Please join us for the “Collective Actions for MDR (Monitoring, Documenting, and Reporting)” online course. For interested applicants, please note that this event will be conducted entirely in Farsi. For more information, please contact mdrcourses@gmail.com and/or click here to apply.

Strategy/Fundraising Co-Executive Director Job Posting 

The International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) is a registered non-profit organization affiliated with Royal Roads University. IICRD is seeking a part-time Co-Executive Director with expertise and leadership in strategic and fundraising. 

The Strategy/Fundraising Co-ED will be responsible for leadership of the organization, particularly with partners, funders, and potential donors. They will be responsible for growing the organization’s revenue, and implementing a sustainable fundraising plan.

Duties include:

• Partnership development and management
• Administration: legal and charity registration work
• Leadership Management: attend bi-monthly meetings with the board; work with the leadership team and associates to make sure the organization is running smoothly.
• Financial management: work collaboratively with the Operations Co-ED, bookkeeper and Board Treasurer on organization budgets and banking tasks.
• Fund Development: lead and implement IICRD’s current fundraising plan, and lead the development of additional fundraising strategies as necessary.

A combination of post-secondary education and related work experience will be considered for the Strategy/Fundraising ED position. The position begins in May 2022 if possible, for approximately 20 hours per week for $22-30 CAD per hour, with the hope of increasing hours in the near future. This is a funding-dependent part-time position with secured funding for 2022-2023. 

The Strategy/Fundraising ED will ideally have expertise in:

• Fundraising and/or grant-writing.
• Thought leadership in child rights and development, including children’s meaningful participation.
• Managing the day-to-day activities of non-profit or charity, working with a small and highly committed global team.
• Commitment to high ethical standards and to social and environmental justice is important.
• Experience working in both the Canadian and international human/child rights sectors is an asset. 

IICRD’s Co-Leadership Approach

The Strategy/Fundraising Co-ED will work collaboratively alongside IICRD’s Operations Co-ED. The Operations Co-ED is responsible for managing the day-to-day details of our multi-project organization and coordinating operational and key administration functions. The Operations Co-ED provides operational oversight and administrative support to all IICRD project teams and Board of Directors. Both roles are remotely located within Canada. (Travel within Canada may be required for either position.) Both positions are part-time.

Interested candidates are invited to forward a brief cover letter and résumé including two two references to Kate Butler, IICRD Board Chair: iicrdboardchair@gmail.com.

Applications will be accepted until Thursday May 26th, 2022.

How are young people experiencing alternative care around the world? Encourage young people you know to complete this survey by May 31, 2021. 

Learn more - including the option to complete the survey in English, French, or Spanish. The consultation results will feed into the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion 2021 on Children’s Rights and Alternative Care!

IICRD's Laura Wright, Kate Butler, Vanessa Currie, and Katie Reid are supporting this initiative.

On 4-28, join IICRD's Laura Wright and Natasha Blanchet-Cohen (and others) @sfuCERi for “Tell us what we can do”: redefining roles in youth-adult research collaborations" from 1-2PM PT.

This session aims to foster collective reflection on different challenges and opportunities of youth-adult collaboration in community-engaged research. Through contributions from guest speakers this webinar will unpack the ethics of collaboration; figuring out appropriate types of supportive roles for adults; and more broadly, the multiple benefits of involving youth as co-researchers.

Register: https://bit.ly/2Q7RpiV

4-28 | 1-2PM | Online | Free

This event is presented with the Child and Youth Participatory Research Network.

The International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD), a non-profit organization affiliated with Royal Roads University, seeks a dynamic, detail-oriented Administrative Assistant for a part-time contract position.  

The Administrative Assistant will be home-based and be responsible for supporting the Executive Director with managing the day-to-day details of a multi-project organization. The Administrative Assistant will coordinate key administrative functions of the organization, while supporting project teams and management, accounting, and the Board of Directors, and will work closely with the Executive Director.  

The Administrative Assistant will ideally have:

• Experience managing the day-to-day activities of a non-profit or charity, working with a small and highly committed global team; 
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to pay close attention to detail, to multitask effectively, and to meet deadlines; 
• Excellent oral and written communications skills and ability to work across various modes of communication; 
• Strong computer and internet competency including Excel, Google Docs, Slack etc.
• Ability to manage communications with legal teams, CRA and other elements related to charitable status. 
• Ability to provide financial administrative support to projects and the organization (e.g. reviewing budgets and invoices with the Book-keeper, review and draft contracts etc.);
• Experience with communication and updating websites is desirable. 
• Experience with funding proposals or applications is desirable. 
• Commitment to high ethical standards and to social and environmental justice is important.

A combination of post-secondary education and/or related work experience will be considered.   

We are seeking someone to start in January 2021, for approx. 7 hours per week for $20-25 per hour, with the hope of extended hours in the near future. This is a contract position and is funding dependent. 

Interested candidates should forward a short cover letter and résumé listing two references by Monday, December 14, 2020 to: Vanessa Currie, Executive Director (vanessa.currie@iicrd.org)

Wrapping up the year, the International Institute for Child Rights and Development held its Annual General Meeting on October 28th, 2020 to share highlights, lessons, and impacts from the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

IICRD's Leadership Team provided a snapshot presentation of the year during a virtual Annual General Meeting with team members and colleagues from around the world. 

This past year, we’ve seen historic, interconnected tides impacting the rights and well-being of children, youth–and us all. There's been the early beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental emergencies, racial uprising, global migration, social isolation, and economic insecurity–just to name a few. Huge waves have challenged systems to break down barriers to equality and justice. With all the upheaval, this has also been an exciting time for child rights, as unprecedented numbers of young leaders and activists stand up for vital issues locally and globally. All of this can feel both immense and inspiring.

The International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) has been navigating these changing tides. As young people lead the way, we are pivoting our efforts to support their work. Our 2019-2020 annual report highlights a few of these efforts to use creative art and play-based tools to support children and young people to amplify their voices.

In 2019-2020, IICRD engaged approximately 2,300 children and youth as well as 3,700 adults, including practitioners, parents, community members, and Elders from 29 countries. We have just scratched the surface. More than ever, this year has reconfirmed our commitment to listen, learn, and do more both within our organization and through striving to follow the transformative leadership of young people themselves.

We are also thrilled to welcome Jo Axe as our new treasurer, alongside the rest of IICRD's governance team, including Kate Butler (Chair), Angie Mapara-Osachoff (Vice-Chair), Zahra Jamale (Secretary), as well as Bill Meyers, Shelley Jones, and Taryn Danford as Directors at large.  Our thanks and immense gratitude also go to outgoing Directors Renee Lorme-Gulbrandsen, Cheyenne Stonechild, and Mary Clancy for their many contributions to our organization. 

The Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) and the Care and Protection of Children (CPC) Learning Network at Columbia University invite you to join us for a webinar on engaging children as partners and leaders in child protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

At the outset of the pandemic, children and youth were facing unprecedented challenges caused by quarantine measures and school closure policies in nearly every country in the world. At the same time these challenges emerged, child-focused organizations found it harder than ever to communicate with children, needing to adapt their methods of hearing children’s voices and ensuring children’s participation to virtual and “socially distanced” realities.

The new ‘Moving Towards Children as Partners in Child Protection in COVID-19 Guide’ aims to assist humanitarian actors to maintain and strengthen children’s meaningful participation in their work in response to the current pandemic. 

During the webinar, International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD)'s Laura Wright and Vanessa Currie will present on the child participation tip sheets and tools that have been adapted for the COVID-19 context and Artolution and #CovidUnder19 will present their experiences meaningfully engaging children in their initiatives.   

Register to join us Tuesday, September 29, 9:00-11:00 AM EDT!

IICRD's Cheyenne Stonechild is featured in a Behind the Seams blog published by clothing manufacturer, Smash & Tess. Learn about Cheyenne's story to starting the 4 the Generation project and where she sees her vision going over the next five years.

Check out 4 the Generation for more information about the project

As we all know, COVID-19 has affected not only adults but many young individuals around the globe.

IICRD has teamed up with children organizations and advocates to create #COVID_Under19 - a platform for children and youth to share ideas and voice their opinions based on what they feel governments need to improve on.

Support young people in your life to complete a global survey about their experiences during the pandemic. Responses are being collected until July 31st, 2020. The survey is available in 17 different languages and is for children and youth ages 8-17 years old. It was created with help from 270 children across 26 countries.

"We need to connect people across the globe to share ideas and ensure young people are heard and are leading processes to support their futures, while adults’ step back to listen and learn from and in partnership with children and young people,” says IICRD's Laura Wright.

The focus of the survey is to collect children and young people’s experiences during COVID-19 and to go forward to shape a better plan of action within governments in response to future pandemics. Children and young people’s voices will have the potential to help build a strong relationship with civil society in order to improve the safety and well-being of the child/youth. Another goal of the survey is to simply hear from the children in regards to dealing with their personal/social interactions amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.

More than 5000 responses from children and young people from around the world have been received.

Please help spread the message and engage children to complete the survey by July 31st. 2020 to take part in a future where equality sees no age. 

If you would like to keep up to date and learn more about the results from the initiative, you can follow:

• www.facebook.com/CovidUnder19 
• www.twitter.com/CovidUnder19 
• www.instagram.com/covidunder19 

This story was written by Michael Roces. Illustration submitted by 11-years old, as part of a COVID drawing contest.

IICRD teams up with Terre des hommes  (Tdh) to launch new E-Learning course and manual through YouCreate, a youth-led, arts-based Participatory Action Research project for wellbeing and social change. 

This project aimed to train youth leaders, with the support of Adult Allies and the ‘Art-kit’ (training manual), to lead their peers in implementing participatory, arts-based research projects and ‘Art Actions’ — arts-based activities designed to address issues of significance to youth in their community.

The kit and e-modules were developed by IICRD's Vanessa Currie, Laura Lee, and Laura Wright in collaboration with youth team members and TdH.

This series of 6 e-modules will provide you with a basic introduction to the YouCreate PAR process. The PAR process consists of five cyclical phases:

• Map: Youth leaders and their adult allies will use arts-based activities to map out a baseline for their project, to set out roles and to create a vision. 
• Explore: Youth leaders lead their peers through a series of art-based activities to explore their well-being and involvement in their communities and the arts.
• Plan: Youth leaders guide their peers to confirm and adjust the findings. They select a specific challenge to address, analyze root causes, and develop an arts-based project to address it.
• Art-Action: Youth implement, monitor and evaluate their arts-based project with the support of youth leaders and adult allies.
• Reflect & Share: Youth leaders guide youth to reflect on any changes that have occurred as a result of YouCreate.

We invite you to join us in this e-module series, to learn about the YouCreate PAR process as dramatized by youth members in the YouCreate team, and explore how it might work for you! Visit the ChildHub Academy and choose the YouCreate course in the list of courses to learn how you can implement an arts-based Participatory Action Research with youth!

