FOCUS

Right to Assembly and Association, Participation and Play

Children have the right to freedom of association and the freedom of peaceful assembly. (UN-CRC Art. 15) This right also has to be ensured/ guaranteed, where the public sphere has expanded into the digital world, i.e. through social networking services and other forms of assembly in the digital world.

For developing social skills and growing up healthy also the right to play is important. The digital world must be designed as a safe and appropriate place for exercising this right. (UN-CRC Art. 31)

Digitisation has broadened the possibilities for children to take part actively in dissemination of information, opinions and ideas and provides huge potential, especially with regard to democratic co-determination. Information can be provided, spread, publicly discussed and commented on very quickly anywhere.

Focus

20.11.17
November 20th 2017: Today is International Day of Children´s Rights
November 20th 2017: Today is International Day of Children´s Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is celebrating it´s 28th birthday. Since the adoption of this convention the world has been changing, today internet, apps and online games are a matter of fact for children. They bring new opportunities for playing and learning and they can strengthen the rights of children, but they also carry endangerment.
22.05.17
The World is Changing - About Growing-up in a Digital Environment
Jutta Croll

In 1989, the die Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN-CRC) was passed by the United Nations. To this day 195 states have ratified the Convention, making it the United Nations’ most widely recognized human rights document. The Convention is meant to grant special protection to young people under the age of eighteen. The ratifying states commit themselves to implement and guarantee the rights to freedom and protection as laid down in the 41 articles of the treaty.

Studies and publications

The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World
UNICEF, UNICEF

As the debate about whether the internet is safe for children rages, The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World discusses how digital access can be a game changer for children or yet another dividing line. The report represents the first comprehensive look from UNICEF at the different ways digital technology is affecting children, identifying dangers as well as opportunities. It makes a clear call to governments, the digital technology sector and telecom industries to level the digital playing field for children by creating policies, practices and products that can help children harness digital opportunities and protect them from harm.

Additional content for: Cyberbullying | Child Sexual Abuse Material | Digital Parenting | Vulnerable Children | Media Education | Media Usage
May 2017
Children´s and young people´s rights in the digital age
a series of articles in the SAGE journal; Vol 19, Issue 5, 2017
SAGE Journal, SAGE Journal

In Vol 19, Issue 5, 2017 of the SAGE Journal in the New Media & Society category, there are a number of contributions to children's rights in the digital age.

Additional content for: Accessibility | Digital Parenting | Vulnerable Children | Internet Governance | Internet Policy | Youth Protection | Media Education | Media Usage | Privacy | Sexting | Social Media | UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
October 2014
Children’s Rights in the Digital Age
A download from children around the world
Amanda Third, Delphine Bellerose, Urszula Dawkins, Emma Keltie, Kari Pihl Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre, Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre

In July and August 2014, 148 children from 16 countries, speaking eight different languages, participated in workshops to share their views on their rights in the digital age.

Additional content for: Digital Literacy | Media Usage
Global Kids Online
Researching on children's rights in the digital age
UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, London School of Economics and Political Science

Global Kids Online is an international research project that aims to generate and sustain a rigorous cross-national evidence base around children’s use of the internet by creating a global network of researchers and experts.

Additional content for: Media Usage
EU Kids Online Network
Hans-Bredow-Institut

How do children and young people in Europe use the internet, what risks do they face, what opportunities does the internet offer, and how are they dealing with the varying possibilities? What are the similarities and differences here between the different European countries?
Child Rights International Network - CRIN
Child Rights International Network - CRIN is a global research, policy and advocacy organisation. Our work is grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. A world where children's rights are recognised, respected and enforced, and where every rights violation has a remedy.

Documents

Report of the 2014 Day of General Discussion “Digital media and children’s rights”
UN-Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Ausschuss für die Rechte des Kindes

The Days of General Discussion of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (DGD) seek to foster a deeper understanding of specific articles or topics of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by providing a forum for discussion between policy-makers, practitioners and researchers with the Committee. On 12 September 2014, the Committee devoted its twenty-first Day of General Discussion to “Digital Media and Children’s Rights”.

Additional content for: Internet Governance | Youth Protection | Media Usage | UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Children's Rights Map
Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte, Netzwerk Kinderrechte, Save the Children

The map is only available in German language. With the map of children's rights, the monitoring body of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of the German Institute for Human Rights shows to what extent individual children's rights are implemented and anchored in Germany's federal states.

Additional content for: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN-CRC) - full text
UN-Committee on the Rights of the Child, Vereinte Nationen

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989, entry into force 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49