some crg experiences in latin america and …...latin america and of the ingenuity of partner...

SOME CRG EXPERIENCES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

December, 2015

2 CHILD RIGHTS GOVERNANCE

Credits

Authors: CRG focal persons in Latin America and the Caribbean

Edition: Pedro Hurtado Vega

Translation: Gareth Madoc Richards

Publication supervised by: Lenin Altamirano, Oficial de Comunicación - Save the Children.

Design and layout: Diseño e Impresiones Cuadra

Press: Bolonia Printing S.A

Photo Cover: Children from Radio Chavala in a Workshop about Child Participation

400 copies Managua, Nicaragua

December, 2015

Publication of the Child Rights Governance Global Initiative (CRGI)Save the Children

A partial reproduction of this material is allowed quoting the source.

NOT FOR SALE

S 295 Save the Children en NicaraguaALGUNAS EXPERIENCIAS DE GOBERNABILIDAD EN DERECHOS DE LA NIÑEZ EN LATINOAMERICA Y EL CARIBE20 páginas. Save the ChildrenISBN: 995-99982-77-79-91) Derechos de la Niñez- 2) Inversión en la Infancia 3) Estudios e InvestigacionesManagua, NicaraguaDiciembre de 2015

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CHILD RIGHTS GOVERNANCE 3

ÍNDEX

Presentation.....................................................................................................................

Experience from BOLIVIA- Autonomous Municipal Government of Ckochas increases health spending by 5%.....................................................................................

Experience from EL SALVADOR- Active participation of children in the San Pedro Masahuat Local Rights Committee...................................................................

Experience from GUATEMALA- Children’s participation in drafting the CRC alternative report.............................................................................

Experience from HAITI- Collective elaboration on the Alternative Report to the Child Rights Committee.................................................................................................

Experience from HONDURAS- CRG Internships: Learning about the experiences of other countries up close.............................................................................................

Experience from MEXICO- The National Front for Children’s Rights.......................

Experience from NICARAGUA- The Children’s Human Rights Observatory..........

Experience from PERU- The Human Rights of Children in the Alternative Report for the Universal Periodic Review...................................................................................

Experience from DOMINICAN REPUBLIC- Creation of the Inter-institutional Roundtable on Public Investment in Children..............................................................

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PRESENTATION

Child rights governance (CRG) is one of the thematic areas established as a global initiative for the implementation of Save the Children’s strategy for 2030.

The CRG work seeks to help build societies that realize the rights of children, establishing and strengthening the necessary systems for the States to effectively implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other child rights-related obligations. It is a question of supporting and working with an active civil society, accompanying children to push children’s issues higher up the agenda, and contributing to States informing about what they have or have not done to implement child rights. It is an effective strategy for achieving positive impacts on the lives of children based on structural and lasting changes.

To put it in another way, CRG work stimulates the emergence or strengthening of a set of conditions conducive to the full exercising of child rights, such as public policies, budgetary assignments and citizens’ and institutional practices that favour children. The challenge is to help develop systems, institutions and processes that respond to the unrestricted realization of their rights.

In Latin American and the Caribbean, as in other regions of the world, Save the Children and a wide variety of partners have developed different experiences around the subject. Save the Children wants to be an organization that learns from its own practices and those of others in order to improve its actions in favour of children.

This publication is a product of that aim. It is the result of the collective production of the CRG focal points in Latin America and of the ingenuity of partner organizations, allies and groups of children from Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and the Dominican Republic. This document includes a range of specific CRG-related experiences that we have supported in the region in the last two years. They are diverse experiences whose common denominator is the search for sustainable, long-term responses.

Our intention in presenting them together is to contribute to collective learning and the generalization of a global commitment to a world in which each child has the right to life, protection, development and participation.

We therefore invite you to read this short document and share its contents.

December 2015.

