Close to 45 child rights organisations gathering for Child Rights Connect’s General Assembly!

Child Rights Connect is pleased to announce that its Annual General Assembly will be held on 25 June 2020. Around 45 regional, national and local child rights organisations and coalitions from around the world, all members of the Child Rights Connect network, are expected to participate in discussions at the General Assembly. Because of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the General Assembly will be convened through an online platform.

This crucial moment in the life and governance of the Child Rights Connect network will be an opportunity for member organisations to collectively reflect on the most significant results achieved in 2019, as well as to identify the remaining gaps to be addressed to make children’s rights a reality.  Building on this reflection, the strategy and plans for the current year will be further delineated and approved. The General Assembly will also be an occasion to welcome new member organisations from different continents, and new members of the Network Executive Committee, all united in the global movement for the realization of children’s rights. This will be followed by a further series of webinars focusing on specific substantive topics.

The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, will address the network through a keynote speech. She will share her views on Child Rights Connect’s recommendation for the UN to develop a comprehensive Child Rights Strategy applying to all bodies and agencies and on the role of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in promoting and contributing to the development of such strategy. She will also discuss with Child Rights Connect network ways to ensure an increased and sustained engagement of children in UN discussions and decision-making processes so that their perspectives are heard, and their opinions taken into account, more systematically and beyond child rights specific discussions. Members will have the opportunity to engage her on various topics, including on how she sees the role of the OHCHR in systematically promoting child participation with the UN system further developing in the future and how the OHCHR could ensure that children’s views are sought and taken into account, including in preparation for the next Management Plan of the Office.