The Role of the United States in the Drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
![handle is hein.journals/emint20 and id is 195 raw text is: THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE DRAFTING OF
THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Cynthia Price Cohen*
INTRODUCTION
Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989,'
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Convention) has received
precedent-setting global support. On the day that it was opened for signature,
more nations participated in the signing ceremony than any previous U.N.
human rights treaty.2 It went into force more quickly and received more
ratifying votes than any other U.N. human rights treaty.3 In addition, the
Convention, more than any other treaty, nearly replicates the wide range of
rights envisioned in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.4
It is indisputable that the United States played a pivotal role in the drafting
of the Convention and, thus, in changing the world for children.5 Sadly,
however, U.S. leadership in developing children's rights ended in 1989.
Because the United States has never ratified the Convention it cannot become a
* Executive Director of ChildRights International Research Institute. Dr. Price Cohen participated in the
drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
1 Convention on the Rights of the Child, Nov. 20, 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3 [hereinafter CRC].
2 For an early account of international response to the Convention, see Cynthia Price Cohen & Per
Miljeteig-Olssen, Status Report: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 8 N.Y.L. SCH. J. HUM.
RTS. 367 (1991).
3 UNICEF, Convention on the Rights of the Child: Frequently Asked Questions, http://www.unicef.org/
crc/index_30229.html (last visited Apr. 2, 2006). To date, 192 countries have ratified the Convention. Id.
4 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the earliest U.N. effort to define human rights. See
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A, at 71, U.N. GAOR, 3d Sess., 1st plen. mtg., U.N.
Doc A/810 (Dec. 12, 1948). When the Universal Declaration was subsequently put into legally binding
language, it emerged as two separate human rights instruments: the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. See International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. Res. 2200, U.N. GAOR, 21st Sess., Supp. No. 16, U.N. Doc.
A/6316 (Dec. 16, 1966) [hereinafter ICCPR]; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
G.A. Res. 2200, U.N. GAOR, 21st Sess., Supp. No. 16, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (Dec. 16, 1966) [hereinafter
ICESCRI. The CRC embodies the Universal Declaration's premise of combining both of these types of rights
in a single instrument. The CRC incorporates humanitarian law as well.
5 For further perspective on the role of the United States in the drafting process, see Cynthia Price
Cohen, Role of the United States in Drafting the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Creating a New World
for Children, 4 LOY. POVERTY L.J. 9 (1998).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/emint20&div=15&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Role of the United States in the Drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
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