Declaration of the Rights of the Child, G.A. res. 1386 (XIV), 14 U.N.

GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 19, U.N. Doc. A/4354 (1959).

PREAMBLE
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have, in the Charter, reaffirmed their faith
in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, and
have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger free-
dom,
Whereas the United Nations has, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, pro-
claimed that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without
distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status,
Whereas the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safe-
guards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth,
Whereas the need for such special safeguards has been stated in the Geneva Declara-
tion of the Rights of the Child of 1924,
1924 and recognized in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and in the statutes of specialized agencies and international organizations
concerned with the welfare of children,
Whereas mankind owes to the child the best it has to give, Now therefore,

The General Assembly

Proclaims this Declaration of the Rights of the Child to the end that he may have a
happy childhood and enjoy for his own good and for the good of society the rights and
freedoms herein set forth, and calls upon parents, upon men and women as individuals,
and upon voluntary organizations, local authorities and national Governments to recog-
nize these rights and strive for their observance by legislative and other measures pro-
gressively taken in accordance with the following principles:

Principle I
The child shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. Every child, without any ex-
ception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination on
account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, property, birth or other status, whether of himself or of his family.

Principle 2
The child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given opportunities and facilities, by
law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually
and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. In
the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount
consideration.
Principle 3
The child shall be entitled from his birth to a name and a nationality.

Principle 4
The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to grow and develop
in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his
mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall have the right to
adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services.
Principle 5
The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be given the special treat-
ment, education and care required by his particular condition.
Principle 6
The child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, needs love and un-
derstanding. He shall, wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of
his parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material secu-
rity; a child of tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from
his mother. Society and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to
children without a family and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of State
and other assistance towards the maintenance of children of large families is desirable.
Principle 7
The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the
elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will promote his general culture
and enable him, on a basis of equal opportunity, to develop his abilities, his individual judge-
ment, and his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of
society.
The best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his edu-
cation and guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his parents.
The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to
the same purposes as education; society and the public authorities shall endeavour to pro-
mote the enjoyment of this right.

Principle 8
The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief.

Principle 9
The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He shall
not be the subject of traffic, in any form.
The child shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age; he
shall in no case be caused or permitted to engage in any occupation or employment which
would prejudice his health or education, or interfere with his physical, mental or moral de-
velopment.
Principle 10
The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other
form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance,
friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness that
his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men.

Will
The Children
Rule The World?

All individuals are mortal,

and the destiny of the world,
the ruling and the being ruled,
is all in the hands of the children.
Those who rule today were
the children of yesterday and
will be dust tomorrow.
That is the law of human life.
It means that “a mother is the holiest
thing alive”, that history is made in the
nursery, that the bringing up of children
is the noblest, the purest, and the most
necessary work in the world, and
the most difficult, just because
the human being is so wonderful
and Complicated in the Nature
of his mind and his body.

—From the
Book of Knowledge
Collection

The illustration above, and the one below are not

in the International Document. They have been
inserted here to stimulate effective thought proc-
essing of Mothers who bring in children. Chil-
dren are expressions of the energies of the
Universe, and manifestations of the Mother.
 Gemini

Taurus
Cancer
Leo
Aries
Virgo
Libra
Scorpio

Aquarius
Sagittarius
Pisces
Capricorn

The varied energies which comprise the human

family are described in the Zodiac Signs. The
Study of Cosmology gives a greater understand-
ing of human nature.