To learn more, visit IICRD's YouCreate project page.

A video released in celebration of World Refugee Day 2020 helps children new to Canada to understand their rights, while teaching their friends how they can welcome refugees.

“Unpacking My Rights” features tips from children about small actions to help newcomer children feel welcome in Victoria.

The video is part of a collaboration between the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA), Royal Roads University and International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD), with support from the Capital Regional District and the Victoria Foundation.

Hosted by puppet Giggles (performed by Valeria Cortes, IICRD Associate/RRU Assoc. Faculty) and featuring her new friends Braydon, Jasmine and Cindy, the production connects with the UN High Commissioner for Refugee’s theme for this year’s World Refugee Day, “Every Action Counts”,  by focusing on everyday friendly actions children and adults can do.

“Don’t make fun of them,” “show them around the school,” and “ask them to play catch” are a few things that Braydon, Jasmine and Cindy suggest – reflecting on their own experiences starting out in Canada.

The video also features local services for newcomer families such as housing, childcare, employment and learning English through a heartfelt conversation between Giggles and Gita John-Iyams, ICA’s Youth and Family Services Coordinator. 

“We encourage families to watch the video to see a small glimpse of children’s journeys to settle into a new life – away from the people, places and things important to them,” says IICRD’s Elaina Mack. “Our hope is that learning about child rights can connect and inspire young people to take on everyday actions for creating a more just, inclusive and equal world.”

“These videos give us a wonderful insight into the wisdom children carry and provides us some space to bring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into life in real ways for children beginning their lives in Canada,” says Assoc. Prof. Kathleen Manion of the School of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads.

You can find more information about programs and services for newcomer families and children, and ways to help, by visiting the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria and learning more about International Institute for Child Rights and Development projects.

A child has many people and factors influencing their development and wellbeing. How do you evaluate projects focused on supporting child protection interventions? What is working well and what can be learned to apply elsewhere?

These are some of the questions that IICRD's Armel Hughes-Oguniyi and Jean Sewanou with Dr. Bekpa-Kinhou discussed in their evaluation of local child protection interventions promoted by Kinderrrechte Africa e.V (KiRA) in Benin, Togo, Mali and Cameroon.

Join us in a virtual space to explore key pracitioner lessons from this evaluation project. Please complete this form to register for this event. 

IICRD Advisor, Suzanne Williams, is featured in the Spring 2020 issue of In the Spotlight, a publication produced by the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia (CLEBC).

Suzanne shares how her work with IICRD started a lifelong goal of closing the "gap between the law that says children’s views will be heard in decisions that affect them and what actually happens in practice".

As described in the article, Suzanne has continued with this core purpose through her involvement with CLEBC's conferences on Access to Justice for Children as well as through practicing family law in Victoria, British Columbia with Brown Henderson Melbye.

"I have been fortunate to hear from and work with young people from many countries and backgrounds and every time my belief that young people have valuable words to share and contributions to make to better not just them, but all of us, is affirmed." - Suzanne Williams

The Surrey Indigenous Youth Advisory Committee (FRAFCA) is collaborating with IICRD to host an online series called “Coming Together For Hope” throughout April 2020. This will consist of individual sessions with inspirational speakers who can share expertise with the upcoming Indigenous leaders in our community. We want to continuously support youth to be grounded leaders in the community, and keep them inspired and motivated through this incredibly difficult time of COVID-19.

This will be offered for free to Indigenous participants (ages 14-24yrs). The session is a weekly, one-hour dialogue on zoom.us with any questions from the participants answered afterward. 

DATES:

• Wednesday, April 8th, 2020 - Dr. Philip Cook at 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM on zoom.us
• Wednesday, April 15th, 2020 - Jereme Brooks at 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM on zoom.us
• To Be Announced - Jody Bauche
• To Be Announced - Thunder Sky

*Announcements will be on Mondays at 9:00 AM on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/FRAFCA/   - OR -  by Email from the Coordinator (after signing up).

SIGN UP:

It’s easy! All you need to do is send an email to: chey.stonechild@gmail.com with your 

1.) Name, 2.) First Nations and 3.) Which Session you want to participate in (or if you want to join every session in April 2020).

I’ll send you a confirmation email and a link to join the session on zoom.us (if you sign up for all sessions, a new link/info will be sent every Monday).

*Limit of 25 people per session, to be respectful of the speakers time.

IICRD's Suzanne Williams and Cheyenne Stonechild are playing key roles to deliver "Access to Justice for Children 2020: Best Interests of the Child", hosted by the Continuing Legal Education Sociey of British Columbia. This conference, held on March 6, 2020 in Vancouver, is geared toward lawyers in all practice areas. 

This multi-disciplinary training focuses on sharpening professional knowledge and practice on the best interests of the child, and meet each child's unique circumstances considering influences such as culture, ability, and trauma.  

Suzanne is the Co-Chair of the conference with Halie (Kwanxwa’logwa) Bruce and the Honourable Donna J. Martinson, QC. Cheyenne is serving as a faculty member including integrating young people's perspectives into the conference through working directly with children to create videos.  

Learn more about the conference and CLESBC's work. 

Sharing her personal and project journey, IICRD's Cheyenne Stonechild features the 4 the Generation project in the latest issue of Power Pages, a magazine reaching more than 2,000 youth and sercive providers in British Columbia supporting young people in care (see page 22).

The Q&A story explores the 4 the Generation, a project to help urban Indigenous youth in the Greater Vancouver area to understand who they are and where in the world they came from. The project was supported by the Vancouver Foundation.

"Of course, being healthy and safe is extremely important, but so is better and more reasonable access to their own culture, cultural knowledge and knowledge keepers. It is critical to support the youth where they are at and to build positive, trusting, dependable relationships that can foster a sense of belonging to their own heritage." Cheyenne Stonechild

The International Institute for Child Rights and Development is gearing up with our friends and families across Canada to join Ride for Refuge on October 5, 2019. Please join us or contribute to our shared vision to bring child rights to life. Visit our team pages to take action: Victoria, Vancouver and Worldwide.

Together we can ride and strive for a world where there is dignity, belonging and justice for all children!

IICRD Associate, Manuel Manrique Castro, weighs in on the impacts of policies affecting Central American migrants, particularly on children. This article was published in El Mundo (September 5, 2018). It was translated into English by Cynthia Selde.

***

Children of Central America

It is clear that the problem will not be solved by blocking off the border, arresting immigrants, locking their children up in cages, separating families or deporting people right and left.

During his first contact with United States government officials, and within the context of the United States’ “zero tolerance” policy toward immigrants from south of the border-- be they children or adults -- Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), the president elect of Mexico, suggested to US President Donald Trump that he adopt a different, more humane understanding of the immigration phenomenon, and that they work together to support the development of Central America.

Having lived in Guatemala for some time I am aware of that country’s social realities, and especially that of the country’s Indigenous communities. It is from these communities that many Guatemalan immigrants leave to make their way north, determined to cross two borders in hopes of arriving safe and sound in the United States. Their resolve and their ability to bear sacrifices are often overwhelmed by the seemingly unending chain of dangerous and unsurmountable obstacles they must face. Mexico’s “Migra” is unrelenting, cruel, and sadly renowned for their heavy-handed ruthlessness in driving Central Americans out of their territory. Immigrants from other Central American countries, and especially from El Salvador and Honduras, who are fleeing from a similar reality, end up facing the same dangers and sharing a similar fate.

There are many reasons for staying in their communities, but even more for leaving. These are simple people, without access to much education or well-paying jobs, dazzled by the stories of relatives living in the United States who are paid in dollars, and hoping to be able to send money back to their families at home.

Immigrants have been fleeing Central America for decades, driven away by the hard realities they face at home. These communities have been immersed in poverty for generations. Their governments have failed to invest in the wellbeing of the population, ignoring the fact that the country’s future depended on it. The soil has dried up, natural disasters have taken their toll, the cost of living has soared, jobs have become increasingly scarce, education and other services have declined, and the United States has ended up looking more and more like the promised land.

When these citizens who are attempting to escape from the precarious reality of Central America reach the US border they are no longer seen as farmers, workers or parents searching for dollars to save their families. They are designated as delinquents, and subjected to arrest, imprisonment and deportation.

According to a recent study carried out by UNICEF, in Honduras 74% of children live in poverty, while in Guatemala 68% of children, predominantly indigenous children, live in poverty, and in El Salvador, 44%. Furthermore, in Honduras, only 46.7% of children between the ages of 12 and 14 attend school, and only 28.1% of children between the ages of 15 and 17.

For the majority of Central American families the task of protecting and educating their children is a daunting challenge. In addition to the inability of the governments in Central America to promote basic social wellbeing, during recent decades the region has been plagued by widespread violence produced by drug traffickers and criminal gangs. These factors have intensified the desire of many to seek a better future elsewhere.

Central American nations have become increasingly dependent on the remittances that immigrants have sent to their families back home. In 2016 El Salvador received US$ 4.576 billion in remittances, US$ 306 million more than in 2015, and equal to 17.1 % of the country’s GDP. The remittances sent by immigrants to Guatemala were equal to 11% of that country’s GDP. This income is like oxygen to these countries. It is hard to imagine what life would be like without it. This also shows that immigrants’ principal motivation is taking care of their families. They send money to their families back home regularly throughout the year, and send additional amounts for Mother’s Day, Christmas and the New Year.

It is clear that the problem will not be solved by blocking off the border, arresting immigrants, locking their children up in cages, separating families or deporting people right and left.

The proposal made by Mexican President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador will most likely run up against all sorts of barriers, not the least of which is the current US president’s immigration policy. His proposal will, however, be well received by Mexico and Central America, because it has as its foundation respect for immigrants’ human rights. In spite of all the difficulties inherent to this plan, it does present an encouraging possibility of treating the wound that has been inflicted on Latin America by the reality of immigration on the US-Mexico border.

ARE YOU AN INDIGENOUS YOUTH FROM THE GREATER VANCOUVER AREA BETWEEN THE AGES OF 14 AND 23 YEARS AND LOOKING FOR A FUN AND MEANINGFUL WEEKEND WITH OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE?

We invite you to join us for a ‘Cultural Weekend Escape’ this coming March 8-10, 2019 to connect with friends, meet new people, build some skills and have fun! The retreat will be held at Camp Alexandra on beautiful Crescent Beach.

The weekend retreat is FREE: including activities, accommodations, food and transportation.

Confirmed facilitators: The Honourable Donna Martinson, Justice of BC Supreme Court (Retired); Jeska Slater, Youth Coordinator/Advocate for Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association; Patricia Tuckanow, Elder; Angie Osachoff, Senior Regional Program Coordinator for Equitas, the International Centre for Human Rights Education; Cheyenne Stonechild, Dr. Laura Lee, Laura Wright, Elaina Mack, International Institute for Child Rights & Development and more Elders and facilitators to be confirmed!

