An Overview

Presentation to Senate Committee on

Human Rights

December 13, 2004

National Children’s Alliance

Created in 1996 Network for collaboration on policy

development for change 62 national organizations Cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary Evidence based approach to policy

development• Link research to policy• Link policy to practice

Government Relations

Sector Capacity Building

Operating Principles

Unique Leadership Style

• No formalized organizational

structure

• Principles based network

• Shared model of leadership

• Active participation of organizations

• Transparent, consensus building decision making process

Mission

Promote the health and well being of children in Canada through• Facilitating dialogue• Strengthening the network• Developing policy• Engaging organizations• Promoting development and implementation

of National Children’s Agenda

Foundation for the policy work of the Alliance is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Convention on the Rights of Children

Rights of the child defined by: Rights of provision Rights of protection Rights of participation Ratification of the Convention includes the

obligation of states parties to report to the

United Nations on progress towards implementation

Monitoring Implementation of

the Convention

Concluding observations of the United Nations in 1995 and 2003 indicated concern about the lack of a permanent monitoring mechanism in Canada

In 2003 the United Nations also pointed to the lack of a national “ombudsman” for children’s rights

United Nations recognizes that the

participation of the NGO community as fundamental to monitoring implementation

Monitoring Implementation

Complex and ongoing task to monitor implementation of the Convention (human,economic and social rights)

Convention itself reflects inter-related

rights and freedoms Monitoring balances research with

participation of the NGO community Child and youth participation inherent

in the process

Barriers to Monitoring

Lack of co-ordination across jurisdictions

(noted in the U.N. Concluding Observations) Lack of co-ordination across federal

departments No resourced “centre of responsibility” within

federal government F/P/T processes not designed for coherent cross-

sectoral children’s policy (National Children’s Agenda)

No child advocate or ombudsperson at the federal level

Barriers – cont’d Data availability and access

• Under-resourced data collection and

analysis at federal level

• Lack of data for vulnerable

sub-populations

• No co-ordination of data sources across jurisdictions

• Restrictions re: privacy

• Declining capacity of NGO community

Federal commitment Lack of “earmarked” resources for

monitoring implementation Problems working horizontally Minimal support to NGO community for

monitoring Under-resourced process to develop the

National Plan of Action Difficulty in making a commitment to

concrete benchmarks and timelines in the National Plan of Action

Lack of a process to work with provinces

and territories

Role of NGO Sector United Nations expects NGO Reports on

implementation NGO sector has the networks and

expertise to monitor implementation As the “third party” can bring research

and practice to monitoring role NGO sector transcends jurisdiction

(pan-Canadian and grassroots in scope) Permanent monitoring mechanism could

bridge and support both NGO and

government reporting

Towards Accountability

Role of “third sector” more than monitoring governments

Intersecting roles of governments and

the NGO sector in service delivery imply need for partnership

Need to to track progress of Canada’s

children over time in a way that meaningful to all stakeholders (governments, NGO sector, United Nations, communities)

Telling the Story of Canada’s Children

Therefore we need to collectively tell the

story of Canada’s children (this will give us

the knowledge and understanding we need to monitor implementation

Through a sustainable mechanism it would be possible to support a long term, cohesive

approach to monitoring

Principles for Monitoring

Evidence-based Ecological model as foundation (role of

family, community, governments) Engagement critical Reflect the inter-related rights and

influences on children’s lives Asking the “right” questions respects the

Convention (what is and what should be) Voices of children and youth

Model for Monitoring Convention

All jurisdictions

(federal/provincial/territorial) • Legislation and regulations

• Case law

• Policy

• Practice

• Research and Statistics

• Public Opinion

• Voices of Children and Youth

Process of Monitoring

Engagement needs to be:• Cross-sectoral (Governments, NGO

sector, Private Sector)

• Intergovernmental (federal, provincial, territorial, regional, municipal,

aboriginal)

• Horizontal (health, social, education, recreation, environment, justice etc..)

• Vertical (from grassroots

communities to pan-Canadian

perspectives)

Permanent Monitoring Mechanism

Recommendation: Development of a

“Council”

that would build the collective capacity of all stakeholders to exercise their roles and responsibilities to “monitor” the progress of Canada’s children

“Council” would enable the monitoring of international and domestic agreements

within a co-ordinated network

“Council” Mandate Increase body of knowledge on the health and

well-being of Canada’s children Develop and engage cross-sector and multi-

disciplinary networks Track progress and monitor international and

domestic agreements Build capacity of communities to

“tell the story” of Canada’s children Engage children and youth A national “advocate” for children

Functions of the “Council”

Research and Development Knowledge Translation Network and Partnership Development Tracking progress Reporting Mobilizing for change

Roles of the “Council”

Facilitator and Co-ordinator Bridger Catalyst Capacity-builder Broker for consensus Funder of key monitoring initiatives Links research, practice and policy Build on existing (“distributed

organization”)

Conclusion

Federal Government’s responsibility

to monitor implementation

dependent upon role of NGO community

Barriers to monitoring can be overcome by supporting NGO capacity to

“tell the story of Canada’s children” Sustainable monitoring mechanism

such as the proposed “Council”

provides the infrastructure and networks

Thank you

Dianne Bascombe

Executive Director

National Children’s Alliance

331 Cooper Street, Suite 707

Ottawa, Ontario

613-560-5843 ext 229

dianne@nationalchildrensalliance.com