Where do I find information on the drafting process of the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

The General Assembly included the consideration of a convention for the rights of the child for the first time in its provisional agenda for the 34th session in 1979, the International Year of the Child. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November 1989 (resolution 44/25) and came into force on 2 September 1990.

Since then, three optional protocols have been adopted by the General Assembly. They are the:

• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, 25 May 2000
  • Text found in A/RES/54/263
  • Entered into force 12 February 2002
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, 25 May 2000
  • Text found in A/RES/54/263
  • Entered into force 18 January 2002
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, 19 December 2011 
  • Text found in A/RES/66/138
  • Entered into force 14 April 2014

For more information about the history of the convention, the Audiovisual Library of International Law provides information on the procedural history and access to relevant official documents.

The Status of Treaties database, available from the UN Treaty Information website, will tell you about the current status of the convention and optional protocols, including the signatories and parties of the agreements.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which oversees the implementation of the Convention, also issues General Comments on topics impacting the rights of children.

More information about the documentation of the CRC can be found in the UN Human Rights Documentation research guide.