UN Secretary-General Guidance Note on Child Rights Mainstreaming
The Process for Civil Society
If you are a child interested in this process, please click here!
Big news! The Secretary-General Guidance Note on Child Rights Mainstreaming is available (August 2023)!
Read our newspiece and check our dissemination package!
Read our newspiece on how civil society and children contributed to shaping the draft SG Guidance Note on Child Rights Mainstreaming, through the online survey and regional consultations. A second round of consultation happened in February-March 2023.
Child Rights Connect presented a position paper on child rights mainstreaming to the United Nations (UN) and the Secretary-General (SG) replied and agreed to develop a UN Guidance Note on Child Rights Mainstreaming, in the framework of his Call to Action for Human Rights. Most importantly, the SG has stated that the development process is an inter-agency process, including civil society and children. This means that the SG has committed to involving and consulting the civil society throughout the process.
The Guidance Note serves as practical guidance to all levels of the United Nations, across all three pillars, and to Headquarters, regional and field contexts, on the mainstreaming of child rights in all aspects of the organisation’s work.
The development of this Guidance Notes is led by four UN entities: OHCHR, UNICEF, the Special Representative of the SG on Violence Against Children (SRSG VAC) and the Special Representative of the SG on Children in Armed Conflict (SRSG CAAC), and a concept note has now been circulated to outline the process.
Child Rights Connect is collaborating with the UN entities to empower and engage civil society and children. We were informed that OHCHR is taking the lead on the organization of the consultations with civil society and children.
Civil society and children will play a key role in the process and Child Rights Connect is committed to facilitating their participation throughout. Accordingly, together with our Children’s Advisory Team, we have developed a child-friendly version of our position paper on child rights mainstreaming in English, French and Spanish.