Abstract
From a child rights perspective, it is both crucial and mandatory to give explicit attention to the specific situations, needs, rights, and roles of children in relation to sustainable development challenges and solutions. Children are particularly affected by sustainable development gaps, and many of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are relevant in this regard. In 2015, Agenda 2030 came about, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This document, the momentum around it, and the current efforts to monitor progress on it provide both an interesting complementary framework and a set of instruments for seeking the implementation in practice of important children’s rights. After a brief exploration of some concrete justifications for working with such a child-focused take on sustainable development, this chapter first outlines what a child rights-based approach to sustainable development entails in general terms. Then, the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and their accompanying targets – being the most current articulation of the global sustainable development agenda – will be screened for their child sensitivity and child rights orientation. This will be done through a text analysis which will shed some light on the potential of the SDGs for improving children’s lives and for realizing relevant children’s rights. The chapter will end with a brief examination of the prospects for implementation of the SDGs and some of the challenges expected therein.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
All children count (2016) All children count but not all children are counted: open letter to the UN and its member states by over 250 signatory organizations as of 15 November 2015. Available via https://wearelumos.org/sites/default/files/All%20children%20count%20but%20not%20all%20are%20counted%20EN%2015.11.16%20%281%29.pdf. Accessed 3 Feb 2017
Arts K (2009) A child rights perspective on climate change. In: Salih MA (ed) Climate change and sustainable development: new challenges for poverty reduction. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 79–93
Arts K (2014a) Countering violence against children in the Philippines: positive RBA practice examples from plan. In: Gready P, Vandenhole W (eds) Human rights and development in the new millennium: towards a theory of change. Routledge, London, pp 149–176
Arts K (2014b) Twenty-five years of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: achievements and challenges. Neth Int Law Rev LXI:267–303. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0165070X14001272
Child Rights Information Network (2014) Guides for practitioners. Available via https://www.crin.org/en/guides/users-guides/guides-practitioners. Accessed 16 Feb 2017
CRC Committee (2003) General comment no. 5: general measures of implementation of the convention on the rights of the child (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6). UN doc. CRC/GC/2003/5, 27 Nov 2003
CRC Committee (2006) General comment no. 7: implementing child rights in early childhood. UN doc. CRC/C/GC/7/Rev.1, 20 Sept 2006
CRC Committee (2009) General comment no. 12: the right of the child to be heard. UN doc. CRC/C/GC/12, 20 July 2009
CRC Committee (2011) General comment no. 13: the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence. UN doc. CRC/C/GC/13, 20 Sept 2011
CRC Committee (2013) General comment no. 15: the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health (art. 24). CRC/C/GC/15, 17 Apr 2013
CRC Committee (2016) General comment no. 19: public budgeting for the realization of children’s rights (art. 4). UN doc. CRC/C/GC/19, 20 July 2016
CRC Committee (2017) Committee on the Rights of the Child opens seventy-second session in Geneva. Available via http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19971&LangID=E. Accessed 26 Mar 2017
DFID CSO youth working group (2013) Youth voices on a post-2015 world. http://restlessdevelopment.org/file/youth-voices-post-2015-world-pdf. Accessed 3 Feb 2017
Edwards S (2015) Ten things you didn’t know about the world’s population. Office of the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth. Available via http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2015/04/10-things-didnt-know-worlds-population/. Accessed 3 Feb 2017
Finnish Committee for UNICEF (2015) Introduction to the human rights based approach: a guide for Finnish NGOs and their partners. UNICEF Finland, Helsinki
Gabizon S (2016) Women’s movements’ engagement in the SDGs: lessons learned from the Women’s Major Group. Gend Dev 24(1):99–110
Global Witness (2016) On dangerous ground. Available via https://www.globalwitness.org/en/reports/dangerous-ground/. Accessed 28 June 2016
Global Youth Call (without date) Prioritizing youth in the post-2015 development agenda. Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, New York. Available at http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The_Global_Youth_Call.pdf. Accessed 3 Feb 2017
Hodgkin R, Newell P (2007) Implementation handbook for the convention on the rights of the child. UNICEF, New York
HRBA Portal (2017) UN practitioners’ portal on human rights based approaches to development. Available via http://hrbaportal.org/. Accessed 16 Feb 2017
Huijsmans R (2016) Generationing development: a relational approach to children, youth and development. Palgrave Macmillan, London
KidsRights (2017) in collaboration with Erasmus School of Economics and the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, annual publication of the Kids Rights Index through http://www.kidsrightsindex.org/
Kitchen C (2017) MY world – how we gave the world a voice. Available via http://impakter.com/myworld-gave-world-voice/. Accessed 3 Feb 2017
Kooij Martinez A (2016) The post-2015 development agenda: effective, structured and sustainable participation of children in decision-making, implementation and follow-up. In: Liefaard T, Sloth-Nielsen J (eds) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: taking stock after 25 years and looking ahead. Brill Nijhoff, Leiden, pp 753–766
Nolan A, McGrath S (2016) Submission to call for inputs on the protection of the rights of the child and 2030 agenda for sustainable development. University of Nottingham, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Children/2030/UniversityNottingham.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar 2017
