Towards a Child-friendly Justice System in Egypt

1. Child-friendly Justice in Egypt: Assessment and Recommendations

Abstract

This chapter outlines the main takeaways of the OECD assessment and summarises key policy recommendations aimed at supporting ongoing efforts to enhance the child-friendliness of Egypt’s justice system. OECD recommendations have been designed to support the country’s justice actors in leveraging the experience of other OECD countries and relevant international standards to achieve their strategic objectives.

1.1. Purpose and vision of the child-friendly justice system in Egypt

Egyptian authorities have pledged their commitment to achieving full development and high levels of well-being for all children. Egypt’s Childhood and Motherhood Strategy1 and its Human Rights Strategy2 mention the specificity of children's needs and rights. The Childhood Strategy illustrates the critical necessity to protect children from all forms of physical and psychological violence. Similarly, Egypt’s Human Rights strategy includes protecting children’s rights as one of its focus areas and indicates that legal awareness of children and their protection are essential. Access to justice can play a crucial role in Egypt’s efforts to address children’s rights, needs and aspirations and act as a driver for societal change, given the vital link between children’s developmental and social needs and adequate access to legal remedies and protection.

In recognition of this, Egypt has become a party to key existing international treaties related to children’s rights and protection in a wide spectrum of international fora. Egypt has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and two of its optional protocols, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), and other international treaties. In accordance with the Egyptian Constitution, ratified international and regional instruments enjoy the force of law. Egypt has further sought to incorporate the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) into its own national legal framework.

Both the Constitution and the Child Law (No. 12/1996, updated by law 126/2008) reflect Egypt’s express adoption of the “best interests of the child” principle. The Constitution dedicates a detailed article, entitled “Rights of the Child”, to the principles that guide legislation and policy in various areas concerning children and sets the framework for developing a child-friendly justice system. However, despite these advances, there appears to be a need to raise further awareness in Egypt of the status of children as rights-holders separate from their parents or guardians and to build a culture of child rights that enables the full empowerment and participation of children in legal proceedings.

1.1.1. Key recommendations

• Maintain the current commitment at the highest political level to pursuing child-friendly justice and to strengthening a child rights culture in Egypt, building on the child protection provisions in the National Child Strategy, Human Rights Strategy, and Egypt’s Vision 2030.

• Recognise and build on the links among access to justice for children, achievement of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda, broader societal objectives, and fiscal efficiencies in national plans and strategies.

• Develop outreach initiatives to raise awareness of children’s rights and protection mechanisms to strengthen the child rights culture in Egypt.

• Ensure that the new implementation plan for the National Child Strategy and legislative reform in the field of child justice are co-ordinated among key stakeholders; adopt a child-centred, inclusive, and participatory approach that considers the point of view of children and that is underpinned by monitoring and evaluation of the previous Implementation Plan.

1.2. Enhancing institutional co-ordination and effectiveness

Responding to children’s unique and complex needs and problems requires strong co-ordination and co-operation mechanisms and procedures between the key institutions involved, in what the OECD Framework for People-centred Justice (OECD, 2021[1]) and the forthcoming OECD Framework for Child-friendly Justice highlight as a “whole-of-government” approach to justice.3

This strategic review maps the roles of key institutions in Egypt that focus on child justice, including public institutions, service providers, international organisations, and civil society. It also describes a hypothetical child pathway “in action” from start to finish across criminal, civil, and administrative cases, based on the Egyptian legal framework and nuanced by stakeholder interviews.

Based on this mapping, the report identifies key strengths and opportunities for improvement in the co-operation and integration of services among stakeholders and throughout child justice journeys, as outlined below. A common theme highlighted by stakeholders is the need to enhance the clarity of the roles of each institution across criminal, civil, and administrative justice pathways, including the established protocols to manage and follow up on child cases. At the same time, while several effective co-operation mechanisms are identified, they are often informal and, therefore, may benefit from further standard procedures to ensure their sustainability over time. In this regard, the adoption of further multi-sectoral co-operation and continuing efforts to integrate the provision of services could be considered.

Specifically, there is room to strengthen inter-institutional co-ordination of child policies and increase the capacities of key co-ordination entities in need of support, such as the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and Child Protection Committees (CPCs), through infrastructure, human, and other resources. In relation to civil law and family justice, the possibility to promote further co-ordination among entities in family procedures and the child protection system, such as between Family Courts, the Goodwill Committee on Child-Custody Dispute Resolution (known as the Goodwill Committee), which is concerned with custody problems and disputes of children from mixed marriages, and existing child protection mechanisms under the NCCM and Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) is highlighted.

