The Convention on the Rights of the Child at 25: Theory, Reality, Ideology, Opportunity – A TRIO Review

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) on November 20, 1989, and – after it had been ratified by 20 states – it came into force on September 2, 1990. Twenty-five years later, after Somalia’s ratification in October 2015, the CRC is a binding human rights treaty for all UN member states except one: the USA. This means that as of November 2015 all UN member states except the USA have to report their progress in implementing  the human rights of children to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, the expert treaty body of the CRC. All 47 member states of the Council of Europe and all 28 member states of the European Union are included in the world’s mission to advance the rights of children. However, all  over Europe, also in Europe’s high-income states, violence against children (child abuse and neglect), prejudice against children (seeing children as the property of their parents and not as people with rights), and discrimination against children (unequal protection under the law) still abound. Many national and international civil society organizations also report to the Geneva Committee, on a voluntary basis, but both governmental and non-governmental actors and activists appear to be little aware of the nature and scope of violence, prejudice and discrimination against children, making the task – and duty – to reduce violence against children, and to advance their social and legal position, an extremely challenging – and often rather frustrating – one. Is it possible to speed up progress – after 25 years? In this contribution a TRIO perspective is presented to address this complex question. TRIO is the acronym for Theory, Reality, Ideology, Opportunity. Let us have a closer look at these four elements of children’s rights before attempting a summarized TRIO review in the conclusion.