International Standards and Commitments

The agenda of the Special Representative has been guided by five strategic priorities:

1) consolidation of the human rights foundation for protecting children from violence through both the adoption of new standards, including the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communication Procedure, the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) and the United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice; and efforts towards the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which included the launch in 2010 of a global campaign with UN partners;

2) enhancement of awareness and consolidation of knowledge including through field missions, expert consultations and the development of thematic reports on key areas of concern;

3) strengthening of partnerships within and beyond the UN system;

4) institutionalization of cooperation with regional organizations and institutions;

5) promotion and monitoring of progress to strengthen children’s protection and move towards the elimination of all forms of violence, including through the design and implementation of a national policy agenda on violence against children, the enactment and enforcement of legislation to ban all forms of violence and safeguard children’s protection, and the consolidation of data and research;

 

Status of ratification

Convention on the Rights of the Child: 196 States Parties
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict: 172 States Parties
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography: 178 States Parties
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure: 50 States Parties
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime: 180 States Parties
ILO Convention 138 Minimum Age Convention: 175 States Parties
ILO Convention 182 on Worst Forms of Child Labour: 187 States Parties
ILO Convention 189 on Domestic Workers: 35 States Parties