Child rights

Save the Children works towards a world that respects and protects the rights of children.

Our work is based on the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both of which share the conviction that all people are of equal worth, that children have rights and that everybody has a responsibility to make these rights a reality.

Wherever we work, our goal is to ensure children’s rights are met and always respected and that children know what their rights are.

When children do know their rights – they must also take some responsibility. Under the Convention, children are expected to respect the rights of others, including their parents.

The UNCRC is an excellent guide for growing healthy, balanced and thriving children and young people.

Read more about the UNCRC here 

Good child right’s governance

Ensuring children’s rights are respected requires good governance – from both governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Through our child rights governance work, Save the Children supports governments and communities to protect the rights of children and strengthening government departments and other service providers so they can deliver better services for children.

The following documents outline our policy on child rights:

• Child rights governance (PDF)
• UNCRC (PDF)