Advocacy, Policies and Partnerships for Children's Rights
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© UNICEF Gulf Area Office/Manama/2006 |
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UNICEF and Ministry of Social Development signing the Country Programme Action Plan, Bahrain, 21 November 2006 |
The programme for advocacy, policies and partnerships for children’s rights consists of three projects:
1.”Policy and Institutional Support Project”
- Planned Activities (2007-2009):
UNICEF will provide technical assistance, training, workshops and knowledge networking in order for the National Commission for Childhood to:
- monitor trends in child indicators
- advocate for children
- complete and implement a National Plan of Action for Children, building on experiences gained during the development of the UNDP-supported national youth strategy (15-30 years old) finalised in April 2005.
- continue the process of adapting local legislation and policies with the CRC provisions as well as ensuring its implementation
- prepare reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child
- plan follow-up of the Committee’s recommendations UNICEF will also provide technical assistance for Bahrain to set up a separate, permanent and independent mechanism, such as a national human rights institution or an ombudsman, with the mandate to monitor and evaluate the progress of the implementation of the CRC.
2. “CRC Advocacy, Monitoring and Knowledge Base Project”
- install DevInfo and train operators building on lessons learned from the National Gender Statistics Programme of the Central Statistics Organisation
- agree upon a core set of country specific indicators for child rights including those needed for reporting to the Committee on the CRC and used in the reporting of MDGs
- develop mechanisms for monitoring progress on these indicators
- carry out specific studies and surveys will be promoted in order to continuously update the Situation Analysis of Children
- review of the state budget from a child perspective
- raise-awareness among policy makers, the private sector and the civil society about child rights and its relevance to Bahrain
- disseminating the principles and provisions of the CRC, the reports to the Committee on the CRC, and the concluding observations of the Committee
- strengthen the established partnership with media around child rights.
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© UNICEF Gulf Area Office/Manama/2006 |
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Regional Workshop on Child-Friendly Budgets, Manama, May 2006 |
3. “Participation and Partnerships Project”
- Past Activities (2004-2006):
- In the area of social policy and budgets, UNICEF supported the Bahrain Parliament in organizing a regional workshop on child-friendly budgeting. The recommendations from this first ever workshop in the Middle East and North Africa region will feed into the Bahraini state budget process for 2007-2008. Click to read official statement and press release.
- UNICEF GAO supported the holding of a youth parliament in Bahrain. A steering committee was established in Bahrain which consisted of the Bahrain National Committee for Children, the British Council, members of the Bahrain national parliament, and UNICEF GAO. The meetings were well covered by media especially MBC. The aim of the initiative was to provide children aged 16-18 years with a chance to share their views on key national developmental matters concerning their lives and future.
- Planned Activities (2007-2009):
- Advocacy for increased opportunities for both adolescent boys and girls to participate in school and community development.
- Participation of adolescents in national planning events and regional and sub-regional forums as well as in media will be encouraged.
- Capture lessons learned from the Bahraini youth parliament while building on regional experiences.
- Media campaigns targeting parents, teachers, decision makers, etc, in order to improve their knowledge, attitudes and practices vis-à-vis adolescents.
- Advocacy for adolescent friendly legislation, policies and guidelines.
- Partnership building with existing and new partners for leveraging knowledge and resources for children within and outside Bahrain. awareness raising about child rights issues nationally and internationally.
