News & Commentary
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Empirical Analyses using Household and Micro-level Datasets
Formal empirical analysis of the social impact of an economic event - be it a crisis or a policy adjustment - is typically underpinned by an ex post analysis using nationally representative household survey data. These studies are often able to account for exacerbating (e.g. existing poverty and domestic factors) and mitigating conditions (e.g. social protection interventions) which then provide a clear sense of the net impact on various population groups, including children, women and poor families. The main challenge with this approach lies in the significant time lag (anywhere from 1-2 years) attached to the availability of nationally representative household survey data.
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The FACIT Project - Facility for Assessing the Child Impact of Economic Trends and Policies
The FACIT Project develops and compiles analytical tools to help advance child rights in UNICEF’s upstream social and economic policy work. Through the FACIT website, child rights advocates and UNICEF’s staff could gain access to resources for social and economic policy work, including guides, empirical methodologies and applied examples of evidence-based policy analyses.
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World Urban Forum 5: The Right to the City-Bridging the Urban Divide
This global event, attended by nearly 14,000 people from 150 countries, gathered presidents, local and central government officials, civil society and grass root organisations, the private sector, researchers, and youth in the format of dialogues, networking sessions, trainings and other events. UNICEF participated, along with other partners, with a view to ensure the presence of children in the urban debates. World Urban Forum 5
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Archbishop Desmond Tutu to launch new book on truth and justice for children affected by violence and armed conflict
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is going to launch a new book Children and Transitional Justice: Truth-Telling, Accountability and Reconciliation today at UNICEF’s house, joined by our Executive Director, Ms. Ann M. Veneman. A collaboration between UNICEF IRC and the Human Rights Programme of the Harvard Law School, the publication explores questions raised when children’s issues - and children themselves - are prioritized in justice and truth-seeking and in reconciliation processes. The launch is taking place on Tuesday 9 March 2010 at 12Noon (EST) in a live video link to Harvard University in Boston. The video will be broadcasted on the UNICEF website. Video footage (including an interview) and photos of the Archbishop will also be available after his visit to UNICEF House. Visit our Children and transitional justice knowledge pages Embargoed media material available on our Newsroom Human Rights Programme, Harvard Law School
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Archbishop Desmond Tutu says world has failed children, calls for change
The Nobel Peace Prize visited UNICEF House, where he met with UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman and launched a new publication that explores why any successful transition from war to peace must ensure that children have a place - and a voice - in helping to build a peaceful and stable future. Read the story More on 'Children and Transitional Justice: Truth-Telling, Accountability and Reconciliation'
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World Urban Forum 5: The Right to the City-Bridging the Urban Divide
This global event, attended by nearly 14,000 people from 150 countries, gathered presidents, local and central government officials, civil society and grass root organisations, the private sector, researchers, and youth in the format of dialogues, networking sessions, trainings and other events. UNICEF participated, along with other partners, with a view to ensure the presence of children in the urban debates. World Urban Forum 5
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Annual meeting of the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe
The Committee is gathering in Florence to discuss its agenda dedicated to multiple issues. As for many years, UNICEF IRC is participating in the discussion and offering its contribution based on the knowledge and evidence-based research conducted by the Centre on several topics included in the agenda.
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The Tuscany Region and UNICEF IRC renewed their collaboration agreement until end of 2010
The Tuscany Region and UNICEF IRC signed the renewal of the collaboration agreement until end of 2010. Based on the framework of common interests between the REGION and UNICEF, and with the purpose to strengthen the collaboration between them, the partners agreed to develop joint activities to promote the rights of the children and to protect them from all forms of abuse, and maltreatment, including the translation of some IRC reports into Italian, as well as the organization of meetings and events to facilitate knowledge generation and sharing on children's rights and well-being. The collaboration agreement between UNICEF IRC and the Tuscany Region has been in place since 2002, and has led in the past to the dissemination to an Italian audience of key publications such as the Report Card series on child poverty in rich countries, as well as to the organization of major events like the S. Rossore meeting dedicated to women and children in 2007.
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First Community of Practice launched on CFC website
A first IRC Community of Practice was implemented on the Child Friendly Cities website to support the development of the CFC research initiative among the researchers and partners participating in the project. The new wiki-based tool (password protected) was created to be an active work space for uploading documents, sharing comments and receiving feedback among the community of participating researchers. It is the first example of its kind developed by IRC and it is meant to become an innovative key component of doing research at IRC in the future.To know more on the CFC research initiative visit the CFC website.
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Our activities in 2010
As a core component of the UNICEF research function, the Innocenti Research Centre functions as the organization's dedicated research centre, maintaining academic freedom and contributing to UNICEF's strategic agenda. The Centre's activities promote knowledge generation and brokering to fill research gaps and address emerging and sensitive issues concerning children in developing, middle-income and industrialized countries. With UNICEF support, and through other resources contributions of governments and civil society, the Centre continues to pursue its work in cooperation with academic and policy institutions around the world. Building on twenty years of experience, expertise and lessons from the implementation of its programme, the Centre pursues research in two thematic areas: (a) Social and economic policies and children, and (b) Implementation of international standards for children, including for the protection of children from violence, exploitation and abuse.
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FGM/C and UNICEF
The long-standing commitment of UNICEF to end the discriminatory and harmful practice of female genital mutilation/cutting,
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The best interest of the child at the heart of the adoption process: expert consultation of practitioners
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre is hosting an expert consultation on domestic and inter-country adoption from 19 to 20 March. Practitioners and experts from all over the world will convene in Florence to debate if and how the international juridical system can guarantee the best interest of the child in adoption procedures.