ABSTRACT
The 1996 UNICEF Report, “The State of the World’s Children”, states that in 1994 there were 1.881 billion children under the age of 16 worldwide. Approximately 9% (169 million) lived in the Western, industrialized nations, around 5.5% (105 million) lived in the former Soviet countries, and over 85% (1.607 billion) children lived in the Third World. There have been ongoing discussions of an international convention on children’s rights within the United Nations for almost 40 years. In 1959, a UN Declaration on Children’s Rights was passed. Then in 1978, the government of Poland, utilizing the upcoming International Year of the Child as an appropriate setting, recommended the formulation of a Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UN Charter on Human Rights forbids various forms of discrimination. Member States are therefore required to guarantee all persons within their sovereignty their inherent rights without discrimination, that is, regardless of race, skin color, gender, language, religion, ethnic or social origin.