1.2.1. Key recommendations

• Adopt a whole-of-government, whole-of-society, and whole-of-justice system approach to child justice that fosters multi-sectoral co-operation and considers sound mechanisms for implementation, oversight, and accountability.

• Consider strengthening the legal framework for co-operation and co-ordination among the different institutions and services dedicated to child justice, including through the introduction of a specific decree or circular, as well as clarifying the legal mandate of each institution if needed.

• Further strengthen the NCCM to act as an inter-institutional co-ordinator of child policies, including on the policies, practices, and underlying legal framework for child justice, in addition to adequately resourcing the NCCM and CPCs to perform their co-ordination roles at the different levels effectively.

• Increase clarity of the roles of each institution across criminal, civil, and administrative justice pathways.

• Strengthen institutionalisation of existing co-ordination mechanisms by developing robust protocols for referrals, information-sharing through networking, and data collection to secure the sustainability of the system in the medium and longer term.

• Continue efforts towards integration of services and consider the establishment of child-friendly interdisciplinary centres for child victims, witnesses, and children at risk to receive support that holistically addresses their needs.

1.3. Designing child-friendly justice pathways in Egypt

1.3.1. Legal needs of children

Children’s legal needs are often specific to their age and level of development and require tailored approaches to address them. Measurement of these legal needs is, therefore, key to devising effective policy strategies. In Egypt, generally, according to stakeholders, the majority of requests for assistance from children stem from cases in which they are crime victims and need protection. Suffering physical violence in various contexts, including at home and at school, is the most often reported problem in calls to the NCCM Child Helpline. Sexual violence and cyber-extortion follow the list of most prevalent crimes against children reported through the Child Helpline.4 The prosecution service emphasises child abuse in the online sphere as a relatively new but increasing crime that requires the development of ad hoc approaches and appropriate legislation. In addition to the above, cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage have also been reported to be prevalent in rural governorates (administrative divisions of Egypt), and child labour is an issue in some specific areas of the country.

In Alexandria, the general CPC conducted an evidence-based study to assess the main types of problems experienced by children and to deliver services accordingly. In the context of the Alexandria CPC’s study, violence in all its forms, including child marriage, arose as the number one problem experienced by children

Outside of the realm of criminal violence and abuse, children are also affected by a range of legal needs in the civil and administrative spheres, such as family law issues, dropping out of school, homelessness, and gaps in access public services.

More broadly, reliable, disaggregated, regularly collected and published data is essential for effective and efficient policy making, programming and service delivery, especially concerning at-risk populations, such as children. Egyptian institutions generally, and in particular specific bodies such as the CPC in Alexandria, have made strides in improving their data collection, recognising that under fiscal constraints, data enables effective evidence-based decisions to be made regarding resource allocation for the development of child-friendly justice. Despite these advances, reliable and easily accessible data on the number of children participating in judicial and administrative proceedings, their profiles, the reasons for their participation and the outcomes of their cases are relatively limited. This report encourages more robust data collection and utilisation for policy planning in order to fully realise the abundant policy opportunities brought by evidence-based policy making; this could be facilitated by activating the role of Egypt’s National Child Rights Observatory (ENCRO).

These findings can support Egyptian authorities towards targeted service delivery planning. In general terms, the findings encourage further commitment to evidence-based planning for child justice services by collecting quality data and information about children’s legal needs across different socio-economic backgrounds and locations. In view of the initial data collected through this project, priority should be given to ensuring protection services for children suffering violence in different contexts, such as appropriate care facilities and shelters, medical and psychological attention, and legal aid for child victims.

Key recommendations

• Strengthen data collection practices and commit to evidence-based planning for child justice by collecting quality data and information about children’s legal needs and the availability of services, including, existing child cases, the steps these cases take and their outcomes. Investment in digital data collection may help make this process easier and aid data analysis, ideally through a platform where data can be shared across different ministries and councils to facilitate the co-ordination of child case management.

• Consider empowering and operationalising ENCRO as a key instrument that could systematically collect and analyse relevant data.

• Based on the evidence, design and deliver child-friendly justice services tailored to the legal needs of children, adapted to their age and level of development, as well as to children from different communities across the whole national territory. In order to do this, child participation and engagement in the creation of policies are paramount.

