For every child
Health, Education, Equality, Protection
ADVANCE HUMANITY
For every child
Local authorities must ensure that all aspects of the legal framework which are under their control promote and protect children's rights. The local government needs to act as a strong advocate for children to try to ensure that legislation over which it has no direct control - national and regional legislation - does so too.
Without a clear, principled legal framework, rooted in the principles and provisions of the Convention, positive policies and practice for children are unlikely to develop except in a very patchy and so discriminatory way. On the other hand, strong legal frameworks are not useful to children unless they are known about, and properly implemented through awareness-raising and training, and where appropriate, enforced.
The key principles in the Convention, summarised above, must be reflected in legislation. The article 12 obligation to respect children's views on all matters affecting them and ensure they are heard in all administrative and judicial procedures affecting them is a matter for legislation as well as policy and practice.
Reviewing legislation to ensure that it promotes and protects children's rights involves government, as well as independent and expert engagement and scrutiny. On some issues, children themselves are the real experts: who else can tell whether, for example, their participation rights are respected in the family, in their schools and neighbourhoods?
The CFC Secretariat has gathered a number of examples of child friendly legal framework at both local and national levels of government, and from low-, middle- and high-income nations.
Each example includes the following documents:
