35th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Rescue SEA-EYE 4

Sea-Eye calls for immediate actions in the MediterraneanMore than 1,500 children have drowned in the Mediterranean since 2018.

20th November 2024 marks the 35th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. But the agreement, which aims to ensure the protection and rights of children worldwide, stands in stark contrast to the reality at Europe’s borders: according to UNICEF, more than 1,500 children have drowned on the world’s deadliest escape route since 2018 – in 2023 alone, around 300 children lost their lives in the Mediterranean in search of protection.

“It is unacceptable that children continue to lose their lives in the Mediterranean when all EU Member States have committed to protecting the lives and rights of every child by signing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This commitment must not remain an empty declaration. We must act to end the deaths at Europe’s borders and protect children on the move,” says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e.V.

According to the German Children’s Fund (Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is considered the most important human rights instrument for children and is the convention that has been signed by the most countries to date. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20th November 1989 and entered into force on 2nd September 1990. It has been in force in Germany since 1992.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, more than 117 million people were displaced worldwide by the end of 2023. About 40 percent of them are minors. Sea-Eye has saved more than 18,000 people from drowning since 2016 – many of them children and young people. As part of a campaign to mark the 35th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the organisation is raising awareness of the plight of refugee children.

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