A strong evidence-base is essential for UNICEF to be a global knowledge leader for children. These pages offer an in-depth look at current issues.

The world has witnessed a growing threat of armed conflicts and 'internal wars' over the past 15 years. Children are among those most affected and, in many instances, they have been targeted for killings, disappearances, under-age recruitment, sexual violence, torture and other grave violations of their fundamental rights.
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In 2007, the Expert Paper Series on Children and Transitional Justice was launched by UNICEF IRC, working closely with a wide range of experts, including within UNICEF Headquarters, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and numerous academic institutions, in order to encourage further research and analysis of key issues and case studies related to children and transitional justice.
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In 2007, the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (IRC), working closely with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and UNICEF Headquarters, initiated an Expert Paper Series on Children and Transitional Justice. The Series is intended to encourage further research and analysis on a number of key issues related to children and transitional justice. Topics have been identified in an ongoing dialogue with practitioners, legal experts, academics and colleagues from civil society, including children and young people.
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Quality early childhood education and care services, also referred to as early childhood development (ECD) services, are widely acknowledged as playing an important role in the overall education and care of young children. They provide an ‘umbrella’ for a regular monitoring of the health and nutrition status of children at a critical period of growth.
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Over the past few decades, migration - both international and internal - has increased dramatically. Easier travel, greater access to information about distant places, relatives and friends who have migrated and the opportunities for improving living standards all have fuel movements of individuals and families.
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A growing movement for the development of Ombuds for Children has emerged in the past several years. National Independent Human Rights Institutions for Children, or 'Ombuds for Children', 'Child Advocates', 'Commissioners', 'Défenseurs', 'Defensorías' etc. are institutions whose role is to monitor the actions of governments and other actors, promote children's rights, and offer a space for dialogue between children and the State.
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The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre is hosting a series of thematic expert consultations on child trafficking and child sex tourism, in preparation for the World Congress III against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents to be held in Brazil in November 2008. The consultations are organized in close cooperation with UNICEF’s Child Protection section in New York, and with the support of UNICEF TACRO and Brazil.
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As a contribution to the World Congress III Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents organized by the Government of Brazil from 25-28 November in Rio de Janeiro, the Government of Italy and the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre are organizing a thematic Consultation on Theme 5 of the Congress "International Cooperation for Preventing and Responding to Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents: the Role of International Actors and Donors".
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The Consultation builds upon commitments undertaken at the previous two World Congresses and the UN Study on Violence Against Children. It will anticipate the discussion of the World Congress Theme 2 "Legal Framework and Enforcement" and provide a platform for expert debate on the implementation of international standards and the development of national legal frameworks and their enforcement. Particular attention will be given to the CRC and its Optional Protocols and key regional instruments and standards.
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Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in understanding the factors that perpetuate female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and other harmful practices, as well as the processes that encourage their abandonment.

UNICEF IRC has develop a study to analyze the nature and implications of social norms and how they promote or limit the well-being of children and the realization of their rights.

The study looks at highly promising approaches being used to support social change (around FGM) and how these strategies are being implemented in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal and Sudan.

The following bibliography offers an overview of some of the main resources that IRC has collected during the preparation of the Multicountry study on FGM/C.


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The countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) have experienced systemic and dramatic change since 1989 - change that has had a direct impact on the lives of ordinary people and their children. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the beginning of the transition from centrally planned to market economies, catapulted the region into a new era of political, economic and social reform. While in some respects, most of the economic and social reforms introduced after 1989 were unavoidable, desirable and indispensable, the social and political costs were far greater than anticipated.


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