ENOC ad-hoc position statement

“Recognising and strengthening the protection of Child Human Rights Defenders”

April 2023

PREAMBLE

The European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) expresses grave concerns in response to reported repetitive violations that Child Human Rights Defenders face by acting in the public eye. Child Human Rights Defenders (CHRDs) are defined as human rights defenders under the age of 18 years. At the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Day of General Discussion in 2018, it was confirmed that even children who ‘do not see themselves as such, or are not considered and called as such by others’ are indeed human rights defenders if they ‘take actions to promote, protect and fulfil human rights, including children’s rights’. Child Human Rights Defenders constitute a group characterised by intersecting vulnerabilities as both children and human rights defenders. Indeed, children are entitled to special protection under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and relevant international human rights law, being vulnerable rights-holders who are largely dependent on adults to fully enjoy their human rights; and human rights defenders are frequently targeted due to their actions to advance human rights.

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