Beat RohrRegional Director for LAC

Save the Children

Lene SteffenCRGI Director

Save the Children


Bolivia Partners on the experience

La Paz

BOLIVIA

BRAZIL

PERU

CHILE ARGENTINA

PARAGUAYOCEANOPACIFICO

BOLIVIA

100 km

Autonomous Municipal Government of Ckochas increases health spending by 5%

I. The reason for the experience/ justification

Ckochas is the name of the youngest municipality in the department of Potosí, created in 2006. It currently has almost 9,000 inhabitants, 80% of whom live in extreme poverty and 60% of whom have no access to drinking water.The population most affected is the municipality’s children. A total of 30% of under-twos suffer from malnutrition, the main causes of which are a poor diet and lack of adequate hygiene.

II. Description of the experience

In partnership with the Association of Rural Area Health Promoters (APROSAR), Save the Children is implementing the “Healthy Mothers, Healthy Children” Project in this municipality. Based on the Health Ministry’s “Participatory Local Health Management Guide”, the project trained the municipality’s local health authorities (ALSs) and local health committees (CLSs) on the functions they have to perform with the aim of improving health conditions. One of the project’s main concerns was the development of participatory processes in health, such as in the drawing up of sectorial health plans, making it possible to gather the communities’ demands and/or needs. This capacity-building process has facilitated coordination among the ALSs/CLSs, municipal authorities and health authorities. Within the framework of the Family, Community and Intercultural Health Policy, the sectorial health plans—which include the communities’ demands—must be presented to the municipal health roundtables, which are the bodies that take decisions on the prioritisation of the needs and proposals to be included in the municipal plan. The municipality of Ckochas’ health roundtable has included the participation of and received inputs from 20 CLSs trained by the project.

III. Results achieved The local participatory management supported by Save the Children has generated an increase of 5% for the health budget in the municipality of Ckochas’ 2015 Annual Operating Plan. This was a gradual process, as at first the increase approved was 2%, which then rose to 3%, before finally reaching the 5% aspired to, which will mainly benefit mothers and children under the age of two.

Another achievement was the prioritization of investment in the intercultural adaptation of delivery rooms, providing the municipality’s 21 health facilities with mats and support bars.

Nineteen (out of a total of 21) local health plans have been drawn up with community contributions and presented to the health authorities and municipal representatives.

Contact information: SC in Bolivia: Fabiola Calderón ([email protected]) Patricia Barrios ([email protected]) Viviana Farfán ([email protected])


El Salvador

Workshop on participative planning of Health Local Committees

Drafting the Participative plan of action in a Committee meeting of the Health Center from Kalapaya

Active participation of children in the San Pedro Masahuat Local Rights Committee


The Comprehensive Child Protection Law was approved in El Salvador in 2009, coming into effect a year later. Following the establishment of the National Child Protection System, a series of processes have been developed aimed at empowering everyone called upon to be part of the system. At the municipal level, it has been proposed to create local rights committees that are administratively attached to the municipalities and part of the National Child Protection System. Their members include municipal government delegates and representatives from state institutions and civil society. The functions of these committees are related to the promotion, realisation and defence of children’s rights and it has therefore been very important for the municipalities to be sensitised, trained, and empowered on the whole process and to promote children’s participation.

Taking up its commitment to children, from October 2013 to April 2015 the municipality of San Pedro Masahuat carried out a strengthening process with the participation of civil society representatives, including child student leaders from the municipality. The process was accompanied by the National Children’s Council (CONNA) and supported by member organisations of the Shared Care Network (RAC), including Save the Children, Médicos del Mundo, the Family Support Foundation, the National Registry Office, the Association for the Promotion of Children’s Human Rights and the International Labour Organization.


