12 March 2015

Panel Discusses Overview of Key Aspects and Challenges in Planning, Mobilizing, Allocating and Spending Public Resources to Realize Children’s Rights

The Human Rights Council this morning opened its annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child, whose theme this year is “towards better investment in the rights of the child”. The morning panel discussion focused on “from rights in theory to rights in practice: overview of key aspects and challenges in planning, mobilizing, allocating and spending public resources to realize children’s rights”.

Joachim Rücker, President of the Human Rights Council, in his opening remarks said that the full-day meeting would provide an overview of key aspects of investment in children, discuss existing norms and standards and identify key challenges in planning, mobilizing, allocating and spending public resources to realize children’s rights.

Jane Connors, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in her opening statement that one of the biggest barriers to the realization of children’s rights was the failure to allocate sufficient funds, which challenged social cohesion and increased the long-term likelihood of insecurity and conflict.

Ricardo González Arenas, Permanent Representative of Uruguay and panel moderator, said investment in the rights of the child was one of the key issues to build a world free from war, a world that was more tolerant and based on solidarity.

Bob Muchabaiwa, Investment in Children Manager at Save the Children and panellist, said the process of investing in the rights of the child had four critical elements: resource mobilization, child rights-based budgeting, effective utilization of allocated resources and child participation in budgetary and fiscal processes.

Jorge Cardona, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and panellist, said States had to adopt all budgetary measures to ensure that economic, social and cultural rights were guaranteed, including in cases of crises. He underlined the importance of a good data system and of the assessment of previous budgetary measures and items.

Shaamela Cassiem, Manager of International Training at International Budget Partnership and panellist, said the inclusion of diverse stakeholders, including children, led to more equitable, efficient and effective public funds. Budget transparency, participation, accountability and inclusive governance would improve public investment in children.

Jingqing Chai, Chief of Public Finance and Governance at the United Nations Children's Fund and panellist, said a study conducted by the United Nations Children's Fund showed that in about two thirds of the countries, the quality of reporting on budgetary allocations on child rights could be viewed as unacceptable.

During the discussion, speakers agreed that the lack of dedicated resources was an obstacle to the full enjoyment of the rights of the child, and underlined that budget planning, allocation, spending and monitoring were crucial processes which had to involve all stakeholders and during which children’s views should be given due weight. Speakers presented their domestic policies and investments in support of the realization of the rights of children.

Speaking were European Union, Norway on behalf of Nordic Countries, Bahrain on behalf of the Arab Group, Croatia on behalf of Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, Canada on behalf of the Organization of Francophone Countries, United States, Paraguay, Togo, France, Russian Federation, Portugal, Turkey, Nicaragua, Argentina, Spain, Albania, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Liechtenstein, Pakistan, Thailand, Nepal, Poland, Bangladesh, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS, China, Bahrain, International Development Law Organization, India, Morocco, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Kuwait, Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Switzerland, Estonia, Slovakia and Chile.

Scottish Human Rights Commission and National Human Rights Institution of Morocco took the floor, as did the following non-governmental organizations: Plan International, Group of Non-Governmental Organizations for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Action Canada for Population and Development, Myochikai (Arigatou Foundation), and International Catholic Child Bureau.

The Human Rights Council is having a full-day meeting today. At noon, it will conclude its clustered interactive dialogue with the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on violence against children and on children and armed conflict. The Council will then, at 3 p.m., hold the second part of its annual full-day meeting on rights of the child, focusing on “applying a rights-based approach to investment in children and strengthening accountability – focus on concrete examples of strategies and good practices”.

Opening Statements

JOACHIM RÜCKER, President of the Human Rights Council, in his opening remarks said that the full-day meeting on the theme “Towards better investment in the rights of the child” would help gain clarity on the fundaments of investing in children. It would provide an overview of key aspects of investment in children, discuss existing norms and standards and identify key challenges in planning, mobilizing, allocating and spending public resources to realize children’s rights.

