It is the 20th anniversary of the Child Rights Convention. Ceremonies are being held the world over. Platitudes rent the air. Activists say even if on paper, the convention does mark a step forward, but the anniversary is a reminder of the tasks ahead.

UN itself admits a billion children in the world still go without food, shelter or healthcare and that millions are facing lives of poverty and abuse.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights—civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights. In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too.

The Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols. It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. The four core principles of the Convention are non-discrimination; devotion to the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child. Every right spelled out in the Convention is inherent to the human dignity and harmonious development of every child. The Convention protects children's rights by setting standards in health care; education and legal, civil and social services.