Across the world, children are the most vulnerable population. The threats to them may vary, but wherever one looks, children are endangered and exploited. Susan Mapp examines threats to child well-being globally, investigating violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in countries both in the Global North and the Global South. Some problems are well known, such as child trafficking and child soldiers, while others are less well known, including unethical adoption practices and the ill effects of statelessness. No other book approaches this vital topic in such a comprehensive yet tightly structured way, using an established, agreed-upon set of principles to show how things stand now, what remains to be accomplished, and examples of how these problems might be resolved. NGOs and government branches must collaborate increasingly with their counterparts from other countries if they are to allow children to achieve their adult potential. This text promises to inform the reader about these issues and offer paths forward to a better future.

Using the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a framework, issues such as child trafficking, child soldiers and child maltreatment are examined in nations around the world, as well as efforts to solve these problems.