UN Day of General Discussion – new participation resource available

Date: 23rd May 2018
Category: Other human rights treaties and mechanisms

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A resource has been produced which supports consultation with children to inform the UN General Day of Discussion, which this year will be focusing on Protecting and Empowering Child Human Rights Defenders.

The resource, developed by the Centre for Children's Rights at Queen's University Belfast, contains information about the workshop discussions which the UN Committee is encouraging facilitators to hold with children and young people in order to inform the DGD. The discussions will ask children involved in the workshops about whether they see themselves as a human rights defender as well as questions about the wider support that they feel is required from schools, communities and governments to ensure children can act as human rights defenders.

Also included in the pack is child-friendly information sheets, consent forms, and information for parents and guardians who may be accompanying their children to the workshops.

• Access the resource here.

The UN Day of General Discussion (DGD) will take place in September this year in Geneva. In Scotland, work on raising awareness of the role of children as human rights defenders has already began, and projects will continue to run before and after the DGD to ensure children and young people across Scotland are empowered to become human rights defenders.

• Read more about the DGD here.