Make our voices count – Children and young peoples’ responses to a global survey for the Day of General Discussion 2021 on Children’s Rights and Alternative Care

Voices of children have been given a significant role, impacting the conversations of 2021 Day of General Discussion dedicated to Children’s Rights and Alternative care over the two days. Child Identity Protection (CHIP) would like to contribute to the diffusion of children’s voices stressing the importance of identity for children in care as raised by the children themselves. As mentioned in Chapter IV “Celebrating and maintaining identity” of the excellent report summarising the views, experiences and ideas shared by 1,188 children and young people “For many children and young people across each region, staying connected with their personal and cultural identity and language is crucial.” The importance of recording and accessing personal records is also stressed as well as the significance to telling children and young people the truth about their backgrounds. According to a young woman from New-Zealand “Even if children in care don’t talk about their backgrounds, the adults still have a responsibility to help them maintain their identity.” CHIP is committed towards the full realisation of children’s rights to identity supporting all actors including the work of professionals and those with lived experiences, which stress that preservation of their identity requires access to justice and restoration of aspects that are missing or falsified. As concluded by the Ann Skelton from the CRC Committee, further work is needed in upholding the child’s right to identity, which is fundamental to accessing all other rights and must be respected in alternative care settings.

Source: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CRC/Discussions/2020/DGD_Report_EN.pdf. You can also access the submission of CHIP to the DGD at https://www.child-identity.org/images/files/2021_DGD_ChildIdentityProtectionENG.pdf