When States ratified the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), they committed to protect and fulfil the rights of children. As duty bearer, States make decisions and change policies that affect children’s lives.
Save the Children and partners listen to children’s experiences and opinions and support them to take actions that will improve their lives. We strengthen the capacity of children’s groups and non-governmental organisations to be strong advocates for children and hold their governments to account.
Children in action
Save the Children knows from experience that opinions and experiences of children can have significant effects on improving the quality of decisions and actions that affect them. We work with partners to support children’s groups and their initiatives in promoting and monitoring the fulfilment of children’s rights.
- Influencing ASEAN Children’s Forum: Save the Children works with partners to ensure that children understand human rights mechanisms of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and have avenues to highlight children’s agendas. ASEAN is comprised of 10 countries in Southeast Asia and has the total population of 558.2 million.
- Motions to Legislative Councillors: In Hong Kong, children from a child-led organisation, Kids’ Dream monitor situations of children and constantly speak to lawmakers and government officials about their concerns.
- Dear President: In the Philippines, children’s groups from urban poor communities submitted an open letter to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to make his administration an administration for children. The groups has previously produced and distributed one of the city’s first children magazines about violence against children.
- My News: In Cambodia, children wrote articles and produced children’s newspaper and distributed nationwide to raise awareness on children’s issues and their rights.
Child rights monitoring
Save the Children supports local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that know and understand children’s issues to find out the situation of children in their communities. It is about examining all aspects of children’s lives including how children are treated and supported by governments, schools, parents, and other community members. This helps governments and citizens know about children’s lives and what the reality looks like from children’s perspectives.
Views of children and information about them are analysed and compiled into a report called “complimentary report,” which is submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. This gives civil society the opportunity to highlight key child-related issues that are not presented in the government’s progress reports regarding the implementation of the UNCRC. This allows the Committee on the Rights of the Child to assert pressures on governments to improve laws and practices that will improve children’s lives. The monitoring of children’s rights is underway in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
Child rights advocacy
Working with children and adults in communities can bring improvement to the lives of many children, but advocating for policy changes will benefit a far greater number of children. To do this, we build the capacity of our strategic partners as well as strengthen networks of NGOs to work in concerted efforts for the protection of children’s rights:
- A regional child rights network comprised of NGOs from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Viet Nam was formed to strengthen child rights organisations in Asia and engage in regional advocacy, including the work of ASEAN human rights bodies.
Our local partners in Hong Kong and a network of 23 NGOs advocate for the creation of Children’s Commission, an independent body that will closely monitor children’s rights and hold government accountable for its action and/or inaction.