US only Holdout on UN Child Rights Treaty

US only holdout on UN child rights treaty after Somalia announces intent to ratify

[JURIST] The Somali Transitional Federal Government announced its intention to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which, if successful, would make the US the only UN member state not to have done so.

The UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) welcomed the announcement that Somalia’s ministers had agreed in principle to work toward ratification of the convention defining universal children’s rights [pdf]. The convention has been ratified by 193 nations, making it the world’s most widely ratified human rights treaty. In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the UN’s adoption of the CRC, UNICEF released a report detailing the progress and challenges remaining in protecting the rights of children. Noting that the Convention is largely compliant with US laws and that the US played a significant role in drafting the treaty, Human Rights Watch said that “US ratification is long over-due” and urged the president and Senate to ratify the convention.

In June, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice  said that the Obama administration is seeking ways to have the US sign on to the treaty. In 1995, then-president Bill Clinton signed the CRC, but never submitted it to be ratified by the Senate. Opponents of the CRC allege that the treaty puts US sovereignty in jeopardy and undermines parental rights. Earlier this year, Obama signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the first international human rights treaty the US has signed in nearly a decade. The CRPD is awaiting ratification in the Senate.