The present report was prepared in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 49/20, requesting the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: to prepare a report on the rights of the child and inclusive social protection, in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders, including children; make the report available in an accessible and child-friendly format; and present it at its fifty-fourth session.

The report highlights systemic and structural barriers to States for meeting their human rights obligations and providing universal social protection for children, particularly those facing intersecting forms of discrimination and in vulnerable situations. It details the core components of child rights-compliant inclusive social protection to ensure universal and sustainable social protection systems and contains recommendations for States on designing and implementing such an approach, including through international cooperation.

Human Rights Council resolution 49/20 also mandated the development of a child-friendly version of the report to be presented to the Human Rights Council. Approximately 600 children provided inputs into both reports and the child-friendly version was consulted with children. We thank the children from all over the world who shared their experiences for this report, and to those who helped design it.