New normative frameworks
In the aftermath of the Cold War, the international community began to reconceptualize security more in terms of people, and less of states. Forefronting people engendered a slow and contested process to articulate and implement new normative policy frameworks around human rights. The World Summit for Children in 1990 was the first of a series of global conferences driven by a growing awareness of a single world that shared common problems requiring non-confrontational, cooperative approaches. It adopted a Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and a Plan of Action for implementing the Declaration, which followed the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) one year earlier. The CRC, since ratified by all but two countries, recognizes, inter alia, the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for development and the right to have their voices heard on all matters that affect them. It stipulates non-negotiable standards and obligations and declares that states shall provide material assistance and support programs.
The U.N. Habitat Agenda, adopted at the City Summit of Istanbul in 1996, maintains this concern with the well-being of children, but brings into focus the significance of the larger urban context, providing that:
“Governments at all levels, including local authorities, should continue to identify and disseminate best practices, and should develop and apply shelter and human settlements development indicators, including those that reflect the rights and wellbeing of children.”6