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BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF SOME EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE CONVENTION
Children's Rights in the 20th
Century
Some stages...
1913. Birth of the idea of an International Association for the protection of children.
1919. Creation of the Committee for the Protection of Children by the League of Nations. The States are no longer sovereign on the subject of children's rights.1923. Eglantyne Jebb
(1876-1928), founder of Save the Children Fund (London, 1919) and the Save
the Children International Union (Geneva, 1920) is a pioneer in
formulating the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, known also as the
"Geneva Declaration." It sets forth five principles aimed at
ensuring that every child has the essential conditions for his or her full
personal development. The Declaration is promulgated in 1923 by the Union
and is its Magna Carta.
1924. Adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child by the League of Nations (Geneva, September 26, 1924). No modifications are made to the text.
1927. Ten countries in the Americas sign the foundation act of the Inter-American Children's Institute, whose founder and first Director is Prof. Dr. Luis Morquio.
1934. The League of Nations approves, for the second time, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
1946. The UN Economic and Social Council (founded in 1945) recommends taking up the Geneva Declaration again so as to include the peoples of today's world, as in 1924.
Immediately following World War II, a universal movement for children favors the creation, by the UN General Assembly, of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
1947. Proclamation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man by the UN General Assembly. The rights and freedoms of children are implicitly included.1959. On November 20, the General Assembly of the United Nations votes unanimously to adopt the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, made up of 10 major principles. However, this text does not have legal force.
1979. Proclamation of the International Year of the Child by the UN General Assembly, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and encourage its application.
1983. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with consultative status in the United Nations organize themselves systematically, setting up a group to draft the Convention.
1989. Adoption by the UN General Assembly (New York, November 20, 1989) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
1990. World Summit for Children, where a Plan of Action is adopted for the 1990s, as the frame of reference for National Plans of Action to be developed in each country.
2001. Inter-American Year of Children and Adolescents.