The six country case studies presented in this groundbreaking new report by UNICEF and URG, show, beyond question (based on anecdotal and empirical evidence), that the UN human rights compliance mechanisms, complemented by the wider UN system, have had and continue to have a clear and measurable impact on the domestic enjoyment of human rights (in this case, children’s rights). Each case study presents examples of how States’ reports, complemented by UN alternative reports, have been able to exert significant influence on the analyses and recommendations of the three main human rights mechanisms; how those recommendations have in-turn influenced (and in many cases, shaped) States’ laws, policies and practices in the fields concerned; how UN Country Teams (and bilateral donors) have been able to work with States to support domestic implementation, as well as the measurement of change/impact; and, finally, how information on progress has been fed back into the reporting–implementation–reporting cycle via periodic national and alternative reports to the mechanisms.
