Children’s views will inform the UN Human Rights Office report on inclusive social protection and its child-friendly version!

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) is producing a report on the rights of the child and inclusive social protection to be presented at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in March 2024. The report will look at the legal and policy framework on child rights and inclusive social protection, the main challenges children face in accessing social protection, good practices, and recommendations. For the first time ever, the OHCHR has been mandated to produce a child-friendly version of the report.  

At Child Rights Connect, we are supporting OHCHR in undertaking consultations with children. To gather initial input from children we helped develop multiple options for children to share their views. This included: a child-friendly survey, focused group discussions run my national and local partners, and four calls with the OHCHR.   From January until March, just over 600 children from 24 different countries across different global regions engaged. The main issues raised by those children include: insufficient financial support, lack of access to adequate social protection, lack of quality education, increased risks of child labour and child trafficking as well as a lack of child-friendly information and awareness on social protection systems.  

Child Rights Connect also established a taskforce of members and coordinated a submission on a child rights approach to inclusive social protection. You can find it here. 

In early July, we will invite the children that participated in the consultations to share feedback on the draft child friendly report. The report will be presented at the HRC in September 2023 and will inform the Annual Day on the Rights of the Child in March 2024 that will focus on the same theme. Additionally, a resolution on child rights and inclusive social protection will be presented during the March HRC session.  

Advocating for and with children is essential to ensuring a report on inclusive social protection that captures children’s recommendations and that can inform fruitful discussion during the Annual Day on the Rights of the Child and the resolution!