DCI’s Annual Report 2023-2024: Advancing Justice for Children
Defence for Children International has released its Annual Report for 2023-2024. The report highlights significant achievements in promoting and safeguarding children’s rights worldwide. It underscores DCI’s renewed focus on “Justice for Children” with four key priorities: children deprived of liberty, violence against children, children on the move, and children in armed conflict.
Key accomplishments include:
- Expansion of Socio-Legal Defence Centres (SLDCs), which provided legal support to 628 children in the West Bank and East Jerusalem through Palestine alone.
- Implementation of the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty in 2023. Notably, DCI-Mauritania’s project Together for Child-friendly Justice promoted the recommendations of the Global Study and advocated raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
- Enhanced emphasis on child participation, illustrated by initiatives such as DCI-Costa Rica’s “Radio IntegraVoZ 77.2” podcast and Italy’s National Youth Council for the Ombudsperson for Childhood and Adolescence.
- Advancements in gender equality efforts through programmes such as She Leads, fostering increased participation of girls and young women in decision-making processes, particularly in West Africa, the Middle East and at the UN.
- Updates to DCI’s Child Safeguarding Policy, underscoring a steadfast commitment to the highest standards of child protection.
The report also recognises ongoing challenges, including shrinking civic space for child rights organisations and declining funding for children’s rights initiatives worldwide.
As DCI marks its 45th anniversary in 2024, the organisation reaffirms its dedication to a world where all children can enjoy their rights with dignity in a just and responsible society.
Read the report here.