Monitoring the Convention on the Rights of the Child

The NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a coalition of international non-governmental organisations, which work together to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. (What is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child? Click here to find out.) The NGO Group was originally formed in 1983 when members of the NGO Group were actively involved in the drafting of the Convention.

The NGO Group has a Liaison Unit that supports participation of the NGOs, particularly national coalitions, in the reporting process to the Committee on the Rights of the Child as well as other activities to ensure the implementation of the Convention. One important area is the management of Alternative Reports that have been submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The NGO Group has the following aims:  

To be an advocate on behalf of children by raising awareness about the Convention.  
To promote and facilitate, through specific programmes and actions, the full implementation of the Convention.  
To facilitate a flow of information between the Committee on the Rights of the Child, concerned United Nations bodies and the NGO community.  
To facilitate co-operation and information sharing regarding the monitoring and implementation of the Convention within the NGO community.  
To draw up policies and strategies and undertake action in fields covered by the Convention
To contribute to the monitoring work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
To facilitate the creation and support the work of National Coalitions for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Useful publications for NGOs and groups wanting to work with the NGO Group on the Convention:

How do you report to the NGO Group? A step by step guide for NGOs preparing an alternative report for the Committee on the Rights of the Child, an outline of the procedures concerning NGO presentations at the pre-sessional meetings, procedures for follow-up action and background to the work of the NGO Group.

National child rights coalitions are relatively new on the human rights scene. Many emerged as a result of putting together submissions to the Committee that monitors the Convention on the Rights of the Child, or through the GMC's Say Yes for Children Campaign and the Special Session on Children. Over approximately 20 years many coalitions have grown to become a leading voice for children's rights. The NGO group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child has recently conducted a survey of these national child rights coalitions worldwide. Click here to read the report and find out more about these Child Rights Coalitions, their structure, monitoring and advocacy processes.