A child is a person younger than 18 years old

All children have rights, no matter what

Adults should do what is best for children

Government must help children enjoy their rights

Families should guide children to learn their rights

Every child has the right to be alive

Children have the right to have a name and belong to a country

Children have a right to have an identity: to be who they are

Children should stay with their parents unless a parent does not take proper care of a child

If a child lives in a different country to their parents, governments must let them travel so they can be together 

Governments must protect children from kidnapping 

Children have the right to give their opinions and be listened to

Children have the right to share what they learn, think and feel

Children can choose what to believe and what to think

Children have the right to join groups

Children have the right to privacy

Children have the right to get information

Parents and guardians are the main people responsible for raising a child and doing what is best for them

Governments must protect children from being hurt

Children without families have the right to be looked after by other people who respect them

When a child is adopted, the adults who adopt them must do what is best for them

Children who move to another country because it was not safe for them to stay in their home country should be given help

Governments should help children with disabilities to enjoy their best life possible

Children have the right to healthy food, clean water, a safe environment and the best health care possible

Children who live away from their families or home should be checked on to make sure that they are in the best place for them to be

Children from poor families should receive money or other help from the government so they can grow up in the best possible way

The government should help families who cannot afford to provide food, clothing, and a safe place to live for their children

Every child has the right to free and safe education

Education for children should help them to develop, teach them to understand their rights and to respect other people’s rights

Children have the right to use their own language, celebrate their culture and practise their religion

Children have the right to rest, relax and play

Children should be protected from doing work that is dangerous or bad for them

Governments must protect children from being near harmful drugs

All adults should protect children from all kinds of abuse and harm

Governments must make sure children are never taken anywhere they don’t want to go

Children should never be taken advantage of

Children who break the law and go to prison should have help and be able to stay in contact with their family

Children have the right to be protected during war

Children should be given help to recover if they have been hurt, neglected, or affected by war

Children who break the law should be treated fairly and offered help to learn how to become social citizens

The best laws for protecting children should be used in every country

Everyone should know about children’s rights

A special team of experts from different countries work together to make sure all children’s rights are protected, worldwide.

Every country that agrees to uphold children’s rights promises to check how well they are protecting them by working with the special team to understand what is working and what could be better.

Other important groups, like charities, can help protect children’s rights by sharing good ideas, creating resources and offering support for looking after all children, equally. 

Every country had the chance to agree to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 196 countries have promised to follow these 54 rules to care for and protect children.

If a country signed up to these rights but has questions about how to follow them, there are ways to handle those discussions clearly and fairly.

Countries that have not yet signed the UNCRC agreement can change their mind and decide that they do want to help protect children using these rules in the future.

For a country to agree to these UNCRC rights, they follow an official process. This process makes sure their promises are clear and serious.

If changes are needed to make these rules even better and more helpful for all children, countries can talk about it and decide together. 

Some countries have made extra agreements to do even more for children that apply the rules of the UNCRC. These extra agreements must work fairly for all children and work well with the original ideas in this list of rights.

Countries that agree with these rights can get extra help and guidance from the United Nations to make sure they’re doing the best job possible.

If there is confusion about what any of these rights mean, there is a special group at the United Nations that can help explain and guide everyone towards answers.

The job of all these articles is to make sure every child everywhere is safe, happy, healthy and cared for.