Worldwide, there are millions of children and youth living on the streets. While this is accepted as a sad reality when it comes to developing countries, many people are unaware that street youth also exist in Western countries, such as Germany. In both developing and developed countries young people on the streets face a plethora of challenges…

Education is a human right. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognize the essential role education plays in human and social development. As stated in article 26 of the Declaration, "Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental…

This Report Card presents an overview of inequalities in child well-being in 41 countries of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It focuses on 'bottom-end inequality' -- the gap between children at the bottom and those in the middle -- and addresses the question 'how far behind are…

In 1996, UNICEF's 50th anniversary year, the organization celebrated its achievements in saving and improving the lives of millions of children and women. At the same time, it took stock of the many lessons learned from a half century at the forefront of development. As a result of this assessment, UNICEF took several important measures to…

Human rights institutions for children play a crucial role in informing children, governments, and the public about children's rights, how those rights can be enforced, and why they are important. This digest discusses the development of human rights institutions for children and the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; it details…

The 2nd International Conference on Children's Rights in Education hosted approximately 150 child-centered international policy makers, who discussed the implications and implementation of children's rights to guide educational policy, research, and practice. This report presents an annotated agenda of the conference proceedings and, based on the…

This report on the well-being of the world's children focuses on the issue of malnutrition and its impact on children's lives. Chapter 1: (1) discusses the incidence of malnutrition and the complex interplay of factors that cause malnutrition, including poor health services and discrimination against women; (2) presents several approaches to…

The majority of European countries do not recognize working children as a cause of concern, but rather consider it a past and/or solved problem, or one present only in developing nations. This report presents the results of a questionnaire study, undertaken by the European Forum for Child Welfare (EFCW), which investigated at a grass roots level…

This paper discusses the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted in 1989 and, over the next approximately 3 years, was ratified by 117 member countries. After a brief historical overview of children's rights, the paper presents a summary and analysis of the Convention's preamble, which states the preconditions of…

The welfare and treatment of children is a key test of society's commitment to human and social development. This report details a study of the implementation of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in the United Kingdom (UK) and contrasts the U.K. approach with those adopted in other states, focusing on those at…

Papers compiled in this fourth annual conference collection deal with views and theories on children's rights and provide extensive information on background, motivation, strategies, and main trends in the field of children's rights. Following the welcome addresses to the conference, the 42 papers cover a variety of relevant topics, including: (1)…

Papers collected in this second annual conference proceedings deal in particular with views and theories on children's rights and provide extensive information on background, motivation, strategies, and main trends in the field of children's rights. Following welcome addresses to the conference, the 53 articles cover a variety of relevant topics,…

Papers compiled in this third annual conference collection deal in particular with views and theories on children's rights and provide extensive information on background, motivation, strategies, and main trends in the field of children's rights. Following the welcome addresses to the conference, the 52 papers cover a variety of relevant topics,…

In May 2002, participants at the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Children committed to a set of specific goals for children and youth and a basic framework for meeting these goals. This report compiles the commitments that were part of the Special Session: (1) the Millennium Development Goals, earlier pledged to by all 189…

This report documents the progress made in developing and developed nations to improve health, nutrition, education, family planning, and the condition of women over the last 40 years. It presents tables that rank the world's nations and regions on: (1) the mortality rate of children under 5 years of age; (2) the percent of children under 5 years…