Spotlight event on Child Protection: Swedish statement

Sweden was one of the first countries to sign the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and in 1993, the Swedish government appointed an Ombudsman to represent childrens’ rights and interests, and to promote and monitor the implementation of the CRC. Addressing and advocating for the rights of the child and child protection has also long been part of Swedish foreign policy and aid programming
As a consequence, we are convinced that protection of children and child rights must be central if the Global Compact for Refugees, the SDG goals and the Peace agenda are to be implemented effectively in the UN system we have today. This means we need to include child protection in our nexus discussions, and we need to apply a triple nexus lens if we want effective implementation of child rights and child protection.

For Sweden, when it comes to peace and security, one of our focus areas during our recent membership in the Security Council was Children and Armed Conflict. Sweden chaired the working group on CAAC and included  children’s voices into the UN open debate on Children and Armed Conflict in 2018. Our aim was to make the Security Council better informed and now the Security Council regularly adopts conclusions on CAAC and undertakes field visits.

On the humanitarian side, the lifesaving character and centrality of child protection in humanitarian action needs to be better recognized and incorporated to ensure that no child is left unprotected.  We would like to see child protection actors working on integrated programming across sectors and approaches, and for child centric policies and guidelines to trickle down to the level of projects and programmes. Sweden also supported the revision of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, which is a critical step towards improving the quality of child protection programming and strengthening coordination between actors working on child protection.

And on development, Sweden is working to ensure that there is no exclusion of refugee children in the fulfillment of the SDGs and that the CRC is equally applicable for displaced minors and youth. This is essential in order to live up to the goal of leaving no one behind and ensure a nondiscriminatory approach.

In our own humanitarian and development programming, we aim to systematically include a focus on programming for child protection and child rights implementation by using a multidimensional poverty analysis as well as age, gender, diversity and gender equity perspectives. We are also convinced that we need more multi-year child protection funding. 

QUESTION 2: What next steps do Sweden envision in the implementation of the GCR in order to promote the rights of refugee children and their protection?

I have talked about the importance of nexus focused child rights and child protection strategies, and this true not least in the implementation of the Global Compact for Refugees. With a more comprehensive perspective, we should be able to better ensure a continuum of care that includes ALL children – whether they are displaced, stateless, seeking asylum or live in host communities – and not leave any child behind. Maintaining a focus on child protection and child rights in the implementation of the GCR aso lmeans that the collaboration between relevant stakeholders is critical.

Ahead of this first Refugee Forum, Sweden is working to operationalize child protection in our strategies and partnerships. We have also given priority to refugee children’s access to education and inclusion in national education systems as a practical way to promote nondiscrimination and the rights of the child. Education is key for protection and can be lifesaving in humanitarian situations. Enhanced access to equitable and inclusive quality education in conflict and post conflict situations is spelled out as a key policy priority for Swedish development cooperation since a few years. 

To strengthen this effort, we have pledged to continue addressing the issue of access to education for refugees and inclusion in national education systems through our development cooperation. We support our humanitarian and development partners to deliver education as well as early childhood development and child friendly spaces as part of humanitarian response.

In addition to this, we need more attention on strengthening child and youth participation. We are pleased to see the participation of youth at this big forum, and we have an ambition to step up in this area. As you may know, Sweden received a significant number of asylum seekers the last few years, of which many are unaccompanied children, and we face the sometimes challenging task of ensuring full respect for the rights of the child also for children in the asylum process.

With the Child Convention becoming incorporated into Swedish Law in January 2020, we look forward to seeing what CRC in Swedish law will mean nationally as well as for our development and humanitarian cooperation.