NGO Group for the CRC
International Network
NGO Group for the CRC
Description
The NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereafter NGO Group) is a coalition of several and varied organisations. They all are intending to promote and monitor the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in all State Parties.
The NGO Group was created in 1983 when some NGOs, such as Bice, teamed up and took an active part in the drafting of the Convention. It was therefore originally known as the "Informal Ad Hoc NGO Group for the Drafting of the CRC" and has been credited with influencing the Convention's final text quite positively. Later named " NGO Group for the CRC" it has kept on working as a network in charge of monitoring the implementation of the CRC.
Mission and aims
The NGO Group intends to support the promotion, implementation and monitoring of the CRC. This mission has been shared into into several objectives:
- to advocate on behalf of children by raising awareness about the Convention;
- to promote and facilitate the full implementation of the Convention through specific programmes and actions;
- to support the circulation of information between the Committee on the Rights of the Child, concerned United Nations bodies and the civil society;
- to facilitate cooperation and information-sharing within the NGO community on monitoring and implementing the Convention;
- to draw up policies and strategies and undertake action on all the issues addressed by the Convention;
- to contribute to the monitoring work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child;
- to facilitate the creation and support the work of NGO networks that contribute to the advancement of children's rights at national level;
Structure and functions
The NGO Group is composed of more than 80 international non-governmental organisations, each of these based or active in at least three countries. Some members are directly involved in the implementation of the CRC through their aims and activities. Some others have set child welfare at the core of their action, or included it into a wider mission. The latter group can gather special interest groups, religious based charities, women's organisations, professional associations and trade unions.
Other intergovernmental organisations, such as UNICEF, participate in the group as observers.
Working groups
The members of the NGO Group can gather into working groups that focus on specific articles of the CRC or on thematic issues such as: violence against children, children without parental care, sexual exploitation. Those working groups are fully in line with the NGO Group's core mission as they monitor the actual involvement of UN bodies and other international fora to the advancement of child rights. They also serve as a platform for action and debate for their members.
