On December 12, 2023, as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, the Palais des Nations in Geneva hosted a hybrid event titled “UDHR75: Revitalizing the Universal Commitment to All Children’s Rights with and for Children.” Organized by Plan International, Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages International, Terre des Hommes International Federation, World Vision International, and the Child Rights Connect Working Group on Child Participation, the event featured co-sponsorship from the European Union, the Permanent Missions of Uruguay, Bulgaria, and Malawi. Since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989, there has been a global push to integrate children’s rights comprehensively across all policy areas. However, challenges remain, including a general resistance against child rights and children’s agency, which threatens to weaken the progress. This side-event has offered a intergenerational dialogue involving states, the UN, civil society, and children themselves. The discussion focused on sharing good practices for mainstreaming child rights and enhancing children’s participation in policy agendas. Participants explored key opportunities…

By now it is official: children do have a right to a healthy environment, and the United Nations must take measures to guarantee this right worldwide. This marks one of the largest child participation processes in the history of the United Nations, involving 12 “Child Advisors” for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, along with contributions, comments and feedback from 16,331 children from 121 countries. The widespread participation of children worldwide underscores their concern for environmental protection, climate change and the future of coming generations. On the 18th of September, after 18 months of preparation, the General Comment No. 26 was presented- an official legal assessment emphasizing that climate and environmental damage can no longer be ignored. The document specifies what the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child means for each individual child, emphasizing two key aspects: that future generations also have rights, and states are not only responsible for stopping current violations of children’s rights but also for preventing future violations due to their actions or inactions today. Moreover,…

Children’s Advisory Committee coordinators from 7 countries came together in Istanbul for a week to share their experiences during a workshop and reflect on how to continue the great work we have done so far. The main topics of the discussions were, for example: – Embedding participation. and children’s committees: What opportunities are there to sustainably integrate children’s participation into internal and external structures and processes? – Social accountability: How can we make decision-makers or other service providers more accountable so that they implement the commitments they have made? – Global network planning: Building bridges around the world! How can we continue our work as a network beyond the project duration after 2024 and continue to work towards common goals? We had the support of child rights advisors Claire O’Kane and Ornella Barros. Due to travel restrictions, the other Dialogue Works colleagues took part in the workshop hybrid – which was also a new and interesting challenge for us. Overall, the global exchange was enriching and helpful for the future work of Dialogue Works and…

A total of 10 delegates from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Kenya presented the Kigali Declaration at the African Children Summit, held from 10th to 12th April 2023 in Nairobi, Kenia. The African Children Summit was a child-led conference for strengthening the visibility of children and their rights, following the motto: seen. heard. engaged. The Summit brought together children from across Africa and beyond to share their experiences on matters of children rights and protection; the unique challenges they face; interventions by their governments and share recommendations or solutions. The summit was organised by Mtoto News and supported by many differed actors like Nelson Mandela Children´s Fund, World Vision and giz (click here for more information). At the end of the Conference, a Outcome Statement was adopted, including the demands from working children and youths from Dialogue Works Kigali Declaration. A total of 10 representatives of Dialogue Works from Zambia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Kenya participated in the Summit and presented the “Kigali Declaration” and its five core demands in a kreative session: 1. poverty reduction, 2. protection against exploitative child labor,…

The Dialogue Works campaign is proud to launch the Kigali Declaration – the outcome document of our Global Gathering of Working Children and Youth, which took place in Kigali/ Rwanda in January 2023. This declaration summarizes the key demands of working children and has been elaborated by 63 child participants from 16 countries. In particular, they demand from political decision-makers to: Take effective measures to combat poverty, in particular ensuring decent jobs, in order to meet basic needs Prioritize education and give every child access to quality education and skills training; Protect them from labour exploitation, harsh conditions and risks, and allow children to do suitable dignified work Listen to children, understand them and implement laws that respect their rights Ensure protection against violence and discrimination. These measures aim to make policy decisions more realistic and context-specific, and to take into account and improve the living conditions of working children. During the Global Gathering, the Kigali declaration was elaborated in a participatory process by the CAC delegates and builds upon three existing documents: Dialogue Works “Let our Voices be Heard” global advocacy paper Global Gathering group work findings from the a…

In January of 2023, Dialogue Works successfully hosted its first ever Global Gathering of working Children and Youth in Kigali, Rwanda, a conference for working children and youth representatives to exchange, to learn from one another, to build capacities and share key messages on crosscutting issues affecting the lives of working children and youths. 5 days packed with experiences – here is a sneak peak of impressions! Who? 63 working children and youth from 16 countries including representatives of the African Movement of Working Children and Youth (AMWCY) and the Latin American and Caribbean Working Children and Adolescents Movement (MOLACNATS) Where? Kigali, Rwanda What? During the 5 days of conference, policy and practice discussions took place through group work and plenary each morning. This time was used to analyze problems and solutions affecting working children, identify priority advocacy issues and levels of influence, and to prepare for a dialogue with external guests on the final morning of the Global Gathering. In the afternoons, skill training workshops were facilitated by adult and child representatives of the…