JANE CONNORS, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in her opening statement noted that it was necessary to put budgets where commitments were. That was vital for improving the enjoyment by children of their human rights, and ultimately the welfare of all children. In line with Human Rights Council Resolution 25/6, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had prepared a report entitled “Better Investment in the Rights of the Child”, which found that one of the biggest barriers to the realization of children’s rights was the failure to allocate sufficient funds. Research demonstrated that investment in children resulted in long-term gains for societies. Investments in health and education were strongly correlated with economic growth, and growth in terms of human development. Failure to invest in children led to situations of chronic poverty and social marginalization, and it challenged social cohesion and thus increased the long-term likelihood of insecurity and conflict. Children’s rights had to be prioritized within the State budget. In that respect, children should not only be considered as beneficiaries of State actions and programmes, but also be empowered to be active participants in the formulation of policy and budgetary processes. It was also important to collect data that measured the realization of children’s rights across the full range of political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights, and the right to development. Investing in children was not a national luxury or a national choice, but rather a national necessity.

Statements by the Moderator and Panellists

The Council then saw a video on the right of children to participate in decision-making, focused on the consultation with children on investing in the rights of the child.

RICARDO GONZÁLEZ ARENAS, Permanent Representative of Uruguay and panel moderator, said that children were the future but also the most vulnerable groups of our societies. Societies were ill-treating our future today. The discussion would focus on how to make best investments in the rights of the child, and would include the analysis of laws and policies that States had established in this regard. Investment in the rights of the child was one of the key issues to build a world free from war, a world that was more tolerant and based on solidarity.

BOB MUCHABAIWA, Investment in Children Manager, Save the Children, said that resources were required for all girls and boys to go to school, benefit from health and social services, be protected from violence and participate in decision-making. All were concerned that 58 million children were still out of school, and 17,000 children under the age of five were dying every day from preventable diseases and hunger. Lack of sufficient, effective and equitable public investment in children was the biggest barrier to the realization of children’s rights. Investment in children’s rights was a right and a legal obligation; it was about equitable and efficient public spending on areas that directly and indirectly contributed to the implementation of children’s rights in both short and long terms, and in emergencies. The process of investing in the rights of the child had four critical elements: resource mobilization, child rights-based budgeting, effective utilization of allocated resources and child participation in budgetary and fiscal processes. Child rights policy commitments would remain empty promises unless concrete measures were taken to mobilize public resources, equitably allocate sufficient resources and ensure their effective utilization of principles of transparency, participation and accountability.

JORGE CARDONA, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, reminded that the Committee on the Rights of the Child was drafting a general comment on the issue of budgetary resources. It was emphasized that human rights in general and the rights of children in particular could not be guaranteed at no cost. There was a need to invest to make those rights effective. Measures associated with public spending thus had to be considered. Specific rules related to economic, social and cultural rights must be adopted in so far as resources were available. States had to adopt all budgetary measures to ensure those rights. If the State did not do so, it had to prove that it was using all available resources. The essential content of economic, social and cultural rights had to be guaranteed, and it could not be suspended in cases of crises. The child rights approach in the budgetary cycle meant that it had to be considered in the design, planning and monitoring of the budget. Thus a good data system had to exist, as well as the assessment of previous budgetary measures and items. In the design of the budget sufficient resources had to be mobilized for children, and the rights of the child had to be considered in a fair and progressive fashion. The budgets of all Government departments had to reflect the dimension of the rights of the child, and include them in all budgetary cycles. In the implementation of the budget, all resources had to be used appropriately and their use had to be published.

SHAAMELA CASSIEM, Manager of International Training at International Budget Partnership, said that globally, there were enough resources to invest in children and to realize the rights of the child, but the problem was how to raise and spend those resources; in other words, there was a budget problem. There was growing evidence that the inclusion of diverse stakeholders, including children, led to more equitable, efficient and effective public funds; their engagement in government budget processes promoted substantive improvements in governance and poverty. According to the 2012 Open Budget Survey, 70 per cent of States surveyed had not met the basic standards of budget transparency and accountability. At the current pace, it would take at least a generation for the vast majority of countries to attain significant levels of budget transparency, which meant a generation of wasted resources and missed opportunities. States must put in place policies, processes, institutions and systems to support budget transparency to ensure equitable, effective and efficient allocations and spending to realize the rights of the child. States should further develop classification systems that showed allocations and expenditures for programmes that advanced the rights of the child. There were many opportunities that existed to ensure budget transparency, participation, accountability and inclusive governance; those could support Governments in their goals to improve their investment in children.

