1983-2013 Thirty years working together for children’s rights
Since Child Rights Connect began in 1983, we have played a unique role coordinating the work of NGOs around the world. And we have been involved in key child rights development at international level.
We started as a loose group of 20 NGOs and then became the Ad Hoc Group for the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, working towards a comprehensive treaty on child rights. Once the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted, we became the NGO Group for the CRC and continued to work together to make sure that the CRC makes a real difference to the lives of children throughout the world.
Now we have 80 members and countless partners across the globe, all continuing to work together towards our shared vision: ensuring that every child is able to fully enjoy the rights guaranteed in the CRC.
When we asked our members about what they saw as the most important role we’ve played over the past three decades, they responded overwhelmingly: it’s our ability to bring organisations from all over the world together so that we can act and speak as a global voice for child rights.
Celebrating 30 years by “Universally Promoting Child Rights”! 
Every day child rights are violated, everywhere. We need a change. Through the UP Child Rights campaign, Child Rights Connect members and partners are working to make sure that every child fully enjoys their rights guaranteed by the CRC and and its Optional Protocols. We are raising our voices to call for universal ratification of all 4 of the UN child rights treaties. Sign the petition today and learn more at www.upchildrights.org.
30th Anniversary Event,Gestacion Film Screening
For 30 years, Child Rights Connect has played a unique
role in coordinating NGOS around the world to ensure that
children’s rights are observed and their voices are heard.
To celebrate our 30th Anniversary
a film screening of Gestacion, an award winning Costa Rican film
about two teenagers as activists for their own rights,
and reception with the director, Esteban Ramirez, will be held.
Please join us on
Thursday November 14th 2013 ¦ 7pm
at Les Cinémas du Grütli
16 Rue Général-Dufour, 1204 Géneve
Free and Open to Public – doors open at 6:30pm
NOTE: No reservation is required, however Child Rights Connect members are advised contact Laura Collier at collier@childrightsconnect.org to confirm their attendance.
Film Synopsis:
Jessie Madrigal, a pretty and timid girl of a marginal urban district who attends a religious school on scholarship, didn’t think at the age of 16 her life would have a radical turn.
Teo Arroyo, an affectionate but immature teenager from a wealthy family, didn’t imagine that love could have unexpected consequences.
Two teenagers from different worlds as victims of their own ignorance and negligence of the adults in their lives are taken away on a journey that brings into question traditional values as they defend their rights.
Awards and Features:
This film became a huge phenomenon, due to the way it portraits national identity and the enthusiasm the audiences embraced it with.
It claimed the number one box office spot for four consecutive weekends and secured the national audience record for a local film, with more than 150,000 spectators.
“Gestation” has also been recognized outside Costa Rican borders with nine international awards – including Best Director at the International Film Festival of Bogotá – and becoming the first Central American motion picture to be broadcast in the United States by HBO.
About the Director:
Born in Costa Rica, a country with neither cinematographic tradition nor legislation, Esteban Ramírez has experienced an unprecedented success in his country, due to the impact his first two feature films have had both in Costa Rica and internationally. He has become the most relevant figure of the Costa Rican twenty-first-century cinema revival.
After graduating from the School of Mass Communication Sciences at the University of Costa Rica, Ramírez directed several short documentaries and fictional films – taking on various styles and formats.
Ramírez became the only Central American to date to win an award for Best Director in a Latin American Festival (Trieste, Italy).
Visit the director’s site for more information.