Children's Rights | Southampton Hub

Children need rights just as adults do, and without them, they are open to abuse and exploitation by employers, parents and their communities. On 20th November 1989, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is now an international agreement that countries sign up to obey. The Convention has 54 articles which outline different rights, and can be categorised under survival, protection, development and participation. The main points are summarised below:

Summary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

A child means every human being under the age of eighteen years, unless, under the applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.
Every child has the inherent right to life.
Every child has the right to preservation of his or her identity.
Every child who is separated from his parents has the right to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child's best interests.
Every child has the right to leave any country, including their own.
Every child has the right to express his/her own views freely in all matters affecting the.
Every child has the right to freedom of expression.
Every child has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Every child has the right to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.
Every child has the right to privacy.
Every child has the right to protection of the law in case of interference or attacks on said privacy.
Every child has the right to access information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his/her social, spiritual and moral will-being and physical and mental health.
Children of working parents have the right to benefit from child-care services and facilities for which they are eligible.
Every child has the right to protection from all forms of abuse, physically or mentally.
Every child temporarily or permanently deprived of his/her own family environment has the right to special protection and assistance provided by the state.
Every child who is seeking refugee status has the right to receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance.
Every mentally or physically disabled child has the right to enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity and promote self-reliance.
Every child has the right to the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and the rehabilitation of health.
Every child who has been "placed" by the competent authorities for the purposes of care has the right to a periodic review of the treatment provided the child and all other circumstances relevant to his/her placement.
Every child has the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance.
Every child has the right to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
Every child has the right to education.
Every child has the right to enjoy his/her own culture, to profess and practice his/her own religion and to use his/her own language.
Every child has the to engage in play, recreational activities, and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
Every child has the right to be protected from economic exploitation.
Every child has the right to be protected from the illicit use of narcotic drugs, and from being used in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances.
Every child has the right to be protected from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
Every child alleged as or accused of having infringed the penal law has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Every child has the right to prompt access to legal and other assistance.
Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment will be imposed for offenses committed by persons below 18 years of age.
Every child has the right to protection during times of war.

Useful websites

www.direct.gov.uk

Information on children's rights as stated in the Convention and how those rights are upheld

www.unicef.org.uk

The major organisation that works to ensure children's rights across the world

Interested? Want to get involved? Check out your local charity...

KEEN Oxford

Oxford Students Supporting Street Kids (OSSSK)