Child Participation and Right to Access Justice

The Regional Office of Defence for Children International in the Middle East and North Africa – DCI MENA –  will hold a regional workshop in the Hilton Beirut Metropolitan Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, August 16-17, 2023, to highlight the principles that enshrine children’s right to access justice, enhance their participation and have their opinions heard in their communities at different levels: as individuals during their access to services, in the decisions taken against them, or as groups when planning activities and drawing up policies, as well as empowering them as defenders of their rights. While the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) urges states to implement these rights, the actual implementation is still less than expected and requires advocacy efforts at all levels.

This workshop will be attended by representatives of the League of Arab States and DCI MENA sections, by representatives of DCI European sections, of the DCI International Secretariat in Geneva (DCI-IS), as well as by other international and regional organisations, and civil society representatives in Lebanon.

It will discuss prospects for cooperation and networking between international bodies and DCI sections with regard to implementing the recommendations of the Manual and the recommendations of the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty (presented at the UN General Assembly also in 2019). In particular, the Roadmap for Action adopted at the November 2022, Global Forum on Justice for Children and Deprivation of Liberty (Nouakchott, Mauritania), which also exists in Arabic.

Dialogue sessions will be held among children and adult stakeholders from international organisations about the right of children to participate in advocacy plans and their interventions with states, in addition to dialogue and discussion sessions between children and DCI sections on children’s right to participate and be heard.. Last but not least, a dialogue session will be held with the Arab League on the implementation of this right.