Child Rights Governance

 A participant at the National Children’s Parliament organised by Save the Children in the capital of South Sudan, Juba. (Jenn Warren/Save the Children)

While the new nation of South Sudan faces many enormous challenges, there is also an opportunity to influence new policies and make Child Rights Governance a priority for the government of South Sudan.

We believe that having strong advocates for children in Parliament will strengthen the roots of this new nation and help deliver a generation of young South Sudanese better able to support the development of their country.

Save the Children engages with Parliamentarians to support them to increase the budgets for services that directly affect children, ensure new legislation protects children’s rights, and promote a child-friendly justice system.

Our long-term aims include ensuring that children’s rights in South Sudan are enshrined in all national legislation and are harmonized with international child rights instruments. There has already been some success with the ratification by South Sudan of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in November 2013, but more needs to be done to ensure sufficient budgets are allocated for services that support children and protect their rights.