Realizing the Rights of Children: 29 policies nominated for Future Policy Award 2015

World Future Council partners with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNICEF to highlight solutions

Geneva/Hamburg/New York, 2 June 2015

Children have a fundamental right to protection, care and education. Strong, effective legislation and policies are needed to ensure these rights. ©REUTERS/Z. Bensemra

Twenty-nine laws and policies that contribute to securing the rights of children have been nominated for the Future Policy Award 2015. This has been announced by the World Future Council, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNICEF to coincide with today’s International Day for Protection of Children (Children’s Day).

Children have a fundamental right to protection, care and education so they can reach their full potential and make their voices heard. Yet despite some progress, children still struggle with poverty, gender inequality, homelessness, abuse, preventable diseases and unequal access to education.  Approximately 300 million children suffer from hunger or malnutrition. Environmental degradation and conflicts have forced some 20 million children under the age of 18 to flee their homes and live as refugees. About 85 million children are forced into labour exploitation and cannot exercise their right to education. These are problems that occur in both industrialized and non-industrialized countries.

Robust laws and policies – and their stringent implementation – are the foundation for securing the rights of boys and girls as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. The Convention has since been ratified by all UN Member States except South Sudan and the United States and its 25th anniversary was widely celebrated in November 2014.

The Future Policy Award will highlight laws and policies from all over the world that secure children’s rights most successfully. The Award was inaugurated in 2009 as the “Oscars for good policies” and is conferred to a different policy field each year. The 29 nominated policies were put forward by international organizations, NGOs and renowned experts in the field. They represent all continents and a wide range of policy dimensions: from international treaties to national action plans and local policies. They will now be analysed in a thorough evaluation process and assessed by a high-level panel.

The World Future Council will announce the winners in October 2015, in partnership with the IPU and UNICEF. The award ceremony will be held at the IPU’s 133rd Assembly in Geneva, at which more than 1,200 delegates from 166 national parliaments will gather.

For the full list of all nominated policies and the composition of the jury, see www.worldfuturecouncil.org/fpa_2015.html 

Future Policy Award

The Future Policy Award is designed to alert policymakers and the public to the importance of best practices in law-making and highlight outstanding examples of regulatory vision. The Award draws attention to existing sustainable policies and demonstrates that when political will is asserted, positive change can happen. Celebrating visionary policies raises public awareness, encourages rapid learning and speeds up policy action towards just, sustainable and peaceful societies. For more information, see here.

Previous Future Policy Award Topics:

2014: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
2013: Disarmament
2012: Oceans and Coasts
2011: Forests
2010: Biodiversity
2009: Food Security

World Future Council

The World Future Council consists of 50 eminent global change-makers from governments, parliaments, civil society, academia, the arts and business. We work to pass on a healthy planet and just societies to our children and grandchildren with a focus on identifying and spreading effective, future-just policy solutions. The World Future Council was launched in 2007 by Jakob von Uexkull, Founder of the 'Alternative Nobel Prize'. It operates as an independent foundation under German law and finances its activities from donations.

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
As the global organization of national parliaments, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) works to establish democracy, peace and cooperation among peoples by uniting Members to drive positive change. As part of these efforts, IPU mobilizes parliamentary action on respect for children’s rights everywhere. Since 2001, IPU has carried out thematic campaigns and supported parliaments to strengthen responses on child trafficking, child labour, violence against children, nutrition, and neonatal and child health. 

UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and well-being of every child, in everything we do.  Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org
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