Partners on the experienceHONDURAS

GUATEMALA

NICARAGUA

San Salvador

OCEANO PACIFICO NORTE

EL SALVADOR

20 km

EL SALVADOR


The process of electing representatives to the local rights committee was directed by the municipality, developing it in an inclusive way and promoting participation with a rights- and gender equity-based approach, which generated greater interest among different sectors. To reach that point, the municipality’s technical personnel underwent an awareness-building and training process that allowed them to understand the importance of working with a rights-based focus and highlight investment in children.In coordination with the organisations in the RAC, the San Pedro Masahuat Municipal Mayor’s Office invited adults and child leaders to participate in the election of civil society representatives. In response, 15-year-old student leader Tatiana Gabriela Reyes registered to participate in the process with the support of representatives from her school, family and community. She took part in the induction and training process on the child rights focus, the Comprehensive Child Protection Law and the National Protection System, and finally became a candidate for civil society representative on the Local Rights Committee.

In May 2015, the Local Rights Committee was made official and took a quality step forward in favour of children when Tatiana Gabriela Reyes was elected as one of its civil society representatives.

In coordination with other members of the San Pedro Masahuat Local Rights Committee (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, councillors), Tatiana Gabriela is currently working on the drafting of the Municipal Plan for Children and an Action Plan for Investment in Children for 2016.

With the municipality’s support, Tatiana Gabriela is also participating in the National Child Council’s Child Consultative Council, where she has become an active voice of the children in her municipality and the country as a whole. This demonstrates the importance of investing in training and awareness-raising processes on working with a human rights-based approach and an emphasis on children.

III. Results achieved/ successes

Contact information: SC in El Salvador: Thelma Quinteros ([email protected]) Rosy Quintanilla ([email protected])

Members of the Committee. Tatiana Gabriela is the last at the right

Local Committee for Rights


Guatemala Partners on the experience

Children’s participation in drafting the CRC alternative report


According to the programming of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), during 2015 the government of Guatemala must prepare and send to the CRC a report on the child rights situation in Guatemala (reports are sent every five years). To contribute to the CRC receiving alternative information, a network of civil society organisations, including Save the Children Guatemala, has initiated the process of producing an alternative report that will be sent to the Committee on the Rights of the Child after it has received the government report. With the aim of the alternative report reflecting the situation of children in the best possible way and ensuring that their voice is heard and taken into account, a series of consultation workshops are being held to highlight the advances made and challenges being faced from the children’s own perspective.

The consultation with children is being facilitated by civil society organisations, which have also taken on the tasks of inviting the participants, logistics and providing the human resources needed (the workshops are facilitated by a minimum of two people with experience in child participation processes and a good command of the rights-based focus). A guide for developing the consultations was jointly produced, taking into account what is appropriate for the participants socially, culturally and linguistically, as well as in terms of gender focus and age.

The guide includes the following components, among others:

i. Introduction: The facilitators welcome the participants and organise an activity to introduce them and break the ice.

ii. Learning about the alternative report: The facilitator gives a brief explanation of the alternative report: what it consists of, how often it is done, why it is done, its importance, and the importance of child participation.

iii. Learning about the child rights situation: This part presents different infograms on the child rights situation and promotes participation using the following prompt questions (for each of the rights): What do you think of the situation? What is life like in your community? What are the causes? Who is responsible for the right being realised? How can the situation be improved?

iv. Proposing to improve the respect for our rights: In a plenary session, the children share their ideas and proposals for improving the situation related to each of their rights. They participate in an exercise on their perception of the realisation of each of their rights measured as a percentage, with 25% corresponding to a limited level, 50% to a moderate level, 75% to a high level and 100% to total satisfaction.


Guatemala

MEXICO

GUATEMALAHONDURAS

NICARAGUA

EL SALVADOR

BELICE

Mar Caribe


GUATEMALA

Guatemala


Guatemala’s alternative report reflects the voices, observations, points of view and perspective of Guatemalan children.

The right of children to participate in matters of interest to them has been reinforced, allowing them to freely express their opinions and proposals.

There has been active, conscious and informed participation by children and they have made valuable contributions and proposals.

III. Results:

Contact information: SC in Guatemala: Rubelci Alvarado ([email protected])

Guatemalan adolescents participating in the consultation on the CRC Alternative report

Haití

Colective elaboration on the Alternative Report to the Child Rights Committee


As everybody knows, NGOs from CRC state parties can submit an alternative report as part of its monitoring role of the implementation of the Convention. For Haiti, this report was primarily intended to complement the State report of November 2013 and taking into account the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and topics that reflect the interest of stakeholders.

