The rights of the child and the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs)
2021 Annual Day on the Rights of the Child at the Human Rights Council   

1st March, Morning panel: 10am-12pm/Afternoon Panel: 4-6pm 

Every year, the Human Rights Council dedicates a full day to discuss a specific children’s rights theme. This year, the Annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child will focus on the theme: The rights of the child and the Sustainable Development Goals 

The main aim of the annual full-day meeting is to highlight how to implement the Sustainable Development Goals in a manner consistent with the rights of the child. It will: 

  • Identify what are the implications of a child rights approach for the Decade of Action to accelerate the delivery and strengthen the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 
  • Create a space for an inter-generational dialogue with children themselves, 
  • Focus on children being left behind due to the COVID-19 pandemic context, to find urgent solutions to reach them, and 
  • Integrate a gender perspective.  

 

Morning panel 10am-12pm (Geneva Time): “Securing a future for today’s children and generations to come: building back better with children’s rights upfront”   

Opening remarks: Ms. Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights  

Panellists:

  • Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)  
  • Fred, child human rights defender from Uganda  
  • Trisha Shetty, Chief Executive Officer of SheSays and President of the Steering Committee of the Paris Peace Forum  
  • Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders  

This panel would be an opportunity to identify the child rights approach to SDG implementation and reinforcement, and to galvanize global commitments and actions on the ground, with highlight of children’s rights and views to find transformative, empowering and sustainable solutions. 

Afternoon panel 4-6pm (Geneva Time): “The gaps and barriers affecting children: following up on commitments through the Decade of Action and delivery on the Sustainable Development Goals” 

Panellists: 

  • Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children 
  • Claudia, Member of the Network of Children’s and Adolescent Correspondents of the Americas and the Caribbean from the Inter-American Institute of the Child (RED CORIA DEL IIN-OEA) 
  • Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child  
  • Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland 

 This panel will be an occasion to call for accountability by following up on the commitments made under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which are reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals.  

This event will be an opportunity for children, States, international organizations, civil society organizations and other participants to identify and share concrete commitments to realize children rights through the SDGs. 

For more information, please check the concept note here. 

Join us in raising awareness about this important event and follow it via UN Web TV! Feel free to use the logo to disseminate information and follow the event to accompany and eco the voices of Fred and Claudia!