Reflections from UN High-Level Political Forum 2024 Official Side Event- SDG16: Accelerating Progress to Achieve Justice for Children
The High-Level Political Forum 2024 Official Side Event - ‘SDG16: Accelerating Progress to Achieve Justice for Children - Leveraging Insights to Close the Justice Gap’ - was hosted on Wednesday, July 10 2024. With great thanks to all who attended, see below for reflections and upcoming actions.
The Official Side Event was graciously Sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations in New York, with Co-Sponsors the Permanent Missions of Canada, Luxembourg and Spain. It was hosted at Baker & McKenzie New York Offices, and organised by the Working Group on SDG16+ Justice for Children led by University of Strathclyde, the Global Initiative on Justice with Children led by Terre des hommes, with the NGO Panel on Children Deprived of Liberty. The Official Side Event was organised with the Child Friendly Justice European Network, Child Fund Alliance, Child Identity Protection, Defence for Children International, the Global Initiative on Justice With Children, the Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures at the University of Strathclyde, International Legal Foundation, Legal Empowerment Fund, the NGO Panel on Children Deprived of Liberty, OECD, Pathfinders for Peace, Just, and Inclusive Societies, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, Terre des hommes, UNICEF, University of Leiden, Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria and UNODC.
Reflections from the Official Side Event
Opening the Official Side Event, Event Moderators Professor Jennifer Davidson and Mr Cédric Foussard contextualised the magnitude of the challenge to achieve SDG 16 for children - internationally, nationally, and locally - and affirmed the Official Side Event’s focus on leveraging child-centred justice reforms (Gamechangers) to close the vast global justice gap facing children.
Key Messages include:
People-centred justice is a paradigm shift that is underway, seeking to prioritise people and their experiences as a starting point for wide reaching and socially transformative justice reforms. However, children remain amongst those most at risk of facing obstacles which prevent them from accessing justice and upholding their rights.
Urgent attention is required to better represent children’s justice needs and experiences, with child-centred adaptations and new methodologies to include children in justice evidence and data. Child-centred justice happens best in the places and spaces where children are already living their lives.
Multilateral spaces support harnessing learning from the international level, offering guidance and child-centred justice Gamechangers, innovations and reforms that sustainably accelerate progress at the national and local level, in tune with children’s lived realities.
Session One: Hybrid High-Level Session
‘Agenda 2030: The Role of Multilateralism to Achieve Justice for Children.’
This High-Level Session focused on the criticality of multilateral leadership and national action to achieve SDG16 for children. Moderated by Ms Atieno Odhiambo, Director, Legal Empowerment Fund, this Session explored the strong, new partnerships and tangible local actions required to reach the ‘furthest behind, first.’ Moderators and Speakers also held space to give special attention to children in the most vulnerable situations. Esteemed speakers shared promising national or local actions in their areas which are accelerating child-centred progress, with:
Ms Delphine Schantz, Director, UNODC New York.
H.E. Mr Olivier Maes, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Luxembourg.
H.E Ms Ana Jiménez de la Hoz, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Spain.
H.E Mr Richard Arbeiter, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada.
Ms Mary Beth Goodman, OECD Deputy Secretary General (watch here!)
Dr Najat Maalla M’Jid, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, closed the Session with global reflections on accelerating progress to eradicate violence against children.
Session Two: Youth Experiential Learning Simulation
’In My Shoes’
Session Hosts, Ms Angela Vigil, Baker McKenzie, and Mr Brian Blalock, Youth Justice Center, utilised this Youth Experiential Learning Simulation to help participants better understand what it is like to be a young person navigating public systems, while also pursuing their own dreams, following their own interests, and surviving their own traumas.
Participants were invited to ‘take a walk in our shoes’ to help build better solutions with and for children, youth and families.
More information about YExLS is available here.
Session Three: Gamechangers to Shift to Child-Centred Systems
Consultation, informing UNCRC General Comment 27
Holding the experiences and lessons learned from YExLS in Session Two, Session Three focused on identifying the responses necessary to solve the common justice problems children face. Mr Benoit Van Keirsbilck, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, invited participants to identify the common responses necessary, and share those innovations as part of Global Consultations on the upcoming UNCRC General Comment 27 on children’s rights to access to justice and remedies (watch Benoit’s video here).
And so, in small, collaborative groups, participants shared Gamechangers - child-centred justice interventions, innovations, and reforms - where powerful insights were shared from success stories on intergenerational partnerships, prevention services, child-sensitive justice services, collaborative alliances, and many others. The child-centred justice Gamechangers will now be compiled and shared as part of the Global Consultation on the Draft General Comment 27. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information as the Consultations progress.
Upcoming News & Events from the Working Group on SDG16+ Justice for Children
2024 OECD Global Roundtable on Equal Access to Justice: Reimagining justice: Building trust through people-centred justice
9-10 October, 2024
Ottawa, Canada
Register here.
2024 Global Conference on Justice for Children Deprived of Liberty - including day of consultation on GC27
17-19 December, 2024
Geneva, Switzerland
Register here.
Partner Publications
Terre des hommes (2024) Fostering New Child Rights Constituencies: Leveraging Knowledge on Customary Justice Systems
Next Steps
The Report on the Gamechangers Consultation, informing UNCRC General Comment 27 on access to justice and remedies, collated from this Event will drive the development of an evidence-base on Gamechanging innovations, and shape the influence of the World Congress on Justice With Children to 2030.
Bookmark this page! More information will be posted here as an when available.
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