Children’s rights are the basis for our work

Children’s rights are the basis for our work

Save the Children Finland makes every effort to advance the securing of children's rights in Finland as well as on a global scale. Our organisation endeavours to increase general awareness of children’s rights, and respects these rights conscientiously in its own work. In addition to Finnish legislation, Save the Children Finland's work is guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The fundamental principles of this Convention form the value basis of our organisation; in accordance with these

  • every child has the right to life, survival and development
  • every child has the right to express his or her views and have them taken into account
  • all children are equal, no one must be discriminated
  • every child’s best interests must be given due consideration to when making plans and decisions concerning a single child or a group of children.

Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of the International Save the Children movement, drew up in 1923 the world’s first declaration of children’s rights, the Declaration of Geneva, which later served as a basic model for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Rights of the Child information leaflets for lower-level schoolchildren