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On 20 November 2024, to mark the centenary of the adoption of the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations Society, which later became the United Nations, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child presented a renewed version of that document: a Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child 2024, an initiative of the City of Geneva in partnership with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, with the collaboration of international non-governmental organisations Save the Children, Enfants du Monde e Terre des Hommes Suisse.

This action is the result of two findings: on the one hand, that despite the many efforts made to improve the rights of the child in all countries of the world, the number of violations of these rights is still very high; on the other hand, the emergence of new challenges – in particular those arising from new contexts generated by the digital environment, by emerging technological tools, including artificial intelligence – for which there is an urgent need to develop effective mechanisms for the protection and promotion of the rights of the child.

Thus, a Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child 2024 updates the commitment made in 1924 by integrating aspects adapted to the current reality, summarising what should be ensured as a priority for children in this new era, in terms of the rights to which they are subject:

1. living in conditions of dignity and well-being, free from poverty and with the highest attainable standard of health;
2. Growing up in communities no longer affected by armed conflict;
3. be heard and have their views taken into account in all decisions affecting them, thus recognising their fundamental right to participate in shaping the communities in which they live;
4. bloom in a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment that leads to their survival, development and enjoyment of all their rights;
5. Benefit from a safe and empowering experience in a fast-evolving digital environment, where they can retain their ability to act and have digital literacy to navigate it safely;
6. be protected from all forms of violence (physical, psychological and sexual) in all contexts, including at home;
7. have their best interests respected in all current and future biotechnological developments;
8. have access to child-friendly justice systems and adequate remedies when their rights are violated;
9. have access to free and non-discriminatory pre-school, primary, secondary and vocational education; e
10. Experience the positive uniqueness of childhood that each person could desire for themselves.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child calls on States to Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child 2024, but also to its endorsement by professionals, civil society partners or any citizen, for which it can be signed here.

In this first phase of the initiative/campaign – which runs until 31 December 2024 and where signatures are collected – the Declaration can also be endorsed by children and young people (i.e., persons under the age of 18) by filling in a child-friendly form, accessible under the tab “I am a child”.*

It was launched on the same day as the 35th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 2024 Geneva Declaration underlines the universal nature of the rights of the child enshrined in the first.