Millions of children are out of school, lack access to health care and suffer violence and exploitation. To ensure that all children survive, thrive, learn and are protected, governments need to step up efforts to realize the rights of all children, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Despite the fact that children have the right to participate and be heard in issues that concern them, they are often ignored by governments that do not think children should have a voice and space for addressing their needs and concerns.

Using the Common Approach of Child Rights Reporting, Save the Children (SC), along with partners and children, report child rights violations to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). We then use recommendations from these accountability mechanisms to influence governments to improve the situation for the children in the country.

It provides an opportunity to speak out about the lack of state accountability to children and give recommendations on what needs to change. In essence, it is about speaking out when states have failed to fulfil children’s rights.

This approach is well-proven and widely utilised by child and human rights organisations around the world. Save the Children has played a leading role in its development over the past 25 years, notably on how to involve children or support them to lead their own reporting and advocacy process in meaningful ways under the main accountability mechanisms for children’s rights.

This compilation of case studies aims to show how Save the Children (SC) has effectively supported civil society and children to engage and use the recommendations coming out of the international and regional human and child rights accountability mechanisms to hold Governments accountable on their commitment to children when advocating for children´s rights. The compilation also points to how Save the Children (SC) has addressed child participation in this work and seek to empower children to become agents of change through this work.