Links

The subgroup on national coalition aims to be a focal point within the NGO Group for the CRC network to bring greater support to the creation and sustainment of national child rights coalitions across the world. It works toward strengthening the link between national NGOs, international NGOs and relevant UN-mechanisms. The subgroup on national coalition has been in the forefront of supporting the creation and sustainment of national child rights coalitions worldwide. Through the NGO Group membership and Liaison Unit Programme, the subgroup works to build a strong child rights civil society movement.

Current issues

Minutes of the meeting of the subgroup on National Coalitions June 12, 2003 [Word format]
Report on a workshop on rights-based approaches organised by Save the Children Sweden on 13 - 14 February 2003 [Word format]
Report from the regional meetings of European National Child Rights Coalitions in Vilnius in October 2002 [Word format]
Minutes of the meeting of the subgroup October 8, 2003 [Word format]

Activities

The subgroup was created to encourage and enable international NGOs to support the work of national child rights coalitions in the reporting process to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as ongoing monitoring and advocacy. There are over 100 national child rights coalitions world-wide, a high percent of which were started by national NGOs in cooperation with INGOs closely associated with the NGO Group for the CRC. National coalitions have gained strength over the years through the active contributions of a several INGOs actively working on child rights issues.

Through the chairmanship of Save the Children the subgroup actively supports the Liaison Unit Programme (LUP). As one of two programmes within the NGO Group, LUP has for several years successfully facilitated the participation of national coalitions, NGOs and other thematic networks to participate in the reporting process to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee values the contributions national coalitions and NGOs make, and has over the years, come to depend on NGOs as a valuable source. LUP also provides technical support and information to national coalitions, for which to subgroup plays a strong supportive role.

At the time of the pre-sessional working group meetings of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, several national coalitions/NGO representatives are in Geneva to attend the meeting. The subgroup uses this opportunity to bring together visiting NGO representatives with NGO Group members to discuss methods of work and the situation of children in their respective countries.

Connection to the United Nations
The Committe on the Rights of the Child is made up of a panel of experts who are legally responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the 198 States that ratified the Convention. The Convention makes provision for NGOs and NGO/networks such as national child rights coalitions to participate in the reporting process of the Committee. These coalitions have used this opportunity by attending the pre-sessional meetings of the Committee to present their alternative reports. Some coalitions also attend the sessions of the Committee, as well as other meetings of the UN, such as the Commission on Human Rights.

History

Since the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Committee began, over 90 national child rights coalitions have come into existence in all the continents of the world. National coalitions are instrumental in enabling countries to make legal, policy and programme reforms in keeping with the Convention. They are mainly comprised of NGO networks that have generally emerged to contribute to the reporting process of the Committee. Through this reporting process, national coalitions make a vital contribution to the Committee's understanding of the rights situation of children at country level. They offer a different perspective to the state of child rights compared to the reports given by national governments.

The subgroup on national child rights coalitions came into being in order to promote and support the emergence of coalitions across the world. It was incepted in 1992 when it was originally called Task Force on National Child Rights Coalitions. Representatives both from the NGO Group members and from national coalitions actively participate in its activities with the aim to strengthen the child rights movement through sharing information, strategies and ideas on child rights advocacy.

Some important features of the subgroup's activities are developing and disseminating guidelines on how to operate coalitions based on the experiences of selected coalitions. Earlier on, the subgroup devised action plans with emphasis on national coalitions in Africa and they also organised the NGO Group's work in relation to regional coordination and outreach. The subgroup's priorities expanded in 1996 to also include: informing the international arena or current events; facilitating regional meetings for exchange of experiences; and providing training on the CRC and guidance on fundraising. By 1999, the subgroup's work extended further and the annual draft work plan also included a booklet entitled, "Making the Convention on the Rights of the Child Work." The booklet dealt with how to develop a framework for action, how to organise for impact, methods, and approaches and monitoring and reporting. The main target group of the booklet was national coalitions or NGOs that want to form national coalitions. Additionally, new guidelines for the periodic reports were produced in three languages and were published that summer. The subgroup also organised a NGO workshop to prepare for the United Nations Commemorative Meeting and worked with the Liaison Unit on the contact list of National Coalitions and on the Guide, which were published in Autumn 2000.

