HiStories - A Century of the Rights of the Child: From the "Geneva Declaration" to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Welcome to HiStories, an online video series produced by the UN Library & Archives Geneva. In this episode, we’re exploring the remarkable history of the rights of the child, as we mark this year the centenary of the adoption of the “Declaration of the Rights of the Child” by the League of Nations Assembly in September 1924.   

Also known as the “Geneva Declaration”, this historic document recognized and affirmed for the first time the existence of rights specific to children, and the responsibility of adults towards them. This Declaration is also considered the first step in the multilateral efforts that led to the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations in 1989.   

To help us examine the origins and evolution of these efforts in favour of the rights of the child, we’re joined by two expert speakers, as well as one of our archivists at the UN Library & Archives Geneva who shares select documents from our archives related to the Geneva Declaration. 

Watch the full episode here! 

SPEAKERS: 
 
- Dr. Zoé Moody, Professor at the University of Teacher Education Valais and a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Children's Rights Studies, at the University of Geneva.  

-Dr. Philip D. Jaffé, Professor Emeritus at the University of Geneva and founding director of its Centre for Children’s Rights Studies. He is a member of UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, having been elected in 2018, and is currently serving his second mandate until 2027.  

- Hermine Dibeolt, Chief of the Archives Management Unit, UN Library & Archives Geneva. 

RESOURCES: 

- Explore any of the documents from this episode as well as many more on the UN Archives Geneva platform.

- Have a question about this episode or another research topic? You can Ask an Archivist!   

- And, find all episodes of our HiStories series here on our Youtube channel.