Study on the Rapporteurship on the Rights of the Child of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

The “Study on the Rapporteurship on the Rights of the Child of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights” was commissioned by Save the Children and carried out by the Human Rights Clinic of The University of Texas School of Law (HRC) in cooperation with the Rapporteurship on the Rights of the Child (RRC) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).The report incorporates the opinions of a diverse and experienced group of actors in the human rights, particularly in the field of children’s rights. It is hoped that the study will become a useful tool for the new Rapporteur (the tenure of current Rapporteur Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro officially ends on 31 December 2011) to continue the process of enhancing those areas identified as strengths and best practices, and that it also will serve to design a strategy to overcome the current limitations facing the RRC, which prevent the effective fulfilment of its mandate. The study concludes with a reflection on how the RRC is uniquely positioned to create and supervise a comprehensive children’s rights agenda that can be sustained throughout the Americas. By having a prioritized plan that views human rights through a children’s perspective, the RRC can guide and encourage individual countries, both governments and NGOs, not only to mutually discern the most pressing children’s rights issues, but more importantly, to develop effective solutions to these problems.