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The Convention of the Rights of the Child

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“Nelson Mandela once described the Convention on the Rights of the Child as, ‘that living document that enshrines the rights of every child without exception to a life of dignity and self-fulfillment’” (Hodgkin & Newell, 2007). Yet, while we came to recognize the significance and impact which CRC policy would have, there has been continual issues regarding its successful implementation, even in a country like Canada. Within the context of this essay, Article 2, 3, 4, and 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be assessed to determine the potential contributions and implications which they have to make to CRC policy in Canada. While adults historically have viewed children as “little adults” or property of their parents, we have come to learn that children can be entirely independent if they are given the resources and support to accomplish their dreams (Davies, 2004). The Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted and opened for signatures in November of 1989 and it entered into full force on September 2, 1990 (CRC, 1989). Recent review of signatories of the CRC shows that there are over 193 parties and 140 signatories to the convention, and only two countries have not ratified the Convention: the U.S. and Somalia (OHCHR, 1989). The CRC has influenced global policy for over two decades, and it has been touted as one of the world’s “most comprehensive single treaty’ ever to appear in the field of human rights (Wilkins, 2003). The CRC’s general

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