Did you know that children can participate in the UPR? Child Rights Connect supports child participation. Here is some info for those interested. Canada will be reviewed under the UPR in 2023.
Child participation
The UPR mechanism provides an opportunity to empower children who might have participated in the CRC reporting process or are taking forward activities on theirs or others human rights at different levels and can be an introduction to the UN human rights system. Our child friendly guide The UPR & Me: My Guide to Participating in the UPR is a tool to empower children to participate throughout the UPR cycle.
Children can participate at any point in the UPR cycle (it is not a pre-requisite for children to have submitted a UPR report to engage in the pre-session, for example). We are piloting with the NGO UPR Info the opportunity to support a child human rights defender to participate in the UPR pre-session and share with States delegation’s updates about the human rights situations in their country. Our child-friendly Guide is a very helpful tool to brief and prepare children for the pre-session.
Child Human Rights Defenders
As part of a pilot project, we are encouraging civil society to include recommendations on child human rights defenders in their UPR reports, as an opportunity to advance their rights.