The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the international agreement that lays out children’s rights and governments’ obligations to protect them. In force since 1990, it has been ratified by nearly 200 countries, including every member of the United Nations except for the United States. While the UNCRC does not mention adolescents specifically, it defines children as all persons under the age of 18 and is therefore relevant to the majority of the young people on whom GAGE is focused. The UNCRC and the three updates known as ‘Optional Protocols’, recognise children’s rights to survive and thrive – to be protected from harm, to grow and develop into their own best persons, and to make their voices heard. It also mandates that governments report each year to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to detail the progress that is being made towards ensuring children’s rights on a national level. The Committee, in turn, provides countries with recommendations for improvement. The UNCRC is a lengthy and comprehensive document, with 54 articles addressing children’s and parents’ rights, as well special topics that help us understand childhood and the unique needs that children have, ranging from the rights of refugee children to children’s right to access to information from the media.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the international agreement aimed at protecting the rights of women. Adopted by the United Nations in 1979, CEDAW does not mention adolescents specifically. However, as its language refers to ‘women and girls’, CEDAW is relevant to the adolescent girls on whom GAGE is focused. CEDAW defines discrimination against women and girls broadly as any treatment on the basis of sex that prevents girls and women from enjoying their political, civil, cultural, economic and social rights. Although nearly 200 countries, including all of GAGE’s focal countries, have signed it, many have done so with reservations. From GAGE’s focal countries, only Bangladesh has noted reservations (about the article that calls for equality within marriage). Governments that have signed CEDAW are required to submit annual reports on progress towards gender equality to the CEDAW Committee, which in turn provides countries with recommendations for improvement. CEDAW has 30 articles that specify the rights of girls and women and call out particular spheres of life and groups of women and girls for special attention, ranging from girls at risk of child and forced marriage, human trafficking and sexual exploitation, to the specific needs of those living in rural areas.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which was adopted in 1995 at the World Conference on Women held in Beijing, is an international agreement aimed at protecting and supporting girls’ and women’s human rights. Far more complex than CEDAW, and more attentive to gender than the UNCRC, the Beijing Platform is the first international agreement to identify the unique needs of the ‘girl child’. The Beijing Platform been endorsed by nearly 200 countries but is not legally binding. It does, however, call for countries to make regular progress reports. The next review of national and global progress, which takes place every five years, is scheduled for 2020. The Beijing Platform covers 12 areas, most of which mention adolescents or the girl child, ranging from poverty and armed conflict to political decision-making and institutional mechanisms for advancing the rights of women and girls. The last section, on the girl child, is particularly relevant for GAGE. The nine strategic objectives of the section on the girl child overlap with the specific capability areas that GAGE identifies as being key in adolescents’ development, and also put a strong focus on tackling negative cultural attitudes and practices against girls.