Plan-supported young journalists interviewing Desmond Tutu at the UN Climate Change Conference

In 2009 Plan opened an advocacy and liaison office in Geneva, Switzerland, in order to coordinate Plan’s United Nation activities and to become a powerful global voice for child rights. Through advocacy and lobby activities, Plan is promoting and protecting child rights at the international level. 

Plan holds consultative status with the United Nations and is an active member of the NGO group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

What we do

1.    Protect children from all forms of violence by working through:

• the UN study on violence against children
• Plan’s Learn Without Fear campaign to end violence in schools
• Plan’s Universal Birth Registration campaign.

2.    Promote participation of children in decisions that affect their lives

3.    Strive for non-discrimination and equality

4.    Improve implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child through involvement in monitoring, development of alternative reports and follow-up of the concluding observations issued by the Committee on the Rights of the Child

5.    Enhance law and policy development through:

• advocacy and lobby work for an optional protocol to the CRC
• drafting child rights resolutions
• involvement in other relevant standard setting processes, such as child right protection in emergencies, guidelines for children in armed conflict, etc

6.    Integrating child rights within the broader United Nations system.