News & Commentary

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

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

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'

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

The long-standing commitment of UNICEF to end the discriminatory and harmful practice of female genital mutilation/cutting,

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.

Expert Consultation on South Asia in Action to Prevent Child Trafficking and Assist Affected Children convened in Florence, Italy, on 29-30 June 2006.

"A great read and a fresh perspective! This book not only covers the historical and practical realities of working children, but also offers strong theoretical frameworks for discussing the most difficult issues -and most important, gives guidance onwhat should be done next." - Martha Nelems, Former Senior Policy Analyst, Children's Rights, CIDA