Forthcoming Publications 2010/early 2011
2010Children and Truth Commissions
Truth commissions are important in documenting the magnitude of violations committed against children and contributing to accountability. They also present an important venue for children’s voices to be heard and for their needs to be addressed. But for their participation to be meaningful, children must have access to psychosocial assistance throughout the process, and provisions must be made for their physical safety and long-term support in the community.
Children and Truth Commissions is being published by the Innocenti Research Centre (IRC) in collaboration with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). The study reviews the experience and good practices of children’s involvement in post-conflict truth commissions. Analysing the situation and experience of truth commissions in Guatemala, Liberia, Peru, Timor-Leste, Sierra Leone and South Africa, it recommends steps to promote children’s full and effective participation in future truth commissions.
The discussion and findings are expected to be of strategic relevance both to these nations and to other post-conflict countries. Children and Truth Commissions will support the work of truth commissions themselves, child protection agencies and organizations, legal experts, child rights advocates and other professionals in their efforts to protect the rights of child victims and witnesses, and to engage children as partners in truth, justice and reconciliation processes.
Multicountry Study on the Social Dynamics of the Abandonment of Harmful Practices
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. Expanding and refining the 'social convention' framework, this Innocenti Insight discusses 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 builds on the research findings and programmatic recommendations developed in the Innocenti Digest on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (2005), which are reflected in the 2007 Coordinated Strategy to Abandon FGM/C in One Generation published by UNICEF.
The study looks at highly promising approaches being used to support social change around FGM/C, and how these strategies are being implemented in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal and Sudan. These national experiences have all been externally evaluated, and are reviewed in this work. The analysis is intended to provide evidence and reflections to contribute to improved policies and programmes for the abandonment of these and other harmful practices across a broad range of settings.
Report Card 9 – The Children Left Behind: An OECD league table of inequality in child well-being (English, French)
Report Card 9 will examine the situation of those children in the poorest quintile in advanced economies in different indicators of well-being, comparing their situation to the respective national averages. The IRC flagship report will examine how responsive different economically advanced countries are to the rights and needs of the most disadvantaged children. It will invite debate on how society and policy promote fairness and equity for children, and on the costs for society of not investing in child well-being and social justice in a timely manner.
The report takes forward the multidimensional understanding of child well-being presented in Report Card 7. It brings two complementary perspectives and technical approaches to examining disparities in child well-being within a similar international comparative framework. The analysis will include a selection of the child well-being indicators that were included in Report Card No. 7, in relation to available data. The gap analysis between the situation of children in the bottom quintile and the average will be standardized across the countries to facilitate comparison. Countries will be ranked in terms of ‘fairness’, according to a summary of the different inequality measures, as a basis to discuss the possible explanatory factors and to identify potential policy responses in different settings.
Impact of International Legal Standards and the Safeguards of the Best Interests of the Child in Domestic and Intercountry Adoption (Innocenti Digest)
This Innocenti Digest focuses on the implementation of ‘the best interests of the child’ principle in each stage of intercountry adoption process. The report – on a highly controversial subject – presents an overview of the relevant international legal frameworks and analyses their impact on the different stakeholders in intercountry adoption. It describes the adoption process and the key challenges at each stage, and offers examples of practices to strengthen and support families and promote international cooperation.
The study also briefly discusses the subsidiarity of intercountry adoption and the primacy of domestic adoption, a principle outlined both in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ‘Hague Adoption Convention’. Recommendations are presented for the reduction of risks to children during the process of intercountry adoption and the related improvement of child protection systems.
The Innocenti Digest is aimed to promote the effective implementation of international standards for intercountry adoption that ensure the best interests of the child. It is anticipated that the empirical evidence and analysis provided in the report will provide policymakers and programme officials with information and guidance necessary to help ensure that children’s best interests are considered and, most importantly, respected in every step of an intercountry adoption process.
