Children's rights: a story of slow recognition

How did we move from the first international recognition of children's needs in the 1920s to the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child? How did the imperative of protecting the youngest gradually become linked to that of their emancipation, and therefore the consideration of their opinions and capacities for action? Historical insight.

This year, 2024, we commemorate the centenary of the first statement of the rights of the child, through the Geneva Declaration, and the 35th anniversary  of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).

From the regulation of labor to the progress of schooling, from the development of pediatrics to the "invention" of early childhood, including state intervention within the family unit when necessary, there were certainly many advances in the 19th century  to improve the fate of children in Europe. But it was in the 20th century  , in the aftermath of the Great War, that the transnational movement for the adoption of a declaration of the rights of the child achieved a tangible result.

Looking back at this story helps shed light on contemporary issues surrounding young people's voices, on an international scale.

The Geneva Declaration and the Vital Needs of the Child

For the promoters of peace and a new international order within the framework of the League of Nations (LN), the child embodies the hopes for a better future. Transnational associations whose goal is to rescue and protect children become major players in this "childhood diplomacy" .

This is particularly the case of the International Save the Children Union/Union Internationale de Secours aux Enfants (ISCU/UISE) created in 1920 and based in Geneva, of British (Save the Children Fund) and Swiss (International Committee of the Red Cross) inspiration and of the International Association for the Protection of Children (AIPE) created in 1921 by French and Belgian reformists.

Read more: Children in War: Perspectives on a Century of Conflict

Doctors, politicians, judges, teachers who promote new education, etc. are involved in this cause of childhood. The populations participate through their donations – such as child sponsorship, improperly called “adoption” – in order to lift children affected by the war and the post-war period out of poverty.

In this context, it appears necessary to establish intangible international principles. A first declaration of the rights of the child was drawn up in 1923 by Eglantyne Jebb (1876-1928), founder of Save the Children Fund and president of the International Save the Children Union.

This Geneva Declaration, approved by the General Assembly of the League of Nations in 1924, affirms in five very short points the vital needs of children that society must satisfy:

"The child must be enabled to develop in a normal way, materially and spiritually";

"The hungry child must be fed, the sick child must be cared for, the backward child must be encouraged, the misguided child must be brought back, the orphan and the abandoned must be taken in and rescued";

"The Child should be the first to receive help in times of distress";

“The child must be enabled to earn a living and must be protected against any exploitation”;

"The child must be brought up with the feeling that his best qualities should be put at the service of his brothers."

Declaration of Geneva, 1924, signed in particular by Gustave Ador (ICRC) and Eglantyne Jebb. Archives of the State of Geneva

The declaration had the great merit of sending the cause of children back to lower levels in a movement of national and local reappropriations of a universal rhetoric. For example, in France, the Minister of Public Instruction ordered that it be posted in all schools.

Although very short, this consensual declaration is the first and only major reference text relating to child protection during the entire interwar period. Some go further, such as new education pedagogies, or Janusz Korczak (1878-1942) who experimented with the emancipation of children through the exercise of capacity rights. Thus, in his centers, children took part in community decisions.

How can we define a universally accepted “interest of the child”?

The Geneva Declaration survived the Second World War and was voted on in 1946 by the very young United Nations (UN), which was then tackling a larger project that resulted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.

Regarding children, it only states that "motherhood and childhood are entitled to special assistance", without further details. In addition to this edification, the Geneva Declaration was amended in 1948 by the addition of two additional duties for nations:

"The child must be protected without any consideration of race, nationality and belief";

“The child must be helped while respecting the integrity of the family.”

In passing, some terms were tweaked, for example, "the backward child" of 1924 became "the deficient child" in 1948; "the misguided child" became "the maladjusted child". But this updated Geneva Declaration had little impact and the actors in the area of ​​the cause of children mobilized for a major text clearly stating rights for the child.

For a decade, the UN and the relevant international organizations gravitating around it ( UNICEF created in 1946 , UNESCO, etc.), transnational associations (International Union for Child Protection, International Catholic Child Bureau, etc.) mobilized and worked on drafting a Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1959.

This text takes up the "needs" of children defined in the 1923/1924 text and the "duties" of nations towards children specified in the 1948 text. Thus, ten "principles" were stated in 1959, adding to the previous lists:

the right to a name and a nationality;

the right to the love of one's parents;

the right to leisure.

For the first time, the terms "moral security", "universal fraternity", "education", "development", "dignity", "freedom" and, to top it all, "the best interests of the child" also appear in a more verbose wording. Although the 1959 declaration is signed by all UN member states, it does not bind them in any way.

Cancelled postage stamp printed by the United Nations for the International Year of the Child in 1979. Shutterstock

In order to encourage States to take real action for the protection and development of children's rights, the UN declared 1979 the "International Year of the Child". The drafting of a Convention on the Rights of the Child was entrusted to a working group bringing together UNICEF, various non-governmental organizations (NGOs), some of which were created specifically for this purpose, such as Defense for Children - International (DCI), and the 48 member States of the Commission on Human Rights.

This major undertaking requires ten years of work and debate because the very acute question of the universality of children's rights arises, these being considered very differently depending on the cultural areas: how then can we define a universally accepted "interest of the child"?

In order to arrive at a text that could achieve unanimity, its development logic was that of consensus and political compromise. It should be noted that, no more than in previous episodes, children were involved in the reflection and drafting of the text.

Recognize children's rights of expression and association

On 20 November 1989, in its resolution 44/25, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which specifies that any protective measure taken with regard to a child must be governed by the pursuit of the child's best interests.

The Convention combines two approaches to children's rights: protection and emancipation . In this way, children's rights of expression, opinion and association are clearly affirmed, which was not the case in previous texts. This conception of children's rights involves respecting their words, taking them into account and recognising children's agency .

Entering into force on 7 September 1990 after its ratification by 20 UN Member States, the Convention has established itself as a major reference text of international law, binding on the States Parties. However, its length (54 articles) means that the content must be adapted for children.

In 1991, the Committee on the Rights of the Child began functioning as a monitoring body for the implementation of the CRC. In addition to comments on general measures of implementation of the Convention, the Committee regularly issues "General Comments" on problematic issues (HIV/AIDS, implementation of rights in early childhood, rights of children with disabilities, rights of indigenous children, etc.).

In 2000, two optional additional protocols to the convention were adopted by the UN: on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

In 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted a third optional protocol that allows any child to refer a matter to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. This has allowed several children's groups to raise awareness of the responsibility of States in climate change, which is endangering the future of the planet on which today's children will live tomorrow.