The United Nations Children's Fund: Implementing Human Rights for Child Health

Abstract

This chapter assesses UNICEF efforts to implement the child’s right to health, reviewing UNICEF’s evolving governance to address global health, examining the influence of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on UNICEF’s mission, and analyzing the opportunities and challenges in using a rights-based approach to advance children’s health. Where UNICEF had long been concerned by the practical implications of implementing human rights, the 1989 CRC solidified UNICEF’s central institutional role in the development and implementation of child rights. This development under international law created a burgeoning implementation framework to advance child health and human rights. Based upon this CRC mandate, UNICEF has sought to implement the child’s right to health across its health programming, assistance to states, and work with the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Keywords: Convention on the Rights of the Child, Committee on the Rights of the Child, child health, rights-based approach to health, human rights mainstreaming, treaty monitoring, Sustainable Development Goals