Children advise Member States on how to develop child-sensitive and inclusive VNRs in exciting virtual Lab organized by the office of the Special Representative on Violence against Children

New York, 15 July 2020 -  The Office of the Special Representative co-organized with UNICEF a Voluntary National Review (VNR) Lab as part of the official programme of the 2020 High-Level Political Forum aiming to encourage Governments to report on the SDG targets related to children in their VNRs by sharing positive examples from Member States.

The Lab counted on the participation of two young child-rights activists who highlighted how inclusive and participatory VNR processes can help ensure that children’s wellbeing and protection are at the centre of national development planning and accelerate progress towards reaching the SDGs.

The Lab counted on the participation of other experts on children's rights from OECD, EIB and UNICEF who drew particular attention to the need to maintain national budgets for the health, education and protection of children from violence, even in the face of the global economic crisis created by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The critical importance of collection, analysis and use of disagregatted data was considered by all participants as one of the most important dimensions in the process of developing child sensitive and inclusive VNRs.

Representatives from Bulgaria, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico and Oman shared promising examples how the SDG targets related to children were used in their countries to spur accelerated actions towards ending poverty, ensuring healthy lives, increasing access to quality education, achieving gender equality, promoting child participation, and eliminating all forms of violence.

Concept note

Summary of the VNR Lab