/her parents.
Article 8. Governments must respect and protect the right of the child to an identity, including nationality, name and family relation.
Article 9. Children shall not be separated from their parents against their will, except in accordance with law and the separation is for the child’s best interests. Children have the right to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis.
If the separation results from any government action such as detention, imprisonment, exile, deportation or death of one or both parents or of the child, the government shall provide the essential information on the whereabouts of the absent family member unless it would be against the child’s well-being.
Article 10. Children or their parents have the right to enter or leave a country for family reunification subject only to restrictions re national security, public order, public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others.
Article 11. Children have the right to protection against their illicit transfer and non-return.
To be more precise, the UN General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (in May 2000) and specifically prohibits any act whereby a child is transferred by any person/s to another for any consideration. More on this protocol re Articles 34 and 35 below.
Article 12. Children have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them. Their views shall be weighed in accordance with their age and maturity.
Article 13. Children have the right to freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds subject to restrictions necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others or for the protection of national security, or public order, or public health or morals.
Article 14. Children have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, subject to limitations to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
Article 15. Children have the right to freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly, subject to limitations re national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
Article 16. Children have the right to protection against arbitrary or unlawful interference into their privacy, family, or correspondence, and against unlawful attacks on their honor and reputation.
Article 17. Children have the right to access information and material especially those aimed at the promotion of their social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health.
Government shall encourage: 1) mass media to disseminate information and material for children’s social and cultural benefit; 2) international co-operation in the dissemination of information from a diversity of sources; 3) production and dissemination of children's books; 4) mass media to have regard to the linguistic needs of children from minority groups; 5) the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of children from information and material injurious to their well-being.
Article 18. Parents/legal guardians have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern. Government shall render appropriate assistance to parents / legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities and shall ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of children.
Article 19. Children shall have the right to protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse.
Article 20. A child deprived of family environment shall be entitled to special government protection and assistance.
Government shall ensure alternative care for the child, including foster placement, adoption or, if necessary, placement in institutions with due regard to continuing the child's upbringing and to the child's background.
Article 21. The system of adoption shall ensure that the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.
Article 22. A child seeking refugee status or is considered a refugee shall receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance. Governments shall cooperate to protect and assist the child and to trace the family members of any refugee for family reunification.
Article 23. A mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child's active participation in the community. Disabled children have the right to special care and assistance free of charge, whenever possible, and shall to ensure that the child receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities for fullest possible social integration and individual development.
Article 24. Children have the right to the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.
Government shall take appropriate measures to: 1) diminish infant and child mortality; 2) ensure necessary medical assistance and health care with emphasis on the development of primary health care; 3) combat disease and malnutrition taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution; 4) ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care; 5) ensure society has basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breastfeeding, hygiene and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents; and 6) develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services.
Article 25. Children under care, protection or treatment of their physical or mental health, have the right to periodic review of their treatment and all other relevant circumstances.
Article 26. Children have the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance.
Article 27. Children have the right to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
Article 28. Children have the right to education, and government shall: 1) make primary education compulsory and available free to all; 2) encourage the development of different forms of secondary education and free education and financial assistance; 3) make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity; 
4) make educational and vocational information and guidance available to all; 5) take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools; 6) take measures to ensure school discipline is administered; 7) encourage international cooperation relating to education.
Article 29. Children’s education shall be directed to: 1) the development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; 2) the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for United Nations principles;
3) the development of respect for the child's parents, cultural identity, language and values, the national values of his/her country of residence and origin, and for other cultures; 4) the child’s preparation for responsible life in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship; 5) respect for the natural environment.
Article 30. Children belonging to a minority group or are indigenous have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.
Article 31. Children have the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
Article 32. Children have the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work likely to be hazardous or to interfere with their education, or to be harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
Governments shall provide for: 1) a minimum age for employment and 2) regulation of conditions of employment.
Article 33. Children have the right to be protected from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and the illicit production and trafficking of such substances.
Article 34. Children have the right to be protected from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Governments shall prevent: 1) the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; 2) the exploitative use of children in unlawful sexual practices; 3) the exploitative use of children in pornography.
Article 35. Governments shall prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (in May 2000) criminalizes the following acts, including any attempt thereof and any participation therein:
1) sale of children - any act whereby a child is transferred by any person/s to another for any other consideration, including a) offering, delivering or accepting a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation; transfer of the child’s organs for profit; or engagement of the child in forced labor; b) improperly inducing consent, as an intermediary, for the child’s adoption in violation of international law;
2) child prostitution - the use of a child in sexual activities for any consideration, including offering, obtaining, procuring or providing a child for child prostitution;
3) child pornography - any representation of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes, including producing, distributing, disseminating, importing, exporting, offering, selling or possessing child pornography.
