title: Change in the 1990s.
abstract: The last weeks of the 1980s were marked by rapid and radical changes in Eastern Europe with the acknowledgement of the rights of individuals within the responsibilities of democratic government. At the same time, the rights of children were being acknowledged at both national and international levels. The signing of the United Nations 'Convention of the Rights of the Child', and the 1989 Children Act provide the legislative framework that could mark a watershed in the recognition of children as individuals with rights and needs.