What is a Child Rights Approach?

Children on the Edge has a rights based approach in all the work it does, it is guided by a UN treaty called The Convention for the Rights of the Child. 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

How is this different from any other form of aid or charitable work?

Being guided by the CRC 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 and civil groups 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. 

What does this actually mean for the work of Children on the Edge, in a practical sense? 

​Rights in the Convention 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 principles are listed below, with a few examples of how we are guided by them them in our work:

---

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. 

​Within our programmes we aim to give equal opportunities to marginalised, disadvantaged or excluded groups. This could be ensuring provision for disabled children, seeking out children from the most vulnerable households, or safeguarding girls from exploitation and exclusion.

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:

• In Uganda, we have worked on the prevention of child sacrifice, a harmful traditional practice which was claiming the lives of children in the area. We have also developed agriculture in the area to combat chronic malnutrition. 
• In the high altitude camps of Kachin State we  have provided warm clothes so children can survive the winter.
• We have also provided winter provisions in Lebanon for Syrian refugee children, in addition to essential health clinics. 

The child’s best interests must 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.  All assessment should take into account the children’s own opinions and feelings. Child friendly social mapping was used as we set up our programme in Uganda, and qualitative interviewing with children has formed a large part of our monitoring and evaluation in Bangladesh. 

We ask what children need, rather assuming what they need. For example, a child friendly approach is vital for traumatised children in Kachin State, rather than basic service provision. 

Listening to children's voices is written about in Article 12 of the CRC. When adults are making decisions that affect children, children have the right to say what they think should happen and have their opinions taken into account. We make sure that children have a say in the planning and evaluation of our projects.

​This could be through child councils and interviews, the creation of their own newsletters, resourcing them to express themselves and plan their own futures or just enabling them to stamp their ownership on the project in creative ways. We also take steps to ensure they can understand and claim rights for themselves.

Each child we work with is valued as an individual, they are taught in a child friendly way about their rights and they are supported to be the best version of themselves they can be. ​​

​Can I change anything by adding my own voice? 

Duty bearers are those people who have obligations to meet with regard to a rights holder and their ability to realise their rights, this will often be governments, local authorities, or even parents. We work with all these duty bearers in different ways, and encouraging local ownership of projects enhances the accountability of duty bearers in itself. 

In addition to this we do encourage our supporters to add their voices to petitions and letters to government officials who can influence the law and the treatment of people and ensure their rights are met. Some of the latest situations you can help with are as follows:

 - Preventing backwards steps in Bangladesh regarding child marriage.
 - Heard things are fine in Burma? They’re not see how you can change it. 
 - Contact your MP about Kachin State, Burma and what needs to happen there. 

---