Various workshops throughout the weekend will include, such as: Circle & Leadership; Crafts (Jewelry, sewing & or other); Essential Oils and Salve Making; Traditional Games; Genealogy; Spray Paint Art; and Child Rights and the Power of your voice...and much much more!

This weekend escape is part of the ‘4 the Generation Project’. A project led by the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD), funded by the Vancouver Foundation. The project was created to address a gap which exists very strongly for Indigenous youth-in-care or out of care who also experience a disconnect from their traditional community  and aims to help re-establish that link to their heritage and culture.

Young people may reserve their spot at: chey.stonechild@gmail.com or (604) 838-6513

We hope to see you there!

4 the Generation Project Team

Wrapping up the year, the International Institute for Child Rights and Development held its Annual General Meeting in November to share highlights, lessons and impacts from the 2017-2018 fiscal year. 

This year, together with you, we made some exciting movements for child rights, particularly for Indigenous and newcomer-refugee children. Highlights include engaging the Premier of British Columbia (BC) and his cabinet in discussions related to our evaluation report of the 3Nations initiative, a collaboration between three Indigenous peoples to support child and community well-being in in Northwestern BC. We also had the privilege of involving influential Elders in our YouLEAD programming to discuss the importance of Indigenous values for child and family programming, which were integrated into a new educational framework.

Learn more about these accomplishments in our 'scrapbook journal' report, focused on the four areas of our mission: 1) leading with children, 2) facilitating child-centred learning opportunities, 3) fostering healing and accountability to children, and 4) creating connections across sectors and systems.

Our journey this past year has been busy and reflective. In particular, we put our strategic planning process on hold to address our leadership transition. After more than 25 years, Michele Cook and Philip Cook, made the difficult decision to shift their roles from helping to manage the organization to taking on Associate terms to contribute to a smaller number of projects. IICRD is especially grateful to our Financial Administrator, Zorah Staar, for her many contributions to help us with this transition.

"It has been a rich journey and pleasure working with such a committed and skilled network of child honouring advocates over the past 25 years, to further children’s dignity, belonging and justice." - Dr. Philip Cook

Supported by many months of Board discussions, IICRD is thrilled to welcome long-time Associate Vanessa Currie to step into the role of Executive Director who started in mid-November 2018. 

During our Annual General Meeting, our election confirmed Associate, Bill Myers, as a returning Board Director. We also thanked Wendy Rowe and Kevin Craig for their leaderership and wisdom as outgoing Directors. Learn more about our elected Directors, led by Chair, Katie-Shaw Raudoy.

We look forward to continued conversations with you over the year ahead to carve out a new path for IICRD, while staying grounded in our values and commitment to create a healthier future for children.

The International Institute for Child Rights and Development is gearing up with friends and family to join Ride for Refuge - a family-friendly cycling and walking event that helps to support charities that provide refuge and hope for some of the most vulnerable people on earth.

IICRD was selected as a partner with more close to 200 other charities across Canada. We were invited to participate based on our commitment and capacity to transform lives. Learn more about our campaign.

Consider joining or donating to one of our teams in Victoria, Vancouver or the Ottawa-Gatineau area. 

Together, IICRD is riding and striving for a world where all children, families and communities have dignity, belonging and justice.

During our Annual General Meeting on Thursday, December 7th, the International Institute for Child Rights and Development presented its annual report (2016-2017), focused on the 'ripples' that IICRD is creating with children over this past year. This is the slow, incremental effects of our collective efforts to 'throw pebbles' into waters around the world.

"Over the 2016-2017 year, IICRD has continued to provide innovative, child and youth centered programming—locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. The scope and reach of IICRD’s vision, putting children and youth at the centre, while promoting dignity, belonging and justice for all, is more critical than ever." - Katie Shaw-Raudoy and Philip Cook (Chair and Executive Director) 

The report highlights that IICRD gave child rights meaning and created positive change by: 

-Engaging more than 3,400 young people from 24 countries, including Canada: Activities range from playing with skipping ropes and puppets to participatory action research, sports, social media/technology, interviews, wood carving and community-based mentorship. 

-Working with close to 800 adult allies to support children to thrive: Parents, teachers, Elders, youth workers, academics, government representatives and others participated in training, household surveys, focus groups, interviews and experiential community development tools.
 

-Focusing on the strengths of young people through through harnessing culture, engaging in sport, and creating playful spaces: These efforts involved understanding the lived realities of young people, including challenges such as early marriage, forced displacement due to conflict, poverty, disconnection from culture, neglect, violence, isolation and other barriers.

Please see our infographic style annual report for more information about our work last year.

IICRD's Micheal Montgomery is moderating a panel discussion on Tuesday, November 21st at the Canadian Museum of Nature, located in Gatineau, Quebec. The interactive panel, hosted by Right to Play, brings a diverse range of experts together including government, philanthropic donors, academics and practitioners to discuss how quality education can be improved through the power of play. 

Please see the invitation below for more information.

Registration closes Friday Sept 15th.

For more information please see: 
http://iicrd.org/events/rap2grow-3-day-intensive-training-course-description

Register here: https://goo.gl/forms/z4KgSTSZVGOYPEtE2

IICRD Associate, Areli Valancia, launches her new book - Human Rights Trade-Offs in Times of Economic Growth, published by Palgrave in 2016.  The book focuses on the impact of smelting activities on the people of La Oroya, Peru. 

“Much work has been published on human rights violations generated by recent mining activity. Areli Valencia’s work is exceptional in analyzing the history of conflict and rights abuse in an old mining region, a smelter town set up in highland Peru more than a century ago. Her carefully researched and original work probes the ways in which mining closed the range of choices available to local people, leading to a systemic lack of freedom, structured by the decisions of the state and corporations, then and now. It is essential reading for all concerned about the long- term consequences of reliance on extraction.” (Liisa North, Professor Emeritus, York University, Canada) (Review - Palgrave, 2017) 

YouLEAD Advisor, Mike McKenzie is featured in Step Up - Youth Voices in Focus: A crucial conversation about youth, disaster, and climate change adaptation​.

“It is so important that people understand that what we do to the land, we do to ourselves. If we don’t take ourselves seriously, all those quotes that we put on Facebook.  All of those things we tell each other when we are feeling down. It is not going to matter. It is not going to matter whether we stop bullying people, whether we stop racism, whether we stop wars. It does not matter...if we don’t stop destroying the planet.” – Mike McKenzie

***

This video is produced by the ResiliencebyDesign Research Innovation Lab, based at Royal Roads University, in association with Kingtide Films.

The ResiliencebyDesign Research Innovation Lab (RbD) is an interdisciplinary team of researchers, practitioners, and youth committed to applied, creative and collaborative research to address the complex and interrelated problems of disasters and climate change. This video was produced to highlight the power of youth as resilience leaders and innovators and to advocate for the active and meaningful engagement of youth in policies, practices, and programs to improve local, national and international disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

IICRD’s Cheryl Heykoop is a faculty member at Royal Roads University and a researcher with the project.

IICRD's Chancellor Amos is featured in Ha-Shilth-Sa - Canada's oldest First Nation paper. The article "EHATTESAHT MAN HOPES TO CREATE HIS OWN SUMMER JOB" was featured on April 12, 2017.

The article discusses how Chancellor "led a group of a half a dozen adults on a group ride through some trails on Mount Tzouhalem. As he was planning to do with the Indigenous youth, Amos took time during the ride to explain the cultural and historical significance of riding on Indigenous land."

He wants to get young people away from their modern technologies through mountain biking. He believes that "the whole idea is to bring back that element of getting back on the land and having fun”. 

Chancellor plays a key role in working with Indigenous youth workers through IICRD's YouLEAD initiative. 

As a next step for IICRD YouLEAD training program, IICRD has applied for the new GAC sponsored INTERNATIONAL ABORIGINAL YOUTH INTERNSHIPS (IAYI) Initiative.

If successful, IICRD's new IICRD Internship initiative would involve sending Canadian Indigenous young adult Interns to 4 or more countries, for 6 months of valuable work experience, empowerment, awareness-raising, and international Indigenous connections.

The IICRD's previous Internship program (Young Professionals International Placements) was highly successful from 1998 to 2005, supporting more than 50 Interns in 10 countries.  For more information, see the project photo (from Mexico), and the Internship Review document below, or contact info@iicrd.org for more details. 

As part of the monthly YouLEAD learning webinars, IICRD Associate Kathleen Manion facilitated a conversation with Indigenous youth workers on February 8, 2017.

During her presentation, Kathleen shared some insights about the importance of listening, understanding our human needs as well as the process of interpreting information. She encouraged us to be mindful and self-reflective to help us embrace conflict in a healthier way. The webinar was hosted by Elaina Mack and coordinated by Sabrina Bonfonti.

Being a good conflict resolution practitionerand understanding others means first knowing yourself. - Kathleen Manion

On November 21, 2016, a report was released that is fundamentally important for Indigenous child welfare in B.C., and that also connects with the IICRD mission to support dignity, belonging and justice for children and youth:

INDIGENOUS RESILIENCE, CONNECTEDNESS AND REUNIFICATION – FROM ROOT CAUSES TO ROOT SOLUTIONS

A Report on Indigenous Child Welfare in British Columbia - Final Report of Special Advisor Grand Chief Ed John

Excerpt: “Your government asked for advice on Indigenous child welfare.  ‘There are too many Indigenous children in care and something needs to be done,’ I was told in the lead up to my appointment last year.  While I was not sure I was the best person to give this advice, my immediate reaction then was to say, ‘Keep the children at home. Do not remove them; and see those in care returned back home.’  I had a sense then that the best advice would come from those who were directly impacted by the existing laws, regulations, policies and practices of the state.

My time as Special Advisor has served to reinforce this belief.  I respectfully submit my final report, Indigenous Resilience, Connectedness and Reunification – From Root Causes to Root Solutions.  As emphasized in my report, the opportunity for BC, Canada and Indigenous governments, communities, and families to work in partnership to recognize, constructively address, and reconcile our respective interests to better support the needs of all Indigenous children has never been greater than it is today.”

During our Annual General Meeting on December 6, the International Institute for Child Rights and Devopment presented its Annual Report focused on Influence and Insights from 2015-2016.

In particular, this year IICRD gave child right meaning and catalyzed positive change by:

• Engaging, training and mentoring more than 800 children and youth in 15 countries
• Shining light on complex issues to support 8 leading international and Canadian-based organizations to improve the lives of young people around the world. Thousands of practitioners and millions of children are connected to these organizations. 
• Engaging a skilled team of 8 staff, 34 Associates, and 9 Board of Directors in the  2015-2016 fiscal year. 

