Children's rights — most fully articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified human rights treaty in existence — rest on the premise that children are not simply parental property or future citizens but present rights-holders whose dignity and interests have claims on adults and institutions now. The convention balances protection rights, provision rights, and participation rights — the recognition that children, especially as they develop, have the right not only to be shielded from harm but to be heard. The United States remains the only country that has not ratified it.
Juana