• Strengthen efforts to monitor the impact of child justice initiatives to improve their responsiveness and efficiency and ensure that they are appropriately resourced, sustainable, and inclusive, with particular attention to vulnerable children.

1.3.2. Opportunities and challenges in existing services

This strategic review provides an overview of the existing services available to children in Egypt. According to OECD findings, services can vary depending on the region, with better availability and quality of services in urban governorates with large or coastal cities, namely Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, than in central and upper Egypt. Border governorates are also identified as particularly problematic areas, often experiencing challenges in the provision of services.5

The eight services identified as prevalent include: (i) mechanisms for early provision of advice and support, such as the NCCM Helpline and additional helplines provided by MoSS and the prosecution service; (ii) legal advice and representation; (iii) psychosocial assistance; (iv) Advice and support services for children placed in custody; (v) specialised public justice services for children, including Child Courts and Child Prosecution Offices (CPOs); (vi) alternative care and protection services; (vii) initiatives towards diversion and restorative justice; and, finally, (viii) medical referrals to the Ministry of Health whenever a child needs medical treatment or examination.

Several of these services seem to work particularly well. For example, the NCCM Child Helpline is reported to be an effective way for children to reach out for help, although it could benefit from further awareness among children and their families. Additional technical capacity and resources to address specific types of crimes committed against children would strengthen its role further. Different channels also exist through the Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights and Women’s Ombudsman Office of the National Council for Women. However, neither the Council for Human Rights nor the Women’s Ombudsman Office have a specific service or staff dedicated to children. More broadly, there is room for further coordination between the various complaints mechanisms available for children in Egypt.

Legal aid and representation are guaranteed for children when they are in conflict with the law. However, the enforcement of this right could be facilitated by establishing institutional partnerships with lawyers and Bar Associations that ensure the service is provided in a timely manner and by expanding coverage to other legal fields.

Regarding judicial remedies and access to international human rights bodies and tribunals, the report refers to the recommendations to build on existing judicial avenues to make existing justice services more child-friendly, reinforce child participation and strengthen the system's capacities to address children’s needs. Indeed, following the pilot conducted in Alexandria, key initiatives towards introducing diversion and restorative justice for children in Egypt are advancing. Similarly, alternative care measures are increasingly provided to children when pertinent. However, the necessary infrastructure to protect children at risk separately from child offenders and the effective implementation of non-custodial measures for child offenders could be further strengthened.6 In relation to psychosocial support, while social workers are present in many child-related procedures, the current system could benefit from further psychological experts and additional training on specific topics for social workers and experts.

Finally, this strategic review highlights that although specialised justice services exist in the form of Child Courts and prosecution services, they remain limited to the largest urban centres, including Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria. It is therefore recommended that Egypt considers expanding existing Child Courts and prosecutions to further areas across the national territory, as well as training on child-friendly justice for judicial and prosecutorial staff.

Key recommendations

• Consider conducting outreach initiatives and campaigns to raise awareness of mechanisms to assist children and families in legal processes in order to empower children and their guardians.

• Strengthen prevention and early intervention services that address the root causes of children's exposure to dangerous situations and their involvement in unlawful acts, including mental health and child protection services.

• Improve access to child-friendly information about children’s rights through a dedicated platform possibly in collaboration with civil society organisations (CSOs).

• Accelerate the establishment of specialised Child Courts and justice services across the national territory based on existing needs, going beyond Cairo and Alexandria to other cities, as well as rural and border governorates.

• Continue to ensure children in conflict with the law are legally represented at all times from the beginning of the process. Consider developing structured partnerships, with volunteer lawyers or civil society organisations, to provide children with legal assistance.

• Continue efforts aimed at ensuring the inclusion of all children in Egypt, including those in vulnerable situations, into all relevant services, specifically access to child-friendly justice systems and legal assistance for both child victims and child offenders, as well as inclusion in systems for child protection interventions for children-at-risk.

• Consider reinforcing the NCCM’s capacities, including child helpline staff, lawyers, and social workers, by developing a clear and up-to-date training curriculum. Training should also target new trends based on child-helpline data and statistics, including but not limited to cyber-extortion and bullying.

• Consider strengthening the availability of legal aid for children beyond child offenders, such as to cover child protection and civil cases.

• Consider providing legal aid services at all stages of children’s pathways when in contact with the law and building the capacity of care institutions to provide the necessary legal support for children.