Article 36. Children have the right to be protected from all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to their welfare.
Article 37. 1) No child shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below 18 years; 2) no child shall be deprived of liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The lawful arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be a last resort measure and for the shortest period of time; 3) every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect and in a manner appropriate to their age. Every child deprived of liberty shall have the right to maintain family contact; 4) every child deprived of liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other assistance, and to a prompt decision on any such action.
Article 38. Children under 15 years should not be made take part in armed conflicts. Governments shall ensure protection and care of children affected by armed conflict.
In order to strengthen protection for children in armed conflict, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children In Armed Conflict was adopted by the UN General Assembly (in February 2000). Among others, the Optional Protocol raised the age limit from 15 to 18 years.
Article 39. Child victims of any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts have a right to receive help to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration.
Article 40. Children accused of breaking the law have the right to be treated in a manner that promotes their sense of dignity and worth which takes into account their age and the desirability of reintegration into society. Such children have the right to privacy at all stages of the proceedings.
Governments shall establish: 1) a minimum age below which children shall be presumed not to have the capacity to break laws; 2) measures for dealing with such children without resorting to judicial proceedings, provided human rights and legal safeguards are fully respected; 3) the availability of care, guidance and supervision orders; counseling; probation; foster care; education and vocational training programs and other alternatives to institutional care to ensure that children are dealt with in a manner appropriate to their well-being and proportionate both to their circumstances and the offence.
Article 41. Applicable provisions of domestic law or international treaty shall apply instead of the Convention’s provisions if more conducive to the realization of the child’s rights.
Article 42. Everyone has a right to be informed of their rights under the Convention.
Children can be the most vulnerable and delicate members of society. So the Convention not only unleashes tons of protection for them but acknowledges their human rights as equal to any adult’s.
Children are the future. So for us to hope for more Einsteins or Gandhis, we have to provide a world conducive to their making. The Convention and the Universal Children's Day are there to help us do just that.
See also the 2 Protocols to the UNCRC:
1.Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and
2. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
[1] Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved November 5, 2008, from Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Web site: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm
Article 7. Upon birth, the child shall be registered immediately and shall have the right to a name, to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, to know and be cared for by his/her parents.Article 8. Governments must respect and protect the right of the child to an identity, including nationality, name and family relation.
Article 9. Children shall not be separated from their parents against their will, except in accordance with law and the separation is for the child’s best interests. Children have the right to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis.
If the separation results from any government action such as detention, imprisonment, exile, deportation or death of one or both parents or of the child, the government shall provide the essential information on the whereabouts of the absent family member unless it would be against the child’s well-being.
Article 10. Children or their parents have the right to enter or leave a country for family reunification subject only to restrictions re national security, public order, public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others.Article 11. Children have the right to protection against their illicit transfer and non-return.
To be more precise, the UN General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (in May 2000) and specifically prohibits any act whereby a child is transferred by any person/s to another for any consideration. More on this protocol re Articles 34 and 35 below.
Article 12. Children have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them. Their views shall be weighed in accordance with their age and maturity.Article 13. Children have the right to freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds subject to restrictions necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others or for the protection of national security, or public order, or public health or morals.
Article 14. Children have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, subject to limitations to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
Article 15. Children have the right to freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly, subject to limitations re national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.Article 16. Children have the right to protection against arbitrary or unlawful interference into their privacy, family, or correspondence, and against unlawful attacks on their honor and reputation.
Article 17. Children have the right to access information and material especially those aimed at the promotion of their social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health.Government shall encourage: 1) mass media to disseminate information and material for children’s social and cultural benefit; 2) international co-operation in the dissemination of information from a diversity of sources; 3) production and dissemination of children's books; 4) mass media to have regard to the linguistic needs of children from minority groups; 5) the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of children from information and material injurious to their well-being.
Article 18. Parents/legal guardians have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern. Government shall render appropriate assistance to parents / legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities and shall ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of children.Article 19. Children shall have the right to protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse.
Article 20. A child deprived of family environment shall be entitled to special government protection and assistance.
Government shall ensure alternative care for the child, including foster placement, adoption or, if necessary, placement in institutions with due regard to continuing the child's upbringing and to the child's background.
Article 21. The system of adoption shall ensure that the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.
Article 22. A child seeking refugee status or is considered a refugee shall receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance. Governments shall cooperate to protect and assist the child and to trace the family members of any refugee for family reunification.
