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Bluebook 21st ed.

Stuart N. Hart, Laura Theytaz-Bergman & Peter Crowley, National Children's Right
Coalitions: Essential to Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child, 3 INT'l J. CHILD. Rts. 275 (1995).

ALWD 7th ed.

Stuart N. Hart, Laura Theytaz-Bergman & Peter Crowley, National Children's Right
Coalitions: Essential to Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child, 3 Int'l J. Child. Rts. 275 (1995).

APA 7th ed.

Hart, S. N., Theytaz-Bergman, L., & Crowley, P. (1995). National children's right
coalitions: essential to implementation of the u.n. convention on the rights of the
child. International Journal of Children's Rights, 3(2), 275-280.

Chicago 17th ed.

Stuart N. Hart; Laura Theytaz-Bergman; Peter Crowley, "National Children's Right
Coalitions: Essential to Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child," International Journal of Children's Rights 3, no. 2 (1995): 275-280

McGill Guide 9th ed.

Stuart N. Hart, Laura Theytaz-Bergman & Peter Crowley, "National Children's Right
Coalitions: Essential to Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child" (1995) 3:2 Int'l J Child Rts 275.

AGLC 4th ed.

Stuart N. Hart, Laura Theytaz-Bergman and Peter Crowley, 'National Children's Right
Coalitions: Essential to Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child' (1995) 3(2) International Journal of Children's Rights 275

MLA 9th ed.

Hart, Stuart N., et al. "National Children's Right Coalitions: Essential to
Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child." International
Journal of Children's Rights, vol. 3, no. 2, 1995, pp. 275-280. HeinOnline.

OSCOLA 4th ed.

Stuart N. Hart, Laura Theytaz-Bergman & Peter Crowley, 'National Children's Right
Coalitions: Essential to Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child' (1995) 3 Int'l J Child Rts 275

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The InternationalJournalof Children'sRights 3: 275-280, 1995.
© 1995 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printedin the Netherlands.

National children's right coalitions:

Essential to implementation of the U.N. Convention on the
Rights of the Child

2
STUART N. HART', LAURA THEYTAZ-BERGMAN and
3
PETER CROWLEY
'International School Psychology Association, National Committee for the Rights of the
Child, USA, School of Education, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis;
2
NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child; 3 InternationalSave the
Children Alliance

Background

In 1983, when the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child had been underway for four years, representatives from some
20 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) met to discuss how
the NGO community could have an impact on the development of the treaty.
The special expertise and experience of NGOs, especially those devoted to
child-related issues, was considered to be sorely needed as a complement to
the perspectives and agenda of government representatives in developing inter-
national legal standards for the care, development and respect of children.
This meeting resulted in the formation of an "informal NGO Ad Hoc Group
on the Drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child" to facilitate
and coordinate NGO contributions to the drafting process. This NGO Ad
Hoc Group, and its individual members, made significant contributions to
the development of the articles and specific wording of the Convention.
Shortly after the Convention was adopted by the United Nations in 1989,
the members of the NGO Ad Hoc Group chose to reconstitute the organiza-
tion so that it might continually work for world-wide ratification and
implementation of the treaty. The name of the new organization, now
approximately double in size with 37 members, became the "NGO Group
for the Convention on the Rights of the Child." The two major goals set for
the NGO Group were to:
- facilitate two-way information flow between Committee on the Rights of
the Child and international and national NGO communities; and
- support efforts toward the development of comparable groupings of NGOs
at the national level (later referred to as "national coalitions").
A major impetus for this work was provided by the receptiveness of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child to information from NGOs and national
coalitions. This Committee is the body responsible for reviewing and respond-
 Practice and implementation

ing to children's rights status reports that the Convention requires of States
Parties. Under article 45 of the Convention, the Committee is empowered to
seek information from a number of sources including "other competent bodies."
In its Provisional Rules of Procedure, the Committee set forth its specific inten-
tions to consider the specialized knowledge of NGOs and reports alternative
or complementary to country reports. This is the only multinational human
rights treaty which has given such a formal rule to NGOs.
During the next two years the NGO Group devoted the majority of its
resources and activities to orienting itself to the developing system of United
Nations structures and processes applicable to the Convention, to expanding
and ensuring NGO participation in relevant informational processes, to iden-
tifying and dealing with issues considered critical by its member organizations,
and to developing its own organizational design and integrity. Not until 1991
did the NGO Group deliberately undertake the task to foster the develop-
ment of national NGO groupings.