JINGQING CHAI, Chief of Public Finance and Governance at the Social Inclusion and Policy Section of the Programming Division of the United Nations Children's Fund, said that public finance was widely accepted as a key instrument for achieving economic growth and poverty reduction goals. To ensure children’s rights, it was increasingly necessary to apply a deliberate child-lens to public financial decision making. Rising growth and failing poverty rates did not always translate into better child health and education outcomes, or better nutritional status. That was particularly true among economically disadvantaged and excluded populations. Public finance was a crucial instrument for narrowing the gaps in child rights outcomes between children at different ends of the socio-economic spectrum. It could make a difference by first giving greater budgetary priority to children, especially those most deprived, and second, better financial management to ensure better results from limited resources. Nevertheless, the issue of greater budgetary priority for investing in child rights remained a critical gap in many countries. UNICEF recently carried out an analysis of spending for child rights over a 23-year period in 197 countries and territories. The preliminary findings showed that in about two thirds of the countries reviewed, the quality of reporting on budgetary allocations on child rights could be viewed as unacceptable. On the other hand, the findings also showed that an increasing number of countries had made deliberate efforts to better measure, monitor and report on child rights related spending.

Discussion

European Union said that in the current context of economic and financial crises, budget consolidation efforts presented significant challenges. The European Union called on States to stay firm in fulfilling their responsibility of investing in children, regardless of their level of development or resource constraints. Norway, speaking on behalf of the Nordic Countries, said that investments alone were not enough, and that positive attitudes towards children, such as allowing children to be heard and participate in the processes that affected their lives, must be ensured. Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, Bahrain agreed that the investment in children must be looked at through the lens of rights and must not depend on the level of development. Croatia, speaking on behalf of Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, said that there was no unique formula on how to successfully translate child-related laws in public budget allocations and asked panellists how the investment in children should be reflected in the post-2015 development framework. Canada, speaking on behalf of the Organization of Francophone Countries, said that it continued the efforts for the ratification of international legal instruments for the rights of the child and was drawing up a guide of good practices to assist children victims of violence. Policies and legislative measures must be supported with financial resources, agreed the United States and said that investment in education was important for many reasons, including preventing child early and forced marriages. Paraguay said it had improved its legislation and set up a Secretary for Child Rights, which had led to improved budget allocations for children.

Togo said it had dedicated part of its regular budget and extra funds to measures relating to the rights of the child, combatting child trafficking, ensuring access to education and access to health, and combatting child malnutrition. France said the lack of resources dedicated to this cause was an obstacle to the full enjoyment of the rights of the child. It considered eradicating child poverty to be a priority, and recognized the need to invest further to combat child exploitation. Russian Federation said investments in the well-being of children and families were one of its priorities, and particular attention was given to children in need of assistance. Children were given assistance and large families received benefits. The Russian Federation was doing everything it could to make sure economic sanctions did not affect children. Portugal had put in place a comprehensive system to protect the rights and best interests of the child, including in both the public and private sectors. It had implemented programmes to strengthen access to education and healthcare for children, with a specific focus on the most vulnerable children, including migrant children. Turkey was determined to enhance the living conditions of children, and had a system that allowed complaints regarding violations of children’s rights to be forwarded to members of Parliament. A strategy and action plan had been adopted, including measures to strengthen access to health and education.

Scottish Human Rights Commission regretted that the Scottish Children and Young People Act did not fully incorporate the Convention on the Rights of the Child and did not require impact assessment of child rights-based budgeting. It was concerned that no additional funding had been provided to allow public authorities to promote public awareness on children’s rights. Plan International, speaking on behalf of nine non-governmental organizations, noted that budget planning, allocation, spending and monitoring were crucial processes during which children’s views should be given due weight. Group of Non-Governmental Organizations for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in a joint statement, said that child-related laws and policies would remain empty promises unless accompanied by child-sensitive, equitable and sustainable public resource mobilization, allocation and spending.
Remarks by the Panellists

BOB MUCHABAIWA, Investment in Children Manager, Save the Children, addressed the link between the rights of the child and the process of achieving development goals, as well as the question on how to invest in child rights in times of shock and crises. With respect to addressing the issues of inequality by using fiscal policy instruments, he stressed that every child needed to be enabled to access his or her right. There was a need to elevate the issue of children in policy planning.