Please see our infographic annual report to explore how IICRD is contributing to its vision to create a world with more dignity, belonging and justince for children, families and communities. 

We would like to particularly thank outgoing Directors, Bill Myers (Chair) and Catherine Etmanski, for their leadership, wisdom and inspiration. Newly elected Directors include Cheyenne Walters, Nigel Fisher, Renee Lorme-Gulbransen and Wendy Rowe. Katie Shaw-Raudoy will become the new Chair of the Board for 2016-2017.

“Increasingly in the world of advocacy, IICRD stands as a beacon for when cooperation works. This is hard to quantify in metrics, but this is an attribute of IICRD that should be broadcasted.” – Simon Jackson, IICRD Board Director

The International Child Protection Network of Canada M&E working group (ICPNC) is hosting a webinar on November 30th through WebEx.

This webinar was borne out of informal discussions and reflections between international practitioners from Child Frontiers, World Vision and the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) concerned to investigate and debate some of the most pertinent and challenging issues facing the child protection community today.

The webinar will focus on:

a) the learning from on-going global efforts to strengthen child protection systems in development and humanitarian settings;

b) the conclusions of various studies and evaluations show that, despite a general consensus about the potential effectiveness of the systems approach, there remain considerable challenges to apply this theoretical approach to operational and functioning child protection systems in countries with very different cultural, political, historical and economic contexts;

c) linking the solution-focused discourse with the child protection system strengthening debate is an important step towards creating broad consensus around priorities for action under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and will help to generate political support and secure financial investment.

ICPNC is delighted to confirm that the webinar will be facilitated by Dr. Philip Cook, founder and current Executive Director of the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) and Faculty at Royal Roads University (RRU), Canada. He has been working in children’s rights and child protection research, policy and practice for over 25 years. Philip is a self- described research-practitioner, and his publications, lectures, and public speaking draw from IICRD's rich experience of working with many child protection practitioners, children, families and communities on issues of human adversity, human resilience and human well- being.

Please RSVP to NKetter@plancanada.ca  by November 21st in order to receive pre-read documentation.

YouLEAD announces an exciting line up of learning calls and training certificates in 2016-2017. See the flyer for more details about dates, locations and how to join. Confirmed details to follow! 

This IICRD-led initiative encourages young people and practitioners to become leaders that question how they think, learn, frame, and lead in their work to support the well-being of children and youth and their families and communities.

If you would like to host a YouLEAD event in your Canadian-based community, please contact Project Manager, Michele Cook for more information. Visit our learning hub for more information about YouLEAD training opportunities.

IICRD Associate Ziba Vaghri is leading an international team to develop GlobalChild, an electronic platform that aims to have a standard of reporting for all countries on their compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The project was announced at the  International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) conference in Calgary, Canada in August 2016.

Read more about the project in this Globe and Mail article. 

IICRD is looking for a BC Coordinator for our YouLEAD initiative. Please see the attached job posting, and for more info contact michele.cook@iicrd.org or info@iicrd.org.  Thanks!

(deadline for application May 30 2016)

The International Institute for Child Rights and Development would like to congratulate several  scholar-practitioners for receiving awards to improve the lives of children, including: 

• Richard Wamimbi, Royal Roads University, Doctoral Candidate of Social Sciences, recieves International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Doctoral Research Award
   
• Laura Wright, Royal Roads University, Master's Candidate for Global Leadership, receives Social Science Human Research Council Master's Fellowship
   
• Gehan El Sharkawy, Royal Roads University, Doctoral Candidate of Social Sciences

In October 2015, Gehan was sponsored to participate in a competitive mentorship program that is organized by the Arab Families Working Group. A group of reputable and experienced researchers provide one-on-one support to the mentees for nearly a year, and some are chosen to receive seed funding to conduct field research. 

IICRD's Dr. Cheryl Heykoop was also accepted into Banff Centre's Getting to Maybe: A Social Innovation Residency, also co-facilitated by Associate Dr. Julian Norris.

The International Institute for Child Rights and Development launches interim report focused on understanding community efforts to protect children and build social cohesion in countries undergoing conflict or in post conflict settings. Data was collected in Burundi and Chad in 2015 using participatory action research tools. This research is supported by UNICEF's Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy Programme (PBEA).  

The next phase of the project will involve building on initial findings to develop capacity at the community level to implement recommendations such as engaging youth as trusted peers for vulnerable young people, enhancing the role of women's groups as core care and protection providers, and using participatory action research tools to strengthen the linkages between child protection and social cohesion.  

Learn more about this project and the IICRD team members. 

IICRD and the YouLEAD team prepare for the upcoming CPID/YouLEAD Certificate Training in Terrace BC March 11-13th 2016. RAP2GROW is being facilitated by IICRD Associate Lesley duToit and equips youth leaders and professionals working with youth with the skills to support youth in crisis using restorative practice.

1. Green Career Development     SPEAKER: Norman Amundson                               Dr. Peter Plant, Copenhangen Denmark coined the term "green career development".  Identify passions; how are you intelligent; connect with likeminded people; support risk-taking, creativity, flexibility.  Assess your practice and how you are green - recycle, local; have awareness of impact - ethically and economically.  To me we still need to go further and reduce consumption in our lifestyles - but this would be bad for financial economics and social economics - image.
2. Behavioural Economics, Career Development & Irrational Decision-Making            Life Role Development Group Ltd.   SPEAKER: Dave Redekopp, Edmonton, AB        Either or VS. Both and; Cognitive Illusions (though you know it's happening, you can't/don't stop); Anchoring (expectation rather than absolutes shape decision - also called 'reference dependence' or 'priming' - searching based on income rather than need); Loss Aversion (having something & losing it is emotionally bigger than not having the same thing and getting it - losing and starting work; Framing; Sunk Cost Bias; Base Rate Neglect; Planning Falacy (use proper time estimates); Crowding Out (external rewards ' crowd out' intrinsic motivation)

UNICEF Canada launched a Research Agenda with the International Institute for Child Rights and Development, Ron Wray and Dr. Nazilla Khanlou, and the Students Commission of Canada, together with a multidisciplinary Research Advisory Group, including Micheal Montgomery, Partnerships and Practice Director at IICRD. Key research questions include:

What social, political and other key drivers or conditions scaffold strong outcomes in child well-being in “top-performing” countries according to the UNICEF Index of Child Well-Being, and what does this suggest for our domestic efforts?
What do children and youth in Canada say is important to their well-being, and what are the implications for how we understand and measure it?

We’ll share the research findings in early 2016.

IICRD's Cheryl Heykoop and Elaina Mack are currently conducting comparative research on Child Well-Being in developed countries for this project.

Every year during spring break, the Youth Advisory Committee holds an annual youth conference for all the kids and youth that are part of VACFSS.

I've been part of it for 3 years. We plan what presenters we would like to have and interview them to see if they would be a good fit; we plan the food and order it; we buy door prizes for the youth to win as well as gifts that they get for just showing up and participating; and we present the presenters with a complimentary gift as thanks for their hard work. I have helped make the poster for the event, gifted the presenters, and helped serve food. Each year we like to mix things up and try working on different areas of the planning than we might have done the previous year since we normally split up into groups to work on the different areas. It helps us to understand the complexity of planning an event, as well as what we can improve on for the next year. 

2 people I have added to my social network are Melody Crowflag and Joshua Simpson since they are fun to talk to. 

References - Holly Anderson and Andrew Rowe, Guardianship Social Workers at VACFSS; Office number (604) 216-6150

In 2013 I joined the Mentor Me girls group through the Pacific Association of First Nations Women. Every other Saturday we help out at the Urban Butterflies girls group, assisting to look after 6-14 year old girls who are in foster care from 10am-3pm. Once or twice a month we meet up to do a cultural activity or plan what kind of presentations we want to do for the younger girls. 

Through this program I have developed cultural knowledge from doing activities such as beading, drumming, singing, native arts and crafts, and going to the museum of anthropology. 

I have also done a healthy eating presentation for the Urban Butterflies. My friend Claudia and I showed them how to make some healthy smoothies that included spinach. We taught the kids that it is possible to make veggies taste good. 

Over the years I have learned to see the kids for who they are, listen to them and what they have to say, as well as respect them for who they are. I always try to engage with the quiet ones since I was always the quiet kid growing up and wished that someone would start a conversation with me. I have helped mentor them into being the best they can be, by learning new tools and skills to engage them. I have learned to adapt to new responsibilities since we are always doing something different each time we meet. I have also improved my planning skills from our group discussions about things we can/should do with the younger girls as well as the older girls group. 

Through this program I have added Erica Trubé and Mercedes Fortney to my network since I knew them but didn't hang out with them much before joining the program. 

References- Joy Chalmers and Joleen Mitton; Office number (604) 872-1849

Today, the Access to Justice for Children Conference in Vancouver, BC, is being launched with a Roundtable discussion, co-hosted by Suzanne Williams and former British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Donna Martinson with key experts on justice issues involving children, to:

share recent or upcoming initiatives whose aim is to advance child rights and access to justice;
identify areas for future potential collaboration or coordination;
consider ways to keep updated, build from one another’s work, and collectively advance children’s access to justice.

This exciting, two-day B.C.Continuing Legal Education Society (CLE) conference will host more than 100 people from across British Columbia and Canada, including 4 elders from First Nations communities. More information here.

Access to justice is an essential pre-requisite for the promotion and protection of all the rights of the child. Yet for children themselves, access to justice is not merely about effective remedies, but perhaps more importantly, about how the remedies actually improve their lives:

"Young people don’t want justice to mean pain, punishment, vengeance, retribution, “making somebody suffer or pay”, finger-pointing, shaming or “locking them up and throwing away the key”. Most young people that I talk to want food and shelter, protection from violence and abuse, and the support necessary for education, employment, happiness and healing. To the youth I talk to, that is justice. . . I know that people look to the courts for justice, and for fairness in administrative and due process. But young people are looking to their families and to their community for justice. I was in a community that has per capita the highest suicide rate of teens in the world. In Canada, there was a girl who had been brutally sexually assaulted, and when she disclosed, she was treated with hostility not only by the police, defense counsel, and the courts, but by the whole community. I know that everybody always hears stories like that. But, she wrote a poem, and there was a line that said, “Do I die, or try to live long enough to see justice”. If we don’t at least talk about justice, some of our children will die, without ever having known or seen justice."

