INTRODUCTION

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been a major step towards the recognition of children as legal rights holders. For the CRC, children are not only to be protected as subjects – they are also rights holders. Normally, in a ‘traditional’ human-rights context there are two main parties, namely the rights holders and the duty bearers. The Convention made it a reality that children are the rights holders vis-à-vis the State under whose jurisdiction they fall.

The main aim of this chapter is to discuss the responsibility of the State, as the duty bearer, for the implementation and realisation of the rights of children to survival and development as guaranteed by article 6(2) of the CRC. To achieve this, the chapter focuses on two main points. The first one is that the survival and development of the child is not simply a right that is included in the CRC, it is actually an aim of the entire Convention. It is also a general principle of the CRC and a tool to measure the State Party's implementation of the Convention. As a general principle, it is similar to the best interests of the child, the nondiscrimination principle and the participation principle. States Parties that implement the Convention in a way that interferes with the survival and development of the child are in violation of the CRC.

The second main point that the chapter discusses is related to the ‘formulation’ of the right of the child to survival and development itself. Based on an understanding that the survival and development is simply about the right of the child to everything, the chapter discusses the concept of the State Party obligation, under article 6(2), and the degree of this duty. This formulation of article 6(2) conveys that the survival and development of the child includes different ‘kinds’ of rights. In turn, different kinds of rights involve different kinds of State obligations.