We recognize at Save the Children that the Government of Canada has long been a leader in the area of children's rights, child protection, and child participation. We welcome the government's renewed engagement on this issue, as demonstrated by the recent creation of both a dedicated child protection unit, and a dedicated prevention of child, early, and forced marriage unit.
Save the Children Canada has led in the formation of an international child protection network across Canada, a coalition of Canadian NGOs that formed in January 2013 to share knowledge and experience on child protection programming and to engage the government and the public on this critical issue.
We recommend that Canada maintain its global leadership on the issue of early and forced child marriage at the United Nations, and that Canada establish dedicated long-term funding that addresses the root cause of early and forced child marriage through education, gender equality, and child protection. By doing so the Government of Canada will continue to reinforce global efforts to improve maternal, newborn, and child health.
Canada's leadership on this issue, which was ably demonstrated at last week's summit on Saving Every Woman Every Child, can be further strengthened by incorporating child protection and gender equality principles. In all of Canada's international development work it's important to ensure that children are being protected from violence. We encourage a compliance with child safeguarding standards to help create a culture where violence against children is not tolerated and is acted against accordingly.
We recommend that the Government of Canada adopts and implements best practices and child safeguarding standards and sees that they are consistently applied to all DFATD officials, contractors, volunteers, and funding partners.
Globally, tens of millions of children are affected by conflict every year. Children affected by conflicts and disasters experience devastating impact on their social and emotional well-being and physical security, especially girls; and children subjected to violence are also more likely to perpetuate violence as adults.
Child protection, unfortunately, is one of the lowest-funded sectors in humanitarian response, second only to education in emergencies. We call on the Government of Canada to ensure that adequate funding is available for the protection of children in emergency responses and to strengthen the capacities of its staff and partners to implement the minimum standards on child protection.
Finally, economic development has the potential to provide long-term benefits and improve the standard of living in impoverished communities. The benefits don't always reach families or children living in poverty, and without attention to children's rights and protection, business operations can also have unintended negative consequences, including an increase in the worst forms of child labour: unsafe working conditions, violence, and sexual exploitation.
The Children's Rights and Business Principles was launched in 2012 by Save the Children, with UNICEF and the UN Global Compact, in a response to a call from the UN for companies in the private sector to better address the rights of children. They are intended to guide and encourage businesses to respect and support children's rights as part of their activities in the workplace, marketplace, and community.
Through its engagement with the private sector, the Government of Canada should work to see that all partners adhere to the Children's Rights and Business Principles.