Children’s rights are central to all aspects of UNICEF’s work including education. UNICEF uses the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a framework. This ties in with work in schools in many areas of the curriculum such as citizenship and humanities. It also relates to whole school work on policy-making and building the school ethos.
Learning about Children's Rights
"There is a School Council (started this year) which runs every Wednesday. A Sixth Former chairs and listens to everyone."
Pupil at mid-Wales secondary school
"Everyone is part of the school and gets to say their own ideas."
Pupil at Devon primary school
- Find details of our Little Book of Rights and download the pdf FREE or buy online
- Download FREE the child-friendly leaflet of the UNCRC
- Click here to order or download a poster for the classroom
FREE - this compact 16 page full colour booklet 'Rights for Every Child' is available from the Education Resources Shop or to download.
Illustrators Shirley Hughes and Ken Wilson-Max are among eight world class children's illustrators whose pictures of children's rights appear here. There are also colour photographs showing the lives of children around the world. together with simple versions of the articles of the Convention.
'Send My Friend to School'
Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that all children and young people have a right to a primary education, which should be free, and that wealthy countries should help poorer countries achieve this.
To help work towards achieving this right for all children, teachers can download lesson plans, case studies and much more by visiting www.sendmyfriend.org where you can also find out more about the Campaign for Global Education.
'Achieve universal primary education' is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - international targets on reducing global poverty. Governments set these goals at a meeting in 1999 to be achieved by 2015. If met, these goals will do a lot to improve the lives of millions of people. To find out more about the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) visit the United Nations information page on the MDG.