• Explore opportunities to enhance the quality and availability of social and psychological support available for children.

• Consider dedicating particular care institutions to children at risk so they can receive specific services and support that may differ from those needed by children in placement.

• Continue working towards developing diversion mechanisms and sound alternative measures that can be offered to child offenders, underpinned by the necessary legal structures and resource allocation.

• Consider strengthening the availability and accessibility of the NCCM Child-helpline and accelerating the establishment of complaints mechanisms, coordinated under the Child-helpline, within the different services available for children as well as in Child Courts and prosecution offices in every governorate.

• Explore opportunities to enhance co-ordination and transfer of relevant information between the NCCM and other institutions and service providers in contact with children. Also, seek to institutionalise co-ordination channels with relevant actors of the child justice system, including the National Council for Human Rights and Women’s Ombudsman Office of the National Council for Women, and the National Council for Disability Affairs.

• Develop national guidelines and requirements for health and mental care as well as educational institutions to implement child-friendly and safe complaints mechanisms.

• Consider promulging a government-wide “No Wrong Door” policy7 for children seeking to issue a complaint in order to ensure that no children are be turned away when filing a complaint.

1.4. Strengthening child-friendly justice services in Egypt

1.4.1. Equality and inclusion

Article 53 of Egypt's Constitution establishes that all citizens are equal before the law, possess equal rights and public duties, and may not be discriminated against. In achieving equity for children, it should be taken into account that the practical barriers to access to justice for the population as a whole may disproportionately affect children. They may be particularly acute for groups of children who are disadvantaged or face discrimination.

While boys and girls are equal before the law, girls often face gender-specific difficulties in different settings, including within their families, school, and potentially when in contact with public institutions and the justice system. There are ongoing efforts to ensure a safe environment for all children in contact with the justice system, for example by facilitating the increased presence of female officials at different stages of justice pathways for girls. The National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 includes promoting women’s leadership in judicial bodies as one of its main objectives, and the Ministry of Justice has expressed its commitment to promoting women in the justice sector and the judiciary.

In relation to children with disabilities, the Egyptian legal framework presents strong protections in line with the country’s commitments to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Child Law dedicates Part Six to the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled Child, complemented by Law No. 10 of 2018 on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, obliging judicial authorities to provide all services for people with disabilities in an accessible manner. This has been complemented by decision No. 4637 of 2018 of the Minister of Justice concerning appropriate accommodations and services for Persons with Disabilities when in contact with judicial authorities. In practice, further efforts and strengthened capacities are needed to ensure that the Egyptian justice system is fully accessible for children with disabilities.8

Looking ahead, the effective implementation and resourcing of these plans and laws will be key to their sustained impact to improve access to justice for all, including girls and children with disabilities.

Key recommendations

• Continue to work on strengthening the presence of women in different child justice institutions, including in the judiciary and police stations.

• As part of efforts to reinforce a child-rights culture in Egypt and raise awareness of child rights and remedies, prioritise eradicating discrimination against female children.

• Continue efforts to empower girls’ participation and protect girls’ rights in order to enhance gender equality.

• Ensure that the legal provisions requiring special treatment proportionate to a disabled child’s condition and needs are implemented in practice through adequate resourcing and staffing and by adapting facilities for disabled accessibility.

1.4.2. Empowerment and participation

The Child Law in Egypt reaffirms children’s rights to form their own opinions, access information that empowers them to form and express such opinions, and be heard in all matters related to them, including judicial and administrative procedures. A key pillar of the NCCM’s Strategic Framework of Childhood and Motherhood 2018‑2030 (Pillar 6) is focused on strengthening children’s rights to express their opinions and enabling them to participate in making decisions about matters that affect them. Similarly, the National Human Rights Strategy aims to ensure that children’s rights to express their views are realised. Egypt’s Vision 2030 also aligns with this objective, enshrining the right of participation as a goal under Pillar 5. Children’s rights to be informed and to be heard are thus supported by both law and policy in Egypt.

Nonetheless, OECD analysis reflects room to further make these rights a reality in practice. The sound overarching principles contained in the Child Law are undermined by other legislation and customs that limit children’s participation. It is necessary to require judges to hear children of all ages in all types of civil and administrative cases. In addition, in cases where the judge could elicit the views of the child if they were deemed capable, it is not customary for this to happen in practice since it is not yet generally seen as proper legal practice in Egypt even if a child is considered able to indicate his or her opinion.

