Parliament marks 25th anniversary of landmark children's rights treaty
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The milestone will be marked with a debate in Parliament this afternoon. Ahead of today's debate, Parliament vice-president Mairead McGuinness shared with us her views on the Convention's importance.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989, has to date been ratified by every UN member except Somalia, South Sudan and the United States. According to McGuinness, an Irish member of the EPP group, its 25th anniversary "marks a global commitment to recognising children as human beings with a distinct set of rights."
The Convention has promoted changes in national laws to protect children but McGuinness is of the view that while "in 25 years we have achieved a lot, a great deal more needs to be done to honour our commitment made to children all those years ago".
