Children & Young People's Rights
The rights of children and young people are set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). These rights apply to all children under the age of 18. Every country in the World apart from the USA and Somalia has agreed to enforce these rights. To find out more about these rights.
Read the SCCYP breakdown of Children's Rights on this site
or
Visit UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Online
UNCRC Explained
On the 20th November 1989, the United Nations (A worldwide organisation made up of most of the countries of the world and started in 1945 to promote peace, security, and economic development) approved the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention is an international agreement that countries must obey.
The UK government signed up to the Convention on December 6th 1991.This means that the UK government has to make sure that every child has all the rights in the Convention.
The main points of the UNCRC are:
- All the rights guaranteed by the Convention must be available to all children without discrimination (Article 2)
- That the best interests of the child must always come first (Article 3)
- Children's views must be considered and taken into account in all matters affecting them (Article 12)
- All children have the right to life, survival and development (Article 6)
UNCRC Illustrations Gallery
To raise awareness of children's rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, we have commissioned two illustrated versions of the articles of the UNCRC. One version is for younger children and another for older children and young people.