The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a human rights treaty that lays out the civil, political, economic, social, health, and cultural rights of children, defined as any individual being under the age of 18 (unless age of majority is attained earlier).
The UNCRC requires that the state act in the best interest of the child. It guarantees the rights to life, to their own name and identity, and to have a relationship with both parents, among others.
Only three countries, the United States, South Sudan, and Somalia, have signed the petition without ratifying it. Somalia, in 2009, announced that it planned to, leaving the United States as the only nation with no plans to ratify the treaty.