- Cherry Kingsley, Save the Children, Expanding Horizons: Rethinking Access to Justice in Canada Symposium, 2000

Access to Justice is essential to both healthy human development and the functioning of democratic states and institutions. Indeed, it is imbedded in the proposed Global Sustainable Development Goals that will be determined by world leaders in 2015, and is the critical bridge between the words contained in laws and the positive difference that can be made in people’s lives. However, even where the rule of law and healthy legal and judicial services are well established, access to justice is in a crisis, causing a rethink regarding the nature of legal services that are needed and how they can be accessed by the people they are intended to serve. For example, the Canadian Bar Association’s Equal Justice – Balancing the Scales; Futures, Transforming the Delivery of Legal Services in Canada, and the Supreme Court of Canada’s National Action Committee’s Access to Civil and Family Justice: Roadmap for Change reports outline Canada’s challenges. The latter report outlines guiding principles for change:

Put the Public First;
Collaborate and Coordinate;
Prevent and Educate;
Simplify, Make Coherent, Proportional and Sustainable;
Take Action;
Focus on Outcomes.

Concerns about access to justice generally highlight significant challenges that adults face in accessing justice, yet shed little light on the plight of children who are at an even greater disadvantage for a range of reasons including their age, lack of legal capacity and lack of resources. Further, the greatest disadvantage is experienced by children facing serious social and legal complexities such as those arising from their being indigenous, refugees, migrants, orphans, disabled, living in poverty, LGBTQ, caught in high conflict situations, or living in state care. The challenges children face were highlighted at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s day of discussion on the rights of the child in 2014, yet much remains to be done before children’s access to justice is at the core of the rethink, and is an effective bridge between States Parties’ laws, policies, programs, resource allocations and bettering the daily lives of children.

- Suzanne Williams

by Krista Oehlke

“Child protection is not ‘child protective services,’ but encompasses a wide range of issues…which urgently need addressing.”

Last Friday, Susan Bissell, UNICEF’s chief of child protection, spoke to a room teeming with students from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Law School, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

 
Bissell was delivering the first lecture for a new course, entitled “Child Protection in Theory and Practice.” The course is led by Harvard Chan Professor Jacqueline Bhabha and features guest lectures by Bissell; Julie Boatright Wilson, the Harry Kahn Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at Harvard Kennedy School; and Nigel Cantwell, a child protection expert.

“Child Protection in Theory and Practice” is one of a suite of five courses that make up a new curriculum in child protection housed at Harvard Chan but available to students across the university. The curriculum is part of the Graduate Level Child Protection Program, a new UNICEF/Harvard initiative whose ultimate goal is to lay the groundwork for professionalizing child protection by democratizing access to the interdisciplinary expertise necessary to do so.

The initiative, which comprises the curriculum as well as a fellowship, is the result of a shared vision by Bissell, Bhabha, and Jennifer Leaning, director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights.

“Child protection is not ‘child protective services,’ but encompasses a wide range of issues, spanning mine-risk awareness to child marriage to violence against children, which urgently need addressing,” Bissell said.

These topics were at the heart of a Work in Progress session delivered just prior to the lecture, featuring presentations by the first cohort of fellows under this initiative. Known as the G. Barrie Landry fellows, in honor of the donor who made the fellowship possible, the three spoke about their hopes of translating their research here at Harvard into practical results in their home countries.

Fellow Noor Al-Kasadi outlined a plan to provide emergency assistance to children wounded by landmines and affected by conflict generally in Yemen. Emelia Allan, a child protection officer from Ghana, discussed the impact of floods on children in Ghana and outlined a plan to include children in the country’s future disaster risk management planning. Finally, Chivith Rottanak, of Cambodia, called for a better understanding of the co-occurrence of sexual, physical and emotional violence against young people, so that service providers can better deliver the comprehensive care children need.

This first group of Landry fellows is proving to be a central component of the new venture, as they bring their many years’ experience as child protection officers to the classroom.

Oehlke is a research assistant at Harvard FXB, where she coordinates the curriculum in child protection.

The Representative for Children and Youth has recently launched a new mobile app, Rep4Rights, to reach out to children and youth in their preferred channel.

Rep4Rights includes a lot of useful information about how children and youth can stand up for their rights and interact more effectively with their caregivers and service providers. There is even an interactive game which helps children and youth to learn about their rights. The RCY app is a tool they can literally have in their back pocket, wherever they may be.

The free app is easy to download by going to the iStore or GooglePlay or by visiting the website at www.rcybc.ca  

November 20th, marks the 25th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The UNCRC has inspired changes in laws, policies and practices that have improved the lives of millions of children, which we see in the increase of school enrollment, decline in infant mortality and an increase in gender equality. Yet there is still much more to be done! Around the world we see children standing up for their own and their peers rights, and parents and community members standing alongside them. Children and youth in our programs are found to be more involved in leadership roles in their communities, have stronger levels of self-esteem and well-being, and are more respectful, organized and focused.I am pleased to share with you the 25th Anniversary Edition UNCRC Play-based Learning Manual entitled Play for our Rights! For us by us which includes 25 games to support children around the world to learn about, practice, and inform others about their rights to survival, development, participation and protection.

Here is the link to access the manual.​ https://www.dropbox.com/s/ru3p4grduamhtau/PLAY%20FOR%20OUR%20RIGHTS-FOR%20US%20BY%20US-UNCRC%2025TH%20ANNIVERSARY%20GAMES%20MANUAL.pdf?dl=0

We thank all the children and young people in Right To Play programs who designed EXCITING new games for this resource based on rights issues that were critical to them and their peers. To celebrate this milestone UNCRC 25th anniversary let’s work with children to lead games from the Play for our Rights games manual to promote and advocate children’s rights across their schools and communities. 

"We are in need of courage and indignation on a global scale to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child may start its second quarter of a century with renewed strength and vigor."

 - Manuel Manrique Castro, IICRD associate

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted twenty five years – a quarter of a century - ago tomorrow (November 20th). This document contains a number of vital aspirations for humanity, some of which have been achieved and many others which remain on the list of debts we still owe children, and Colombia is not exempt from these still-pending responsibilities.

The Convention, along with the World Summit for Children, celebrated in 1990, challenged nations to take stock of the situation of children in their countries and implement decisive actions aimed at remedying the many grave problems that afflicted children around the world at that time.

The Children’s Constitution – a term coined by James P. Grant, UNICEF Executive Director and the architect of both the Convention and the World Summit for Children -- established a philosophical and ethical framework, and the Summit became the first global attempt to mobilize coordinated actions to simultaneously attack a number of problems, including high rates of maternal and infant mortality. This strategy gave rise to healthy competition between nations and facilitated the sharing of lessons learned. The Children’s Summit was followed by a number of other social summits throughout the nineties, and culminated in September 2000 with the promulgation of the Millennium Development Goals, most of which are directly related to improving the situation of women and children. Progress achieved towards these goals is to be evaluated in 2015.

The first generation of children born following the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child will now celebrate its twenty fifth birthday, as well. These children have grown up in times marked by environmental challenges, a technological revolution which has had dramatic ramifications in terms of human coexistence and family dynamics, the exacerbation of inequality, waves of mass migration, violence and social disintegration, and a growing sense of uncertainty regarding the future of the global economy. This generation of children has also grown up in times characterized by the spread of HIV/AIDs and now by new diseases such as Ebola. They have had to put up with the increasingly suffocating effects of urban sprawl. Amongst all this and in spite of it, this generation is proof positive of what society and governments have been able to achieve in terms of safeguarding children’s rights and wellbeing. The analysis of these achievements will serve as a valuable guide for future actions.

One area that has seen serious failures is the states’ response to the avalanche of abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect which children and adolescents have been subjected to on a daily basis. In the case of Colombia, this situation is further exacerbated by the rise of criminal gangs and illegal armed groups. Solutions to these problems will require innovation, courage and a firm commitment by government authorities and citizens alike to protect public spaces, schools and homes. This will require mechanisms of protection that are capable of eliminating the many different threats which children face today.

Nor have we been able to ensure a way to move beyond the adult-controlled script and provide children and youth with mechanisms for freely expressing their opinions in a manner commensurate with their age and level of maturity, as is set forth both in the Convention and in Colombia’s Code for Children and Adolescents.

During these twenty five years, there has been a dearth of robust strategies for children and youth that recognize the value of the family, in spite of the vital role the family plays in human development. It is urgent that such strategies be strengthened and incorporated as a vital component of future actions. Pepe Mujica, the President of Uruguay, who is about to leave office, has so rightly stated that “In the best of cases the State can provide food, shelter and medicines, but it can’t provide warmth and affection. That is the family’s responsibility.”

Francesco Tonucci, paraphrasing Saint Augustine, has said that Hope has two daughters: Anger and Courage. We are in need of courage and indignation on a global scale to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child may start its second quarter of a century with renewed strength and vigor.

The author was UNICEF Representative in Colombia/Venezuela and Guatemala where he retired in 2008. Currently columnist of the Medellin newspaper El Mundo where the column was published on November 19, 2014

This article is a translation by Cynthia Selde, who worked in UNICEF Mexico, the original spanish appeared as a column in El Mundo.

As world leaders gather in New York this week, child rights experts and advocates are calling on all governments to strengthen the Convention by ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure – or OP3 for short. This treaty helps children seek justice through the UN when their national legal system cannot provide a remedy for violations of their rights. The OP3 allows children or their representatives to report rights violations directly to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which will then investigate their complaints, and can ask governments to take action. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the International Coalition Ratify OP3CRC* welcome the recent ratifications of Ireland, Monaco and Andorra during the Treaty Event on the occasion of the UN General Assembly. They are calling upon more governments to solidly commit to children’s rights by ratifying the OP3 before the Convention’s 25th anniversary on November 20, 2014. - See more at: http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/story/2014-09-26_1135#sthash.fqf13in3.dpuf

The Government of South Sudan formally renewed its commitment to the Action Plan signed in 2012 with the United Nations to end the recruitment and use of children in Government armed forces and other grave violations against children.

“Children do not belong in our army and I personally commit, on behalf of my Government, to fully implement all provisions of the Action Plan,” declared Kuol Manyang Juuk, South Sudan’s Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs.

Today’s agreement recalls the measures agreed to in the 2012 Action Plan and includes: releasing all children associated with government security forces, providing services for their family reunification and reintegration; investigating grave violations against children and holding perpetrators accountable. The Government is also committing to ending all grave violations committed against children.

Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF Representative in South Sudan, witnessed the agreement.

“The promise of the Action Plan is that children will be protected from recruitment and use and other grave violations at all times, including during periods of instability or conflict”, said Leila Zerrougui. “Accountability is key. If those who recruit, kill, maim and rape boys and girls, attack schools and hospitals never face justice, no lasting peace will be possible.” 

The Action Plan, originally signed in 2009 and renewed in 2012, resulted in the release of more than one thousand children, command orders banning child recruitment and use, as well as the creation of a SPLA unit dedicated to the protection of children.

“So much of the progress made by the Government in the past years has been reversed in the current conflict,” said Jonathan Veitch. “This public recommitment is a major step in the right direction and UNICEF will be sure to hold the Government to the terms of this agreement.”

