The Role of the United States in the Drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989, ¹ the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Convention) has received precedent-setting global support. On the day that it was opened for signature, more nations participated in the signing ceremony than any previous U.N. human rights treaty. ² It went into force more quickly and received more ratifying votes than any other U.N. human rights treaty. ³ In addition, the Convention, more than any other treaty, nearly replicates the wide range of rights envisioned in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ⁴