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"FOREWORD" [2019] ELECD 2673; in Vandenhole, Wouter; Erdem Turkelli, Gamze; Lembrechts, Sara (eds), "Children's Rights" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) xvii

Book Title: Children’s Rights

Editor(s): Vandenhole, Wouter; Erdem Türkelli, Gamze; Lembrechts, Sara

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section Title: FOREWORD

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

FOREWORD




Before the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
`children's rights' were viewed as a quest for charity. Children were often
considered to be the property of their parents. They were viewed and treated
as `mini-human beings'.
The CRC, adopted in 1989, is the first binding global instrument with a
specific focus on a wide range of rights for children. It was ratified by 100
States within two years of its adoption, making it the most quickly ratified
human rights instrument in the world. It took less than ten months to enter
into force. More importantly, the Convention is also the most widely ratified
human rights instrument with 196 States parties. The opportunity to look
back into the drafting history of the Convention is very timely and should be
welcomed. In recent years, especially with the rise of populism, doubts on the
relevance of multilateralism, and the general pushback on the human rights
agenda, State Parties often refer to the travaux preparatoires of the Convention
and its Optional Protocols to argue the case why they do or do not have a
specific obligation.
Fast forward 30 years, the popularity of the CRC, as manifested in its near
universal ratification, suggests a high level of normative consensus among the
various nations of the world on the idea and content of children's rights as
human rights. However, there is still considerable divergence of opinion about
the nature of the relevant rights, their foundation and ...