Skip to main content

Every Child’s Right to be Heard: a resource guide on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 12

“…in June 2009, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the international body established to monitor governments’ implementation of the UNCRC, adopted a General Comment on the Right of the Child to be Heard. This General Comment elaborates in detail the scope of Article 12, and how the Committee expects governments to interpret their obligations to children under its provisions. It is intended to provide an elaboration of what action governments are expected to take to implement Article 12, and how to interpret its meaning. This resource guide has been produced as a companion document to sit alongside the General Comment, largely following its structure, to provide governments with more detailed practical guidance on how to implement it. In addition to a fuller explanation of how to understand the obligation to listen to children and take them seriously, it provides: 

  • illustrative examples of laws and regulations that have been adopted by some governments to give effect to the right embodied in Article 12 
  • illustrative examples of guidance and policy that have been adopted by some governments, professional bodies and other institutions to give effect to the right embodied in Article 12 
  • suggested practical guidance on how to create the opportunities for children to be heard 
  • evidence from research, for example, regarding the impact of children’s participation, or children’s concerns in particular settings 
  • illustrative examples from around the world of initiatives undertaken to enable children to participate in decisions and actions that affect them 
  • basic requirements for ensuring child participation that is ethical, safe and effective 
  • the arguments to be made to demonstrate the positive outcomes associated with realising the right of children to be heard and taken seriously.” (p.1)