In relation to policy making, several national plans and strategies include promising provisions for child participation, especially through the NCCM. This report highlights the options to build on this work by expanding the resources and capacities of these participation mechanisms to ensure they employ robust participation methodology and secure the sustainability of these initiatives.

Key recommendations

• Consider reviewing the legal framework determining the age at which children are deemed to have a sufficient understanding of the specific issues discussed and ability to express their views; therefore, bringing more coherence and clarity regarding the age of legal capacity and ensuring the relevant laws and rules are in line with international standards.

• Develop clear protocols for when and how children’s views should be sought in proceedings, ensuring these are in line with international standards.

• Consider establishing an effective system of trusted “support persons” or guardian ad litems to facilitate children’s participation in proceedings.

• Provide additional training to stakeholders in the justice system aimed at raising awareness of and developing a shared understanding of children’s participation in proceedings, children’s legal capacity, and the role of children’s representatives.

• Building on the NCCM’s current participation programme, identify the most appropriate tools to develop the institution’s resources and capacities to ensure it employs robust participation methodology and secures the sustainability of this work.

1.4.3. Appropriateness and responsiveness

Child-centred systems require that at all stages of cases involving children, the justice system provides a child-friendly environment guided by the best interests of the child. An appropriate and responsive system relates to how professionals interact and communicate with children, the methods used for gathering evidence and hearing testimony from children, and the type of support provided to children before, during and after proceedings. This report underscores the need to strengthen specialised training provided to key professionals in the justice system, including judges, child affairs prosecutors, psychologists, and social workers. It also highlights the need to introduce child-friendly procedural rules, such as using video or audio recordings to avoid multiple child interviews and consider the introduction of modern tools and technology to improve the appropriateness of justice procedures.

The Egyptian legal framework prescribes that it is permissible for the competent Public Prosecution to issue a decision to place the child temporarily in the observation centres within care institutions, if the course of the investigation so requires, provided that the child appear before the judges on the Child Court within the legally specified periods. While the law reflects a limit on the number of days that child offenders can be placed in care institutions or pre-trial detention and the control of any extensions through follow-up reports, this may lead to extended pre-trial periods of custody in cases that are complex to investigate. Reducing pre-trial periods and only using detention as a last resort is an area identified for progress under this report.

Key recommendations

Invest in training for relevant professionals:

• Consider establishing mandatory child justice training, focusing on child-friendly judicial proceedings and the best interest of children, at the beginning of their tenure for judges and prosecutors specialising in children’s cases.

• Enhance the attractiveness of child justice specialisation within the judiciary and prosecution with different incentives to support the development of a well-trained workforce.

• Increase the capacity of lawyers and civil society actors through training on certain crimes committed against children, including cyber-extortion, human trafficking, child labour, child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM).

• Strengthen the institutionalised approach towards training and consider limiting the regular rotation of child-dedicated judges and prosecutors to enhance specialisation.

• Strengthen specialised training and support of experts, social observers, and social workers across the system to enhance the quality of reports submitted to prosecutors and judges in cases involving children.

Increase child-friendly facilities and procedural arrangements:

• Accelerate the installation of child-friendly interview and waiting rooms in courts, prosecution offices, CPC bureaus and other relevant buildings under the operational responsibility of the executive branch. Consider requesting specific budget allocations for this purpose in co-operation with the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance towards achieving SDG 16.

• Strengthen procedural means to avoid negative impacts on children during legal proceedings, such as allowing audio and video statements to avoid repeated interviews, staff interview training and scheduling regular breaks.

• Enable children to be accompanied by a support person they can trust during their contact with justice services and courts.

• Appropriate services for children deprived of their liberty:

• Consider reducing unnecessary custody in pre-trial phases through legislative reform and only using custodial measures as a last resort, in line with international standards, and continue to ensure limited periods of custody in practice.

• Continue strengthening co-ordination and institutionalisation of the inspection of care facilities to improve efficiency and ensure a broader coverage of various places of detention, care or observation at the national level.

