We give children and young people a voice.
Children have rights, such as the right to a safe home, education and a say.
SOS Children's Villages works in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and campaigns for children's rights worldwide. We are involved with the UN and with local campaigns to persuade governments to comply with child protection obligations and to sensitise the population to the need to protect children in traumatic situations.
20 November is International Children's Rights Day. On this day in 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Numerous campaigns are organised around the world on Children's Rights Day to raise awareness of the fact that every child has rights, regardless of where they live.
Children's rights:
Children's rights include protection, promotion and participation rights. The 54 articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child can be summarised as follows. Children have the right to:
Equality
Health
Education
Play and leisure
Freedom of expression and participation
Protection from violence
Access to media
Protection of privacy and dignity
Protection during war and flight
Special care and support for people with disabilities
Children's rights are violated worldwide
Despite ratification, children's rights continue to be disregarded in many countries. This leads to serious violations of children's rights such as high child mortality and exploitative child labour that is hazardous to health.
Millions of girls and boys around the world are trapped in poverty and cannot go to school.
Children suffer particularly from the effects of wars, flight and displacement: they struggle to survive, lose their parents or hundreds of thousands of them are abused as child soldiers.
Children's rights are also violated in industrialised countries. Child poverty is widespread in Europe. Children from socially disadvantaged families have fewer educational opportunities and suffer from marginalisation. According to the government's
poverty report, one in six children in Liechtenstein is affected by poverty or at risk of poverty.
