The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was brought into effect to recognise that Children needed their own set of specific human rights that should be protected and that these were a universal right not a privilege. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was drawn up and accepted by the UN in 1989. The UK government agreed to abide by the principles in 1991 and it was fully implemented in 1992. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most universally recognised set of standards for protecting the rights of children and numerous countries have agreed to abide by it. The Convention forms a set of articles that highlight the minimum entitlements of all children. These articles have been split into four main categories: the general requirements for all the rights; the basic rights to life, survival and development of one’s full potential; being kept safe from harm; and respecting the views of the child. The Convention also sets out minimum standards in areas such as health care, education and social services to protect those children’s rights. There are 54 articles in total that apply to all children with no exceptions, here are two examples; Article 19 states that all young people have the right to be kept safe from experiencing violence, mental abuse, physical abuse or neglect by any adult they come into regular contact with e.g. parents, carers etc and Article 34 gives the right for all young people to be kept safe from any form of sexual abuse or exploitation.
When the UK government agreed to abide by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child it meant it had promised to not act in a way that would infringe any of the rights and it agreed to ensure they were fully implemented in a non discriminatory manner. Accordingly the government is responsible for ensuring people act in the best interests of the child and that children are treated as individuals within a family whose views should be