How to Engage with the Simplified Reporting Procedure: A case study from Zambia

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) has introduced an optional Simplified Reporting Procedure (SRP) for States.  This has important implications for civil society organisations since it creates new entry points for advocacy and shorter timelines to the standard procedure.  One significant new element – and the first step in the SRP – is a civil society submission to the Committee for the preparation of the List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR).  The List of Issues is critically important as it forms the basis for the key priority areas that are raised with States and the submission allows civil society to set the agenda from the outset.

Zambia opted in to the SRP in 2018 and, during 2019-2020, a civil society coalition undertook consultations and prepared a submission for the LOIPR. This Case Study examines how this was achieved and some of the challenges and opportunities for promoting children’s rights under this new reporting procedure.

As this Case Study demonstrates, the reporting process to the Committee is not just a bureaucratic exercise – prioritising resources to engage with the SRP helped to keep children’s rights high up on the political agenda, provided a platform for children’s participation and fostered more integrated civil society collaboration.  It also encouraged the Zambian government to take stock of progress made in protecting children’s rights and increased public scrutiny of Zambian laws, policies and programmes that impact on children.

This case study is developed as part of the How to Child Rights series.