By Harry Rutner, Senior Legal and Advocacy Officer at the Consortium for Street Children
The 7 – 8th of November 2024 marked a historic moment, the First Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children (the Global Ministerial). There were a number of Satellite Events in the lead up to the Global Ministerial that covered topics on ending violence against children. This was also a historic moment for CSC, as we had the opportunity to co-host one of the first satellite events, and the only satellite event with a focus on ending violence against street-connected children: ‘Growing up on the streets and realizing children’s rights: Promising practices addressing violence against all children’. This was co-hosted with the office of the Special Representative on Violence against Children, the office of the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, the University of Dundee, two child and youth representative street champions from Child in Need Institute (CINI), a presenter from the Government of Uruguay and was expertly moderated by Ann Skelton, Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The Satellite Event focused on children’s rights, how we can ensure that the systems designed to protect all children are appropriate for the most marginalised children, especially those in street situations; and the importance of the meaningful participation of children in designing solutions for them to be effective.
We had the opportunity to hear directly from youth advocates, Priya and Rani, street champions from CINI, who shared their challenges of invisibility and how they have taken action with their peers to advocate for their rights and improve access to services. They reminded us that children are experts in their own lives and their voices must be included in policymaking, emphasizing their agency in contributing to real solutions for safer communities when being heard and respected. This message echoed throughout the Global Ministerial.
The Satellite Event gave rise to important recommendations directly from our speakers, including Integrated and adapted child protection, community and law enforcement training, and the importance of data. The satellite event was a unique opportunity to hear from prominent voices from around the world and street-connected children on how we can work together to ensure that street-connected children are protected from violence and remind us that effective and inclusive child protection frameworks can only truly work for all children if it includes the participation of street-connected children and other marginalised groups.
You can find a summary of our Satellite Event and recommendations here.