The UN Global Study
Childhood is when children develop their personality, their emotional relationships with others, their social and educational skills and their talents. Depriving them of liberty means depriving them of their childhood.
To address this situation the UN General Assembly invited the UN Secretary General to commission a Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty.
An overview.
The UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty is a comprehensive Study led by Manfred Nowak, a large team of experts from all over the world and 274 children who were consulted and interviewed.
The findings of the Study were published in 2019 and concern six thematic areas in which children live deprived of liberty and four cross cutting areas.
According to the research more than 7 million children are deprived of liberty per year. In addition to other findings related to the specific thematic areas, this comprehensive publication also contains a large set of recommendations. As a follow-up to the Study, many activities have been funded in order to implement these recommendations.
Areas in which children are deprived of liberty
- Administration of Justice
- Children Living in Prisons with their Primary Caregivers
- Migration
- Institutions
- Armed Conflict
- National Security
Cross-cutting areas
- Gender dimension
- Health of children
- Children with disabilities
- Views and perspectives of children themselves
Data collected
| Situation | Institutions | Administration of Justice | Immigration detention | Armed Conflict | National Security | In prison with parents | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Children deprived of liberty |
5,4 million |
1,41 million |
330,000 |
35,000 |
1,500 |
19,000 |
7,2 million |
Background to the Study and next steps
2014
2016
On 25 October 2016 Manfred Nowak was appointed as Independent Expert to lead the Study.
2019
The Independent Expert, Manfred Nowak, submitted the final report on the Global Study to the General Assembly (A/74/136) and presented it on the 8 October 2019 in New York (Resolution 72/245 §37) and in Geneva on he 19 November.
2019
Following the presentation of the UNGA report relating to the Global Study in New York and in Geneva, it is the findings of the Study were presented in the different regions of the world to discuss the best ways forward for the implementation of the recommendations. The implementation of further dissemination activities is supported by the Global Campus of Human Rights in partnership with the Right Livelihood Foundation. Find out more about the launches of this Study under follow-up activities.
2019
Najat Maalla M´jid, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, has taken the leading role in coordinating the Global Study Interagency Taskforce for the implementation of the Global Study´s recommendations. Check the newest updates.
Core objectives of the Global Study
1.
Assess the magnitude of the phenomenon of children being deprived of liberty, including the number of children deprived of liberty (disaggregated by age, gender and nationality), as well as the reasons invoked, the root-causes, type and length of deprivation of liberty and places of detention.
2.
Document promising practices and capture the view and experiences of children to inform the recommendations that the Global Study will present.
3.
Promote a change in stigmatizing attitudes and behaviour towards children at risk of being, or who are, deprived of liberty.
4.
Provide recommendations for law, policy and practice to safeguard the human rights of the children concerned, and significantly reduce the number of children deprived of liberty through effective non-custodial alternatives, guided by the international human rights framework.
Structural setup of the research process
Collaboration
The Global Study was carried out in close cooperation with Governments, UN agencies and other actors, including: OHCHR, UNICEF, UNODC, UNHCR, IOM, WHO, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as more than 170 civil society organisations and academia. The process included thematic, national and regional consultations all around the world where also children´s views and perspectives were consulted. Find out more about our project partners.