1.4.4. Ensuring sufficient capacities

Allocating meaningful investment to the child-justice system, especially at a time of fiscal constraints, and balancing it with the necessary trade-offs with other public services is a global policy challenge. However, it can be a cost-effective lever to foster beneficial outcomes for children in many other areas, including health and education. Evidence from OECD interviews with stakeholders suggests that existing infrastructure, budget and workforce in the child justice system are limited. Several initiatives have been conducted as pilot projects. However, they do not receive stable budget allocations and are often funded by international co-operation, making it challenging to continue once the pilot is complete, even if they are successful. Stakeholders generally agree that CSOs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are filling in the gaps left by CPCs and other government services in several areas. State institutions have reported that they are often reliant on the support provided by these organisations, including with regard to legal, social, and psychological assistance for children. At the same time, funding for CSOs/NGOs is itself limited and uncertain, raising questions about the sustainability of services that are critical to the entire system. Finally, as observed earlier, limited resources affect progress in establishing specialised Child Courts and child-friendly rooms within the justice system.

Key recommendations

• Consider reinforcing the capacities of the child justice system by allocating additional resources, including specialised staff and infrastructure.

• Foster an enabling ecosystem for CSOs, including but not limited to sound legal framework and reliable financial support hat provide fundamental services for children, so they can continue to play this essential role.

• Stabilise financial support for pilot projects that are deemed to be successful, thus securing their sustainability.

1.4.5. Prevention, proactivity and timeliness

Root causes of children’s legal needs are often linked to social, health, and economic factors. Legal needs research has shown that people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds tend to have more legal problems. In view of this, an integrated approach that adopts proactive initiatives towards early intervention and prevention may be much more effective than waiting until children come into contact with the justice system.

Egyptian stakeholders reported that there have been programmes in social care institutions aimed at reintegrating child offenders and at-risk children back into society, in addition to an ongoing project in the Marg Punitive Institution, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which aims at tackling the issue of social reintegration of children. Regarding victims, the Code of Criminal Procedure confers upon the competent Criminal Court the power to appoint a lawyer to initiate proceedings before the civil judiciary in favour of child victims who otherwise have no access to legal assistance.9 Building on these efforts, this strategic review finds room to introduce the angle of prevention into the vision of the child justice system by investing in early childhood support programmes and reinforcing existing support services for child victims and offenders.

Key recommendations

• Integrate prevention into the purpose and vision of the child justice system.

• Consider further investing in early childhood care, education, community and family-based support programmes drawing from comparative experiences which correlate with lower rates of children at risk.

• Consider producing additional studies and policy papers on investment in child-friendly justice looking at the cost to society and the state of the spread of crime and children’s involvement in criminal activities.

• Reinforce multi-faceted support services for child victims of crime to aid their recovery and for child offenders to receive education and support both whilst in detention, to prepare them for their return to their communities, and on release, to aid their reintegration into society.

• Building on the existing legal provision that victims have the right to civil compensation, consider introducing a mandate for the child’s lawyer or guardian to take necessary steps to claim before the Children’s Court for damages during or after proceedings in which the child was a victim, in line with international standards.

Reference

[1] OECD (2021), OECD Framework and Good Practice Principles for People-Centred Justice, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/cdc3bde7-en.

Notes

← 1.  National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, Strategic framework for Childhood and Motherhood (2018 - 2030) as well as the National Implementation Plan (2018 -2022).

← 2.  The Supreme Standing Committee for Human Rights (SSCHR), National Human Rights Strategy.

← 3.  A whole-of-government approach exists when horizontal co-ordination and integration are embedded in the policy design and implementation process and helps a government respond to complexity. Whole-of-government approaches can be contrasted with sector-based siloed approaches, which often become fragmented and suffer from poor co-ordination and co-operation.

← 4.  According to OECD interviews with NCCM Child Helpline staff in November 2021 and March 2022.

← 5.  According to OECD interviews with staff from NCCM and MoSS.

← 6.  Non-custodial measures refer to legislation, policy, or practice that ensures that children are not unnecessarily detained. Both “alternatives to detention” and “non-custodial measures” can be used, but the latter is the preferred term as per the OECD approach to child-friendly justice.

← 7.  No Wrong Door Policies are government-wide approaches triggered at the moment a child wishing to file a complaint presents at; or is identified by, a public institution. In this context, by adopting a No Wrong Door Policy countries offer coordinated support, eases access to complaint mechanisms, and prevents re-traumatisation of children.

← 8.  Article 37 of the latter law stipulates that the National Council for Persons with Disabilities must be notified immediately upon the arrest of any person with a disability. The competent authorities and the Council must provide health, social, technical, specialised and legal assistance, including a psychologist, lawyer, as well as a specialised expert if necessary.

← 9.  Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 252.