So they may have a happy childhood ....

• Position: 1959 Declaration on the Rights of the Child - The Best Mankind Has To Give

So they may have a happy childhood

So that children "may have a happy childhood" and enjoy for their own good and for the good of society certain rights and freedoms, the peoples of the United Nations, gathered at their General Assembly, proclaimed in 1959 the Declaration on the Rights of the Child.

"Mankind owes to the child the best it has to give", the Assembly said then, calling on parents and national Governments to recognize those rights for all children "without distinction or discrimination". The cornerstone of the Declaration--constructed of 10 specific principles--is the recognition that children should enjoy special protection.

Children should be given "opportunities and facilities, by law and by other means" to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially "in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity". The best interests of children should be the paramount consideration.

Once that principle is established, the Declaration recognizes each child's birth-right to a name and a nationality.

The rights to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services--particularly pre- and post-natal care--follow. Children should be "entitled to grow and develop in health" and should "enjoy the benefits of social security", it states.

Children are also entitled to education, which should be "free compulsory, at least in the elementary stage". But not all should be work. Children should also be given "full opportunity for play and recreation". Physically, mentally or socially handicapped children should be given special treatment, education and care. The role of parents is carefully outlined. The responsibility for a child's education lies in the fist place with them. Because children need love and understanding, they...