Preventing Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism
International attention has heightened significantly on the problem of sexual exploitation in the context of travel and tourism. Within its wider analysis of the implementation of international standards on children, UNICEF IRC is undertaking a review on sexual exploitation of children, violence against children and related child protection concerns. This study will analyse the relevant international legal framework and its implementation in relation to travel and tourism. It will examine the role of the private sector and the consideration of corporate social responsibility, describing initiatives in the travel and tourism industry that have proven effective in protecting and safeguarding the well-being of children.
Promoting Children's Rights in Aid Policies
The Convention on the Rights of the Child – addressing the obligations of State Parties – explicitly encourages international cooperation within the context of realizing economic, social and cultural rights.
Since the late 1990s there has been growing appreciation for a human rights-based approach to development within the donor community. A number of donors explicitly recognize the Convention as a guide to their development policy, while many more have specific policies or policy statements affirming the importance of children in development. Along with this greater attention to human rights there is also a convergence among donors, as well as recipients, around the theme of poverty reduction. This reflects an emphasis on greater developing country ownership, supported by simplified and harmonized development assistance.
This study analyses how selected donor governments (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden) whose development cooperation is explicitly informed by the Convention, and the European Union, have integrated child rights into their aid programmes. It assesses how government donors have interpreted, operationalized and are monitoring the implementation of their programmes. It considers strengths and challenges to the different strategies in relation to child rights, and identifies good practices.
2011
Global Study on Human Rights Institutions for Children
Independent Human Rights Institutions for Children, often established as Ombuds for Children, have gained considerable attention in recent years as an important measure of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and as a key contributor to policy processes for children’s rights at country level. The role of these institutions is to monitor the actions of government and other actors who affect children, promote children’s rights at national and local level, and facilitate dialogue between children and the State. Many States in all regions have established or are setting up such institutions, while others are working on strengthening existing ones. Global and regional networks have been created or consolidated to facilitate and support these efforts.
The study, carried out in cooperation with relevant actors in each region, examines the role of these institutions in the realization of children’s rights and explores the links between the institutions and the perception of childhood in society. It will identify good practices that can support informed decision-making. To complement the main study, a more detailed report, developed in partnership with UNICEF’s regional office, will focus on Independent Human Rights Institutions for Children in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Multicountry Study on Child-Friendly Cities
Researchers and practitioners have in the recent past recognized an increased need by communities and cities for evidence-based assessment, including tools that allow them to comprehensively and systematically gauge the level of ‘child-friendliness’ in their cities. As part of an ongoing effort to ensure that municipalities are fulfilling the rights of children, and to identify gaps and critically look at governance structures and processes designed to support families and children, a range of innovative assessment tools was developed in 2009.
The forthcoming IRC study will reflect the outcome of the application of the tools in 10 countries – Brazil, the Dominican Republic, France, Italy, Jordan, the Philippines, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain and Sudan. These countries reflect a variety of contexts in terms of their location, size and setting. To ensure cross-fertilization of research findings and good practices across countries, the researchers are being provided with opportunities for wider interaction and consultation through workshops and electronic means. The Multicountry Study is anticipated to generate a research protocol, including a set of indicators for communities and cities to self-assess their degree of child friendliness, data on the situation of children in participating cities, and a description of mechanisms used by local governance structures in the self-assessment process. The study aims to improve policy development for children at the local level by promoting awareness of children’s rights among stakeholders, mobilizing communities and children.
The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre has been fully engaged in the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative since 2000 when the CFC Secretariat was established at IRC in Florence. The Secretariat has acted as a hub and reference point for the issue, promoting knowledge exchange and brokering through the documentation of good practices and lessons learned. For recent developments related to the initiative are reflected in the child friendly cities website, see: www.childfriendlycities.org.
Innocenti publications are produced in English, with some titles translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. For more information on the multi-language versions of IRC publications, please visit our Publications catalogue.
Page updated: 23 July 2010