Using children in conflict has a devastating impact on their lives and their protection is essential to build the future of their country.

Further information: http://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/

I now embark on a journey of improving my knowledge and skills in child protection. I join this forum/community with such intention and purpose and I pray I will have a beautiful story to tell and  a successful journey to share. 

Starting next April, children and youth around the world will be able to denounce the violation of their rights before a special United Nations body. This will be possible thanks to the enactment of the third Facultative Protocol of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which was approved by the UN General Assembly. This instrument will enter into force because it has been ratified by ten UN Member States, two of which – Bolivia and Costa Rica – ratified the protocol just a few days ago.

by Manuel Manrique Castro
Transation by: Cynthia Selde, available for download below.

Published in the original Spanish as La Voz Global de la Ninez by El Mundo, Medellín, Colombia on January 29, 2014

Update:

The Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which establishes an international complaints procedure for violations of children's rights enshrined in the Convention and its two Optional Protocols entered into force on 14 April 2014. Children can now bring a complaint to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child when States have violated or failed to protect their rights; such complaints can be filed against any national government that has ratified this instrument. The Optional Protocol provides three ways for violations to be raised within the Committee: a communication procedure which enables children to bring complaints about violations of their rights, after exhausting all available domestic remedies; the possibility for Governments of filing inter-state communications; and an inquiry procedure for grave or systematic violations of child rights.

In view of facilitating the understanding of this new instrument, Child Rights International Network (CRIN) published a Toolkit which sets out the who, what, when, where, why and how of the complaints mechanism. Up-to-date and detailed information may be found on the new website of the International Coalition Ratify OP3 CRC available in English, French, and Spanish. The website includes a world map with information on ratifications and signatures of the Protocol, a child-friendly section with specific resources for children & teens, and a private section for Coalition members to share advocacy and other relevant information on the ratification campaign.

Raising understanding among children and young people on the OPCP

​In Spanish: 

Promover el Tercer Protocolo entre niñas, niños y adolescentes

The provincial government signed an agreement to provide further protection to children and adolescents using the Internet. Under a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, the curricula in public schools will incorporate new resources to raise awareness among children and teens about the potential dangers of exploitation when they go online.  

By Manuel Manrique Castro 
Original published in Spanish in El Mundo de Medellín, Colombia 
March 12, 2014 
Translated by Cynthia Selde 

It seems so very long ago when, in October of 1997, ten million Colombians showed up en masse to vote for El Mandato Ciudadano por la Paz (the Citizens’ Mandate for Peace). Seventeen years later, the young voters who cast their ballots last Sunday are looking forward to – although not without a touch of skepticism -- the presidential election that is coming up at the end of May. Many of those young people are unaware of the poll that took place so many years ago, and ignore its significance. Collective memory is a fragile thing, and often fails to appreciate events that actually made a difference. The road toward the peace we all yearn for is paved with countless efforts carried out by ordinary individuals, and foremost among them are the expressions of children’s heartfelt wishes for a country without bullets, violent attacks, or futile deaths. The potency and vitality of children’s desires, however, are overlooked because children are unable to vote, and no surveys or polls are taken to gauge the prevalence and weight of their convictions. The vote for the Citizens’ Mandate for Peace was made possible because a year earlier 2,700,330 children in 330 towns – and this included 450,000 from Antioquía – stated: “We don’t want war. We want peace in our country.” And that clear message, voiced by the youngest members of the population, created the conditions that made the Citizens’ Mandate for Peace possible. Green ballots were included in the 1997 elections, which allowed every citizen to say: “I vote for peace, life and liberty. I promise to be a builder of peace and social justice, to protect life, to reject all violence, and I support the Children’s Mandate for Peace.” The violence continued, but that collective expression of a desire for peace and a better future, especially among children, has continued to grow, in spite of the difficult twists and turns the peace process has experienced during the last two decades. Years later, in 2005, UNICEF asked poet William Ospina to write the Universal Proclamation on Behalf of Children Who Want Peace,which says, “The world seemed to have been created to make us happy, with fields that give us fruit, flocks that give us meat and milk, jungles that produce an abundance of air and water. But too soon we discovered that egoism runs rampant among nations, people want to own everything, but care for no one, that there’s violence at home, with cruel and selfish parents, human beings filled with resentment, caused perhaps by age-old suffering, and that many of those who should have been protecting and teaching us, beat and humiliated us instead. They were unable to see the future we held in our souls, or the countless inventions hidden in our brains, or the ships, the books, the paintings, the music, the abundant crops, or the human kindness that our hands were capable of producing.” The Proclamation ends with the following words: “MOTHER nature: Help us to be wiser than those who should be protecting us, to be more humane than those who were incapable of teaching us how to be so. If they are cruel because they were never children, help us then to be children, and to say no to these sad wars and to these old hatreds. Give us a love for life, a friend to accompany us along the way, strength and talent in our hands so we can create, and gratitude in our hearts so we can see everything they could not, so we can build a happier world with the same reality with which they manufactured egoism and suffering. Help us to avoid their sadness so that, by freeing ourselves from being like them, we can one day show them that it is possible to live a different life, and that that is the only forgiveness they require.” Children share the most powerful and genuine desire for peace. Their needs and desires, however, are never collected by public opinion polls or surveys. Nor does one see their opinions expressed out on the streets, where those who protest are usually adults. It is among children, however, where one finds the greatest human potential, and if children were given the collective opportunity, they would surely put their assets to better use than we have.

Column by IICRD associate Manuel Manrique, published on February 12, 2014 by the daily newspaper El Mundo de Medellín (The World of Medellín - Colombia) Translated by Cynthia Selde.

For many years The State of the World’s Children report has been considered the quintessential gauge of the progress being made around the world toward ensuring the quality of life for children and protecting their rights. When the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) first started publishing this report in 1980 it presented a diagnosis and strategies for improving the situation of children. Starting in 1983, the report included statistics, by country and worldwide, which have been constantly enhanced over the years. The recently launched 2014 report, titled Every Child Counts, contains statistics that make it possible to analyze disparities by place of residence and levels of household wealth, as well as data about early childhood development, and the situation of adolescents and of women to mention a few. This level of analysis is possible thanks to the ongoing efforts to improve the coverage and quality of the statistics being collected in every country on the planet.

This year’s report reveals, among many other things, that ninety million children – a number equivalent to almost twice Colombia’s entire population – who would have died if mortality rates had stayed at their 1990 level, have instead been able to live past their fifth birthday. Also, in the least developed countries where in 1990 only 53 per cent of children had access to basic education, by 2011 this indicator had increased to 81 per cent. Child nutrition reported similar gains: the incidence of stunted growth due to malnutrition has dropped by 37 per cent. Child deaths from measles has fallen from 482,000 in the year 2000 to 86,000 in 2012. But the report also calls attention to how much must still be done to fulfill the commitments that are still pending, and how vital it is to have credible and timely information.

The 2014 report very fittingly emphasizes the need to continue improving information regarding the situation of children’s rights, because without such evidence the possibility of achieving relevant and ongoing state intervention is dramatically reduced.

Fortunately, the countries in our region – and especially Colombia – have continued to improve their systems of information regarding the situation of children and young people. These systems have been enhanced by the follow-up mechanisms that have been implemented to support the Millennium Development Goals programs, which are strictly aligned with improving the situation of children and women, eradicating poverty, ensuring universal access to basic education, reducing infant mortality, promoting gender equality, and empowering women. The assessment of the progress achieved towards these goals is to take place in 2015, that is, in just 685 days.

Society has long been aware that the greater the level of poverty, the less opportunities there are. But we also know that public opinion cannot focus on matters that are not visible. In those places where systems for collecting, following up on and evaluating information have been set up – especially now with the technological advances that are available – important improvements have been attained.

The challenge is greater and the situation is more delicate where multiple instances of abuse and violence against boys and girls are concerned. This is because the perpetrators are able to hide behind a veil of anonymity or rely on their victims’ fear and shame. These perpetrators avoid leaving any evidence of their crimes, and are often able to block any attempt to denounce their actions. Because of this, no statistics are generated. Given the lack of clear and reliable information and the very small numbers of those who are willing to take the risk of denouncing the crimes, the State is unable to take effective action.

As the 2014 State of the World’s Children report affirms, data do not, of themselves, change the world. But their existence makes change possible, provided that decision-makers also have the political will and the clear vision necessary for making change a reality.

Children say they were confused by the warning signs and did not expect such big waves when Typhoon Haiyan lashed the Philippines three months ago, according to a new report by Save the Children.

The report finds that children want to be better prepared before the next emergency and better informed after it.

“See me, ask me, hear me: children’s recommendations for recovery three months after Typhoon Haiyan,” urges all levels of government in the Philippines, aid agencies and local communities to include detailed recommendations it has canvassed from Filippino children in future disaster planning.

Save the Children staff, together with other NGOs, consulted 174 children and young people affected by the typhoon, which killed more than 6,000 people and left another 500,000 homeless, listening to their experiences and detailing their concerns in its new report.

“The children overwhelmingly told us that they want to play a role in planning for emergencies, and that they need to be better prepared for the next disaster,” said Paul Ronalds, Save the Children CEO in Tacloban City, Philippines.

“Older children told us that they want to take classes that teach life skills like how to build shelters, the science of the environment and fishing. They want more friendly spaces for children to share feelings and put their minds at ease. They want adults and the authorities to talk to them about exactly what is going on when a disaster strikes.”

One girl, 15-year-old Sofia from Estancia, told a Save the Children aid worker, “We need help to rebuild and to rise from this disaster. We need education so that we are ready for when disasters come to our country. We don’t just want money and gifts. We need you to help us stand again on our own feet.”

“Now is the time when decisions are being made about how we respond to disasters in the Philippines in the future, and these decisions will affect children,” Mr Ronalds said.

“The recovery process is not just about providing vital aid to affected communities, but ensuring that we build back better, and the input of children is critical to this.”

Building back better means ensuring that communities affected by Typhoon Haiyan are better prepared for the next disaster. It’s about investing in community-led early warning systems like school alerts, text messages and systematic door-to-door warnings, as well as addressing the underlying poverty and inequality, which makes people more vulnerable during emergencies.

See me, ask me, hear me recommends that the Government of the Philippines, in collaboration with aid agencies:

Develop child-friendly early warning language that describes ‘surge’, ‘gusts’ and ‘magnitude’ as well as other meteorological terminology in a way that children can understand, envisage and respond to.

Address child-friendly design of evacuation centres, and ensure that all children but especially girls’ right to privacy is upheld.

Implement strategies to ensure that 100 percent of school-aged children in affected areas are able to get back to learning as soon as possible.

Ensure greater investment in social services, not just infrastructure in the recovery phase following Typhoon Haiyan.

