A little more than seventy years ago a pioneer for children's rights in England, displayed pictures of starving children in other parts of Europe damaged by the war. She was arrested for obscenity. However, people rallied to her support and an international movement for children's rights began to take shape.

This new movement drafted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child which was adopted by the Assembly of the League of Nations in 1924. The first step towards international norms for the protection of children had been taken. The declaration only contained five principles of which the most important said that children should be the first to receive aid in case of an emergency situation.