On November 20, 1959, the international community, at the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Thirty years later, on November 20, 1989, the same Body once again unanimously adopted the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, which constitutes the first international legal instrument guaranteeing such rights in all sectors of life. Since then, this date has been established as the "World Day of Child Rights". The Convention for the Rights of the Child is the first global binding code for the rights that all children must enjoy, thus setting the fundamental principles for the welfare of the children.
The Republic of Cyprus has signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 by adopting the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Ratification) law of 1990 (L.243/1990).