JORGE CARDONA, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, addressed questions on ensuring equity in public spending, hierarchy in investing in the rights of the child, and investing in the rights of the child in times of crises. With respect to the equity of public spending, Mr. Cardona stressed that the most vulnerable children had to be given priority. To that end, the compilation of disaggregated data was key. Data and impact studies had to be conducted before adopting any budget. Rights had no hierarchy and there should be equal investment in all aspects of the rights of the child. Consequences of the economic crisis in middle income States had led to the lack of improvement and had had a major impact on the rights of child. The way to deal with such situations was to conduct impact studies.

SHAAMELA CASSIEM, Manager of International Training at International Budget Partnership, in response to the question on good practices in monitoring budget transparency in service delivery execution, said that States already produced a lot of information with regard to their budgets, both concerning their planning and execution. This information should be released and made public, together with procurement agreements. Finally, Governments should release the so-called citizens’ budgets, i.e. translate public budgets into language understandable by citizens, which would also be easily accessible.

JINGQING CHAI, Chief of Public Finance and Governance at the Social Inclusion and Policy Section at the Programming Division of the United Nations Children's Fund, speaking on the link with sustainable development goals, said that there had been a report card released, assessing the impact of economic and financial crises on children and the impact of the measures taken. The foundation of anything sustainable rested on childhood and investing in this critical period; sustaining that investment throughout the life of the child was critical to making the development goals sustainable.

Discussion

Nicaragua was currently adopting a programme fostering early education and providing training to staff working with children. Nicaragua had also fostered a comprehensive programme on food security at school. Argentina said it had created tools to restore the rights of children and ensure the protection of children in need of alternative care. Spain underscored the vulnerability of child victims of trafficking, and underlined the importance of appropriate budgeting for children’s policies. Albania said its legislation included major tools for the protection of children’s rights, and had increased budgeting to better address the needs of children, particularly in the field of health. Brazil underlined the importance of a holistic approach to efforts for better investments on the rights of the child. Sri Lanka said it had always given priority to public spending on education and health, and had pledged to enhance its efforts for access to education. It underlined the importance of investing on mechanisms to prevent and address violence against children. Liechtenstein contributed to numerous education projects in developing countries, and underlined the importance of dedicating adequate financing for child rights policies and of combatting corruption. Pakistan said its laws and policies used the best interest of the child as a central principle. It highlighted the importance of durable and sustained global partnership and investments in the field of the rights of the child.

Thailand encouraged countries to implement proper legislative, administrative and other relevant measures for the protection of the rights of the child, as well as the necessary resources in order to ensure their economic, social and cultural rights. Thailand provided children with universal health coverage and education services. Nepal said it was implementing various legal and administrative measures to ensure the rights of the child. Significant advances had been made in reducing child mortality, providing health and educational services, protecting children in armed conflict, preventing child labour, and other areas. Poland said that investing in children was a complex issue, requiring the involvement and cooperation of national and local authorities, the private sector, civil society and families. As part of the integrated comprehensive approach, it also had to be recognized that children were separate individuals. Bangladesh said the Government had made particular budget allocations to transform its commitments to the rights of the child into reality. Those measures had been adopted in the areas of education, participation in sports, entertainment and creative cultural activities.

National Human Rights Institution of Morocco said that the rights of the child were not only a legal obligation of the country, but a strategy for long-term development. It was only through public budgets that services for children, such as health care, education and social protection, would be adequately secured. Action Canada for Population and Development, in collaboration with Sexual Rights Initiative, stressed the importance of investments in the following areas: reviewing policies and laws, addressing prejudices, providing comprehensive sexual education and high quality sexual and reproductive health services; investing in leadership and participation of children, and establishing and strengthening mechanisms to ensure accountability for children’s rights. Myochikai (Arigatou Foundation) said that the Millennium Development Goals had a special although not always adequate focus on children and stressed that the best interest of the child must be central in the design of the post-2015 development agenda.

