Child Rights Governance

Save the Children's Child Rights Governance (CRG) work focuses on using our evidence to achieve positive outcomes for children by ensuring strengthened and accountable government systems, influencing child-sensitive policies and implementation practices that ensure positive outcomes for children. SC leverages its reputation, technical knowledge, existing partnerships, and convening power to build national and county-level movements of civil society organisations (CSOs), associations, networks, and coalitions, bringing together the public, civil society and private sector to drive the child advocacy agenda. Our advocacy employs the following approaches:

• System strengthening – collaborating with national and county governments to strengthen planning and implementation systems; and improve equitable public services for children
• Child rights legal frameworks advocacy – supporting the creation of stronger national infrastructure for children based on the measures of implementation recommended by the UN Convention of Child Rights (UNCRC) and other instruments.
• Policy advocacy – advocating for formulation of child sensitive policies that enhance positive development outcomes for children
• Budget advocacy - advocating for an increase in budgets in programs that prioritize children’s survival, protection and learning.
• Child participation – Amplifying children’s voices and advocating for and with children to give effect to the shifting power agenda and localization.
• Child Rights Reporting advocacy - monitoring and drafting reports under the various reporting mechanisms that support child rights including the UNCRC, Universal Periodic Review (UPR), African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) – all of which duty bearers are responsible for upholding.

• The 2025 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) has not adequately prioritised the needs and rights of children.  
• Governments do not raise, allocate nor spend public funds fairly for the benefit of all children. This leads to inadequate financial resources being set aside for realising children’s rights.
• There is also inadequate investment in child sensitive policies and service delivery across key sectors for children.
• This lack of investment has negatively impacted the effectiveness of the coordination and delivery of children’s services  
• In Madagascar, the poor system of birth registration leaves unregistered children especially vulnerable to child protection violations.  
• 25% of Malagasy children are not registered at birth, making them more likely to be excluded from basic social services and more vulnerable to abuse.