A Historical Context for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

• Author: Paula S. Fass
• Published date: 01 January 2011
• Date: 01 January 2011
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0002716210382388
• Subject Matter: Articles

ANNALS, AAPSS, 633, January 2011 17

The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of

the Child (CRC) was a by-product of international

commitments to human rights, but its history lies in the

complex and contradictory developments of the twenti-

eth century, when elevated expectations regarding the

welfare of children confronted the realities of war. In

the late nineteenth century, material conditions and

reform efforts redefined the lives of children in the

Western world and created new sentiments about

childhood and investments in children’s progress.

World Wars I and II exposed children’s acute vulnera-

bility and the myth of inevitable progress. After each of

these wars, defining what was owed to children and

how best to meet their needs was part of larger interna-

tional negotiations regarding power and prestige.

Throughout this period, the involvement of women, a

new Swedish presence in international diplomacy, and

the growing role of nongovernmental organizations

(NGOs) affected what would become a rearticulation

of child welfare and protection and a more active com-

mitment to children’s rights.

Keywords: children’s welfare; war; nongovernmental

organizations; women; photography; school-

ing; poverty; child rearing

The desire to articulate the rights and needs

of children in universal terms has accompa-

nied the growing importance of international

organizations and universal charters throughout

the twentieth century. Thus the immediate

sequence of events that led to the creation of

the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child

(CRC) can be quickly and efficiently described.

The first legally binding treaty was signed in

1919, when the International Labor Organization

adopted conventions prohibiting children from

working in hazardous conditions. Then, in 1924,

the League of Nations adopted the nonbinding

Declaration of Geneva to protect children’s

rights. After World War II, human rights ideals,

inscribed into the United Nations (UN) Charter

(Article I) and the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights in 1948—which was not legally

binding—established the basis for defining the

A Historical

Context for the

United Nations

Convention on

the Rights of

the Child

By

PAULA S. FASS

DOI: 10.1177/0002716210382388