Children's Rights in Development Cooperation

Research project "Children's Rights in Development Cooperation"

Children and youth often constitute a significant part of the population in developing countries. Many live in extreme poverty and do not have adequate access to food, clean drinking water, education or employment. The human rights framework provides authoritative targets with regard to children’s entitlements to development opportunities and protection from exploitation and violence. It also provides for the effective participation of young people in the development process. 

The opportunities arising from human rights-based approaches to children and youth in development are at the heart of a study conducted by the German Institute for Human Rights. The research has been commissioned by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development with a view to providing recommendations for strengthening children’s rights in policies and approaches of German development cooperation. The project has started on 1 October 2010 and was concluded by the autumn of 2011. Excerpts of the study are available in German only: "(K)eine Politik für Kinderrechte? Wege zur Verankerung der Menschenrechte von Kindern und Jugendlichen in der deutschen staatlichen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit".