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World Children's Day marked around the globe
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World Children's Day is marked each year on November 20 to celebrate the date when world leaders made a promise to all children, giving them their own set of rights.
The theme for World Children's Day 2023 is 'For Every Child, Every Right'.
Rights exist to make sure everyone is treated fairly and has the basic support they need to survive.
Children already had the same human rights as everyone else, but in November 1989 the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a new proposal, designed to improve child welfare and encourage all countries to work together to build a better world for children.
This special set of rights is made up of 54 articles and is called the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
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The United Nations, who are behind the day, says that "in too many places today, children's rights are under attack".
The group of countries say that on World Children's Day they want to making space for children and young people to raise their voices on the issues that matter to them.
The campaign this year says:
"For every child, peace: Every child, everywhere, has a right to live in a peaceful world.
"For every child, a liveable planet: Children have a right to a safe and liveable planet.
"For every child, a voice: Children must be listened to and included in all decisions that affect them. "
What is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)?
The UNCRC sets out children's basic rights, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, wealth and physical or mental ability.
All countries that sign up to it are bound by international law to work together to make these basic rights available to all children until they are 18-years-old.
This is monitored by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and all adults, including the police, teachers and parents must make sure children's rights are met.
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These include, the right to:
- Life, survival and development
- Medical care and nutritious food
- Get information that is beneficial - from newspapers, social media, the radio or TV etc.
- Receive help from their government
- Rest and play
- Not have to do work that is dangerous
- Be raised by, or have a relationship with, their parents if it is safe to do so
- Think for themselves
- Protection from violence, abuse or neglect
- An education
- Express their opinions, be listened to and taken seriously.
What is the history of children's rights?
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It was only in the mid-1800s that the idea of giving children special protection was first talked about.
The world's very first declaration on child rights was written by the founder of the charity Save the Children, Eglantyne Jebb, in 1923.
By 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had recognised that "motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance".
The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (OHCHR) in 1959.
Thirty years later, in 1989, the UN General Assembly agreed to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which came into force in September 1990.
How many countries have agreed to the treaty?
The UNCRC has been agreed to, and made law, by 196 countries, making it the most ratified international human rights treaty in history.
The UK Government signed the UNCRC in 1991.
There is only one UN member state which has not done so - the United States.
The US signed the treaty in 1995, which means politicians have agreed to it in principle, but they did not take the extra step of making it law in their country.