Partners on the experienceHAITÍ

HAITI

Mar Caribe

Puerto Principe


The alternative report had three objectives:a) To describe the state of the current situation from civil society´s point of view.b) To develop awareness raising in relation to child rights, the well being of children and their

protection.c) To make recommendations in order to improve the implementation of the CRC in our

beloved Haiti.

The alternative report was a result of a joint effort, a collective work of Haitian civil society organizations working to promote and protect the rights of the child. It was based on field observations and data (reports, statistics) and sheds new light on the first and second state reports, and on the implementation of the CRC in Haiti. It also took into account a first alternative report submitted in 2002 by the Haitian Coalition for the Defense of Children's Rights, which does not exist anymore.

Our effort received technical support from the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNICEF in Haiti, as well as from regional staff of Save the Children and Plan International. On our side we –from Save the Children- benefited from the technical support from Jorge Freyre and Pedro Hurtado Vega. We also received direct support from the Senior Management Team and from the administrative colleagues from the Office of Save the Children in Haiti.

The report included an analysis of the Haitian legal framework and of the public policies implemented by the state. Also it was accompanied by a reflection on the current context. All the analysis was done taking into account the Convention's four guiding principles.

The main chosen themes for the report were:

• Civil rights and freedoms

• Education

• Special protection

• Economic exploitation.

A total of 19 local and international civil society organizations participated in the process, amongst which 8 directly contributed in putting together the draft.

To guide all the process a steering committee was formed and whose members were by Save the Children in Haiti, Plan International Haiti and Network Aba System Restavèk (ASR) It was agreed on the importance of inviting as many representatives from civil society organizations.

Despite the logistical and material difficulties, the enthusiasm from Haitian civil society was great.

With support from Save the Children Regional Office, we were allowed to send one representative of the steering committee to the session with NGOs and the CRC held in Geneva on June 10th 2015. For it, the steering committee choose ASR since it was the only local organization that was part of the steering committee.

As a product of all this process we have decided to work on a coalition of organizations to monitor the implementation of the CRC. The structure will be open also to organizations that did not take part of the drafting of this alternative report.

After the examination of the state report and the complementary report in the June session, the CRC Committee drafted a list of question for the state to provide answers before October 2015. After that, we, civil society organizations are ready to do our part.

We are currently working on our first CRSA in Haiti. The alternative report we worked on is one of the main document that is being used for the secondary analysis phase. We have up dated information and analysis.


III. Results

Contact information: SC in Haiti: Myrlande Leroy ([email protected])


Honduras

CRG Internships: Learning about the experiences of other countries up close


With the aim of sharing working experiences on child rights governance (CRG) in order to strengthen capacities on the issue and contribute to the development of actions in that area of work, internships have been promoted as an alternative with a good cost-benefit ratio.

As part of the 2014 work plan of the CRGI Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean, in August that year Rosy Quintanilla, the CRG focal point in the El Salvador Country Office, did a two-day internship on CRG affairs in the Nicaragua Country Office. One output of this activity was a plan of the next steps for introducing CRG in El Salvador. As a result, El Salvador’s Strategic Country Plan for 2016-2018 now includes CRG goals.

In a continuation of this experience, it was also planned for María Elena Flores, the CRG focal point for Save the Children Honduras, to do a three-day internship in Nicaragua in 2015. That activity took place in August.

(what it consisted of, who it involved and how it was developed)

In both cases, the internship programme involved sharing CRG-related experiences and visiting partners such as the Coordinating Body for NGOs Working with Children and Adolescents (CODENI); the Network of Child-friendly Municipal Governments; Radio Chavala, a community radio produced by children; Abre tus Ojos, a television segment produced by adolescents; and the “Luis Alfonso Velásquez” Children’s Movement.

