The CRC is one of the core international human rights treaties. It is the international standard for the human rights of children and the only international human rights treaty that provides for the full scope of rights: civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Adoption by the United Nations General Assembly: 1989; Entry into force: 1990.

Status of ratification: the CRC has been ratified by 196 UN Member States (all UN Member States except the United States of America). It is the most ratified international human rights treaty in history.

The CRC represents a culmination in the evolution of the legal concept of childhood and a paradigm shift from the perception of children as the property of their parents.

For the first time in international law, the CRC recognises:

• children as subjects of the full scope of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights;
• children as fully entitled to participate in all matters that affect them, and;
• the duty of States Parties to respect, protect and fulfil the full scope of children’s rights.

All children’s rights put forth in the CRC are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

The CRC provides that States Parties must take all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures to implement the rights contained in the Convention (article 4 CRC). See WHY section.

The principles and provisions of the CRC constitute the fundamental reference point for the process and content of children’s rights legislative reform.

The CRC requires States Parties to:

• respect, protect and fulfil the rights enshrined in the CRC;
  • Respect: The State Party must respect the rights of the child by refraining from interfering with or denying the enjoyment of these rights.
  • Protect: The State Party must take appropriate measures to protect the child from violations of their rights by third parties.
  • Fulfil: The State Party must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of children's rights.
• examine all national legislation that affects the realisation of children’s rights and, where needed, bring it in conformity with the CRC;
• adopt legislation and regulations that reflect the interrelated, interdependent and indivisible nature of rights enshrined in the CRC.

The CRC must be used as a standard against which all legislation, programmes, policies and institutions are measured. Comparing legislation to the CRC as a whole helps clarify the extent to which the CRC provisions are being implemented.

The provisions of the CRC are to be used as the minimum standard that States Parties must follow. This is in line with article 41 CRC, which provides that the Convention does not affect provisions contained in the State’s national law or the international law in force in that State which are more conducive to the realisation of children’s rights.

States Parties should also take into account the recommendations issued by the CRC Committee through the Concluding Observations (COBs) for that State, its General Comments (GCs) and decisions under OPIC when relevant.