Children in detention lack adequate access to nutrition, healthcare and hygiene services, and are vulnerable to neglect, physical and psychological abuse and gender-based violence. Many of them are denied access to lawyers and family care, and unable to challenge the legality of their detention.
On the opening day of the World Congress on Justice with Children, UNICEF is releasing two analyses that illustrate the situation for hundreds of thousands of children who are deprived of their liberty every year. UNICEF is also launching its Reimagine Justice for Children agenda.
Detention of children in the time of COVID-19 reveals that governments and detaining authorities have released more than 45,000 children since the beginning of the pandemic. This demonstrates that child-friendly justice solutions are more than possible.
Additionally, an estimated 261,000 children in conflict with the law – those who have been alleged, accused or recognized as having committed an offense – are held in detention, according to the second UNICEF analysis. Estimating the number of children deprived of their liberty in the administration of justice – the first such analysis since 2007 – warns that incomplete record-keeping and undeveloped administrative data systems in many countries mean the number is likely to be much higher.
UNICEF reimagines justice for children in its newly launched agenda, designed to guide UNICEF advocacy and programming, through six mutually reinforcing actions that can be adapted to countries’ contexts to achieve just, peaceful and inclusive societies for all children.
If justice systems are to protect and support children we must work together to reimagine justice for children and safely end the detention of all children.
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