From a government

Your extremely important role is to make sure the citizens you govern can live in a safe and fair society that respects their rights as human beings. This means that you should promote and protect human rights - which are the foundations of such a society - in all your work.

A lot of your human rights obligations will come from international law. It is your role to ensure the human rights treaties your State has signed and ratified, are effectively implemented in your country and that your citizens can enjoy the rights they contain.

For instance, when it comes to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), all States parties (which will include your government unless you are from  the United States - the only country that have not ratified the CRC) must implement it into national legislation, report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child every five years (see the Committee’s Rules of Procedure for more) and ask UNICEF for any technical assistance in either regard.

Your government will also have specific obligations under other human rights treaties, and in particular to the Universal Periodic Review (the UN mechanism that reviews each Member State’s human rights record every four and half years. Find out more in our Universal Periodic Review guide).

But your obligations do not stop at only treaties. You should work to ensure your government signs and ratifies any international treaties it has so far failed to, including those for children. The CRC is the most ratified international human rights treaty. But its Optional Protocols (one on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; another on children in armed conflict; and a third establishing an international complaints mechanisms for children’s rights violations) have not had the same level of success.

As a government official, you are also in a strong position to challenge other States on their poor human rights record, and you should ensure that you raise it with their representatives whenever possible, and even consider harsher action (e.g. trade or sporting sanctions, or cutting of diplomatic ties) for gross human rights abuse.

In most countries, children under 18 do not have any political power because they cannot vote. This means their rights, needs and views are often neglected in policy decisions.

Whatever level or arm of government you are in, by recognising that children have rights and helping to ensure they are protected across governmental decisions and policies, you can have a profound impact on the lives of thousands of children.

We want a world where governments and societies view and treat children as rights holders - not simply as “the future” in need of protection and charity, or merely an extension of their parents. We want to work with government officials to achieve this goal. Please contact us at [email protected] for further information or advice, as well as to give us feedback on our work and how we can better help you protect and promote children’s rights.

Resources for you

Below are some additional resources dedicated to people who work in government. We value your feedback on these, as well as suggestions for further resources. Please contact us at [email protected].