Enhancing the Capacity of CSOs Focused on Children's Rights to Improve Their Effectiveness in Monitoring, Reporting and Advocacy

One in three people worldwide is a child, and approximately one-quarter of every person’s life is spent in childhood. Childhood is therefore a critical period for all of us, and for this reason, children’s rights to life, development, protection, and participation are guaranteed by international conventions. However, these rights gain true meaning only when they are reflected not just in texts, but also in everyday life and public policies.

At this point, an important question arises: To what extent are these rights realized in practice? Unfortunately, the answer is often not very positive. In decisions and practices that directly affect children, these rights are frequently overlooked. Yet, it is our shared responsibility to see children not only as individuals in need of protection but as rights-holding subjects—to listen to them, support their participation, and consider their needs. In other words, children’s rights are a fundamental perspective that should be embedded not only in the approach of NGOs, experts, and activists working in this field, but in every organization that monitors, produces policy, creates impact, and pursues change.

We consider mainstreaming children’s rights within civil society one of our top priorities. Therefore, we work to embed a child-rights focused approach into the common practice of civil society, strengthening and transforming organizations alongside them. To promote an approach that recognizes children as rights-holders, we combine our over 20 years of experience in the civil society field with capacity-building efforts, supporting this process through training, advocacy, and knowledge production.

Under the ACAR Project, co-funded by the EU and implemented by UNICEF Turkey, we are carrying out the Strengthening Monitoring, Reporting, and Advocacy Capacities of CSOs Working on Children’s Rights Project in the framework of our strategic partnership with UNICEF Turkey.

So, what do we do?

In this project, which aims to promote a child-rights focused approach across civil society, we operate under three main components:
    •    Comprehensive Training Programs
    •    Workshop Activities
    •    Resource Production and Research