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Home > NGO
Group for the CRC > Thematic
Subgroups > National
Coalitions
Subgroup
on National Child Rights Coalitions
Related Links | Current issues | Activities | History | Work Plan | Tools | 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.
Links
Links to
relevant websites and other structures with which we work
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