At its session held last September in New York, UNICEF’s Executive Board organized a special thematic segment dedicated to child protection and violence against children. Within that framework, IPU-UNICEF partnership was given special prominence. The IPU Secretary General was invited to address the Board and present the work carried out jointly by both organizations for the protection of children and their rights. His intervention served to re-emphasize the key role played by parliaments and their members in favour of children.
IPU-UNICEF partnership has grown over the past five years, building on a series of initiatives and programmes aimed at strengthening parliamentary action for children and their protection. Joint activities began with efforts aimed at raising awareness through the organization of annual parliamentary panels at IPU Assemblies on specific child protection issues (trafficking, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, etc.). These initiatives were complemented by the production of parliamentary handbooks, aimed at guiding and supporting MPs and their staff in their work.
Most recently, activities have focused on providing regional and national support to parliaments on specific child protection issues. The regional parliamentary seminar on juvenile justice for South Asian parliaments is but one example.
In the field of violence against children, IPU and UNICEF have recently produced a handbook on that subject to follow up at the parliamentary level on the recommendations of the United Nations Study on Violence Against Children. The handbook was presented to the UNICEF Executive Board. American Actress and poet Sarah Jones closed the segment with a special performance on violence against children.
