Children's Rights and Responsibilities
Over the years, some children in South Africa – and in other places around the world – have been treated very badly. For example, they were forced to work, denied schooling, experienced violence, did not get enough food and were left to look after themselves.
When South Africa started to change from apartheid to democracy, there was a lot of discussion about people’s rights. Many people thought that the children of South Africa should also get a chance to say what they thought and felt about children’s rights. This is how the Children’s Charter came about.
In 1992, over 200 children from all over South Africa were brought together to discuss their ideas about children’s rights. This event was called the International Summit on the Rights of Children in South Africa. The children’s ideas were written in the form of a Children’s Charter, which lists children’s rights.
Children are those who are under the age of 18.