When the lives and the rights of children are at stake, there must be no silent witnesses.

Children have in the past and continue to influence policy makers.

Girls' education is the single best investment that any society can make.

It's estimated that there may be two hundred and fifty million children in the world engaged in some form of exploitative child labour.

The economic benefits of investing in children have been extensively documented. Investing fully in children today will ensure the well-being and productivity of future generations for decades to come. By contrast, the physical, emotional and intellectual impairment that poverty inflicts on children canmean a lifetime of suffering and want - and a legacy of poverty for the next generation.

...in serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity.

A century that began with children having virtually no rights is ending with children having the most powerful legal instrument that not only recognizes but protects their human rights.