In María Elena’s case, it also involved participating in an experience-sharing activity involving several municipalities that implement child rights-focused projects and policies. She explained the importance of her internship in the following way:

“My visit to Nicaragua in the context of an internship was important for me. I’ve seen on the ground how Save the Children works in Nicaragua. The interviews with different partners allowed me to learn about the experiences they are having in the area of child rights and the promotion of child participation. I was presented with both the good practices and the difficulties.


Partners on the experience

Consultation on the CRC Alternative report

BELI

ZE

NICARAGUA

HONDURAS

EL SALVADOR

Guatemala

Tegucigalpa

Mar Caribe

Oceano Pacifico Norte

HONDURAS


“It’s been interesting to find out how children’s participation is promoted through radio and television. The ease and enthusiasm demonstrated by the participants demonstrates that they are experiencing, they believe in what they are doing, as well as enjoying it. My conversations with these girls and boys left me clear that this space has given them the chance to grow, learn and promote their rights. They are aware of the situation in the country and therefore broadcast issues of social interest through radio and television, which at the same times strengthens them in their studies and personal life. “I observed how children’s proactive participation can make a difference in the process of defining and implementing projects in their municipalities. I also saw the importance of the support provided by the authorities, despite the adverse situations some of those authorities are currently facing for political reasons.“Another interesting element was learning about the process and drive involved in drawing up and implementing municipal policies, despite the fact that—also for political reasons—some local governments do not have the support of government institutions, which do not provide information or do not want to involve themselves with authorities of another political colour.”

According to María Elena: “The experience of working on public policies developed by the municipal governments

in Nicaragua will be useful for Save the Children in Honduras. We will invite different sectors to participate in these processes, including of course children. I’m convinced it is necessary to develop work coordinated around the drawing up and implementation of municipal public policies.

“We will also take up elements of the technique used to promote children’s active participation. Specifically, we are interested in the process that makes it possible to identify the most relevant problems and needs from the children’s perspective. This is in order to act in the most appropriate way in the selection, planning and implementation of municipal projects in coordination with and with the support of municipal authorities.

“All of these factors will enrich the work SC in Honduras is currently developing on the promotion of children’s participation for the realisation of their rights.”


Contact information: SC in Honduras: María Elena Flores ([email protected]) Ligia Mencía ([email protected])

Participating in a workshop for sharing experiences with members of the Network of Municipal Governments

Sharing of experiences with children and personnel from Radio Chavala. María Elena is the 2nd from left

to right, with a red blouse


Mexico Partners on the experience

The National Front for Children’s Rights


In the context of the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in September 2014 the President of Mexico sent the country’s Senate a draft “General Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents”. Save the Children’s position on the draft law pointed out that, among other faults, its drafting had involved no civil society participation and a lack of efforts to adjust the federal and state regulatory framework to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This draft law was subsequently modified during the legislative process and went into effect on December 5 of the same year as the “General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents”. Although the law is recognised by UNICEF and Childfund as being a great advance in terms of children’s rights, for Save the Children and other civil society organisations it still contains certain elements that need to be improved for children to be able to truly exercise their rights.


In view of the above, Save the Children collaborated in the establishment of a coalition of over 60 civil society organisations called the National Front for the Rights of Children. The coalition’s purpose was to follow up on the law and generate political advocacy actions with the aim of ensuring that changes in child-focused government bodies and programmes effectively promote, protect and guarantee their rights. In the opinion of the organisations in this coalition, the law does not meet expectations in terms of the creation and expansion of fundamental rights or aspects such as the coordination, coverage and specific activities of the Comprehensive Protection System it contemplates. Based on this, at a press conference held on April 28, 2015, the National Front for the Rights of Children presented a series of recommendations for the law’s implementation, including the following:

The Comprehensive Protection System contemplated in the law must be transparent and plural.

It must create a special child protection attorney’s office.

Children must participate in the implementation.

The executive secretaries of the state protection systems must be attached to the government ministries of each federal entity.

More importance must be given to the training of public servants.

