The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Children Can Wait No Longer for Their Rights (Commentary) (Essay‪)‬

Twenty years ago, a commentary in Social Work called for the United States to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted two years earlier by the United Nations (UN). Hermann (1991) asserted that children, as "the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable to social oppression, and the least powerful of any population in any nation" (p. 102), are entitled to economic, social, and physical well-being. Brieland, Falon, and Korr (1994) renewed a call for ratification in Social Work when President Bill Clinton was elected to office. President Clinton signed the CRC in 1995 but failed to secure Senate support. Despite periodic calls for ratification, the United States has failed to join the treaty, thus leaving it and Somaha as the only UN member states that have not ratified the CRC. President Barack Obama's election and the change in Senate leadership to the Democratic Party present an opportunity for the United States to fully join the international human rights community. Ratifying the CRC would signal support for key human rights both domestically and internationally. Social workers should renew efforts to promote ratification of the CRC, joining a growing coalition pressing for the realization of children's rights. Such efforts are consistent with the NASW (2008b) policy statement on "International Policy and Human Rights," which expressed support for "the adoption of human rights as a foundation principle upon which all of social work theory and applied knowledge rests" (p. 212) and advocated for U.S. ratification of all the major human rights treaties. The profession stands to play a pivotal role in fostering human rights norms and practices within the United States.