You will find the full text of the UN Convention on the Woodcraft Folk's own website

The Convention can also be found in many other places on the internet.

The 'Child Friendly' version has been produced by Article 12, a UK young people's organisation which takes its name from the Convention's Article 12, and which aims to encourage young people to make their voice heard.

Cartoon from the London Children's Commissioner. This is a lively website.

UNICEF also have useful resources available. You can download an attractive colour leaflet (PDF format)

UNICEF has a children's rights home page and an attractive series of webpages focusing on each of the rights. Also worth a look is their quiz

UNICEF's own abbreviated version of the Convention.

If you do not have Internet access, or want copies of actual paper resources, you can contact UNICEF's London office (020 7405 5592); ask for the help desk.
A free introductory leaflet is available about the Convention, and also three comics, focusing on issues of children's rights (more suitable for Elfin/Pioneer age).

The Children's Rights Information Network (CRIN) operates internationally and has a well-resourced website. There is information on the forthcoming UN special session

Also worth exploring is the website of the Global Movement for Children, which has a lot of material related to children's rights.

Children and young people have rights - and that's official.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was approved by the United National General Assembly - the nearest the world has to a collective assembly - in November 1989. The Convention is effectively a universally endorsed statement of the way in which children and young people should be treated. The Convention applies to 'children' which it defines as all people under the age of 18.

The Convention has four general principles. The first two apply to all people, and the Convention reaffirms them for children. The last two are of particular concern to children.

• Children must not suffer discrimination "irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status"
• Children have the right to survival and development in all aspects of their lives, including the physical, emotional, psycho-social, cognitive, social and cultural
• The best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in all decisions or actions that affect the child or children as a group. This holds true whether decisions are made by governmental, administrative or judicial authorities or by families themselves
• Children must be allowed as active participants in all matters affecting their lives and be free to express their opinions. They have the right to have their views heard and taken seriously
  [Text credit: UNICEF]

Since 1989 the Convention has been formally endorsed by almost every country in the world. 191 states have signed up, agreeing to abide by it. Only two states have so far declined to ratify the Convention - Somalia and the United States.

The United Kingdom ratified the Convention in 1991. However, despite the work of many voluntary organisations and others, it is still very little known about in the general population, or indeed by young people and children themselves.

This is an extremely good time to make the UN Convention the focus of work in Woodcraft Folk groups. This is because a Special Session of the United Nations is being held from 8-10 May 2002, specifically to consider rights for children and young people, and to review the workings of the Convention. This special session is the first time in the UN's 56 years of existence that an additional meeting of the General Assembly is considering international commitment to children and young people. The special session follows a Children's Forum, being held over two or three days immediately previously. The special session is in New York (it was scheduled originally for 19-21 September last year, but was postponed after September 11th).

The UN Convention has 54 articles, and is frankly a difficult read for children (and indeed for adults!). Fortunately there are various cut-down unofficial versions which have been devised, designed to be more accessible.

The government has so far failed to introduce a Children's Commissioner for the whole country. However, there is now a London Children's Commissioner. The office is at 94 White Lion Street London N1 9PN (nearest Tube is Angel). Phone is 020 7278 4390. If you are in the Greater London area, why not get in touch?

Similarly there is a Children's Commissioner for Wales, based in Swansea. If you're in Gwerin y Coed, this may be worth following up.

Scotland is about to get a Children's Commissioner as well. There's also a Children's rights commissioner for Oxfordshire.

It's well worth bookmarking the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), which has a weekly newsletter online with info about British initiatives in this area.

The Woodcraft Folk's sister organisations in other countries have also done considerable educational work around the theme of children's rights. This is the sticker produced by the Rote Falken in Austria.

And here's a similar slogan from the Falcon movement in Germany.

The Children's Rights Information Network is an excellent source of information and links on children's rights.