1This coalition includes organisations such as World Vision, SOS Children’s Villages and the All Rights for All Network (Red TDT), among others.

MÉXICO

ESTADOS UNIDOSDE AMÉRICA

COSTA RICA

OCÉANOPACÍFICO

Gulfo deMéxico

MEXICO

Dist. Fed. México


The National Front for the Rights of Children has been invited to participate in drafting the regulations for the law’s implementation, which is the first time that the participation of civil society organisations has been contemplated in such a process. However, the consultations have been held via internet, without any dialogue or lobbying with decision makers. The possibilities of producing results in collaboration with government stakeholders were also limited and the language of the consultations was very technical, which has complicated the process.

Despite these problems, the proposals generated by the National Front’s organisations were discussed with the Government Ministry in conditions of equality, although not all of the recommendations were taken into account in the observations the ministry produced in response. To date, the regulations for the implementation of the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents have still not been defined and the National Front is continuing to implement actions to influence this process.

It is worth stressing that beyond the urgent work required for the effective implementation of the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, the coalition established to collaborate on issues linked to the public policies and regulatory framework derived from that law could attract more organisations that share similar positions. It could also form the basis for jointly promoting with decision makers issues linked to the rights of children and supporting other related initiatives.


Contact information: SC in Mexico: Saúl Sánchez ([email protected]) Mario Téllez ([email protected]) Nancy Ramírez ([email protected])

Photo: Rocío Méndez Photo: EFE

Members of the National Front for the Rights of Children and Adolescents


Nicaragua Partners on the experience

The Children’s Human Rights Observatory


The Observatory was born out of the need the Coordinating Body for NGOs Working with Children and Adolescents (CODENI) had for its member organisations and other sectors to have a tool focused on the monitoring and evaluation of public policies and on the status of the realisation of children’s rights in Nicaragua, taking the Nicaraguan Constitution, the country’s Legal Code for Children and Adolescents and the Convention on the Rights of the Child as points of reference.

It was also hoped to use the observatory to strengthen the abilities and skills of civil society organisations in relation to the use of evidence based on official statistics as a basis for advocacy in favour of children’s rights with both national- and municipal-level decision makers.


In 2007, the Alliance Group for Investment in Children—an advocacy consortium that had started up the previous year consisting of Save the Children, UNICEF, Plan, CODENI, the Network of Child-friendly Municipal Governments, and the Office of Human Rights Ombudsman, among others—proposed the creation of an observatory to monitor compliance with children’s rights. CODENI took on the responsibility, as it was already a body with national representation leading advocacy processes for the adaptation of legal frameworks and the formulation and implementation of public policies aimed at the realisation of child rights.

One of the first steps was to conduct an assessment of the organisations’ information needs related to health, education, child labour, special protection, violence and investment in children. This was the main input used in the design and production of a baseline of indicators for monitoring the realisation of child rights.

With support from Save the Children, in 2009 CODENI established an Observatory Technical Unit under its executive secretariat that consisted of a small team of professionals. It also started to create the baseline and design the virtual platform to disseminate the information to civil society organisations, decision makers, social stakeholders, the academic sector and the cooperation community, among others.

The observatory has developed three components: a) Research: related to the generation and dissemination of information on the situation of children and the realisation of their rights; b) Training: which concerns itself with building capacities for the analysis and use of information; and, c) Advocacy and Communication: which addresses the generation and dissemination of information, as well as strengthening the capacity for advocacy actions with decision makers of NGOs, strategic allies and social stakeholders that work with children.

Being a technical unit, the observatory is aimed more at adults. However, there is an indirect relationship with children as the NGOs use the publications and knowledge it contributes to multiply and provide information in child-friendly versions.

NICARAGUA

HONDURASGUATEMALA

COSTA RICA


Managua

Mar Caribe

NICARAGUA



The generation of evidence through reports on the realisation of child rights, studies, bulletins and alerts, which have been used to mobilise and sustain proposals on laws, policies and budgets.

