Putting Children’s Rights on Equal Footing with Human Rights
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure (OPIC)
Child Rights Connect was instrumental in the creation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure (OPIC) and in the ratification campaign that led to its entry into force in April 2014. Through this new treaty, the international community has put children’s rights on an equal footing with other human rights and allowed for more accountability of States. The recognition that children have the right to appeal to an international mechanism specific to them, if violations cannot be addressed effectively at national level, is also the ultimate example of putting children’s right to be heard and participate into practice.
For this treaty to have an impact on the realization of children’s rights at national level, it is essential that children’s rights defenders, including children, understand its relevance and functioning. One of the strategic priorities of Child Rights Connect is to ensure that OPIC is used by children’s rights defenders, including children, to seek redress for children’s rights violations and to influence the development of the legal and policy frameworks.
For this purpose, we advocate for more States to ratify OPIC, so that more children can access the mechanism, and we work closely with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to ensure that the Protocol and its rules of procedure are effectively operationalized through high quality working methods, including accessible, transparent and child-sensitive processes.
OPIC by the Numbers
Adopted DECISIONS
Adopted Views (Decisions on the merits)
Concluded Inquiries
NEWS
Discover the latest developments under the OPIC through our Annual OPIC Trends 2021
What have been the main developments under the OPIC in 2021? On what issues concerned the decisions adopted by the Committee? What trends are we seeing? With the end of 2021, we have put together the Annual OPIC Trends...
Historic ruling by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in the climate change case brought by 16 child petitioners under the OPIC
On Monday October 11, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) published its long-awaited decisions on admissibility in the so-called “climate change case” (Sacchi et al v. Argentina et al). Together...
A day of many firsts: Highlights from the 2021 HLPF side-event on Equitable access to justice for all children
Recording of the event now available con Child Rights Connect’s YouTube channel. Link to the video here. During the 2021 High Level Political Forum (HLPF), on July 13, Child Rights Connect together with...