Knowra Children's rights Children's rights Children's rights are the human rights and legal entitlements of people under 18, including protection, care, participation, and access to essential services.
Convention on the Rights of the Child : A 1989 United Nations treaty setting out civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights for children. It is the central international treaty that organizes children's rights into binding commitments for its parties.
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child : The independent expert body that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It reviews state reports and interprets the treaty through general comments.
Right to education : The human right to accessible, acceptable, and available education without discrimination. The Convention requires states to recognize education and pursue its aims for every child.
Parens patriae : A legal doctrine granting the state authority to protect people unable to protect their own interests. It can justify state intervention, but children's rights constrain how that protective power is used.
Best interests of the child : A standard requiring children's interests to be a primary consideration in decisions that affect them. It guides how governments, courts, and caregivers reconcile competing claims involving a child.
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure : A treaty protocol allowing eligible individuals or groups to submit complaints to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It provides an international complaint route where the state has accepted the procedure.
Right to health : The human right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Children's rights include health services, disease prevention, and conditions for healthy development.
Child liberationism : A movement advocating greater autonomy and freedom for children, often challenging age-based restrictions. It highlights tensions between children's agency and protective approaches to rights.
Child participation : Children's meaningful involvement in decisions and matters that affect their lives. The right to be heard makes participation a core principle, not merely a form of consultation.
Child protection system : The laws, services, and institutions that prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence against children. It turns protection entitlements into coordinated prevention, response, and care.
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