UNICEF’s work is grounded in an international legal framework regulating states’ obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children. See – References

This includes four interrelated and mutually reinforcing bodies of international law:

• International human rights law, applicable both in armed conflict and in peace, including:

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

• International humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, which offer protection to civilians and combatants during armed conflict and include special protections for children

• International refugee law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol and other international and regional laws and standards on refugees, statelessness and internal displacement  

See 2.5.2 Large-scale movements of refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons

• International criminal law, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

This legal framework is supplemented by:

• Security Council resolutions, particularly on children and armed conflict, protection of civilians, women, peace and security

• General Assembly resolutions, including:

• Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance of the United Nations (A/RES/46/182 and subsequent resolutions), which describe the UN’s role in coordinating the efforts of the international community to support affected countries

• Agenda for Humanity (Annex to A/70/709), which sets out five areas for action to reduce humanitarian needs, risks and vulnerabilities

• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs (A/RES/70/1), which stresses the role of preparedness and development programming to reduce needs, vulnerabilities and risks

• Economic and Social Council resolutions of the ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment, which define how to best tackle the most recent and pressing humanitarian concerns.