National coalition initiative

On 11-12 February, 1991, Stuart Hart (International School Psychology

Association, National Committee for the Rights of the Child-USA) and Cynthia
Price Cohen (ChildRights International Research Institute, then representing
another NGO) brought to the leadership of the NGO Group a formal proposal
for the establishment of an international network of national children's rights
coalitions. The proposal identified many of the major benefits which could
accrue from the existence of strong national children's rights coalitions, the
advantages of forming a supportive international network of such coalitions,
and the appropriateness and strategies for the NGO Group to facilitate the
development of coalitions and the proposed network. The NGO Group lead-
ership who participated in the meeting indicated their support for the initiative,
helped to refine it, and established a "Task Force on National Coalitions" to
further determine the need and desire for NGO Group involvement and to
prepare a report and proposal for the NGO Group at its November 1991
meeting.
The "Task Force on National Coalitions" met three times, with its last
meeting on 14-15 November 1991. At the completion of its initial survey, it
had identified national coalition-like entities in twelve countries (Brazil, Chile,
France, Japan, Pakistan, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom,
United States, Vietnam, and Yemen). Seven of these coalitions, in their
response to inquires from the Task Force, indicated general support for the
creation of an international network of national coalitions and an interest in
participating in its development. The Task Force reaffirmed the desirability
of national coalitions and for those coalitions to:
- campaign for ratification for the Convention where it has not been achieved;
 National children's rights coalitions

- promote knowledge of the spirit and content of the Convention among the
public in general, in targeted professional circles, and among children and
youth;
- monitor compliance with the provisions of the Convention in their respec-
tive countries; and
- where possible and appropriate, serve as a consultative body to the gov-
ernment on implementation of the Convention.
The Task Force presented its findings and recommendations for further work
to the NGO Group. The NGO Group took formal action in support of the
national coalition initiative at its November 1991 meeting, raising to first
priority its commitment to facilitate the development and functioning of
national coalitions.

1992 meetings of national coalitions

Both the NGO Group and UNICEF recognized early that national coalitions
of NGOs would be essential to achieving the goals of the U.N. Convention;
particularly through application of the specialized knowledge of coalition
members and their combined ability to assist and monitor government and
private sector efforts to implement the Convention. To launch efforts to
facilitate national coalition development and effectiveness, a meeting of
internationally representative national coalition leadership was held in Geneva
on 10-11 December 1992, organized and sponsored by the NGO Group and
UNICEF. Fairly good geographical and country-type representation occurred
through attendance by coalition leadership from the following nations: Brazil,
Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Nicaragua, Slovenia,
Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, and Zambia.
It was agreed by the majority of those attending that an international network
of national coalitions should be formed and that the NGO Group was a proper
facilitator of this process for the foreseeable future. The meeting gathered
information about each coalition's purposes and priorities; working themes,
structures, and mechanisms; membership, and financial sources. A "loosely
formed" international network resulted, with working groups on (a) organi-
zation and structure and (b) critical indicators and issues. Within a few months
following this meeting, reports recommending next steps were submitted by
both working groups; however, they were never formally dealt with by the
NGO Group, no general report of the meeting was made, and momentum
was lost during an ensuing period of shifting financial conditions, priorities
and leadership within the NGO Group. NGO Group relationships with specific
NGOs and national coalitions continued; and NGO Group members were asked
to encourage all their national affiliates to join and support existing coali-
tions or, where they do not exist, to promote the creation of coalitions.
Deliberate and more systematic attention to national coalitions was not forth-
 Practice and implementation

coming until a funded NGO Group leadership position was established to

deal with this topics.

