On the website of the National Network for Children, “The rights of child human rights defenders : Implementation Guide” has been published. The edition is adapted for children and the general public and was created by the child advocacy network Child Rights Connect, together with 39 children from the Children’s Advisory Team linked to the network, boys and girls aged 10 to 18, who played a primary role in the development of the Guide.
The document is a useful resource for child advocates and adults who work with them to develop these skills. From the Guide, you can learn about the rights of children who protect human rights. These are child defenders – those who stand up for their own human rights and those of others. The publication answers questions such as: What are human rights? What challenges do child defenders face? What are the shortcomings, and what can be done to improve the situation?
The Guide can be used by children to educate others about children’s rights and what they do as advocates, and also as a tool to help adults and decision-makers (like teachers, parents, caregivers, governments) to better understand the rights of child defenders and apply them in practice. The pages of the publication provide examples of actions by child defenders in areas such as education, justice, civil and political rights, the challenges they face in their advocacy activities, and the actions required by state institutions, adults, parents, people in the educational and judicial system, etc.
You can use the provided resource by downloading the adapted Guide here or the original and more detailed document, which you can read here.
The publication of the guides is a result of our project activities “Present and Future: Empowering Child Defenders in Bulgaria” which started at the end of last year. The aim of our project initiatives is to give impetus to the empowerment of children in Bulgaria to be defenders of human rights. The project brings together the efforts of international and national networks of professionals, children, and young people, defenders of children’s and human rights, and includes children and young people from vulnerable groups, who focus and further develop their advocacy activities, supporting and developing a conducive environment for their current and future initiatives.
The National Network for Children works locally with the Know-how Centre for Alternative Care for Children, NBU, and internationally with Child Rights Connect – the largest child advocacy network that links those who fight for children’s rights with the UN human rights system. Through its 90 member organizations, coordinated by a secretariat in Geneva, the network reaches every country in the world. The National Network for Children is a member of Child Rights Connect.
