Five more years for child rights knowledge partnership UNICEF and Leiden University

A successful decade-long partnership between UNICEF Netherlands and the University of Leiden University which promotes knowledge about children’s rights is being extended.

A further five years of research and education will see even greater focus put on children’s rights, building on the work done by the two organisations since the university introduced a UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights in 2012.

This partnership has already seen the establishment of two key study programmes, the Master’s Programme in Youth Law which is aimed at Dutch students, and the Master of Laws Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights, which is designed for international students.

Suzanne Laszlo, director of UNICEF Netherlands, said: “Deepening and broadening knowledge about children’s rights through education, research and training is essential for the realisation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in practice.

‘…from a children’s rights perspective’

“In this way, the Chair has a positive impact on the rights and well-being of children. That is UNICEF’s mission. It is therefore very important that we perpetuate and make the UNICEF Chair of Children’s Rights more sustainable. UNICEF contributes to a new generation of professionals who know how important it is to look at things from a children’s rights perspective. The alumni spread knowledge about children’s rights worldwide. This is very valuable!”

This extension of the programme had also been made possible with the level of research done in recent years, continued Laszlo.

Professor Ton Liefaard, the university’s UNICEF Chair, said: “We have also brought together many people who are now working together in the field of children’s rights. I’m talking about science, education and professionals. In that sense, we have also become a kind of catalyst for knowledge about children’s rights.”

He pointed to one example being the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory , an open access database for children’s rights case law.

“In the coming years, we want to collaborate more across the entire breadth of the United Nations children’s rights organisation. more impact in answering these questions,” added Liefaard.