Recent progress

By early in 1993 it had become apparent that the NGO Group would not realize
its potential to have positive impact on the implementation of the U.N.
Convention unless this work was coordinated full time by a specialist. Rddda
Barnen offered to finance such a position and, in July of 1993, Ms. Laura
Theytaz-Bergman, a lawyer specializing in human rights, was selected as NGO
Group "Coordinator" to ensure optimum information flow between the NGO
Community at large (including liaison with and support for national coalitions)
and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. By the time of the November
1993 meeting of the NGO Group, the Task Force on National Coalitions was
reinstated with chairpersons from Radda Bamen, and by October of 1994 a
shift had occurred so that the International Save the Children Alliance (ISCA)
was providing leadership for the Task Force. Both ISCA and UNICEF
reaffirmed that work with national coalitions should be given high priority
by their organizations and by the NGO Group.
Several important developments have occurred during this period of NGO
Group work with national coalitions.
- National coalitions and their NGO members have been informed of time-
liness, preparations, and actions relevant to their country reports, particularly
associated with formal processes of the Committee on the Rights of the
Child.
- National coalitions and their NGO members have been helped to develop
their general and issue-specific reports of national children's rights condi-
tions and to present them orally and in writing to the Committee on the
Rights of the Child.
- National coalitions and their NGO members have been informed of and
prepared to make presentations about "theme" issues of concern to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child.
This work appears to have been highly successful to date. As examples, in
1994 national coalitions in Honduras, Jamaica, the Philippines, and the Ukraine,
with good participation by their NGOs, developed and presented to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child very strong reports including clear,
concrete recommendations. The Honduran coalition's report was particularly
effective in countering efforts in its country to reduce the age of criminal
responsibility.
Dissemination of information about the form and structure of national
coalitions is proving useful. The Hong Kong Committee on Children's Rights
has adopted many of the characteristics of the National Committee for the
Rights of the Child in the United States through direct consultation with that
 National children's rights coalitions

body. The national coalition in the United Kingdom, "Children's Rights

Development Unit," has recently shown itself to be a strong model for good
public relations, media coverage, and effective lobbying.
National coalitions have developed in Japan (Federation for the Protection
of Children's Human Rights), Germany (National Coalition for the
Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Germany),
and India (Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of the Child) which
present models for bringing previously existing multiple coalitions together
to form a coordinated structure to pursue common children's rights interests.
In Latin America regional and sub-regional coordination of national coali-
tions has occurred in a manner which provides an excellent model for the
sharing of common experiences within a region.

Toward further progress

More information about national coalitions, more involvement between them,

and more systematic support for their development and activities is needed.
Steps are underway in all these areas.
The NGO Task Force on National Coalitions and the International Save
the Children Alliance's Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of
the Child are surveying selected national coalitions to more clearly deter-
mine the nature of their organizational structure, membership, priorities,
relationship with government, involvement in development of alternative or
supplementary country reports, interaction with the U.N. and the NGO Group,
lessons learned, and projected future. This information will expand data already
available from the Task Force's work, which has identified one or more
coalitions in each of 41 different countries. Many requests have been received
by the NGO Group for this kind of information by those wishing to estab-
lish or strengthen the coalition in their country.
The NGO Group is presently analyzing the relationships between the reports
and testimony given to the Committee on the Rights of the Child by NGOs
and national coalitions, and the Committee's resulting comments, conclu-
sions and recommendations on State Party reports. This analysis will be used
to develop models for effective NGO communication with the Committee.
The NGO Group's Task Force on National Coalitions is presently exploring
its potential to support national coalitions by:

- providing case studies of the development and functioning of diverse

national coalition types
- encouraging contact and partnerships between national coalitions with
combinations of needs and resources likely to be mutually beneficial
- strengthening clearinghouse functions for vital information
- increasing NGO involvement in and support for coalitions
- strengthening efforts to guide the development of coalitions
280 Practice and implementation

- offering and/or facilitating education and training for issue handling

- using electronic communication systems to facilitate information exchange
among the NGO Group and national coalitions
- increasing the ability of the international network of national coalitions to
serve the needs of its members
Continuing efforts to promote the development and effectiveness of national
coalitions of children's rights, NGOs should help these groups to realize their
great potential for advancing the best interests of children nationally and
internationally.

The information provided in this article is supported by the official reports of meetings of the
NGO Group and of its Task Force on National Coalitions; and by the records and memories
of the authors. Anyone wishing to have further information on the creation of or activities
being undertaken by national coalitions should contact Laura Theytaz-Bergman, NGO Group for
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, clo DCI, P.O. Box 88, CH 1211 Geneva 20,
Switzerland, Fax: 141-22-740-1145.