Article 23. A mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child's active participation in the community. Disabled children have the right to special care and assistance free of charge, whenever possible, and shall to ensure that the child receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities for fullest possible social integration and individual development.
Article 24. Children have the right to the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.Government shall take appropriate measures to: 1) diminish infant and child mortality; 2) ensure necessary medical assistance and health care with emphasis on the development of primary health care; 3) combat disease and malnutrition taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution; 4) ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care; 5) ensure society has basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breastfeeding, hygiene and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents; and 6) develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services.
Article 25. Children under care, protection or treatment of their physical or mental health, have the right to periodic review of their treatment and all other relevant circumstances.
Article 26. Children have the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance.
Article 27. Children have the right to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
Article 28. Children have the right to education, and government shall: 1) make primary education compulsory and available free to all; 2) encourage the development of different forms of secondary education and free education and financial assistance; 3) make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity; 
4) make educational and vocational information and guidance available to all; 5) take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools; 6) take measures to ensure school discipline is administered; 7) encourage international cooperation relating to education.
Article 29. Children’s education shall be directed to: 1) the development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; 2) the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for United Nations principles;
3) the development of respect for the child's parents, cultural identity, language and values, the national values of his/her country of residence and origin, and for other cultures; 4) the child’s preparation for responsible life in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship; 5) respect for the natural environment.
Article 30. Children belonging to a minority group or are indigenous have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.
Article 31. Children have the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.Article 32. Children have the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work likely to be hazardous or to interfere with their education, or to be harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
Governments shall provide for: 1) a minimum age for employment and 2) regulation of conditions of employment.
Article 33. Children have the right to be protected from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and the illicit production and trafficking of such substances.
Article 34. Children have the right to be protected from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Governments shall prevent: 1) the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; 2) the exploitative use of children in unlawful sexual practices; 3) the exploitative use of children in pornography.
Article 35. Governments shall prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (in May 2000) criminalizes the following acts, including any attempt thereof and any participation therein:
1) sale of children - any act whereby a child is transferred by any person/s to another for any other consideration, including a) offering, delivering or accepting a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation; transfer of the child’s organs for profit; or engagement of the child in forced labor; b) improperly inducing consent, as an intermediary, for the child’s adoption in violation of international law;
2) child prostitution - the use of a child in sexual activities for any consideration, including offering, obtaining, procuring or providing a child for child prostitution;
3) child pornography - any representation of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes, including producing, distributing, disseminating, importing, exporting, offering, selling or possessing child pornography.
Article 36. Children have the right to be protected from all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to their welfare.
Article 37. 1) No child shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below 18 years; 2) no child shall be deprived of liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The lawful arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be a last resort measure and for the shortest period of time; 3) every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect and in a manner appropriate to their age. Every child deprived of liberty shall have the right to maintain family contact; 4) every child deprived of liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other assistance, and to a prompt decision on any such action.
Article 38. Children under 15 years should not be made take part in armed conflicts. Governments shall ensure protection and care of children affected by armed conflict.
In order to strengthen protection for children in armed conflict, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children In Armed Conflict was adopted by the UN General Assembly (in February 2000). Among others, the Optional Protocol raised the age limit from 15 to 18 years.
Article 39. Child victims of any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts have a right to receive help to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration.
Article 40. Children accused of breaking the law have the right to be treated in a manner that promotes their sense of dignity and worth which takes into account their age and the desirability of reintegration into society. Such children have the right to privacy at all stages of the proceedings.
Governments shall establish: 1) a minimum age below which children shall be presumed not to have the capacity to break laws; 2) measures for dealing with such children without resorting to judicial proceedings, provided human rights and legal safeguards are fully respected; 3) the availability of care, guidance and supervision orders; counseling; probation; foster care; education and vocational training programs and other alternatives to institutional care to ensure that children are dealt with in a manner appropriate to their well-being and proportionate both to their circumstances and the offence.
Article 41. Applicable provisions of domestic law or international treaty shall apply instead of the Convention’s provisions if more conducive to the realization of the child’s rights.
Article 42. Everyone has a right to be informed of their rights under the Convention.
Children can be the most vulnerable and delicate members of society. So the Convention not only unleashes tons of protection for them but acknowledges their human rights as equal to any adult’s.
Children are the future. So for us to hope for more Einsteins or Gandhis, we have to provide a world conducive to their making. The Convention and the Universal Children's Day are there to help us do just that.
See also the 2 Protocols to the UNCRC:
1.Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and
2. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
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