HISTORY OF CHILD RIGHTS.

HISTORY OF CHILD RIGHTS

   Everything in this world has history. A Child right has an interesting history. The history of child rights started after the first World War in the  beginning of the last century was one such example where almost the entire globe  was being drawn into a conflict. But the conflict ended and it also gave rise to various new initiatives to avoid such conflicts in the future.

           The League of Nations was one such initiative. This further means that this conflict started making people think about the future of the globe, the future of human civilization. But if the future of human civilization is to be thought about then the children must be thought about. The future of human civilization is the future of children. It is in this context that various steps were taken in protection of the interests of the child. One can say that the most significant one was “Declaration of Geneva” which was promulgated in 1924 by the “Save the Children Fund International Union”. This declaration put forward 5 basic principles of child welfare and protection. The League of Nations endorsed this declaration in the same year.

       Then came the more devastating second World War after which the U. N. O. was set up on 24thOctober 1945. The Declaration of Geneva was further revised and extended in 1948 and in 1959 by the U. N. The Declaration on the Rights of the Child was adopted unanimously by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20^th November 1959. The declaration on the Rights of the Child was unanimously accepted by the U. N. General Assembly in 1959 .

                The Universal Declaration on Human Rights was adopted in 1948. Children’s Rights are an integral part of this declaration. It was the Government of Poland who first proposed such a convention on the Rights of the Child on the eve of the International Year of the Child i.e. in 1978. This initiative provided an opportunity and impetus to define more clearly and to harmonize  Human Rights standards for children. This proposal was not to replace the Declaration on the right of the child of 1959 but to supplement it.

           In November 1989 at its 44^th session the United Nations the member states were asked to vote for this historic convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention was designed to elevate the nations' political and humanitarian obligations towards their children. The commitments to the protection of children which have been scattered through more than 80 International Treaties and Declarations up to now since the days of League of  Nations  have been codified and upgraded through this convention .The Government of India itself has ratified the Convention on the 10^th of December 1992.

                                                                                                     Supriya  MACJ