Having a virtual platform including a system of indicators with updated information on the behaviour of national and municipal investment in children and previously analysed information: http://www.codeni.org.ni/dev/

The generation—among CODENI member organisations and other bodies that work on the defence and promotion of child rights—of capacities related to public investment in favour of children and the use of data for advocacy, among other issues.

The linkage of actions and strengthening of alliances for advocacy and rights promotion with organisations, national and local networks, cooperation agencies and communication media.

The production of the alternative report on the 2nd Universal Periodic Review and the preparation of the 5th/6th alternative reports on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which were previously produced by external consultants.

Contact information: CODENI: Marvin García ([email protected]) María Jesús Gómez ([email protected]) SC in Nicaragua: Pedro Hurtado Vega ([email protected])

Adolescents participating in advocacy actions

Perú Partners on the experience

The Human Rights of Children in the Alternative Report for the Universal Periodic Review

I. The reason for the experience / justification

Until a few years ago, human rights reports in Peru did not fully reflect the human rights situation of children.

PERÚ

OCÉANOPACÍFICO

Ecuador

Colombia

PERÚ

Lima


The Alternative Report for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has allowed organisations promoting human rights in the country to coordinate their work, valuing the idea of coming together and sharing experiences on child-related issues.

Also relevant in this respect is the appropriate and constant use of the norms for accessing information, with official data being used in reports presented to international bodies by civil society organisations, including children’s organisations.


The UPR alternative report was developed as a strategy for placing children on the agenda of the Peruvian State as a human rights matter, as well as strengthening accountability mechanisms among the organisations that work to promote and defend the human rights of children.

The process of drawing up the UPR alternative report involved 17 Save the Children partner organisations, 2 children’s organisations and 10 institutions that have joined in with the initiative during the process.

Producing the UPR alternative report involved the following stages:

a) Prioritisation of issues: Starting in January 2012, following a review of reports from the Peruvian State and the recommendations made by the international bodies, it was agreed to include in the UPR alternative report those recommendations that had not been adequately addressed by the State. It was also decided to include situations that were being monitored by the institutions that agreed to be involved in the process because they constituted a violation of the rights of children. These included the rights of children with disabilities; the right of indigenous children to education; abuse and sexual exploitation; the right to health of children with HIV and children with post-vaccine polio; protection from physical punishment; forced recruitment; and children that are the victims of groups linked to drug trafficking and terrorism.

b) The establishment of thematic groups: Between February and March 2012, the organisations collaborated to put together a report that contained the prioritised problems, the evidence for the problems, the questions it was proposed the State respond to and the proposed recommendations for the State.

c) Production of the report’s first draft: Between March 26 and 30, 2012, the work groups’ contributions were reviewed and systematised by a commission made up of specialists from Save the Children and its partner the Institute Promoting Social Development (IPRODES).

d) Production and presentation of the final report: Between April 6 and 9, 2012, the final report was prepared with contributions from the organisations involved and sent to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

e) Oral presentation during the pre-session: On August 28, 2012, in representation of the Peruvian organisations, colleagues from the CRG Global Initiative made an oral presentation during the UPR pre-session.

f) Advocacy with embassies and diplomatic missions in Geneva: Using models employed by Save the Children for the UPRs of other countries and in consultation with the signatory institutions, during the first week of September an advocacy document was prepared that was delivered to the embassies in Geneva of the countries that had attended the UPR pre-session on August 28.

g) Oral presentation at the Peru UPR final session: The declaration of the civil society organisations focused on three areas: i) Approval of the Children’s Code; ii) the need for a rescue programme for children in the hands of criminal groups; and, iii) care for the most vulnerable children, with the allocation of more public resources in the budget.


Promoting the participation of 27 NGOs and 2 children’s organisations in the drafting and advocacy process related to the alternative report for the Peru UPR.

Through advocacy actions, helping ensure the diplomatic missions of 31 countries (52% of the delegations present) asked questions and produced 40 child rights-related recommendations (representing 31% of the total recommendations made to Peru).

