The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted ten years ago, on 20 November 1989, by the General Assembly of the United Nations. It entered into force on 2 September 1990. At present, 191 States have ratified or acceded to this Convention, which makes it the most widely accepted human rights treaty ever. Under article 44 of the Convention, each State party has to submit an initial report within two years of the entry into force of the Convention for that State and thereafter a periodic report every five years. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has been formed to monitor the implementation of the Convention. At its second session, in 1992, the Committee decided that it would adopt, at the end of the consideration of each State party's report, concluding observations reflecting the main points of discussion and indicating issues that would require a specific follow-up. The concluding observations provide a general evaluation of the report and of the dialogue with the delegation, and make note of positive developments that may have occurred during the period under review, factors and difficulties affecting the implementation of the Convention, and of specific issues of concern relating to the application of the provisions of the Convention. They also include suggestions and recommendations to the State party concerned. The present volume contains all concluding observations (as well as corresponding preliminary observations) adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child at its third to seventeenth sessions (1993-1998) on reports from 81 States parties in total. Foreword by Mrs. Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"The Handbook aims to be a practical tool for implementation, explaining and illustrating the implications of each article of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and of the two Optional Protocols adopted in 2000 as well as their interconnections."--P. xvii.

This book examines Ghana's implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ghana's commitment to the Convention which she was the first country to ratify is explored in a series of studies and analyses on child rights promulgations and programs. The book further discusses the challenges the country faces in her efforts of protecting children's rights while providing an insight into future directions for continued support of children's rights.

About the publication Human rights norms will largely remain hollow if they are not translated into the lived realities of people on the ground. Given the diversity and complexities of human rights norms, the arrays of institutions, mechanisms and resource required to give full effect to these norms, implementation of human rights norms is a continuous and progressive undertaking. Progress, to be meaningful, should have milestones and mechanisms for tracking it. The reporting mechanisms are human rights’ monitoring and evaluation plans and systems to track progressive implementation. This book provides an assessment of the reporting mechanisms of child rights treaty bodies. It highlights what is working or not working and why, making recommendations for further improvement of the reporting mechanism to better work for children in Africa. The findings and recommendations in the book are based on a study commissioned by the Centre for Human Rights, to assess the effects of reporting to United Nations and African Union child rights treaty bodies on the enjoyment of rights, protection and welfare of children in Africa. It covers 17 African countries, and provides a historical snapshot of the situation as at the end of 2017.