A Primer on Children's Rights

In all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

Every child has the inherent right to life. Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.

The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the rights from birth to a name, to acquire a nationality, and to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

Where a child is illegally deprived of his or her identity, Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her identity.

Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain relations and contact with both parents. Where such separation results from any action by a State, that State shall provide the child with information concerning the whereabouts of the absent member(s).

Parties shall take measures to combat the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad.

The child shall have the right to freedom of expression.

The child shall have the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.

Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Parents should provide direction to the child in the exercise of these rights in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child.

Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.

No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honor and reputation.

Parties shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, and also shall act to protect the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being.

Both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child.

Parties shall protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence and provide protective measures including social programs to provide necessary support for the child.

Parties shall ensure alternative care for a child deprived of his or her family environment. When considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the child's ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background.

Parties shall ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education and other social services in a manner conducive to the child's achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development.

Children have a right to the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.

Parties shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance.

The parent(s) have the responsibility to secure the conditions of living necessary for the child's development.

Parties recognize the right of the child to education and shall take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.

The education of the child shall be directed to the development of the child's personality, talents and abilities to their fullest potential and the preparation of the child for a responsible life.

A child belonging to a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practice his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.

Children have the right to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

Children shall be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's other rights.

Parties shall take all appropriate measures to protect children from the illicit use of drugs, and to prevent the use of children in the production and trafficking of such substances.

Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation including prostitution or pornographic performances and materials.

Parties shall take all appropriate measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.

No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance.

Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of fifteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities, and shall refrain from recruiting any such person into their armed forces.

Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse.

Every child accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law shall be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and worth.