1.5 Convention on the Rights of the Child
Both the League of Nations and the United Nations had previously adopted declarations on the rights of the child and specific provisions concerning chil- dren were incorporated into a number of human rights and humanitarian treaties. In recent years, reports of the grave afflictions suffered by children such as infant mortality, deficient health care and limited opportunities for basic education, as well as alarming accounts of child exploitation, prostitu- tion, child labour and victims of armed conflict, led many worldwide to call on the United Nations to codify children’s rights in a comprehensive and binding treaty. The Convention entered into force on 2 September 1990, within a year of its unanimous adoption by the General Assembly.
The Convention embodies four general principles for guiding implementa- tion of the rights of the child: non-discrimination ensuring equality of oppor- tunity; when the authorities of a State take decisions which affect children they must give prime consideration to the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development which includes physical, mental, emotional, cognitive, social and cultural development; and children should be free to

express their opinions, and such views should be given due weight taking the age and maturity of the child into consideration.
Among other provisions of the Convention, States parties agree that chil- dren’s rights include: free and compulsory primary education; protection from economic exploitation, sexual abuse and protection from physical and mental harm and neglect; the right of the disabled child to special treatment and edu- cation; protection of children affected by armed conflict; child prostitution; and child pornography.
Under article 43 of the Convention, the Committee on the Rights of the Child was established to monitor the implementation of the Convention by States parties. As at March 2000, an unprecedented 191 States were parties to the Convention: the largest number of ratifications of all international instruments.