Twenty One Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Coming of Age?

In 2010, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)[1] reached the age of 21, and arguably,
'came of age'. The Children's Convention was not the first international
instrument that attempted to protect the rights of the child however. 1924 saw
the enactment of one of the first legal instruments to explicitly recognise
that children, as human persons, ought to enjoy certain inalienable rights. It
was recognised that children are often the first and hardest impacted upon in
times of conflict or economic hardship.









[1] Convention on the Rights of
the Child, G.A. res. 44/25, annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 167, U.N.
Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force Sept. 2 1990. See also, Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of
children in armed conflict.   New
York, 25 May 2000. United Nations, Treaty Series,
vol. 2173, p. 222 and Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
  New York,
25 May 2000.United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2171, p. 227.