The government of Peru’s acceptance of 39 of the 40 recommendations formulated by its peers at the Human Rights Council.

The Justice Ministry informing the civil society organisations that presented the alternative report about advances in the process of including the recommendations in the National Human Rights Plan.


Contact information: SC in Peru: Carlos Herrera ([email protected])

Flor de María and her right to free expressionPhoto: Jorge Segura

Participants in the consultationPhoto: Mariluz Aparicio

República Dominicana

Creation of the Inter-institutional Roundtable on Public Investment in Children

I. The reason for the experience / justification

The Child Rights Governance Programme implemented by Save the Children Dominican Republic and supported by Save the Children Norway is developing different strategies to strengthen the principles of democratic governance with a child rights-based focus. This involves joint work with civil society, establishing children’s committees to advocate rights and build citizenship, as well as promoting public investment in children at both the local and municipal levels and the national level.

To this end, taking as a reference point the CRG programme Save the Children is promoting at the global level and with the support of different experiences in the region, in 2014 and 2015 Save the Children Dominican Republic started taking the first steps towards creating an arena for national dialogue on public investment in children. The idea was to involve representatives from different bodies, guaranteeing the inclusion of children and civil society and promoting the participation of key government institutions.

Partners on the experience

RepúblicaDominicana

REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA

República Dominicana


This process was based on two positive national situations: a civil society with accumulated experience in the area of children and the political will of a public administration that has prioritised certain issues that directly affect the children of the Dominican Republic.

Therefore—also taking advantage of its relationship with the Dominican Federation of Municipalities (FEDOMU), with which there is a collaboration agreement, and with support from UNICEF—Save the Children Dominican Republic took the lead to lay the foundations for a dialogue on public investment through the holding of the first Seminar-Workshop on “Investment in Favour of Children: Towards inter-institutional coordination.”

This workshop achieved broad participation from the public sector, including the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Development, the Treasury Ministry and local governments; and from civil society, represented by youth and child municipalities (ayuntamientos juveniles e infantiles) and the National Coalition of NGOs for Children. It was also technically accompanied by the EQUIDAD organisation from Peru, which has previously supported Save the Children with similar processes and during the seminar presented experiences and tools that have contributed to the realisation of child rights in other countries of the region.

Civil society and public sector organisations had the chance to share experiences and capacities and to work together in budgetary programming exercises with a rights-based focus, which generated debates on the advances and challenges related to public investment to guarantee child rights in the country. As a result of these debates among children, representatives of national and international NGOs and government officials, it was agreed that there was a need to create an inter-sectoral roundtable for dialogue and to follow up on practices related to the quality of public investment with a child-based focus.

The Inter-institutional Roundtable for Public Investment in Children was created, including representatives from the youth and child municipalities and NGO and government technicians. With accompaniment from Save the Children Dominican Republic, FEDOMU and UNICEF, they committed themselves to work together on the identification of good child investment practices, in order to capitalise and replicate them; the creation of indicators for public spending on children; and local and municipal promotion of investment in children and participatory budgets, among others.

While creating the roundtable is just the first step, it is nonetheless an encouraging result that not only ensures the participation of children alongside the State and NGOs, but also demonstrates how processes of political advocacy and building active citizenship can be successful. This is a great challenge for Save the Children Dominican Republic, as we have taken on the responsibility of leading a process of profound change that places children at the centre of public policies and governance in the country.



Contact information: SC in the Dominican Republic: Alba Rodríguez ([email protected])

Training and setting-up of the Round Table

CHILD RIGHTS GOVERNANCEFor 2030 Save the Children has 3 breakthoughs. All our CRG work must contribute to:

No child dies from preventable causes

before their fifth birthday

All children learn from a quality basic education

Violence against children is no longer tolerated

To know more: www.resourcecentre.savethechildren.se

Participants in the CRG Regional Seminar- June, 2015 –Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala

some crg experiences in latin america and …...latin america and of the ingenuity of partner...

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