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS drew attention to the underfunded area of access to HIV-related services and stressed that without access to paediatric anti-retroviral formulations treatment, one third of children born with HIV died before their first birthday and half died by their second birthday. China said that although its investment in children was high, it was a worthy one and China always gave priority to children in resource allocation and development plans. Bahrain said that payment programmes should be considered in order to facilitate the implementation of investment in the development of children, and must focus on the most affected groups and communities. Investment in the rights of the children was needed, while children in conflict or children in conflict with the law required special attention, said International Development Law Organization. India’s National Policy for Children 2013 was guided by the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and marked a paradigm shift to a rights-based approach for the full realization of their rights. Morocco agreed that without sufficient and equitable investment, the commitments made in the field of children’s rights would remain empty and proposed setting up a system of incentives for investments made on the rights of children.

Republic of Korea noted that a lack of sufficient and inclusive public spending on children was one of the main barriers to the realization of the rights of the child. The Government had policies to secure and allocate adequate resources, such as human, technical and financial resources. Singapore agreed that children had to be a priority in the planning and implementation of all public spending. It provided all children with equal access to quality education, and to that end it had established an early child development agency in 2013. Kuwait underlined the link between the rights of the child and public financing, and appealed to all States to better invest in the rights of the child. Kuwait’s Government spared no effort to invest in children and had made them the centre stage of public policies. Germany stressed that public resources needed to be spent wisely. They must be spent through efficient management and curtailing corruption. To that end dialogue and transparent processes were crucial. Israel invested money and utilized public and human resources to realize children’s rights. One of the key programmes was designed to reach out to child victims of war in order to help them cope with stress and fear. Saudi Arabia attached particular importance to the rights of the child through the establishment of an integrated system, particularly with respect to education and healthcare. The system obliged anyone who recognized the abrogation of children’s rights to report it and act on it, in order to prevent negligence and mistreatment. International Catholic Child Bureau noted that the mobilization of budgetary resources was determined through priorities by the State, and that unfortunately the rights of the child were not always among those priorities. It recommended that States designed their budgets in an inclusive and participatory manner.

Mexico stressed that investments in children broke poverty cycles and provided solid foundations for a better future, and should be accompanied with the strengthening of mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights. Switzerland highlighted the importance of national and international legal frameworks and the allocation of adequate resources for the realization of the rights of the child and called upon States to translate those commitments into action and increase investments in restorative justice. In allocating resources for children, the main challenge was to spend purposefully and cost-effectively, to systematically plan cross-sectorial resources, and to use cost-effect analysis in making funding decisions, said Estonia. Slovakia inquired about improving the role of national human rights institutions in fiscal and budgetary processes at the national level, while Chile asked how States could ensure that equitable decisions were taken at national levels and by international organizations, and how to ensure that the views of boys, girls and adolescents were taken into account.

Concluding Remarks

RICARDO GONZÁLEZ ARENAS, Permanent Representative of Uruguay and panel moderator, welcomed the contributions made by speakers this morning, and underlined the importance of sharing good practices on investment on children.

BOB MUCHABAIWA, Investment in Children Manager at Save the Children, stressed the need for robust finance policies and the need for a rights-based approach to budgeting with a result-focus and the need for fiscal accountability mechanisms. Lastly, he reiterated the importance of a strong connection between planning and budgeting.

JORGE CARDONA, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, hoped that the only two States that still had not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child would soon do so. He stressed the importance of sharing good practices, and said the Human Rights Council should set criteria for better investment on children.

SHAAMELA CASSIEM, Manager of International Training at International Budget Partnership, welcomed the interest of the delegations in ensuring the participation of children in the budgeting process and said that the initiative had just developed standards to improve budget transparency and accountability. Governments needed to budget for the participation of citizens and children, have a clear implementation plan for participation, and mobilize Parliaments to receive submissions by children during the budget planning process.

JINGQING CHAI, Chief of Public Finance and Governance at the Social Inclusion and Policy Section at the Programming Division of the United Nations Children's Fund, said that States already had a number of instruments which could be used to assess the impact of policies and public spending. The capacity of Parliaments could be strengthened to exercise their overview functions, consistent use of Public Expenditure Reviews, and more frequent use of auditing services.

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