Un engagement
renouvelé
pour les droits
des enfants

As we commemorate the centennial of the Geneva Declaration and affirm the universality of children’s rights, it is our duty to overcome the challenges that we face in translating these ideals into action. We must draw deeply from our collective wisdom and resolve as only through the respect, protection and fulfilment of child rights can we ensure that all children get the best that humanity has to offer.

This year we celebrate the Centenary of the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which affirmed for the first time the existence of rights specific to children, and the responsibility of adults towards them. While marking this milestone, let us work together towards a world where children  can live in safety, be free from fear and need, go to school, stay healthy and happy, and where every child can unleash its full potential.

One Hundred Years of Working for Children’s Rights. As we commemorate the first 100 years since the Geneva Declaration, it is good to remember we are part of a long chain of advocates; our work to defend children’s rights is never completely done but every effort counts, there will be new leaders who will continue to work with children to face new challenges worldwide.

In the early 1920s in Geneva, Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of Save the Children, was coordinating relief aid reaching vulnerable children across Europe in the aftermath of the First World War. However, she was of the opinion that children should not only be considered as recipients of charitable aid, but that children have their own agency and rights. That’s the reason why she developed the Geneva Declaration on Children’s Rights. 100 years later, Save the Children continues every day to work alongside children and promote their rights, inspired by Eglantyne Jebb’s vision.

100 years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, we celebrate significant advances for many children around the world. We also recommit to addressing the threats and obstacles that continue to rob children of their rights. As we move into a new century of advocacy, our child rights community is more important than ever.

100 years after the Geneva Declaration, digital technologies are transforming children’s lives for better and worse. Today’s powerful actors – the digital innovators – must protect the full rights of children impacted by the digital environment. The global effort to assert, promote and embed children’s rights in national laws, policies and practices remains vital. I therefore greatly welcome this renewal of the Geneva Declaration, for today’s generation of powerful actors is greatly in need of its message.

Today, by celebrating the 2024 Geneva Declaration, we reaffirm our commitment to uphold the rights of all children. Protecting children’s rights to safety, education, and dignity is not just a moral duty but an imperative. This is crucial for their future and for building lasting peace.

While we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Geneva Declaration, we are determined to strengthen our commitment to the promotion and protection of children’s rights around the globe, and to bring the UN Convention on the rights of the Child and its optional protocols to the fore front of the world attention.

Les profondes disparités entre le Nord et le Sud global menacent gravement l’avenir des enfants, notamment en matière de santé, d’éducation, d’alimentation et d’accès à internet. Ces enjeux cruciaux nécessitent une vigilance accrue. Signez et diffusez largement cette Déclaration, car elle représente un engagement fort pour l’avenir de notre humanité et pour l’Histoire.

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Geneva Declaration, we must all ask ourselves if we have done our utmost to give every Child the best we have to give. Adoption of the Declaration was a watershed moment for all children: Recognition of the human rights of every child. And that the society had an obligation to protect, promote, and provide ample circumstances and opportunities for every child to realize their inherent basic human rights here and now. We must all recommit our pledge to fulfill what we had promised 100 years ago to every child in the present and for future generations.

Rewriting the Geneva Declaration is an important step in reaffirming that children everywhere are the actors of tomorrow. This Declaration should be a tool to enable them to amplify their voice, to give them a voice, to offer them the means to build a fairer and more united future.

The 2024 Declaration on the Rights of the Child is a testament to our shared responsibilities, values and commitments to protect children’s rights and to ensure that they are given the space to enjoy their childhood and to develop and thrive in safety and free from fear everywhere they are – offline and online.

Today, we celebrate the inspiring vision of the Geneva Declaration, adopted a century ago, and renew our unwavering commitment to the safeguard of the human rights of every child. Investing in children’s rights will bring peace and human progress to the world at large.

This renewed declaration is a reminder of our duty to ensure that children are always regarded as equal rights holders and active citizens participating in society, having their voices heard and views considered. (…) We should not allow ourselves to forget that the realization of the rights and wellbeing of children is not altruism or charity, but justice and obligation.

Il y a cent ans, Eglantyne Jebb a déclenché un mouvement universel : celui des droits de l’enfant ! Sa Déclaration, officialisée par la Société des Nations, symbolise la révolution du statut de l’enfant, devenu personne, qui ne doit pas seulement être protégé et éduqué, mais qui détient ses propres droits ! Saura-t-on assez la remercier ?

It is very important at this moment in time to recommit to the realisation of child rights. Not only because we commemorate the global commitment made 100 years ago, but because child rights realisation is still an ideal for many children across the world. Times have changed, requiring us all to reflect on how we evolve our thinking on child rights. But at the same time, the fundamentals have not shifted significantly – we still require child rights champions to promote and protect child rights.

By celebrating and ‘updating’ the Geneva Declaration, we pay tribute to the early child rights champions, and we recommit to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of all children enshrined in the UNCRC and its Optional Protocols. We remind ourselves there is still an enormous amount of work to be done.