childrens rights

UNICEF

The website of UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) contains information about the organisation and its activities and about the United Nations in general. Focus areas include child survival and development, education, HIV/aids and children, child protection and child health including immunisation. Information can be viewed by country including details of projects and appeals, statistics and news from the region. Publications on the site include annual reports, The State of the World’s Children (published annually) and the full-text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Childwatch International Research Network

Childwatch International Research Network is a global network of organisations doing interdisciplinary research in the area of children’s rights. The Childwatch Secretariat is based at the University of Oslo in Norway. The website carries details of Childwatch’s projects and research work. Topics covered include child labour, children and children’s rights and child poverty. A selection of reports can be downloaded from the site.

Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Services for England and Wales

Official website for the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Services for England and Wales. CAFCASS acts as a central co-ordinating body for groups of practitioners providing advice to courts on issues of child and family welfare. CAFCASS was established by the UK Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000 as a non-departmental public body answering to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Online version of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This web page also contains links to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and information on the status of ratifications, declarations and reservations. The Convention can be viewed in English, French, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.

Children and Armed Conflict Unit

The Children and Armed Conflict Unit is a joint project of the Children's Legal Centre and the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. Its aim is to provide information on the impact of war on children and to analyse existing human rights law in order to provide a better protection of childrens' rights. Its website provides information on the scope of the project, recent news stories relating to on-going conflicts worldwide, and details of the Unit's recent field visits to specific war zones.

Le Défenseur des droits

Website of the office of the Défenseur des droits, the Children's Ombudsman for France. The office was created by the French Parliament in March 2000, and its mission is to defend and promote children's rights in France. The site explains the role of the Défenseur. Reports and opinions of the Défenseur are available, together with summaries of relevant French laws and information about the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (with the text of the Convention, in French).

Coram Children's Legal Centre

The Coram Children's Legal Centre is a charitable organisation established in 1981 and based at the University of Essex. The Centre deals with law and policy issues affecting children and young people. The site provides information about the work of the Centre which includes legal advice, research and policy and campaign work. Annual indexes from the Centre's monthly journal, Childright appear on the site. There is a selection of FAQs on common legal issues, and links to other organisations providing services for young people.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

This site, focusing on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), forms part of the UNICEF website. There is background information and a full text copy of the Convention along with FAQs and factsheets. UNICEF's report the State of the World's Children is available to download in full text from the site. The 2009 report celebrates 20 years of the Convention and focuses on children's rights in different countries. Case studies and interviews with experts on children's rights are available as videos on the site.

Seeking bypass: what will ultimately end confidence in the necessity of parental involvement laws?

Online article published on law and technology website LLRX.com in 2009, looking at US laws relating to parental involvement when abortions are sought by minors. The author is Diana Philip of the Women's Health Leadership Network, who is also on the advisory board for Lilith: A Fund for Reproductive Equity. The article outlines the history of young women's reproductive rights in the US, providing references to key texts and links to landmark cases.

Inter-American Children's Institute

The Inter-American Children's Institute (IIN) is a specialised organisation of the Organization of American States (OAS), focusing on the promotion and protection of children's rights. The website has background information on the IIN, including its statutes and rules of procedure. IIN publications are available and the site also provides information on the Institute's work in the areas of child law, children's rights, combating sexual exploitation and tackling child abduction.  The site can be viewed in English or Spanish but some of the content is in Spanish only.

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