The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly abbreviated as the CRC, CROC, or UNCRC) is a human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. The Convention defines a child as any human being under the age of eighteen, unless the age of majority is attained earlier under national legislation.
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Nations that ratify this convention are bound to it by international law. Compliance is monitored by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is composed of members from countries around the world. Once a year, the Committee submits a report to the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, which also hears a statement from the CRC Chair, and the Assembly adopts a Resolution on the Rights of the Child.

The 1951 Refugee Convention is the key legal document that forms the basis of our work. Ratified​ by 145 State parties, it defines the term ‘refugee’ and outlines the rights of the displaced, as well as the legal obligations of States to protect them.

The core principle is non-refoulement, which asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. This is now considered a rule of customary international law.  UNHCR serves as the ‘guardian’ of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol. According to the legislation, States are expected to cooperate with us in ensuring that the rights of refugees are respected and protected.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages.

Within the heritage of Don Bosco, the partners of Don Bosco Youth-Net strive together to realize the following aims:

1. At first it is important for us to bring young people across Europe and the world together, to take part in youth activities that are linked with the style of working through the spirit of Don Bosco.  We want to organize international initiatives that contribute to the full development of young people.  It is necessary thereby to broaden the opportunities for young people who are, by reasons of various kinds, excluded from these kinds of activities. 
2. Furthermore we strive for a profound exchange of information, ideas and experiences between the different partners. We want to facilitate contact, and deepen the understanding between the member organisations so more joint activities can take place. This is realised through weekends, the development of a website and coordination from the international office.
3. And last, but not least, we want to represent the voice of the Don Bosco young people and defend their interests at an international level. 

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To put these aims into practice, we develop Master Plan for the period of 3 years.  The current master plan determines our strategy for the period 2015 – 2017 .  Under the 4 strategic actions we are focussing on 4 fields of work: Education, Inclusion, Growth and Synergy.