Child Rights Organisation - Support Us

Children on the Edge is a child rights organisation created to support the world’s
most marginalised children, affected by poverty, displacement, conflict and persecution.

We envision a world in which every child thrives,
regardless of their geography, ethnicity, gender or caste.

SUPPORTING CHILD RIGHTS

Every child has the right to be free and to thrive, according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). However, children in marginalised communities often face abuse, exploitation, exclusion, neglect, and even death; their plight is frequently considered too challenging to tackle.

We ensure that where we work, everyone in the child’s environment is aware of and committed to respecting the universal rights enshrined in the CRC. By working alongside communities to co-create protective environments that generate hope, life, colour and fun, we enable children to realise their rights.

A CHILD RIGHTS BASED APPROACH

Children on the Edge has a rights based approach in all the work we do. Our work is guided by the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child (CRC).

This convention is a promise, made in 1989, by governments across the world, to do everything in their power to protect and promote children’s rights to survive and thrive, to learn and grow, to make their voices heard and to reach their full potential.

We reflect our values of hope, dignity, justice and freedom of expression in everything we do and with everyone we work with. From the children we serve to our partners, staff, volunteers, and donors, we are consistent in our approach.

WHAT DOES A RIGHTS BASED APPROACH LOOK LIKE?

We place children centre stage by encouraging them to know their worth, to understand their rights, and to be active agents in shaping their own futures.

We work closely with those who impact children the most in order to build protection into a child’s surroundings: the family, teachers, local community leaders, and the greater society.

Building this protective environment throughout each of these interconnected layers —from the family and classroom, to community and national level—ensures that children are not only physically safer, but have the freedom to develop and thrive. We engage with and actively involve the entire community to jointly create safe spaces full of hope, life, colour, and fun.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

The Universal Rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child are set out in 54 Articles which describe what a child needs to survive, grow, thrive and reach their potential. They are all as important as each other, but four Articles (2,3, 6 & 12) are given the special status of ‘guiding principles’, which are needed for any of the rights in the Convention to be realised.

These four principles are listed below, with a few examples of how we are guided by them them in our work:

Rohingya boy looks out of the window of a mud shelter in Kutupalong camp and smiles at the camera. He is wearing a red and blue checked shirt.

1. NON DISCRIMINATION

All children are equal and entitled to the same rights as each other, where we encounter discrimination and inequality, we do what we can do redress the balance. This is why you will often find us in hard to reach areas, working with hard to reach people, or those overlooked by the media or larger organisations.

Because of this commitment, we often have to go against the grain, and sometimes work has to remain low profile or covert. We aim to give equal opportunities to marginalised, disadvantaged or excluded groups. This could be seeking out children from the most vulnerable households or castes, or safeguarding girls from exploitation and exclusion.

A group of Ugandan children are in a group listening to a speaker but putting their hands up to contribute. Their backs are to the camera and they are wearing white T shirts that say on the back 'Ask me about child rights'.

2. BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD

The child’s best interests must be the utmost priority in all decisions and actions that affect children. Determining what is in children’s best interests can be a complicated process, and has been the subject of much consideration in legal, academic and operational areas. In situations of conflict, poverty or persecution, needs are overwhelming, and our role is to focus on the best interests of the child.

All assessment takes into account the children’s opinions and feelings. We ask what children need, rather than assuming what they need. Child friendly mapping and consultation is used as we set up different programmes, and qualitative interviewing with children forms a large part of our monitoring and evaluation.

A Ugandan woman in a bright yellow T shirt sits behind her vegetable stall with her child on her knee. She is smiling at the camera and he is eating a piece of fruit

3. SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT

These are rights to the resources, skills and services necessary for the physical survival and full development of a child. They include rights to protection from violence, adequate food, shelter, and clean water.

Our projects counter threats to children's survival and development in various ways. We support communities to build protective environments for their children where they can thrive.

From small business loans and working to introduce legislative change for child protection in Uganda, to safe classrooms for Rohingya refugees and warm clothes for displaced Kachin children in remote mountain camps, we ensure children's survival and development is at the core of what we do.

A large group of children in India are staging a demonstration about having a clean environment. They are all holding up signs.

4. PARTICIPATION

Listening to children's voices is written about in Article 12 of the CRC. When adults make decisions that affect children, children have the right to have their opinions taken into account.

We make sure that children understand their rights and have a say in the planning and evaluation of our projects. This could be through child councils, child rights clubs, children's parliaments or the creation of child-led video platforms.

We resource children to express themselves and have a voice, enabling them to take ownership in creative ways. We also take steps to ensure they can claim rights for themselves.

Each child we work with is valued as an individual and treated with dignity.

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER AID OR CHARITY WORK?

Being guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child means that instead of regarding children as passive objects of care and charity, they are seen as human beings with a distinct set of rights. As an organisation we resource and support children to be agents of change in their own futures.

All the rights described in the Convention are things that many charities uphold as part of their daily activities, the difference is that organisations with a rights-based approach don’t uphold rights incidentally, but contribute directly and intentionally. All aspects of our development, policies and programmes seek to realise children's rights.