Additionally, the subgroup was among the earliest networks that actively assessed the kinds of services national coalitions needed to sustain their work. This assessment led to the creation of the Liaison Unit Programme as the focal point for NGO coalitions reporting the to Committee on the Rights of the Child of the reporting process. They also wished to revise and expand the guide for writing alternative reports. Hence, the guidelines for presenting the alternative reports, and the relationship between Governments, UNICEF and NGOs in the context of the reporting process were updated. Moreover, a report on how national coalitions implement the recommendations of the Committee was produced. The subgroup also focused its efforts on developing an internship and a training programme with the view of creating potential internships for national coalitions in the framework of capacity building and learning about human rights mechanisms in Geneva. As part of the NGO Group, this subgroup, a most active supporter of the Liaison Unit, has the only known international programme explicitly supporting child rights coalitions.

The subgroup has on more than one occasion sought to influence the election process of the Committee on the Rights of the Child with the aim to ensure that strong candidates are put forward to election, proposing criteria for the new members. The subgroup was also engaged in preparing the informal meeting that was held with the Committee in January 1997. Another of the subgroup's motivations was to mobilise INGOs to support national coalitions in their reporting and monitoring of the CRC by timing their meetings to allow their participation in the pre-session meetings of the Committee. The subgroup also organised a preparatory NGO workshop the day prior to the Convention on the Rights of the Child 10th Anniversary meeting with as focus "the role of NGOs in implementing the CRC". In the most recent years, the subgroup has explored more ways to facilitate participation of national coalitions in Committee meetings.

Additionally, the subgroup acts as a forum of information exchange. It has worked to encourage the preparation of an information database on alternative reports and written a column in the CRIN Newsletter to advise all national coalitions to subscribe and send information. Two guides were produced, one on reporting to the Committee and the other, entitled "Networking for Children's Rights - A guide to NGOs" (see above) that are available on this site.

The subgroup recognises the importance of national child rights coalitions sharing their experiences as well. Hosting regional meetings was actively promoted among the subgroup members and five conferences were held from 1995 to 2000. These took place in Latin America, Asia and Europe. In addition, it was actively involved in planning and staging the first European coalition that was held in Germany. Along with UNICEF and the German National Coalition, it organised the European Consultation for the National Child Rights Coalition in Berlin in March 1998 in order to promote common thinking around the European agenda on the CRC.

After the success of the first meeting, a follow-up meeting of European national coalitions was held in Stockholm in May 1999 with the emphasis on macroeconomic policies, democracy and the rights of the child. Moreover, in preparation of the Special Session on Children and the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Other related Forms of Discrimination, which took place in 2001, a number of meetings were planned at national and regional levels. Workshops of national coalitions were also linked to these meetings.

On the whole, the existence of coalitions is permanent in the international scene. National coalitions have made outstanding achievements in children's rights advocacy, which amongst other efforts also strengthened the capacity of advocacy for children. Over the years, the child rights movement is gradually becoming more fervent. Several NGOs, who were not previously involved in such activities, have taken on a child rights perspective. In light of such progress, the subgroup on National Coalitions will continue its commitment to supporting this development and maintaining this vital civil society network.

The subgroup on National Child Rights Coalitions is currently chaired by the International Save the Children Alliance.

Work Plan

The 2005 Work Plan of the sub group is available here [word format]

Tools

Position papers and reports

Leaflet on Child Rights Programming [ Word format ]
"Promoting and Protecting the Rights of the Child", a report by Save the Children Sweden on how to approach the UN Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts [Word format]
"Developing Children's Rights in the Americas", by CEJIL (Center for Justice and International Law) andSave the Children Sweden [Word format]
"Invisible Children? Towards Integration of Children into EU Development Cooperation Policies", by Save the Children Sweden [website]
"Children First - In the Poverty Battle", a Review of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers in the Southern African Region - From a Child Rights Perspective by Save the Children Sweden [website]
Other tools mentioned in the history section can be found on the CRIN/NGO Group for the CRC section of this website.