International Activities

The main duty of the Ombudsman for Children in Sweden is to represent children and young people in Sweden as set forth in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (the CRC). But the law also states that the Ombudsman for Children must keep abreast of international developments in the interpretation and application of the CRC.

This is achieved mainly through international cooperation which provides opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and inspires each country´s own national work on applying the CRC. Furthermore, the Ombudsman for Children follows the work of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the statements it publishes.

The European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC)
The Ombudsman for Children in Sweden is a member of ENOC, the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children. ENOC currently has 23 members. UNICEF, the UN Children´s Fund, provides this network with administrative support. The members of ENOC exchange experience and knowledge, but the network is also active in promoting the introduction of more national ombudsmen for children in Europe.

The "Right To Be Heard" project
In 2002–2005 the Ombudsman for Children in Sweden conducted a project called The Right to Be Heard. The aim of the project was to find ways of communicating children’s and young people’s views to decision-makers in a representative, easy-to-understand manner. The project proposes an information system called the Children Condition Index (CCI).

The Swedish International Development Cooperation (Sida) funded the project. The purpose was to survey the level of children’s satisfaction with their lives in various countries. In addition to Sweden, the following countries took part in the project: Tanzania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Peru, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Serbia and Kosovo conducted the survey outside the project in 2004 and in 2005 Montenegro conducted a similar survey.

The report "The Right to Be Heard", published in December 2007, contains statistical results from all participating countries and describes the method developed during the project. A report from the Swedish survey was published in 2005 (Hur kul är det, på en skala?).

The main results from the Swedish survey were presented in the Ombudsman for Children's 2003 annual report. Results from the survey have also been presented in the Ombudsman for Children's 2004 annual report and in the statistical book "Up to 18 - Facts on Children and Young People", 2004.

Download the summary and the final report to the right.

International Training Programmes on the CRC
Since 1998 the Ombudsman for Children in Sweden has been arranging programmes on the CRC for participants from different countries. These programmes, which have been financed by Sida, aim to promote international work based on the CRC.

The programmes have been held in Sweden, and are part of Sida's international training programmes on human rights.

Over the years, these programmes have been attended by people from Latin America, East Europe, Africa and Asia.
The exchange of experience during these programmes is of particular value to the Ombudsman for Children in Sweden. Not least, it is inspiring to see what it is like to work on children´s issues in countries with different social structures than that of Sweden.

Final report: The Right to Be Heard (2007)

Summary: The Right to Be Heard, 2005