This is the first report on the situation of children and armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic submitted to the Security Council and its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. Covering the period from 1 March 2011 to 15 November 2013, it provides information on grave violations against children committed by all parties to the conflict in Syria.

The ongoing conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic has an alarming impact on children. The present report highlights that the use of weaponry and military tactics that are disproportionate and indiscriminate by Government forces and associated militias has resulted in countless killings and the maiming of children, and has obstructed children’s access to education and health services. Government forces have also been responsible for the arrest, arbitrary detention, ill treatment and torture of children. Armed opposition groups have been responsible for the recruitment and use of children both in combat and support roles, as well as for conducting military operations, including using terror tactics, in civilian-populated areas, leading to civilian casualties, including children. The report also stresses the disappearance of many children. All parties to the conflict have seriously hampered the delivery of humanitarian assistance in areas most affected by the conflict, in particular across conflict lines, including besieged areas. The report also highlights that children in Syria have experienced a high level of distress as a result of witnessing the killing and injuring of members of their families and peers, or of being separated from their family and/or displaced.

The present report notes that the country task force remains constrained by serious security and access limitations that present a challenge to the effective monitoring, verification and reporting of grave violations against children inside the Syrian Arab Republic. The report also contains a series of recommendations to halt violations and increase the protection of children affected by the armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic.

With brutality against children in the Central African Republic (CAR) reaching unprecedented levels as youngsters are maimed, killed and beheaded, and amid rampant sexual violence, the world community must use all the tools at its disposal to stop the conflict, the Security Council was warned today.

Nearly half a million children are among the almost 1 million driven from their homes in 13 months of violence, as many as 6,000 children may currently be associated with various armed forces and groups.

Thousands of people are estimated to have been killed, and 2.2 million, about half the population, need humanitarian aid in a conflict which erupted when mainly Muslim Séléka rebels launched attacks in December 2012 and has taken on increasingly sectarian overtones as mainly Christian militias known as anti-Balaka (anti-machete) have taken up arms.

There are also numerous allegations that internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, most of which shelter elements of armed groups, are the scene of conflict-related sexual violence, with victims afraid to come forward due to the continued presence of these groups.

Photo: Children wait for water at a school where they have taken shelter from the increasingly brutal sectarian violence in the Central African Republic.

Read full article here.

Long-term violence in eastern DRC is causing permanent damage to children’s physical and mental health, says new World Vision report

A generation of children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are at risk of permanent physical and psychological damage as a result of persistent conflict, a new report by aid agency World Vision finds.

The organisations says that children living in areas regularly rocked by bloody and brutal conflicts are developing in an environment of toxic stress, potentially altering their brain structures and leading to a host of life-long illnesses.

The continual violence, and their exposure to it, can alter their brain’s architecture, potentially having a lasting impact on their learning abilities, memories and emotional control, along with leading to an increased risk of mental illness and heart, liver and lung disease in adulthood.

More than 1.5 million people have fled their homes in eastern DRC, and almost every child World Vision interviewed for the report (96%) has been forced from their home, many more than once. But the organisation believes another reality is possible.

In Their Own Words

“I am always afraid since I was raped. Every time I hear a loud noise, like a plate dropping, it grabs my heart. I am always scared because there is always conflict,” said 14-year-old Laini.

“I heard gunshots and fled with my mother. I was ahead of my Mum and they killed her. Then, on the journey, two armed men raped me and I became pregnant,” described Mapendo, 16.

“Armed men arrive. I saw them take adults and tie their arms and feet with their clothes, and then beat their heads with hammers,” said Patrick, 12.

“We are most afraid of rape because it is not only by one person – it can be more than ten people or by armed men who have taken drugs, and we are just little girls,” said Zabibu, 14.

Reliefweb article

The Guardian article

This month, Carleton University launched the first Canadian Children's Rights Journal to coincide with National Child Day. The date marks the occasion when Canada adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), spelling out basic human rights for children and youth.

"It is now 24 years since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted unanimously by the United Nations, yet many Canadians are still uncomfortable with the concept of children's rights,” said Landon Pearson, chair of the centre.“This journal is aimed at opening a broader dialogue among academics and thoughtful young people so that together we can bring about a deeper understanding of what children's rights mean and how important it is to protect, promote and fulfill them."

Read more here. 

The Communist Party's central committee has responded to long-time calls to relax the one-child policy and to put an end to notorious labour camps.

Participants at the third plenum, which ended on Tuesday, agreed to gradually change and improve the birth policy, starting with allowing families where just one parent is a single child to have a second child.

The decisions were part of a raft of new measures mentioned in a resolution of the plenum released by Xinhua last night.

In an explanation of the resolution, Communist Party chief Xi Jinping said reforms were the only way unify the public and to enable the country to compete with capitalism.

"To push forward sustainable, healthy economic and social development, there is no other way but to deepen reforms and opening up," Xi said.

Read more here. 

January saw the launch of our monthly brownbag lunch series “Learning Lunches” at the offices of IICRD, with an hour long conversation on our recent experiences in the field for staff, associates and Board members. In January, Michele and Philip Cook presented their experience with Stikine Wholistic Working Group. In February, they presented the latest in developments in the CPID program.  March’s learning lunch was a conversation on the application of IICRD’s Child-Centred and Protection Evaluation (CAPE) around the world. In April, we discussed the learning around the development and implementation of the “Theory of Change” in a variety of projects and contexts. Thanks to all who participated, and we look forward to more of these rich lunchtime encounters.

Within the past eight months, over 52,000 unaccompanied minors have arrived at the Mexican-U.S. border seeking refuge in the United States, from Latin America’s “Northern Triangle”: Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. This is known as the Surge, as numbers have increased exponentially since 2011, overwhelming U.S. immigration, and leaving thousands of children in holding in makeshift detention centres. These increasingly high numbers show no signs of waning, and projections of new arrivals continue to rise. Those lobbying for stricter immigration policies are finding justifications for their arguments, while human rights activists are calling it a humanitarian crisis - pleading for the youngsters to be admitted to the U.S. as refugees under the non-refoulement policy (a binding policy prohibiting the return of a refugee to persecution, obliging the State to grant refugee status).

               Immigration policy aside, what is happening in the countries of origin that is making these children want to leave house and home and everything they’ve ever known behind and take a dangerous journey northwards to an unknown destiny?

“If a house is burning, people will jump out the window,” says Michelle Brané,       director at the Women’s Refugee Commission.

Governments and NGOs in the region have identified the need for research on the reasons for this mass exodus and seek better ways to ensure the protection, wellbeing, and safety of these displaced children. Some of the reasons have been recorded in several studies undertaken at the U.S. Border.

                These studies show that violence is the most cited cause for those fleeing Central America. In the past five years, a weak State has allowed strong international drug cartels and other organized crime (weapons trafficking, human trafficking) to flourish. Reports from the Northern Triangle show that murder rates are skyrocketing, with estimates of civilian casualty rates far surpassing those at the height of the Iraq war, with El Salvador being the most violent of the three, and where the majority of the migrants are from (UNHCR). This impacts the everyday lives of Central American children.

                Increasingly, more residential neighbourhoods and schools are targeted by street gangs to force children into recruitment and to terrorize their families. Police forces in El Salvador and Honduras are reported to deal with the problem with yet more violence, “cleansing” neighbourhoods of gang members, often the same youths that were forcibly recruited in the first place. In Guatemala, reports show that the police is under the influence of organized crime. Corruption and failure of governance are named as reasons for their inability to control the gangs. These same gangs were formed by those pushed out of Colombia due to the War on Drugs, and from the streets of Los Angeles in the 1990s, deported from the USA due to their illegal status and criminal activities. They often turned to these activities as a last resort, considering they had no status in the U.S., feared the police, and only had their own networks to turn to for survival. Now they have a strong, powerful international trafficking network, and are terrorizing more and more children and families of Central America daily, to gain ground as drug lords, and selling the drugs back to the United States. An old immigration problem becomes a new immigration problem, and the demand for illicit drugs is on the rise. Drugs these children are forced to sell, traffic, smuggle and take themselves, for they otherwise risk losing their lives or their loved ones.

                En masse, Central American children are fleeing to the Promised Land, some to reunite with relatives in the United States; some, whose families have sent them on the treacherous journey alone, see it as the only way to keep them safe. The cost alone is a severe burden on the families, with “coyotes” charging upwards of $5,000 to bring a child to the U.S. Not to mention the threat of the gangs now befalls the family, as the child refused recruitment and chose to flee instead. Reports indicate that the coyotes themselves are also abusive:

While not all children described mistreatment by guides, many of those who did revealed being locked in rat-infested warehouses sometimes for days on end. Some reported physical abuse by the guides. One described being beaten with a 2 x 4 wooden beam. Another child told of how women and girls were kept in a separate room and could be heard screaming while being raped. Children further described the guides' failure to provide consistent access to food and water, especially in the desert…Once children got to the desert bordering the U.S., many were abandoned by guides and left without food or water. Some wandered for days until Border Patrol found them. Others describe making it to the Rio Grande River and watching others drown as they struggled against the current. Source

Reports show that some of these coyotes are actually engaged in child trafficking: promising families that their children will have the opportunity for better lives in the U.S. while they are really smuggling these children to another country (the U.S. or other Latin American countries) to force them into drug trafficking, child labour, and sex trafficking (TIP). Traffickers play a large and profitable role in moving many children across the globe (CWLA).

                  Additionally, the journey itself proves to expose them to more of the same violence from whence they came: the cartels in Mexico are known for extortion, violence, rape, kidnapping and trafficking the children during the journey. They kidnap the migrants and hold them for ransom, forcing them to work for the cartel. If they make it to the U.S. border, the migrants are detained as criminals, and continue to be faced with an uncertain future: Will the U.S. accept them as refugees or send them back home? Needless to say, there is great risk involved in the migration of unaccompanied minors from Central America to the United States, yet, staying at home apparently offers even less hope.

                To capture the reasons for this hopelessness, UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) interviewed over 400 unaccompanied minors waiting for U.S. immigration to decide their fates. They published a report named Children on the Run: Unaccompanied Children from EL Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico and the Need for International Protection. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) published the report The Time is Now: Understanding and Addressing the Protection of Immigrant Children Who Come Alone to the United States based on interviews with 126 children from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. A third report, Forced From Home: The Lost Boys and Girls of Central America, by the Women’s Refugee Commission, details the results of interviews with 150 children, officials from Homeland Security, and Immigration at the U.S. – Mexican border.

