Supporting Civil Society To Make Children’s Rights A Reality In The Middle East And North Africa
Atelier régional sous l’égide de la Ligue arabe en mai 2013 avec l’ensemble des membres du Réseau MANARA et l’IBCR.
Project “Manara Network: A Civil Society for Children’s Rights”
Project duration : 2008 - 2012
Years of experience in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have taught the IBCR that civil society organisations in the region have a major role to play in the protection and promotion of human rights in general, and of children’s rights in particular. This is why the Bureau partnered with the NGO Save the Children Sweden to implement an innovative project with the objective of strengthening the capacities of non-governmental organisations in the MENA region in the child rights sector. The project “MANARA Network: A Civil Society for Child Rights” was created in 2008, thanks to the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Our goals:
The MANARA Network aimed to strengthen the capacities of organisations from nine countries in the MENA region (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Yemen) in different areas related to the protection and promotion of children’s rights. More specifically, the project sought to equip those organisations so they could be in a position to report on the advancements made in the region in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
From September 2008 to May 2012, the IBCR was thus able to pass on its expertise to around 10 organisations through training sessions on children’s rights and on the methodology of research and analysis of actions taken toward the application of the CRC. This commitment on both sides led to the joint publication of country profiles examining the state of children’s rights in the different countries involved, while highlighting the progress that has been made and the challenges that must be faced to ensure that children’s rights are protected and respected A regional analysis of violence against children in school in Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen was also produced to shine a light on existing practices in terms of prevention, legislation and services for victims in each of those three countries. Finally, to ensure the sustainability of the results obtained over those three years of intervention, the Bureau decided to strengthen the technical and thematic capacities of 11 civil society partners operating nationally. Once they had become trainers, these child protection stakeholders were in turn able to pass on their expertise at a national and regional level.
- Intervention locations : Algérie, Égypte, Jordanie, Irak, Liban, Maroc, Territoire palestinien occupé, Tunisie, Yémen
- Project duration: 2008 à 2012
- Partners :
- Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
- Save the Children Sweden
- Algerian Network for the Defense of Children’s Rights, Egyptian Coalition for Children’s Rights, Mizan Law Group for Human Rights, Iraqi Child Rights Network, Association libanaise pour l’éducation et la formation (Lebanese Association for Education and Training), Developmental Action Without Borders, Bayti, Defence for Children International, Amal pour la famille et l’enfant, SOUL for Development, Democracy School
- Highlights:
- 9 countries involved
- 11 partner non-governmental organisations received training
- 10 reports on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the countries involved
- 1 regional workshop with the Arab League for sharing promising actions in the region in the children’s rights sector
- Fields of activity and expertise :
- Capacity building
