The Convention on the Rights of the Child [CRC] celebrated its 18th anniversary on November 20, 2007!  

It was on November 20, 1989, that the Convention on the Rights of the Child was completed and adopted by the United Nations in New York

A whole generation of children and young people has grown up under the provisions of the CRC.  Today there are over 2.2 billion children whose rights are recognised by 193 countries through the CRC.

Welcome to KidsRights.ie!

Do you and your friends know what your "rights" are?

Every child needs things like healthy food, a safe place to live, clean water, the chance to go to school to learn and make friends.

Children also need things like the chance to go to a doctor or to hospital when you've had an accident or if you're feeling sick.  Children also need to have the chance to play and be happy.

Because children’s ‘needs’ are so important, they are called ‘rights’, and these ‘rights’ are protected in a legal document that is called the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

What's a Convention?

A Convention is an agreement between people or countries where everyone agrees to follow the same law.

On 20 November 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was completed and adopted by the United Nations in New York.

To date, 193 across the world have ratified the Convention.
This Special UN Convention spells out the range of rights that children everywhere are entitled to.

It sets basic standards for children’s well being at different stages of their development and is the first universal legally binding code of Child Rights in history.

How does the Convention protect children's rights?

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is like a legal contract that governments sign to promise they will protect the rights of all children.

Because the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a legal document, it is against the law for governments who sign the Convention to deny children their rights to any of the things that they need to be healthy and to live a good life.

All children all over the world are born with the same rights. But, many children in the world don’t have these rights.

Kidsrights.ie is a special website for Irish children to let you know all about the Convention on the Rights of the Child - throughout the website you'll meet lots of different children living all over the world who have stories to tell about the rights of children in their country.

Click here to find out what your rights are under the Convention on the Rights of the Child