Growing with Rights: Understanding and supporting the evolving capacities of the child

The concept of evolving capacities

From birth, children undergo rapid and far-reaching development. Their physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral capacities expand as they learn to communicate, form relationships, make choices and assume growing responsibility (see Box 1). Though this process continues across the life course, childhood is universally recognized as a critical stage in the development of those capacities. In law, adults are generally presumed to have full competence to act on their own behalf. Children, by contrast, are generally considered to be reliant on adults to safeguard their interests and to support their involvement in decision-making while their competence is developing.