                The results of these reports are similar. Although the responses from the interviews are complex, they show a general trend that a dramatic rise in violence in the everyday lives of these children spurred on their desire to escape their homes, lives, families, friends, and schools. The UNHCR reports states: “no less than 58% of the 404 children interviewed were forcibly displaced because they suffered or faced harms that indicated a potential or actual need for international protection” from violence by organized crime as well as violence at home. The report’s results show that a majority must qualify for refugee status:

CHILDREN FROM EACH COUNTRY WITH INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION NEEDS:

El Salvador: 72%; Guatemala: 38%; Honduras: 57%; Mexico: 64%

Total: 58%

• Between Ages 12-17
• Entered the U.S. during or after October 2011
• Held at some point in U.S. federal  custody

These youngsters shared stories of fleeing increasing domestic violence, abuse, neglect, maltreatment, and abandonment by their families, compounded by dire poverty and the increasing threats, intimidation, extortion, armed conflict, kidnapping and human trafficking, gang violence, brutal forced recruitment, rape, and persecution by organized criminal gangs. In El Salvador, gangs are reputed to murder those who cannot pay la renta. Those children who have lost a caregiver by disappearance, death, or separation are the most vulnerable to increased poverty, abuse, neglect, sexual violence, exploitation, and death. Children do not tend to report abuse to the authorities because they do not believe that they will protect them (KIND). No space is safe for them, even the schools are used as gang recruitment centres. Just like other migrants, these children and families do not want to flee their homes, or their countries, if they can avoid it. Just as in Syria or Colombia, they will displace internally before leaving their countries to journey to an unknown fate. A gender dimension reveals girls are most at risk:

“…many of the displaced girls interviewed reported the fear of rape and gender-based violence as major motivating factors. They described how gangs and drug traffickers in Central America are increasingly recruiting girls to smuggle and sell drugs in their home countries, using gang rape as a means of forcing them into compliance. Gangs also use the threat of rape as a tactic to gain money through extortion and kidnapping. If a girl is impregnated, interviewees explained, the gang member responsible will leave her to raise her baby alone, then come back when the child is old enough to be recruited into the gang. Just as gangs are targeting younger boys for recruitment and violent attacks, they are targeting younger girls, some as young as nine years old, for rape and sexual assault” (UNHCR).

The increase in numbers of unaccompanied minors fleeing the Northern Triangle and entering the U.S. indicates a crisis. The background to this crisis includes the civil wars of the 1980s, as this established an increased circulation of firearms and normalized violence in society. In times of armed conflict, children are the most vulnerable to violence and abuse in and outside of the home. The ensuing perpetual and extreme poverty are additional pressures that have influenced an increase in domestic and societal violence, impacting the daily lives of Central American children even further.

The UNHCR report places an emphasis on recommendations concerning the international protection and liberties of displaced children in the context of immigration policies, and only briefly suggests improvements on the home front:

“Address Root Causes: Undertake measures both regionally and nationally to address the root causes of flight of these displaced children, in an effort to reduce – if not eliminate – the factors that lead to their forced displacement. Engage the Commission on Security for Central America of the Central American Integration System to address the issues of children displaced due to violence and insecurity in further support of State efforts concerning these issues”(UNHCR).

KIND has a stronger recommendation:

“Such prevalent violence against children calls for a strong national child protection response, but in many countries in the region, this is lacking due to limited resources” (KIND).

Child Protection in Development sees a crisis in Central America, and we would like to do something about it. Are you with me?

What are possible solutions to help protect these children from violence in their home countries?

What strategies can be undertaken to prevent them from being recruited by the gangs?

How can we improve their situations so that they do not have to flee, as in all reality, it is only the lucky few that actually have the chance to flee.

In the comments section below, please feel free to make any suggestions to finding child protection solutions for the children of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

Watch a Video about the crisis in Central America. 

image source.

In the past 2 months, IICRD has initiated a collaborative discussion with the School of Governance at the Universidad de los Andes, in Bogota, Colombia. Universidad de Los Andes, a member of the Child Protection in Crisis Learning Network (CPCLN), has been leading innovative applied research on engagement of vulnerable youth in local decision making in poor neighbourhoods in Bogota (led by Dr. Sandra Jaramillo and Dr. Amy Ritterbusch). Discussions are under way for IICRD and Universidad de los Andes to co-host a course on creative research methods with children and youth.

The CRC closed its 64th session in Geneva on 4 October and has since issued Concluding Observations to nine States. Click on the links below for the full text, as well as summaries of some of the key issues raised, including the CRC’s call on China to co-operate with civil society, its deep concerns around the arbitrary detention of girls deemed “at risk of perversity” in Kuwait, and children in solitary confinement in Luxembourg. 

Kuwait - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Monaco- Sao Tome & Principe -Tuvalu - Moldova (sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography)- China (also armed conflict)- Paraguay (armed conflict;sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography)

You can also find the alternative reports submitted by NGOs prior to the session here, and click here for further coverage of the 64th session.

http://aeon.co/film/skateistan-kabul-skateboarding-afghanistan/

Skateistan, an inspirational documentary on the power of skateboarding as a means of supporting vulnerable boys and girls in Afghanistan

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/opinion/toys-of-war.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

I watched this brief documentary on the New York Times today on children's play and their perspectives on the conflict in the Nuba Mountains of South Sudan. I was struck by the sensitivity of the film maker in capturing children's insights and feelings on the complexity of the conflict and their sense of displacement from their homeland.

Check out this wonderful article from the Atlantic on changing social attitudes towards play and protection

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/

Dr. Ziba Vaghri (UBC HELP), Dr. Sue Bennet (CEO, Ottawa) and Dr. Philip Cook presented at the annual Consensus in International Pediatrics Conference (CIP), Bangkok, Feb. 16, 2014. The panel focused on global trends in child rights accountabiility, with a specific focus on indicators and State Party reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Dr. Vagri presented the work of UBC HELP on GC 7 (eary childhood), Dr. Bennet discussed global trends in child protection and Dr. Cook shared IICRD's work on child rights indicators and presented a national model of accountability for children through progressive child rights monitoring. The panel was also joined by Dr. Alison Kempe, daughter of the well known pediatrician, the late Henry Kempe who published the seminal paper the battered child syndrome in 1962. Henry Kempe's paper resulted in significant global attention on the prevention and treatment of child maltreatment and gave birth to the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) - IICRD's partner in creating GC 13.

The Canadian Child Rights Academic Network (CRAN) met recently at the Landon Pearson Centre for Child Rights, Carleton University, Ottawa. The group of approximately 25 academics and NGO researchers convened to respond to youth perspectives on children's mental health (CRC Art's. 23, 24). This is the third in a series of Shaking the Movers (STM) events hosted by Landon Pearson with the support of the Muttart FDN, and fills a needed a gap in the Canadian child rights discourse by having those in involved in child rights research and advocacy respond to young people's perspectives on issues they feel are important. The event followed a youth conference on child mental health cohosted by the Landon Pearson Centre and Ryerson University, School of Child and Youth Care under the guidance of Dr. Judy Findlay (former Ontario Children's Advocate). Next year's CRAN STM will focus on child exploitation.

Dr. Philip Cook presented an overview of IICRD and CPID, March 18 at the Doctoral residency. During the presentation he profiled the Circle or Rights approach using the Thai CPP program as a case study.

BAMAKO - Just a handful of the hundreds of Malian children believed to have been drawn into the country’s recent conflict are formally receiving help. Bamako authorities say the involvement of children in conflict is a new phenomenon in the country, and they are striving to protect the minors under a fledgling set of regulations. 

When Islamist groups Ansar Dine, Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Afria (MUJAO) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and rebels from the Tuareg separatist National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) seized northern Mali after the March 2012 coup, an unknown number of children were recruited, sometimes forcibly, into the armed movements. 

You can read more here. 

Many Syrian children are fleeing the war in their homeland without their families. UNICEF says more than 4,000 have crossed borders into neighbouring countries with no adult to look after them.

To see a short video on this issue, click here. 

April and May brought Philip and I to East Africa for phase 2 of the TOC work and to support the ADP's in setting up their final evaluation of the Child Safe Spaces Project.

Generously hosted in Ubumwe ADP, Rwanda, Medebay Zana ADP in Ethiopia and Mtinko ADP in Tanzania and inspired by all of the good work being done to create safer spaces for children.

A few Highlights -

• 'Wajibika' - It is everyone's responsibility (to protect children) Mtinko
• Faith leaders working together - MedebayZana
• Nutrition and school gardens playing an instrumental role in Child Protection - Ubumwe

I will post the trip reports for those interested in learning more.

On a snowy January day 2014, Philip and I made a long overdue visit to Cranbrook to meet with Bart Knudsgaard and Eva Cole and other members of the Ktunaxa-Kinbasket Child & Family Services Society. A delegated service agency committed to working collaboratively with Aboriginal families and communities of the Ktunaxa Traditional Territory to increase their ability to fulfill their responsibilities for caring for their children in a culturally relevant manner.

We had long heard about their vision of people working together to build stronger and empowered families and healthy communities and their innovative use of signs of safety to support child and family well being.  Check out the link below for more info on signs of safety, as well as the following link which provides the evidence of it's effectiveness.

http://www.signsofsafety.net/signs-of-safety/

http://www.signsofsafety.net/signs-of-safety-research/

We were hosted in the old residential school which the nation has claimed back. After a night of intense dreams of supporting children in transition to overcome the shame; A story of resilience, and healing was told to us by Herman, the elder in residence and former student of the residential school. Of the ceremony and intentions to reclaim their culture and purpose from the place that had taken it away. FOr more of this interesting story see http://www.steugene.ca/resort/interpretive-centre/heritage

The staff and community members also shared their successes and challenges with supporting the wellbeing and safety of children in their communities. CPID and appropriate and sustainable education and access to cultural teaching became a theme of the afternoon discussion with insights being shared.

It was an ispirational trip  and we hope to maintain the connection and support the work through CPID and other upcoming best practice forums.

An interesting article commenting on our current Systems from Micheal!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/otto-scharmer/shifting-the-logic-of-col_b_8100068.html

The UN Special Representative on Violence against Children (SRSG) annual report to the General Assembly marks the start of a new phase. It builds upon progress achieved and lessons learned in advancing implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study on violence against children and it takes into account the priorities identified by the Special Representative for the second term of her mandate, namely: mainstreaming children’s protection from violence in the national policy agenda; addressing emerging concerns; tackling violence across children’s life cycles, with priority attention to the most vulnerable children; and promoting children’s protection from violence as a priority in the post-2015 global development agenda.

Child Rights Information Network's (CRIN) 2012-13 annual report wraps up the organisation’s work in the past year and the events that shaped it. The report gives a round up of new or persisting children’s rights issues with case studies from around the world, a summary of children’s rights discussions at the UN and other regional bodies, as well as details of CRIN’s advocacy work, campaigns and toolkits which respond to pressing children’s rights concerns.

Testing out this feature as think it may result in a different look for my list of Groups