Plan in Vietnam (2010) Rights-based approach to development and child rights programming: a handbook. Plan in Vietnam, Hanoi
Save the Children (2007) Getting it right for children: a practitioner’s guide to child rights-based programming. Save the Children UK on behalf of International Save the Children Alliance, London
Save the Children (2016a) Child poverty: what drives it and what it means to children across the world. Save the Children UK, London
Save the Children (2016b) From agreement to action: delivering the sustainable development goals. Save the Children UK, London
Stevens C (2015) Youth and the post-2015 development agenda: an analysis of youth participation in designing the sustainable development goals. MA thesis International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague
Tomaševski K (2001) Human rights obligations: making education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable, Right to education primers no. 3. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Gothenburg
Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (2016) Brief van de Minister voor buitenlandse handel en ontwikkelingssamenwerking (plan van aanpak inzake implementatie SDGs. Den Haag, vergaderjaar 2016–2017 26485 nr. 32. [Document in Dutch, parliamentary document presenting the national plan of action concerning the implementation of the SDGs]
UN Economic and Social Council (2017) Progress towards the sustainable development goals: report of the Secretary-General, UN doc. E/2017/66, 11 May 2017
UN Human Rights Council (2017a) Human Rights Council concludes discussion on the rights of the child and the 2030 sustainable development agenda, press release, http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21303&LangID=E. Accessed 7 Mar 2017
UN Human Rights Council (2017b) The protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Children/ThematicReports/Pages/2030Agenda.aspx. Accessed 7 Mar 2017
UN Human Rights Council (2017c) Resolution on the rights of the child: protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, UN doc. A/HRC/34/L.25, adopted 21 March 2017
UN Secretary-General (2016) Report of the inter-agency and expert group on sustainable development goal indicators: note by the secretary-general, UN Doc. E/CN.3/2016/2/Rev.1. 19 Feb 2016
UNESCO and UNICEF (2007) A human rights-based approach to education. UNESCO and UNICEF, Paris/New York
UNGA (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. UN doc. A/RES/70/1. 21 Oct 2015
UNICEF (2013) The world we want to live in: UK children and young people’s views on the post-2015 development agenda. UNICEF UK, London
UNICEF (2014a) The challenges of climate change: children on the front line. UNICEF Office of Research, Florence
UNICEF (2014b) Hidden in plain sight: a statistical analysis of violence against children. UNICEF, New York
UNICEF (2015) Progress for children – beyond averages: learning from the MDGs. UNICEF, New York
UNICEF (2016a) The state of the world’s children 2016: a fair chance for every child. UNICEF, New York
UNICEF (2016b) Is every child counted? Status of data for children in the SDGs. UNICEF, New York
UNICEF (2016c) Mapping the global goals for sustainable development and the convention on the rights of the child. UNICEF, New York
UNICEF (2016d) The births of nearly one fourth of the global population of children under five have never been registered. Available via https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/birth-registration/. Accessed 24 Mar 2017
UNICEF (2017) Thirsting for a future: water and children in a changing climate. UNICEF, New York
UNICEF, the UN Global Compact and Save the Children (2012) The children’s rights and business principles. Available via http://childrenandbusiness.org/the-principles/introduction/. Accessed 16 Feb 2017
United Nations Development Group (2013) A million voices: the world we want – a sustainable future with dignity for all. United Nations Development Group, USA. Available at http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/mdg/a-million-voices--the-world-we-want.html. Accessed 3 Feb 2017
United Nations Volunteers Bangladesh (2013) The world we want: Bangladeshi youth voices on a post-2015 world. UNV Bangladesh, Dhaka. Available at http://unvbangladesh.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Post-2015-English.ver-small.pdf. Accessed 3 Feb 2017
United States Census Bureau (2017) Mid-year population by youth age groups and sex – world. Available via http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/region.php?N=%20Results%20&T=4&A=aggregate&RT=0&Y=2017&R=1&C=. Accessed 3 Feb 2017
Walker D, Pereznieto P with Bergh G, Smith K (2014) Partners for change: young people and governance in a post-2015 world. Overseas Development Institute, London
Without author (2017) Eerste Nederlandse SDG-rapportage: Nederland ontwikkelt duurzaam. [Document in Dutch, First Dutch SDG Report: The Netherlands is developing sustainably]. Available via https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/documenten/kamerstukken/2017/05/24/nederlandse-rapportage-over-de-duurzame-ontwikkelingsdoelen/Nederlandse+SDG-Rapportage+over+2017.pdf. Accessed 11 Oct 2017
World Bank (2017) World development report 2017: governance and the law. World Bank Group, Washington, DC
World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our common future. Oxford University Press, Oxford
World Health Organization (2017a) Don’t pollute my future! The impact of the environment on children’s health. WHO, Geneva
World Health Organization (2017b) Inheriting a sustainable world? Atlas on children’s health and the environment. WHO, Geneva
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Arts, K. (2019). Children’s Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals. In: Kilkelly, U., Liefaard, T. (eds) International Human Rights of Children. International Human Rights. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4184-6_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4184-6_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-4183-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-4184-6
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences