Abstract

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child is among the most comprehensive of all international human rights covenants. It was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1989, following a decade of discussion and debate relating to its content, and has now been ratified by every nation in the world except the United States. This level of endorsement and broad acceptance of its provisions establishes the articles of the CRC as global norms for the treatment of children and standards for the dignity and respect that is due them. The CRC provides a global agenda for children and childhood and has been described as “an authoritative, universal definition of the rights of children and young people” (Hammarberg..