Depriving children of their liberty is depriving them of their childhood.
Despite the growing number of armed conflicts worldwide and increasing internal and cross-border migration, children deprived of liberty remain an overlooked and largely invisible population. Many are held in inhumane conditions, where their rights are routinely violated and where they are exposed to violence, abuse, and degrading treatment.
In many cases, children are deprived of their liberty not because detention is necessary, but because families, caregivers, and communities lack the support and services needed to provide appropriate care and ensure children’s healthy development. Strengthening these support systems is therefore essential to preventing the unnecessary deprivation of children’s liberty.
DCI’s long-term objective is to defend every child’s right to personal liberty and radically reduce the number of children deprived of their liberty. DCI works for alternatives to detention, including diversion, mediation, and the systematic use of non-custodial measures, while advocating for and building stronger family- and community-based support systems that enable children to grow and develop in safe and nurturing environments.
Our Work
Our Role
Through advocacy, coalition-building, legal reform, and direct support, DCI works to reduce children’s deprivation of liberty and to promote child justice systems that prioritise rehabilitation, reintegration, and respect for children’s rights and dignity. DCI works to:
- Contribute to the monitoring of detention facilities
- Ensure consultation of children and young people with lived experience of deprivation of liberty
- Engage relevant stakeholders, including local and national governments, members of parliament and of the judiciary, to apply GSCDL recommendations to the specific context and include them into national action plans, laws and policies
- Foster sustainability of the findings and recommendations of the GSCDL and consolidate evidence by contributing to set up mechanisms to monitor and collect new data on children deprived of liberty, including by collaborating with the UN Task Force on Children Deprived of Liberty chaired by the SRSG on Violence against Children
International Level
DCI mobilised influential stakeholders to adopt a UN General Assembly Resolution to commission a global study on children deprived of liberty. The United Nations General Assembly, in December 2014, invited the UN Secretary-General to conduct an in-depth study on children deprived of liberty (A/RES/69/157 § 52.d) and, on 25 October 2016, Professor Manfred Nowak was welcomed as the Independent Expert to lead the Study. The UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty was published in 2019 and provides data on the magnitude of children being deprived of liberty, including the number of children deprived of liberty, as well as the reasons, type, length of deprivation of liberty, places of detention, and testimonies from children.
DCI serves as co-convener of the NGO Panel on Children Deprived of Liberty, which strongly influenced the study’s research and advocacy efforts. The NGO Panel is composed of Defence for Children International (DCI) – co-convenor, Terre des Hommes Foundation – co-convenor, Amnesty International, Child Rights International Network (CRIN), Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Bureau for Children’s Rights (IBCR), International Catholic Child Bureau (BICE), International Detention Coalition (IDC), Penal Reform International (PRI), and World Organization against Torture (OMCT). Members of the NGO Panel play a key role in advancing the implementation of the Study’s recommendations at the national level through advocacy initiatives, legal and policy reform, awareness-raising, research, and project implementation.
Three years after the publication of the Global Study, the Global Forum, organised by Defence for Children International, Terre des hommes and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children in Nouakchott, Mauritania, 8-9 November 2022, was an opportunity to take stock and define action for the coming years. In 2024, DCI, UNICEF, and the NGO Panel on Children Deprived of Liberty hosted the three-day Global Conference on Children Deprived of Liberty. In July 2025, the Roadmap for Action on Children Deprived of Liberty 2025–2030 was launched. It translates the findings of the 2019 UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty into concrete action. The Roadmap calls for an end to child immigration detention, stronger legal safeguards, independent monitoring, and greater use of noncustodial, community-based alternatives.
National Level
Through advocacy, coalition-building, legal reform, and direct support, DCI National Sections work to reduce children’s deprivation of liberty and to promote child justice systems that prioritise rehabilitation, reintegration, and respect for children’s rights and dignity.
Projects in Focus
Global Conference on Justice for Children Deprived of Liberty
17 – 19 December 2024, Geneva, Switzerland
The Global Conference on Justice for Children Deprived of Liberty was co-organised by DCI, UNICEF, and the NGO Panel on Children Deprived of Liberty. It marked the 5th anniversary of the publication of the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, the 35th anniversary of the UNCRC, and the 45th anniversary of DCI. This three-day event brought together 25 children and youth activists and 150 participants from over 50 countries to address critical issues impacting children within the justice system, with particular emphasis on those deprived of liberty.
The Conference reviewed progress in implementing the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty’s recommendations and facilitated the exchange of promising practices from various countries and contexts across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Participants advocated for enhanced monitoring and data collection regarding children deprived of liberty. They proposed multi-stakeholder approaches to finding alternatives to child detention. The event fostered collaboration across diverse stakeholders and laid the foundation for more equitable and child-centred justice systems.
Developed through wide-ranging consultations during the conference, the 2025–2030 Roadmap translates the findings of the 2019 UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty into concrete action.