Children need special care and protection; they are vulnerable members of society who often cannot express themselves and are easily overlooked. Recognising their special needs, world leaders unanimously adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, spelling out those basic human rights that all children everywhere are entitled to.

Today, this convention is the most universally ratified human rights instrument. All but two states have ratified it, and thus declared their commitment to uphold children's rights and establish and implement the necessary legal framework.

The Convention's underlying values, or "guiding principles", serve as a constant reference for the interpretation, implementation and monitoring of children's rights. These are:

• All rights guaranteed by the Convention must be available to all children without discrimination of any kind;
• The best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children;
• Every child has the right to life, survival and development; and
• The child's view must be considered and taken into account in all matters affecting him or her.

Other rights include the right to a name, a nationality and family ties; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the right to protection from all forms of violence; to an adequate standard of living; to quality education; and the right to play and rest.

SOS Children's Villages works in the spirit of the Convention, with children's rights an underlying foundation. These rights guide the work of the organisation as it supports children without parental care, their communities, and their families. Ultimately, the goal of the organisation is to help children to claim rights as actors in their own right instead of objects of care or victims of circumstance.