Research

Once we spot a problematic trend or persistent violation of children’s rights, we look to launch detailed research to find out exactly what is going on. This research then often defines or feeds into advocacy work and broader campaigns - both by us, and by other children’s rights campaigners around the world.  

Below are some of our current research and monitoring work, which we regularly add to and update, and you can also find previous research projects and reports in this section of our site. To get involved in any aspect of our research work, please email us.

A library with nearly every children’s rights resource

The CRIN library contains nearly 30,000 resources on children's rights – from UN resolutions and national court cases concerning children's rights, to a directory of NGOs that work on children’s rights in every country. And it is added to everyday - by us and by people who work in children’s rights around the world. Find out how you can contribute to the CRIN library.

Children’s Rights Wiki

Everything about children’s rights in every country, all in one place.

The Children’s Rights Wiki is a living and evolving project that everyone can add to. We started it to help build a clear picture of children’s rights violations that persist in any given country. The eventual goal is the match of persistent abuses of children’s rights with available avenues for redress - all in one place so it’s easy for advocates to access.

We are now analysing the information gathered over many years and making recommendations to the UN mechanisms concerned and children's rights advocates about what to do with the findings.

The legal status of children's rights in every country

We promote harder forms of advocacy, as traditional methods (protests, letter writing, media campaigns etc) haven’t changed the way governments and societies view children, and they can’t on their own. Legal advocacy - using the law and its tools (eg courts) - is a potent tool for change. To help children’s rights campaigners understand and use legal advocacy, as well as ensuring children’s right to access justice, we have set up a project to find out how children and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are seen by the law in every country in the world. Read more on our access to justice for children project.

The CRC in Court

To encourage children and their advocates to think about bringing violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to the justice system, we have assembled a collection of case law where courts have used the CRC in their decision-making process. The CRC has not always fared well in legal decisions, but we hope that reviewing CRC case law will motivate advocates to bring cases to court and help us learn about the potential for (and limits of) advancing children's rights through litigation. Read more about our CRC in court case law database, including our analytical report on case law of the CRC from around the world.