Launch! The Global Working Group on Justice for Children Strategy 2026-2030
On behalf of the Global Working Group on Justice for Children (GWGJ4C), we are delighted to announce the publication of our 2026 - 2030 Strategy and share our updated Global Working Group Members.
About the Strategy
This 2026-2030 Strategy builds on the sustained momentum of the global child-centred justice movement while responding to urgent and complex challenges that disproportionately affect children worldwide. The fragile state of multilateralism, rising insecurity, and compounding crises, including humanitarian emergencies, environmental degradation, socio-political tensions, and financial instability, demand coordinated action and tangible advocacy.
As the dedicated global partnership advancing child-centred justice, the GWGJ4C drives a child-centred approach aligned with the broader people-centred justice movement. This Strategy therefore serves as both a call to action and a roadmap for resilience, driving meaningful progress through structured coordination, prioritised collective action, and an intersectional, results-based approach.
The Strategy also marks a significant step forward in the ambition of the GWGJ4C. It reflects a shift from a primary focus on global advocacy partnerships to the development of a unified, strategic, and multi-level movement. Child-centred justice requires a whole-system approach, and the GWGJ4C is committed to expanding its efforts across grassroots, national, regional, and global levels. This will be achieved through sharper strategic focus, broader partnerships, and shared accountability to advance and secure child-centred justice. The Strategy also reaffirms a commitment to empowering children as changemakers in social transformation, recognising their participation as a defining characteristic of legitimate justice systems and as essential to ensuring fair, inclusive, and sustainable justice.
Global Working Group on Justice for Children
We are also delighted to share our Global Working Group organisational structure and Members.
The Global Working Group on Justice for Children is a partnership of international, multi-agency experts who promote a shared commitment to advance child-centred justice. It places children, and their human rights, at the core of the people-centred justice movement, and recognises that without equal access to justice for children, we cannot achieve equal access to justice for all as outlined in SDG 16.3.
The Global Working Group on Justice for Children is convened by the Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures at the University of Strathclyde (IICF). It includes Child Friendly Justice European Network (CFJ-EN), Defence for Children International (DCI), ECPAT International, International Legal Foundation (ILF), the Legal Empowerment Fund (LEF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, Terre des hommes Lausanne Foundation, UNICEF, the United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children (OSRSGVAC), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The GWG works in close collaboration with the Justice Action Coalition.
