When: 9 February 2018
Where: Egmont Palace, Place du Petit Sablon 8 - 1000 Brussels, Belgium
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As underlined by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), the process of children’s rights moving from the setting of legally binding standards to their effective implementation depends, in large measure, on the availability of appropriate tools for policy formulation and evaluation. Both quantitative and qualitative indicators are among those essential tools (OHCHR, Human Rights Indicators - A Guide to Measurement and Implementation). The United Nations Committee for the Rights of the Child systematically recommends data collection regarding measures taken to give effect to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to work with indicators to evaluate implementation.
This is a topical subject and different national and international initiatives have been undertaken in this field recently. Despite, the use of indicators has not yet become systematic in the policies meant to the implementation of international standards. Numerous questions – among others concerning methodology and approach – also remain at the forefront of this debate.
The National Commission on the Rights of the Child has developed 40 child rights indicators to measure the effectiveness of children’s rights throughout Belgium and is currently carrying out specific surveys to include children in the most vulnerable situations in data collection initiatives.
In this context, the Commission wishes to address above-mentioned gaps and contribute towards offering practitioners, policy makers, researchers, and child advocates the opportunity to share (best) practices and find a common ground on how to measure the effectiveness of children’s rights in the objective of their continuous improvement.
The main outputs expected of the conference are concrete and jointly developed elements for guidelines on that subject-matter.
The conference will be structured around four key questions:
- Setting the debate: What constitutes an effective tool for measuring the effectiveness of children’s rights?
- How can synergies and links between child-rights / child wellbeing indicators and other measuring instruments be developed ?
- How can meaningful participation of children be ensured?
- How can the most vulnerable children be reached and included by data collection systems and instruments?
International Conference: "Measuring the Effectiveness of Children’s Rights"