The 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Child Labour exploitation

This reflective piece marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by reviewing how the international community has addressed child labour and child rights over the past century. It traces the evolution of international responses from the ILO Convention No. 5 in 1919 through to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. The document shows how the focus of child rights work has shifted from preventing child labour to protecting children from violence and abuse, and more recently toward promoting holistic child development and considering the best interests of the child.

Key points

• International bodies and nation states have made declarations and adopted conventions addressing child labour and child rights with varying degrees of impact on children's lived experience
• The dialogue around child rights has evolved from a primary focus on child labour to protection from violence and abuse
• More recent approaches emphasize not only protection from harm but promotion of holistic child development
• The best interests of the child is now a uniting principle across international developments
• Vulnerable children remain at particular risk of abuse, neglect, child labour and poverty despite these international frameworks

Limitations

This is a reflective policy document without empirical data or evaluation of specific interventions. It cannot tell us about the effectiveness of particular programmes or the current extent of child labour, violence, or other harms affecting children globally.