UNICEF IRC FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS 2008

The Childcare Transition: A league table of early childhood education and care, Innocenti Report Card No. 8


A considerable body of evidence points to the importance of the early years as a window of opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children and to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Recognizing this evidence, many countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have national strategies for enhancing the experiences of young children.
Report Card No. 8 will analyse these countries' response to families and young children, notably in the area of early childhood care and education. OECD governments invest public resources in early childhood services. However, from the point of view of the best interests of the child, the situation in many OECD countries leaves room for improvement and requires a doubling of resources. The report aims to present, in an internationally comparable manner, a set of indicators of coverage, quality and impact of national policies and investment in early childhood services, so as to encourage closer monitoring and more focused debate among political leaders, the media and the public.



Young People's Voices on Child Trafficking: Experiences from South Eastern Europe


Mindful of the important contribution that young people can make to our understanding of the issues that concern them, in 2005 and 2006 UNICEF arranged for 31 children and young people who had been trafficked while under 18 years of age, to be interviewed in four countries of South Eastern Europe. The report indicates that some of the children and young people were particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, including trafficking due to multiple forms of violence and neglect, at home and in institutions. Poverty, domestic violence and abuse and parental alcohol addiction were broadly reported as interrelated problems. The interviews highlight the importance of ensuring that, in order to protect them from harm, children need access to information about the risks and challenges of leaving home or migrating to another country. The report demonstrates that children and young people have an important role to play in helping to identify areas for intervention, design relevant solutions and act as strategic informants of research.
This IRC title is organized into three sections that highlight the various phases of the trafficking process. Practical recommendations have been identified at the end of each section. These are intended to inform the protection of children who have already been trafficked and a broader group of children who are at risk of, or are victims of, various forms of exploitation and abuse.



Child Trafficking in South Asia


The Innocenti Research Centre, in cooperation with the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia and the eight Country Offices in the region, conducted a study on trafficking of children. The resulting series of publications will review laws and policies related to the protection of children from trafficking from a child rights perspective; present case studies that emphasize community-based action and prevention efforts within South Asia and emerging trends in rights-based programming; and summarize policy and programme recommendations.
The publications will capture reforms, as well as positive emerging trends and developments in programming related to ensuring the prevention, protection and empowerment of trafficked children. Also included will be recommendations, best practices and a discussion of the current debates in programming around child trafficking. A key focus of the materials is the importance of listening to children and young people and involving them in policymaking and preventive responses to trafficking of children.



Children and Truth Commissions


In collaboration with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), UNICEF IRC will produce a publication that reviews the experience and good practices of children's involvement in truth commissions. The publication will analyse lessons learned and recommend the steps needed for children's participation in future truth commissions. ‘Child and Truth Commissions' will support the work of truth commissions, 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. The publication includes discussions of the situation in Guatemala, Liberia, Peru, Timor-Leste, Sierra Leone and South Africa, and may be of strategic importance to these and other post-conflict countries such as Burundi, Nepal and Uganda.



Innocenti Digest – Children's Right to Play Safe


In order to ensure timely follow-up to the areas of the UN Study on Violence Against Children that were deemed ‘under-researched', UNICEF IRC undertook research to highlight the importance of promoting the right to ‘play safe' as a way to ensure that children are protected from all forms of abuse, exploitation and neglect in the context of play and sport.
The IRC Digest on Children's Right to Play Safe provides a review of research findings on the various types of discrimination and violence experienced by children in the sports setting. It examines prevention strategies in view of improving the safety of children in both competitive sport and recreational activities.
The publication was drafted in partnership with international experts in the field of sports and child rights, and representatives of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the International Olympic Committee and sports federations.

Monitoring, Analysing and Informing on Child Well-Being in the CEE/CIS region, 15 years of experience


Since 1992, through the ‘MONEE project', UNICEF IRC has collected data, analysed and published research on the evolving situation of children living in Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States during the transition from central planning to market economies. Containing contributions from various experts who significantly contributed to the analysis, the publication takes stock of the changes in the lives of children across the region over the period 1992-2007, critically reviewing how the MONEE project contributed to informing policy development affecting children, and where the information fell short. The publication, ‘MONEE 15', will identify areas where the evidence base on the situation of children and adolescents needs to be strengthened, and discuss how the techniques for and quality of monitoring child well-being can evolve in the region to meet more complex information and research needs.
The report will consider general trends in child well-being regionally, the responsiveness of policy reforms to the needs of children and families in more market-oriented economies, and the challenges that have faced the generation who were born in the early transition days, grew up in the transition period and are now entering adulthood. Thematic analytical report contributed by National Statistical Offices will provide country-specific insight on a range of topics that affect children, policy opportunities and challenges, the unfinished agenda and lessons learned.



Statistical Portrait of Children in Immigrant Families in Rich Countries


There is a paucity of systematically reviewed information on the situation of children who have migrated with their parents into industrialized countries. In order to promote a greater understanding of the situation of these children and the barriers to inclusion they may face, and to develop policy recommendations, IRC research will present internationally comparable statistics on the family contexts in which different groups of immigrant and native children live. The research will be complemented by a review of literature on the experiences of immigrant children outside the home: their access to social services, vulnerability, situations of conflict with the law, and inclusion and socialization in the resident societies. Sources range from national censuses, surveys and registration data as well as current literature from eight countries – Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.



Global Reports on the Role and Function of Ombuds for Children


UNICEF IRC works in coordination with relevant actors in each region and with UNICEF's Country Offices to develop an evidence-based analysis of the mode of functioning of ombuds for children. These ‘messengers of children' are independent human rights institutions whose role is to monitor the actions of government and other actors, promote children's rights at national and local level, and facilitate dialogue between children and the State.
Started in 2007, the IRC study will identify good practices and lessons learned, and support informed decision-making for those countries that are seeking to establish Ombuds for Children and others who aim to strengthen existing ones. The study will also support the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its guidance to States Parties on general measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child