Child Rights Connect members have worked together to be a major force in promoting the rights guaranteed to children in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its three Optional Protocols (OPs). This work has included having a significant influence on the drafting of all four of these treaties.
As well as being involved in the drafting processes, members have also been part of major achievements, for example in World Congresses, UN studies, and international thematic campaigns. Here are a few highlights:
1995 Provided a platform for members to engage with the UN & contributed to the creation of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN).
1990s Linked the global NGO community to the research for the Graca Machel Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.
1996, 2001 & 2008 Co-organised the first and second World Congresses against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and the third World Congress Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents Comes
1996-2007 Through our Focal Point Programme helped international parties collaborate to implement the Stockholm Agenda for Action.
1998 Played a leading role in the creation of thematic campaigns, such as the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and the drafting of the Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC).
2002 Child Rights Connect (then known as the NGO Group) established a Working Group on violence against children, which contributed to the official UN Study of Violence Against Children.
2008 Established the Working Group on a Communications Procedure to advocate for and help draft a new communications procedure for the CRC (OP3 CRC). This will allow children and their representatives to bring complaints about violations of their rights directly to the Committee.
2009 Created a Working Group to influence the drafting Guidelines on Alternative Care which were officially welcomed by the UN General Assembly.
2012 The Working Group on a Communications Procedure officially became Ratify OP3CRC, International Coalition for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure.