Background

Sweden ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990. All countries that have ratified the Convention undertake to inform and educate adults as well as children about the Convention.

In 1999 the Swedish Riksdag (parliament) agreed on a national strategy on how to implement the Convention in Sweden. The national strategy stresses the importance of education to practitioners both at the municipality and state level. This work is extremely important if the Convention is to be succesful turning the principles into practice.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended in 2005 that Sweden more systematically should offer education/courses about children’s rights to people working with children.

Mission

In July 2006 Örebro University was appointed by the Swedish Government to establish an operation offering in-service training on the rights of the child and the implementation of the CRC. The result is the Academy for the Rights of the Child. The Academy is closely related to two schools at Örebro university that have a focus on children's rights, School of Law, Psychology and Social work and School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.

The Academy’s main objective is education and to improve the level of competence of staff working with children and duty bearers at different levels in the society. Other objectives are to integrate knowledge of the CRC into the different disciplines in higher education and compiling a “bank of knowledge”. The Academy will also promote researchers and students to carry out research on implementing methods and strategies for children's rights.

The Academy works with different methods to reach the goals. The in-service training is right now offered in place but the Academy is planning to combine it with video conferences to make it more effective.

The inauguration ceremony was held March 14th 2007 in the presence of the Minister of Health and Social Affairs.

The Academy for the Rights of the Child is a member of the European Network of Masters in Children's Rights (ENMCR) and Child Rights Information Network (CRIN).