Fundación Observatorio Social del Ecuador: Monitoring Children’s Rights fulfillment since 2002

On November 19 2014, in the ceremony conmemorating the 25 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the main conference room of Ecuador’s Parliament its president recognized the Foundation Observatory of Children’s Rights for its contribution to the policy making process.

It was also acknowledged for being a voice of civil society with a high technical level through its invention of the index of children’s rights and its engagement with the children of Ecuador.

How did a civil society organization reach this point after 12 years of work and 4 different governments?

Where is Ecuador and its children?• Ecuador is located in South America,

bordering Colombia and Peru.

• Population: 15’ 000 000, 37% are children.

• 5’ 797 724 children (0-17 years olds).

• 6 out of 10 children live in the cities

• 12% of children have some sort of disability.

South America

Children of Ecuador

8% of children are afroecuadorean

76% of children are mestizos 7% of children are montubios

9% of children are indigenous

What is the Observatory (2002-2014)?

Social Observatory of Ecuador Foundation

It is placed in a civil society organization

Emerges as a Unicef

initiative in 2002

It is called the Observatory of

Children and Adolescents

What are the components of the Observatory?

Politi

cal Incidence Component

• Civil Society Council: members were recognized leaders from different parts of the country that were constantly lobbying for the fulfillment of children’s rights,

Technical

Component

• A highly qualified technical team which produces, processes and analyzes information concerning the situation of children and adolescents

Communications Component

• Strong alliances with the media. Workshops with journalists concerning the use of the information produced and about children rights.

Characteristics of the Observatory’s work

• Technical leadership from the civil society which allows us to be objective and autonomous in order to monitor progress, deterioration and gaps in the fulfillment of children’s rights.

• The technical analysis team uses high quality information produced by the State when available and if not, we produce our own which is later used by the State.

• We do not monitor the Government but the State and its policies in favor children and adolescents and the civil society with its attitude towards children.

Characteristics of the Observatory’s work

Our commitment is with the children not with the political party in power.

• The media is constantly using our information and analytical documents as a source to better understand the children’s situation.

• NGOs such as Plan International and World Vision use our information to work directly in the communities.

We are an ally for the State’s policy makers and local NGOs.

What have we always believed?

• The rights of the children and adolescents should be universally fulfilled.

• Construction of an equal and participative society.

We were part of a transformation process …

Civil Society:• 20 years of the Childhood Social MovementState: • Creation of the Childhood Information System of Ecuador. • Existence of public policy in favor of children and adolescents. • Existence of a legal framework for the protection of children

What is our main tool to impact policy making ?

INFORMATION produced by a civil society

organization in order to generate alerts and track

commitments.

.

Our measuring tool INDEX OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS (IDN)

A periodic measure (depends on data availability)

•INFORMATION WITH A MESSAGE and presented as school grade on a scale from 0 to 10.

• IDN of 10: perfect fulfillment of children’s rights.

• IDN of 0: no fulfillment of children’s rights

With the objective of: 1. Measuring the country’s performance in the fulfillment of children’s rights.

2. Raising awareness about the inequities that impact the childhood in Ecuador.

What grade did Ecuador get on its Children’s Rights Index 1 (IDN 1)?(0-5 years of age)

2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

4.7 4.9 5.1

6.5

7.7

IDN 1: 7.7 out of 10

Why did Ecuador get that grade on its IDN1 ?

1822

26

5

13.610

25.3

3.2

2004 2012

X1000 nv

What grade did Ecuador get on its Children’s Rights Index 2 (IDN 2)?(6-11 years of age)

2004 2010

3.3

3.8

IDN 2: 3.8 out of 10

Information about violence NOT available

Why did Ecuador get that grade on its IDN2 ?

8 12

52

310

532004 2010

What grade did Ecuador get on its Children’s Rights Index 3 (IDN 3)?(12-17 years of age)

2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

3.63.3

3.6 3.7

5.3

IDN 3: 5.3 out of 10

Why did Ecuador get that grade on its IDN3 ?

6.5

30

23.2

9.3

35.4

16.3

2004 2012

Summarizing the IDNs are evidence about the public policies’ impact on children’s lives.

Moreover, these demonstrate the persistent inequity and a society that hardly ever changes in

their adult-centric relationship with children.

• Will we manage to make of this world a better place for our children?

• How many more generations will have to live in social exclusion?

Only a permanent work from the State and Civil Society can reduce the gaps and eliminate them.