Basically we could not have peace, or an atmosphere in which peace could grow, unless we recognized the rights of individual human beings...their importance, their dignity...and agreed that was the basic thing that had to be accepted throughout the
world.
History
In 1990, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) came into effect. The most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world establishes a comprehensive set of rights for all children to realize without exception. The challenge is how to transform this document into a living reality for children through innovative research and capacity development that links Child rights policy and practice.
In 1994, a transformational conference was held in Victoria, British Columbia: Stronger Children Stronger Families. This was one of the first formal conferences in which young people were given a space to voice their views about their rights and breathe life into the CRC. It also highlighted the need for innovative approaches to implement the CRC, and provided the impetus for creating a centre focused on meaningful implementation of child rights based at the University of Victoria.
The Unit for Research and Education on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was founded under the direction of Dr. Philip Cook, an assistant professor within the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria. The Unit’s approach was to undertake innovative research and education to translate the spirit of the CRC into reality for children and communities in Canada and around the world. The Unit soon established an international organization in children’s rights and development, and built an extensive network of international experts implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child across diverse challenges and contexts.
A central focus of this early work involved linking children’s rights principles to local cultural values, beliefs and practices. Partnerships with Indigenous peoples on Canada’s west coast and in Latin America were central to the Units’ evolving niche in grounding children’s human rights in age old tradition and practices supporting children. This learning was highlighted in the 1996 “Caring for Indigenous Children” Conference and lead to the creation of IICRD’s logo.
Dr. Cook relocated the Unit to the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria in 2000 in order to focus exclusively on its work. At this time, the Unit was renamed the Institute for Child Rights and Development (ICRD). In July, 2002 the International Institute for Child Rights and Development/Institut international pour les droits des enfants et le développement (IICRD) was incorporated as a federal non-share capital corporation and was been granted charitable status in 2006.
IICRD is now a not-for-profit organization partnered with, and based at the University of Victoria. The Institute presently works with thousands of children and their families and communities in most regions of the world.
IICRD’s expertise is consistently sought in strategic partnerships with diverse agencies from the United Nations to governments to youth led agencies and community organizations. IICRD seeks to be a leader in bringing dignity, belonging and justice to children most in need of their rights, to strengthening systems supporting children and introducing innovative ideas to inspire sustainable meaningful change for children and the human family.