Pakistan, 2009: Girls attend the first day of class in Swat District, North-West Frontier; the school had been closed due to armed conflict in the area. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) celebrated its 20th anniversary on 20 November 2009. The CRC is the most endorsed human rights treaty in the world, expressing in international law the rights due every child. Articles 28 and 29 of the Convention recognize the right of the child to an education that develops the child’s “talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential,” and which prepares the child “for responsible life in a free society.”
©UNICEF/Marta Ramoneda